Does your environment speak to you?

As a creative, one of the greatest accomplishments is to create something that a person can engulf there whole selves into. That’s what successful environmental design does.

When you walk into a retail store or a coffee shop or a movie theater and not an inch has been left to chance, everything has been gently finessed to say “hey there, welcome to …. (wherever)”. There are many design studios as well as large agencies that have executed environmental design with impeccable taste. One of the most common environmental design we all have seen is that of hospitals. We’ve all been to one, that hospital where you as soon as you walk into the door you feel peace and serenity.

These images are a great example of how much detail goes into environmental design. Everything from signage and way finding to lighting treatments and color.

How cool is this?

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The Thrill of the Experience

One of the coolest things about being a graphic designer is the amount of versatility in our field.

As you can see through this blog, I have an interest in all things art, and graphic design lets me feed that creativity in any way I choose. I equally love designing print work as I do creating a motion piece. This entry is about the wonderful world of experience design. Have you ever been to a retail store and the environment there oozed with the culture of the brand? (we’ll talk more about that next week). Well take that experience and smash it together with super cool visuals, audio and lighting and you’ve got yourself a brand experience you’ll never forget.

In the video following you will see another branch of the graphic design field that includes a little more
math and left brain activity. When you get to this level of cool-ology you are a certified genius (at least in my eyes). Check out this video, I guarantee you’ll love it. 

Here are a few more examples of 3D projection.
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Nokia

ID Systems

Have a seat!

Who doesn't like cool looking furniture?

As an artist, the weirder the better.

Another form of art I love is the art of furniture. I had the pleasure of taking a woodworking class in my sophomore year here at CCS, where I had a better understanding of the craft of furniture making. Our assignment was to design and make a table. It could be any type of table you want, so I chose to make a work desk. I made about 3 mini models, first hand drawn then made of pieces of scrap wood. My final piece was way more complicated than I planned. I had the bright idea of making the two back legs 3 inches taller than the front, which would make resting your arms and writing a little easier. Well, let me tell you, those angles kicked my booty.  But I was happy about the result.

It’s amazing during that semester how much of a relief that class was to me. I was able to step away from my computer for a few hours and work with my hand, get dirty and physically manipulate the details, I loved it. I also mixed and applied my own stain, sand, buffed and clear coated all the pieces. I also made a side shelf to be removable from between the right front and back leg (not shown, got a little too ambitious and couldn't finish it). If time permits I’d love to take more classes and create more cool stuff.

Here are a few images of super cool furniture pieces. 

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Furniture By//  KO+KO Architects

Furniture By//  Natalia Romanova Design
(Chair made of a kitchen sink)

Furniture By//  Felix Guyon

Furniture By// Fajno

Furniture By//  Claudio Scotto 

Movie Magic

Besides designing another passion of mine is film.

As a child, my siblings and I were not able to watch much of what came on TV, so my dad would buy movies that were kid approved... by him. Every Friday night was movie night, we’d pop popcorn and sit in front of the big screen and watch our favorite movies. Even until today, my dad buys any movie we want to see and we still have regular movie nights. Throughout the years I become fascinated with CGI and special effects, I get engulfed in a film and live in that world for the given hour and a half.

Because I am a designer, naturally I am attracted to the typography, color and structure of a film, but I absolutely love the film trailers and title sequences. While working on another project for motion graphics in my Time Based Media II class, I was introduced to the Title Sequence designer, Kyle Cooper. Cooper (in conjunction with other designers) have created the title sequence for many box office hit films such as, The Incredible Hulk, Seven, The Avengers and Dreamcatcher.

I have aspirations that one day, I too will create memorable title sequences and audience attracting film trailers. Thanks dad. Here are some of my favorite film title sequences.

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Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) — Art of the Title

Iron Man 3 (2013) — Art of the Title

Sherlock Holmes (2009) — Art of the Title

Juno (2007) — Art of the Title

Mad Men (2007) — Art of the Title

I, Robot (2004) — Art of the Title

Game Heads

We all have a portion of artistry inside us, don’t you think?

Rather your art of choice is watching movies, reading poetry or playing video games. We are all taking part of someone else’s’ artistic interpretation to convey a message. I for one thoroughly enjoy a great movie, be it romance, drama, sci-fi, horror whatever. As long as it’s a good story, great cinematography and graphics, I’m all in. Now when it comes down to great graphics, the top of my list right now is the series of Marvel comics coming to life in film. Thor, Avengers, Iron Man, X-Men, Wolverine, Spiderman.. come on, who doesn’t like those movies. I just get captivated with the imagery and the thought that someone did that. Some person, another human being like me, sat down and was able to create something so amazing. That is so inspiring to me.

The following video sparks so much imagination every time I watch it. I’m sure it will do the same for you.

Enjoy and comment.