US Bank Plaza Site Visit

Hello!

This semester my interior design class is focusing on commercial office design - quite the change from the schoolhouse project we had last semester.  This morning we went on a site visit to kick off out second project - creating an innovative, collaborative and modern space for a fictional graphic design firm.  As far as office design goes, a graphic design firm is kinda like the dream client.  That or Rachel Zoe, but hey.

The space chosen for the new office space is located on the top floor of the US Bank Plaza on the capitol square here in Madison.  The space is currently unfinished, allowing us to create whatever we'd like within the floor plan.  Seeing the empty space in person already offers so much potential and is very beautiful with a curtain wall exterior and great views of the lake and the state capitol.  I can hardly believe it but I can't wait to start developing my floor plan and design scheme.

I will post updates as the project progresses!

Take Care,

T

Monday Morning Inspiration

Hello!

Here is just a little something colorful for some Monday morning inspiration!

Take Care,

T

I Have Fabric!!

Hello!

What a sense of accomplishment!! Over countless hours this weekend I was able to get all of my screen printing done for my first project!  This class has honestly turned out to be without a doubt my favorite class I have ever taken, EVER.  I am so proud that I finished all three sets of fabric.  I printed my design onto a 3 different 4-yard pieces of fabric - one with an existing pattern, a linen, and a piece of broadcloth that I dyed periwinkle through an immersion dyeing process and stripped with a thiox stripping agent to remove the dye and expose my design.  In addition to these fabrics, I printed onto a J. Crew online return envelope to incorporate into a tote I plan to make for a design project called Recycle Runway.

Recycle Runway is a cause that I feel very strongly about.  This past week we had the Recycle Runway creator, Nancy Judd, come lecture during our lab time.  Nancy creates pieces out of up-cycled materials - like old campaign door hangers and caution tape - that are beautiful garments as a way to start the conversation about being environmental awareness and thinking in an eco-friendly way.  Her pieces have been exhibited in the Atlanta Airport and one coat has been added to a permanent collection in the Smithsonian.  I am an obsessive-recycler and try my best a consumer to eliminate as much waste as I can.  I know that this is a bit of a tangent, but I am so grateful that she came to speak at our school - Nancy's talks inspired me to contact the mall I work at to try and get more recycling receptacles throughout the mall so stores and shoppers have somewhere to properly get rid of their trash - I honestly think it's appalling that it is not already in place!

Anyways - overall I had a successful first time screen printing experience and I am encouraging everyone to recycle as much as they can and to watch Nancy Judd's TED talk.  

Take Care,

T

Here is the link to Recycle Runway: http://recyclerunway.com

These are pictures of my final fabrics - flaws on all but I am so so happy!

Heat setting the thiox - relieved that the dye actually turned out periwinkle:

I used a green-black pigment on my linen:

The crazy got out of control - the checkerboard is more prominent than my design, and then I added neon to top it off.  Fun to experiment with bold colors and patterns: 

Bangerz Meets the Beverly Hills Hotel

Hello!

Obviouslyyyy I am behind on my blog.  This semester has been off to a hectic and exciting start.  I am currently working on the final construction documents for my first commercial project which is a law firm -  my favorite! - trying to find a summer internship, and I am almost ready to print my first screen print!  The screen print is what I am currently most excited about.  As I shared in my last post, I am so intimidated by the whole concept but I am thrilled that my design turned out ok given the tight timeline of the assignment.  My theme was "Bangerz meets the Beverly Hills" hotel so I did my best to incorporate imagery a la Miley Cyrus while still keeping it classy and glam like the Beverly Hills hotel. Today I finally exposed my screen so tomorrow morning I will be able to start creating my fabric! This weekend I promise to share the results of my first printing attempt and would like to share more about what my final project with this print actually entails.

This is a picture early on in my pattern design:

Here is what my screen looked like after I had finished exposing it:

Take Care,

T