Concept Development

Concept Development is one of the most important phases of the design process. For the Pufferbelly Project, my inspirational object is the Northern Pacific Railway logo. Throughout the concept development process, I explored the elements of line, strength, contrast, and travel. All of these words are derived from the logo and the concept of the train station and the train tracks themselves. With these elements and principles of design, I created my parti sketch (top middle) which then was rotated and flipped multiple times to create a textile pattern (top right). Using the parti as inspiration, I created a 3D model to represent strength with the use of wood as the material, red and black to demonstrate contrast and resemble the logo, and line and the concept of travel with the demonstration of straight lines and curved lines. Throughout this process I learned how to adapt to more abstract thoughts and objects and create a successful parti and model that can be incorporated throughout the actual design. The concept development process is challenging to me but I can tell I have improved by my use of using an abstract logo and abstracting it more and taking a different pathway using straight, structural lines which are different than the round, circle logo.

Habitat For Humanity

This project for Habitat for Humanity started with interviewing the builders of Habitat and studying typical Habitat houses, to then create a home for a family of five that would be ADA accessible on the first floor. With Habitat as a typical small house, it was a challenge to fit all of the needs within the square footage while also including the specifications for ADA accessibility throughout the first floor. As a team, we created a floor plan, chose materials that fit Habitat's criteria, built a model, created and rendered perspectives to communicate our ideas, and then designed a poster to fully execute and display our design. This project taught me how to design within certain parameters such as small square footage, meeting criteria, and working with a team in terms of collaborating ideas, staying flexible, and completing all of the tasks. This project also gave insight into working quickly with a team, and having to stay on top of things in order to get things. It progressed my thinking as a designer and challenged me to think and design quickly which will benefit me in the long run throughout my career.