New Design Technologies

One of the newest technologies to be utilized in residential construction is the use of simple composite materials for walls and roofs. Previously, this material had been available to only automobile and airplane construction due to the cost of the product. Fortunately, because of the recent demand for durable buildings in the west more specifically, this simple composite material has been dramatically lowered in price and is now more available to the general public. This material stays in one piece during earthquakes and any other event that may potentially disrupt the building environment. The material is attractive and can actually prevent mold and termite infestation. It is also safe, and highly energy efficient in reducing heating and cooling bills by 1/2 to 2/3 and are also environmentally smart because they reduce the need for steel and wood. In terms of architectural style, the material matches regional expectations and are adequate in fire safety.

Another technology recently created, and still being tested, is CSIP. Cement filled structure panels will reduce constrcution time, cost and overall operating cost in the long run. They are currently being tested for energy efficiency, structural strength, and hurricane/earthquake/natural disaster resistance. If passed, they will be used in multi story buildings to help with structural strength and cost.

Design Website Reviews

www.builderspace.com
I really wasn't impressed by this website at first glance because of how sparse the welcome page was. The background is white with only minimal color and small text. The resource page, however, were impressive as they had numerous industrial briefs. Overall it is a website that I would go to for a specific need, instead of viewing for sheer inspiration.

www.ia-global.com
I was impressed with this website at first glance because of the bright colors and enticing interactive technology found on the site. They also had a very nice portfolio that displayed their work. The design style of this company appeared to be somewhat influenced by Art-Deco because of the clean, geometric lines and intentional locations of color.

www.architectureweek.com
This website was similar to the builderspace site in the way of their usage of color and text. They did have good blogs and a nice amount of information that can be easily located on their site. They have adequate listings for their competition, blogs, directory, events, news, forums, and library.

www.schoedhardt.com
Although this website had a really nice use of color, they only had one example for each of their projects in their portfolio. This added up to only 15 photos for an entire website made specifically for showcasing and enticing potential clients. Also, it seemed that they wrote more about their company and design more than they showed the viewer, which to me is not a very sucessful technique for marketing.

www.brainforest.com
This was the only website, out of the ten that I viewed, that had an option for the viewer to leave feedback. Brain Forest is a graphic design website that appears to be user/people friendly, but they their porfolio pictures that are displayed on the website shuffle too quickly for the viewer to be able to really get an idea of the company's style.

www.jedesigngroup.net
This website had a completely different mood than the others that I visited on my research venture. The colors were very dark and rich and were joined with a somewhat classic yet bohemian style. Although the design style of this company was interesting and unqiue, their portfolio was a bit on the sparse side. They also display a cover of Good Housekeeping that they were in, as if to show their credentials, but they should show other examples than just that.

www.imichaelinteriordesign.com
This website had very nice pictures that displayed their various areas of work and design style. However, their website was really dark and seemed to lack the certain amount of "light" that viewers would be drawn to. Their style appears to have a somewhat asian, 50's, modern style with extensive and various material use.

www.deepblue.com
This company's website was very interactive and fun to view. The company is graphically oriented, so the complete layout of the page was really creative and efficient. Deep Blue designs for various areas needing design work; from transportation and commercial structures to recreation and animation.

www.legacydesign.com
Legacy Design is a company that deals specifically with media design. Their site would be very helpful if I was looking for inspirtation concerning any upcoming media project or if I needed help designing my own website. They were extremely informative, partly because they specialize in creating websites.

www.davidmichaelmiller.com
David Michael Miller works specifically with residential, modern houses. His entire website made it very clear that he deals with correctly designing structures based on the geography and culture of the area that the building will be created. He seems to take in to consideration the regional and geographical limitations that one may be faced with when building a house. His style only varies slighty, as he is very classic with a modern twist at times.

Shading

This week in our drawing class, we learned different methods of shading. Crosshatch, diagonal, random, and smudging are all methods that we learned could enhance our drawings and could highlight the quality of our drawing. I tried to use crosshatching on my egg project and smudging on the other composition.

Final Metamorphosis

In my final project, I really tried to combine equal parts of Heather and Hannah's projects. They were similar to begin with, but in their own unique ways. This wasn't an easy task, however. As Jake had mentioned to us before, the more different two objects are the easier it is to morph them together.

Metamorphosis: Heather and Hannah's Projects

The first photos are of Heather Link's pencil box project. I really loved how she had a designated space for each pencil, so I tried to replicate that same quality in mine. Hannah's memory project was similar in the way that she had specific areas for her individual objects of her project. I made a second pencil box, but similar to the shape of Hannah's memory project's design.

Portrait Project

For my portrait project, I chose to really make it more than just another assignment. I have a lot of doubt in myself when it comes to drawing, and actually all art in general. Jake suggested that I throw my fear out the "window" and just draw. I suddenly realized that not everything I make has to be perfect in my eyes, and that if it comes from me it is still something that no one can replicate (however valuable that may be). For this project, therefore, I made myself draw 25 portraits of myself without looking in the mirror. I wanted to capture how I viewed myself from the inside. On the first half of them, I did not pick my pencil up from the page and forced myself to just keep drawing. Surprisingly, for the final project I chose the 8 that I thought were the worst and chose to display them. In all, this project really made me re-evaluate myself.

Memory Box

My memory box was a representation of a memory that I have of my sister when she was younger. It was the first time that she had completely gotten into a body of water, and she accidentally slipped off of a rock that marked a severe drop off in the pond we were swimming in. I, of course, felt completely responsible because I knew of the rock and of its significance but I failed to inform my sister. Ever since then, I have felt extremely protective over my sister, as if to make up for my lack of attention during the previous situation. My box, therefore, is a representation of my protectiveness for my sister that I have today. The larger box symbolizes me, as there is a smaller box (my sister) inside that cannot go beyond the larger box's limit. The smaller box can move freely within the larger box and can be exposed to those viewing it. However, at a moment's notice the two open sides of the cube can be closed to completely protect the smaller box. This was my favorite project so far.

Zine

In Patrick's 222 class, we have been assigned to draw 50 chairs and place them on note cards for an eventual test at the end of the semester. These "dreaded" cards turned out to be quite enjoyable, so I wanted to study chairs, again, for my zine. Some of these chairs are, in fact, replications of the original models that we were assigned in 222 but others are completely new, radical designs that I enjoyed as well.