Return on Investment

Design does it all.

Opening night was a huge success…everyone’s hard work really paid off.

Thank you to the truly amazing people who worked on the show day in and day out.  You’ve really made a name for UArts design school.

Thank you to the folks at Crane Arts for the amazing exhibition space.  It is a gem of Philadelphia.

Thank you to the sponsors and donation for the show:

• Sues Produce
• Iovine Brothers
• Metropolitan Bakery
• Pabst Blue Ribbon
• Dogfish Head
• Vista Print
• Lets Go Green
• Cousins Supermarket
• ACME Market
• ShopRite
• Wegmans

And most of all thank you to everyone who took some time out to come to the show.  We really hope you enjoyed the night.

Photos will come soon. stay tuned!!

aaand we’re in.stalling

Pre-fab

Almost all elements going into the final show are fabricated at our school’s fabrication lab.  The floor tracks are cnc’d, the pine planks are cut to size on the table saw, and the lasercutter was used to cut out letter graphics and raster project descriptions into wood placards.

But we did outsource the PR posters, screen printed T-shirts, and Post-It notes that say  “Design______”

oh, and that ^ is going to be a touchscreen!

Name Drop

Senior ID student Thomas Reynolds working on Rhino3D laying out the tracks to be cnc’d.

Senior ID student Wesley Thomas working on a rendering for the final look of the 1×3 pine plank structure

Here’s a look at what our graphics team have been working on.  They’ve delegated primary red as the spot color for the show.  They sneaked in some wayfinding graphics with red gaft tape that runs up, down and across the 1×3 beams that then translate into indicative verbs into which the projects are categorized.  Elegant and suggestive while also giving projects a chance to shine on their own.

and in the grey room, that is the entrance into the icebox, will be larger than life signage  and most importantly, the description of the show and meaning of design in it action verb form.  Here’s how the graphics teams are testing out scale:

btw, do you have your best shoes and shirts picked out for the show?

T minus 4 days

Official Site and Promo Videos

Hi again.  Just wanted to post the finalized official site for the exhibition at http://dsnx.uarts.edu/ .  A preview of some projects are up there as are some new promo videos we’ve shot 😀  Check them out:

Lasers….in cutting and printing

Hey folks, just got some exciting products back from the lasercutters and printers!!!

Firstoff, we have the rastered woodblocks of each project’s description. what a beauty. 

Up next are the uber cute “design _______” post its!   They’re intended for attendees of the final show.  There will be a wall for everyone to fill in their verb on the post its and adhere them to the wall.  Super exciting guys.

Which verb will you write?

executive decisions

Visions, re-visions, revised revisions….well folks, it’s back to wood; 1×3 lumber.  After experimenting with the cardboard, it was decided wood has a better overall aesthetic.

Before: felt like a jail.

Another pass at the 1×3:

There’s a curved path along the ground for the a pair of 1x3s to line up against, creating a dynamic swooping path.

And thinking about how to include graphic wayfinding:

Being that design in it’s strongest form is a verb, the featured design projects are organized within a list of 10 verbs: restores, communicates, challenges, enlightens, entertains, connects, innovates, advocates, empowers, and clarifies.

To clearly represent each verb and prevent confusion, it’s best to keep the projects grouped by verb.

T minus 9 days left.

Material Setback!!!

Models may work physically/aesthetically in 1:16 scale or look amazing and clean rendered on a computer screen, but so many unforeseen issues occur once a structure is constructed in full scale. Some unforeseen issues the fabrication team dealt with yesterday included low aesthetic quality of material, lack of structural integrity and a large amount of set up and take down time that came along with their design. A final decision came about last night around 8:30pm to switch the final material from pine wood planks to good ‘ol cardboard. This new material will give the fabrication team the advantage of wall space and more natural structure.

Behind the Scenes!

Yesterday was a busy day for everyone! Material orders were placed, groups met and discussed timelines, concepts were redrawn, and there was lots of interaction between project teams. Pretty much everything that you would expect from a collaborative design school.