Final Book

Today we had our final critique of the year and wrapped our basic design study class. We each turned in our completed books and took a lap around to see what everyone else did with theirs. Overall, I am extremely happy with the way mine turned out. It looks very clean-cut and I really enjoy the color scheme. It's sad to see this year come to a close, but I love to see how much I've truly grown as a designer this past year alone.

Front Cover

Back Cover

My Spreads

Biography Page & Final Spreads

Today I finally finished the biography page so that I can print out all the sheets now and begin to put together the book. Overall I like it and how it goes along with the design of my cover and table of contents. A picture is posted below. Along with it are all of the final spreads for the book!

Lynne's Spreads

My Spreads

Taylor's Spreads

Anna's Spreads

Ellie's Spreads

Finalizing Spread

Today in class, our main goal was to finalize our spread to be able to give to our partners for the final book. It's due in a mere week so it's good that we're getting to done now so we can start producing the actual book. Below is a picture of my final sheet that will be printed out (bleed marks included). Overall, I am very happy with it.

Three Covers

We were instructed to bring in three potential covers for our book for today's class. I struggled a little with the title, but I actually like where it is heading. I have posted pictures of my examples below. I think I am going to continue you on with the bottom one, as well as create a title page and table of contents that flows with it more.

Title Page & Table of Contents

For today's class, we were to create three different examples of a title page and table of contents. I am still unsure of the title, but this is what I was able to come up with. I still don't know which is my favorite, seeing as it will most likely depend on the cover. In addition, I might make the font smaller.

Binding Demonstration Part 1

Today in class, Linda demonstrated how to bind a book while we tried it out on our own. It was a rather simple process which we will be using for our final book as well. The only supplies it's really made of is 12 pages folded in half, 2 pieces of matboard, and a strip of Mulberry paper. We will be finishing up the demonstration on Tuesday, but until then we have to go to Jayhawk Ink to get 1/4" trimmed off of each side to ensure even edges. Overall, it was an interesting thing to learn how to do.

Three Spreads

For today, we had to start to create our spreads for our final book. We were to come up with three different ideas, each with two sets of facing pages. For mine, my first spread is my favorite. I think I just need to make a few changes and I'll be very happy with it Pictures are posted below of my three different spreads:

Text Component

For today's class we had to write a 400-word text component over our designer. Posted below is mine:

From the black leather pants to the jeweled cross necklace, Peter Marino is undoubtedly a devoted biker. And the serpent tattoo and mohawk only add to this unique style of his. However, what you wouldn’t expect from this buff being is the work he creates when away from his bike. While his clothing isn’t quite considered  ‘high-end’, the places he designs for are quite contrary. In fact, he has been referred to as the “Leather Daddy of Luxury” seeing as he has designed for everyone who’s anyone, including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Dior, just to name a few. 

Born in Manhattan and raised in North Queens, Peter grew up in a working class family. He went on to Cornell University for Architecture and graduated 1971. His inspiration had always been Andy Warhol, which made it ironic that his first project was to design none other than Andy Warhol’s townhouse, whom he had met through another young architect. From there Warhol became his mentor until he unfortunately died in 1987. Marino did many other residential places from there on out, but it wasn’t until 1985 when Barneys New York hired him that he decided to make the transfer from residential to retail. From there, his business took off, designing everywhere from Donna Karan to Valentino. They grew from a 15-man firm to a now 140-man firm.

While not Marino’s personal words, this quote has been said to accentuate his style; “I want to create the illusion—and the reality—of permanence”. Marino truly believes in the integration of both architecture and interiors, which you can see through the clean nature of both of these. What sets him apart from all of the other designers is that he creates the full package – inside, outside, and everything in between. In addition, he has perfected the design to get customers through all the leather and lipstick and straight to the register, while still maintaining separate branding for each of the separate designers.

Peter Marino is definitely one to push limits, as one must to make it in this industry. The 62-year-old won an AIA Institute Honor Award in 2007 for his semi-transparent Louis Vuitton boutique in Hong Kong. He is now doing much more work in the Middle East, where an influx of money and progressive aesthetics have allowed his designs to reach new heights and shapes.

“I don’t work like other architects, so why should I look like them?”

                                                                                          -Peter Marino

Peter Marino

For today's class period, we had to put together a presentation for the designer that we had chosen. Considering there were no interior designers on the list, Tim introduced me to Peter Marino and I found him to be extremely interesting. While he has this biker, tough guy look, he designs the most elegant, classy stores for tops designers. I was just mesmerized looking through his different store designs. Added below several pictures that really show his personalized touch. I hope you all find it as interesting and appealing as I do.

Peter Marino 

Louis Vuitton Singapore

Louis Vuitton New Bond Street

Louis Vuitton Paris 

Chanel Beverly Hills

Louis Vuitton Rome

Ermenegildo Zegna Milan

Final Vessel

Today was the day our final vessel was due. I had to come in early with some minor things to finish, and in the end it turned out basically how I had planned. I already discussed my minor changes along the way, but it all worked out in the end. Posted below are some pictures of my finished product. I got pretty positive critique about the secret compartment, but I wish I had made it just a little larger.

Vessel Progress

Since I've been in the shop the past couple days I thought it would be fitting for me to post pictures of the progress. It's been a tedious process, but it's definitely coming along nicely. I have hit some bumps in the road but they've all been fixed and dealt with.

Modified Prototype

Since I decided to modify my box slightly to make it more visually appealing, I needed to make a modified model in order the the woodshop workers to understand my visual. It's going to be pretty small box, yet I think it fits my object well.

First Prototype

For today, we were instructed to bring in a prototype of the direction we want to go with our project. For mine, I decided to still go with the secret compartment idea with four steps to get to it. My prototype is a canister sort with a flower on top (representative of our flower, the pink carnation). When opened, it appears as though it is empty, but the top is enclosed. You then must twist the flower which uncovers a compartment, containing yet another canister which then opens and reveals the pin. I like this idea a lot and for right now just need to figure out how to engage the swivel so that turning the flower can open the compartment. In addition, I might want to make the shape more organic. And I need to figure out all of my dimensions so that I can take it to the woodshop next class. Overall, I'm excited about my design. Pictures of my prototype are posted below:

Vessel Progression

For today's class, we were instructed to choose just one object to work with and come up with three different designs for it's vessel. I chose to go with my sorority pin due to the deep background that can really be used towards the design. Due to the secret rituals, I definitely want to make it a secret compartment that holds the pin. In addition, since there are four founders I want there to be four steps to eventually get to the pin. One of the ideas I received in class was to make it like those Russian figures where you open up the doll to find a smaller one inside, and so on. For next class we are supposed to zone in on one idea and create a model of that, so I will have some brainstorming to do in these next few days. Below are my drawings of the three vessels I thought of, along with some statements of the vessel design.

Three Initial Objects

The initial objects I decided to work with to create a vessel for were my class ring, my sorority crest, and credit cards. I don't know if I'm really a fan of any of these, but I really like the idea of creating a secret spot for my sorority crest to represent all of the secret rituals that it entails. We were instructed to make 5 sketches of each item, which I included below: