Finals are done.  No more last-minute touch-ups, no more discussion posts.  …for at least four weeks, anyway.

I feel really great about this last term.  I worked really hard to absorb as much of the class content as I could - and not in a wrote-repetition-spit-it-back-out kind of way.  

My instructors were excellent.  Course content was thorough, engaging, and challenging.  And feedback was always helpful, and encouraging.

My portfolio should have several new pieces worthy enough, as a result.  I realized half way through the term that I should really be doing my homework with this in mind.  While that realization didn’t change my level of work, it did change my approach to the assignments.  I tried to make sure that my color choices and design coherence was at a level that could translate well across various situations in which others might see my portfolio.  I still have a lot to learn in terms of how to develop such a body of work, but this term was a step in the right direction.

My upcoming term will be very challenging.  Summer courses are accelerated: fifteen weeks of work in seven and a half.  I’ll be taking two classes instead of three, thank God.  One of those classes, my advisor communicated, is really difficult.  When I asked her why it is difficult, she didn’t have a great answer, just that other students have reported as much.  Who knows what that really means.  I’m gearing up for a challenge, though, just in case. 

I also will be participating in my thesis workshop - a period of guided study geared towards the development of one’s thesis concept and intentions around it.  …I really have no idea about my thesis yet, but it’s exciting to think about putting a lot of effort and intention around one, large-scale project.  I have a feeling, knowing me, that the hardest part will be choosing one idea to commit to and work with for rest of my graduate studies career.  Whew.

Yesterday, my hubs, the babe and I went to Powell’s Books, which, if you haven’t heard of or visited, is really what I’d call one of the great wonders of the world!  :)  It’s a full city block of new and used books, covering essentially every conceivable topic.  And it’s all done in a very Portland-rustic-coffee-drinker-glasses-waring-contemplative-underground-academic kind of way.  Ha.  It’s great and glorious.

In any case, we went there and I already picked up a few of the books I need for next term’s spacial studies class.  I can’t wait!  The books are full of drawing techniques and spacial design theories, layouts and questions. It looks deeelightful.  Enthusiastic, fuzzy camera-phone shots to come!

Probably the best thing about looking ahead is that I could not feel more encouraged that my classes thus far have lead me to this point in my career development.  It’s amazing to feel like I will know how to approach this class, and the others that follow, but that I will also be in a perfect position to be challenged.  …like the other day when I was looking at a designer’s blog I could see that I can do a lot of what she does, already.  And I can see how much I will appreciate the remaining half of my studies I have ahead of me to be able to do what else she does, and everything I have in mind as a designer.  I could not be more grateful for my schooling, and those that help to make it a productive, enjoyable, encouraging experience.  Go AAU!  

Well, with four weeks off, there will certainly be much adventuring around the NW, catching up with friends over home-made gluten-free goodies, or while basking at our favorite sauna spot, drooling over design blogs while my little lad naps, backyard toddler pool parties, trips to the Children’s Museum, and attempts at “sleeping in”…whatever that means when one has an eighteen-month-old’. And, I will, of course, be daydreaming of magical oases such as these:  

(theletteredcottage.net)

(pinterest)

(pinterest)

HAPPY SUMMER!

1) Your toddler’s room is the cleanest spot in the house.  

2) Lunch consists of half an avocado, the dregs of your smoothie from breakfast, and a hand full of those yummy crunchy chocolatey things from Trader Joe’s.  

3) The only reason you know it’s sunny outside is because of the glare on your computer screen.

For my color theory class final, we were asked to, well, play around with a lot of color!

The instructor presented us with two grayscale interior perspectives, and we were to create several experiments and then chose a final color scheme that we found to be most successful based on the program requirements (the project specifications and what the client asks for), Johannes Itten’s color theory (a definitive twentieth century color theorist), and Light Reflective Value (LRV) which is a standardized numerical system that qualifies the amount of light a certain color and/or surface material will reflect.

Program requirements are of course, highly important.  Gotta give the client what they want!  And, as a designer, one must make sure the intended plans will genuinely serve the space and the people using it aesthetically and functionally.  

Itten’s elaboration on the behaviors and relationships of hues is tremendous.  The way he writes could effectively communicate color to a blind person.  I couldn’t believe how few images of color actually accompany his writing.  At first I was discouraged.  But as I actually started reading, I realized that Itten’s style of communication, and I think, especially, his intimate knowledge of color, allowed for a crystaline representation of color theory through literal language.  The few, carefully placed diagrams and colors wheels were quite necessary, but only at specific intervals.   

In any case, Itten talks about seven points of contrast between colors.  He identifies things like the type of contrast that results from the combination of pure hues, as well as how carefully moderated contrast can create depth in a space not otherwise accessible.  He articulated the process by which colors influence one another, chameleon like, depending on what colors are neighbors at the moment.  Itten also argued that color is so dynamic and influential in a space that it can - should - be used as a primary design element in such a way that the color choses its place in the room, rather than certain walls, floors and furniture taking on various hues after the fact.

All of these theories, and others not mentioned here, of course, relate to how a designer uses color within a space.  It is at these deeper levels of thought that the color within a given space can begin to bring life to users, and the room itself.  Like I said: tremendous. And, yes, sometimes rather esoteric.  

Lastly, LRV is something that may seem a bit tangential or over-thought.  In fact, choosing colors that reflect light appropriately to the space is an ergonomic and sustainability related consideration.  The color in a space that does not reflect enough light, contributing to a room that is too dim, will strain the eyes of users, thus require more artificial lighting, and become a burden to the owner’s pocketbook and the planet’s resources.  Similarly, a room that is too bright and reflects back much of the bright, south-facing light entering the room, for example, will cause discomfort for users, and further renovations will likely be needed - like, the installation of additional blinds, or a complete re-do of the interior colors and surfaces.  For most families and businesses, the initial renovation or build is enough of a strain on financial resources to have errors in bad lighting come along.  

Within all of these elements lay our challenge, we students of interior design color theory.  Truth be told, I loved this assignment; responding to logistical limitations, while creating a beautiful, functional space, is exactly what I love about design.

Anyway.  On with it!

We were to come up with several color options for a “Sunset Hotel”, and a “Family Cottage.”  Here they are!

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I am done with Final number 2 (of 3)!!! Pics will come later. Just have to submit a quick sketch within the next 45 minutes. ;)

Then I’m going to go get my baby from his bed, and snuggle him and his dada in ours. They have been so patient and encouraging! I love my boys. ♥

P.S. I found the image I produced for my weekly sketch to be quite indicative of “finals week.”  Ha.