zmvdes

[zmvdes]

Design History + My Team

My reflection about this class and this wonderful team I am in

Design history was such a nice learning experience for me.

We get to do our tasks first-hand, and through our homeworks, team work, and constructive criticism from our professor Mr. Rino Datuin, I personally feel like I was able to learn a lot and greatly improve my approach to design, and also in working in teams.

Personally, I don't really enjoy working in groups. From my former experience, groups just don't really work out for me. I felt like I was way better off alone. However, and I am being 100% honest, I would enjoy working with this team again. They are genuinely the nicest set of people I've worked with. Not only that, they are all skilled and really good at doing their responsibilities. Being with them, I've really improved as well, and learned to be unafraid of going above and beyond for results that are born from extensive research and openness to constructive criticism. With them, I learned discipline in my studies.

In this class, I learned how important it is to have good research and a really good knowledge on what we are going to do. I learned that our first attempts aren't always going to be great, and that it is important to hear from outside perspectives in regards to our designs.

I am very grateful to have this class, and also to have such a delightful team to work with. Everything that I've learned here will be applied in my days moving forward.

[zmvdes]

SPACE MAKEOVER: Interior Renovation

For our final plate, we were tasked to renovate and redesign an interior space. I don't exactly have my own interior space here at home; the closest to a personal space I have in my home is a spot in the living room. This space is what I have decided to renovate a bit.

In this plate, we were tasked to include our lamp in the interior space that we are redesigning/renovating.

I take inspiration from interiors that focus on function.

Before renovating

Clearly a mess... Not really good as a living room.

Here's a moodboard, to kind of give me a better idea of what I want.

I want the living room to have a cozy, warm feel. I wanted to keep the mid-century modern vibe, but didn't want to sacrifice the homely, cozy feel. So, I made sure that my renovation would have be intuitive while still having some personal clutter/elements.

After renovating

(i swear. the room has a warm light, it's just not obvious in the pictures)

In this renovation, I thought mostly of function and comfort, then its looks.

I placed the lamp on the end table next to the sofa. I could've placed it on the coffee table, but the design of the lamp would overpower the center. It also is not a good spot for the light— its current place has a much more efficient, less overpowering lamp light. It's also placed there because there is an placed on top of the table. This way, if the lamp were to be charged, the charger won't obstruct any vacant area.

The other items placed on the same table as the lamp are simple green candles and one pale yellow candle. That area is clearly a source of a lot of light. But these are placed mostly for aesthetic rather than function. Like I mentioned, I didn't want to sacrifice the homely vibe, so the very subtle clutter of the lamps add a more personal touch to the design. The candles are old, which add to the personality— it shows that some furniture are already old, but well kept. Aside from the candles, I also placed a small Christmas decoration because I wanted my interior to show some festivity!

As for the coffee table, the center piece is a Christmas-tree shaped glass container which has candies inside. Before renovating, this was placed on the end table; it wasn't all that accessible and obvious. By putting it as the center piece on the coffee table, the candies would be more noticeable by people and easier to access. Another item on the coffee table is a white candle with a gold accent. If lit, the candle emits a warm, subtle light. Again, not an overpowering light. Just a light that is enough for ambience. The small homemade Christmas tree (which I actually made for a class last year!) is there for, again, festivity.

I've placed a cover on the seat of the sofa for two reasons: for the actual sofa to avoid getting dirty (it's light beige. the dirtiness would be easy to see), and for contrast. The plain beige sofa has the same values as the floor to an extent, so to break the monochromatic colour scheme, I put a dark brown cover on the seat. I also put three pillows that are dominantly beige. The two striped pillows are similar to the curtains, since the curtains have stripes as well. Besides the stripes, the two striped pillows actually contain small lines that are colour blue. Again to break the monochrome, I put a solid blue pillow there. It matches the blue diamond-shaped tiles on the floor. It also adds a small pop of colour, just like the small Christmas tree on the table.

Overall, my temporary redesign (temporary, because I really need this as my workspace) has a more warm, cozy feeling. It also has festivity, which gives personality to the space. For my family's Christmas party, I'll actually be turning this space into exactly how I renovated it.

[zmvdes]

LAMP PROTOTYPE: Table Lamp

I've created a prototype of the lamp I sketched, which is shown in my previous blog. It's meant to be a lamp that fits Mid-Century Modern design. To make this, I used an old lamp of mine that we don't use.

The Inspiriation

The lamp is inspired by "Mid-Century Modern" (MCM) designs. The term "Mid-Century Modern" is coined by Cara Greenberg, a journalist. Mid-Century Modern design refers to a prominent style in homes from 1945-1969. It is heavily influenced by Scandinavian designs, which are more of a function over form type of design. Designs were simple and focused on function.

One of the popular designers for MCM designs is George Nelson. He is known for making furniture in eccentric shapes, and also in simple, minimalist, functional ways. He was active during 1936–1986.

The Process

I first covered the areas that shouldn't be hit by the spray paint, such as the touch sensor, the light, and the charging jack. For this, I used masking tape.

Next, I sanded the lamp a little bit in order to make it less slippery and plastic-y. I then spray painted the lamp with mahogany paint. I did 3 coats of it, and let it dry for 2 hours. I spray painted outside for ventilation.

Initially, I used wood stickers and wood paper in order to give the effect of a wooden lamp. However, it did not turn out too well; the original colour of the lamp was peaking through the gaps, and it did not look sleek enough. So, I spray painted instead. As you can see, it looks more sleek.

After that, I rolled an ivory-coloured paper (200 gsm) into a thick cylindrical shape, and secured its shape by taping its ends from the inside. I then attached it to the top of the lamp using tape again.

This is the end result:

Before redesigning this lamp, its light was a cool white. Personally, not really an ideal type of lighting for my home, and not really the best ambient light. After redesigning it, because of the ivory coloured paper, the light has a warmer tone to it.

Now, I have a lamp that fits the interior of my home.

Stay tuned for my next blog, wherein I redesign an interior space and put this lamp in it! :D

[zmvdes]

LAMP DESIGN: Mid-Century Modern Lamp (sketch)

For this classwork, we were tasked to create a lamp prototype. This time, we didn't have to go with the theme of our team, so no need to do a 60s design lamp. The lamp has to go with the theme of our interior renovation project, and since my home looks sort of like mid-century modern style, I'm making a lamp that fits that style.

I've decided to redesign one of our lamps that aren't being used. It's a minimalist, plain white lamp.

I checked out a few lamps from mid-century modern style, and they look very simple. Some of them look very slightly intricate. What's noticeable about them is that they are, in essence, minimalist but somewhat elegant or modern.

I created a small moodboard mid-century modern interiors:

Upon searching up mid-century modern designs, I noticed that they evolve over time. Some look more modern and geometric, some look retro yet modern. For my design, I wanted to keep the mid-century modern style, but make it a little more modern and geometric.

This is a rough sketch, just to give me an idea of what I want the lamp to look like.

While I personally love the richness in colour of teak wood, I've decided to go with oak wood. I will be replicating the oak wood using stickers of wood. For the lampshade, I'll be using a bottle with cream-coloured paper, preferably japanese paper.

I'll be uploading a blog of my process of making this! :)

[zmvdes]

FASHION: Swinging 60s Headdress

For our second classwork, we were tasked to create a fashion design that goes with the team's theme. We could choose between making a costume design, casual wear, formal wear, fashion accessories design, or headgear design. For this, I decided to go for a headgear design. My team and I have chosen to go for the vibe of the Swinging 60s.

Before my team and I started designing, we first decided on what would be a good theme we could design upon. We at first thought of Bohemian, Hippie, or 60s space age fashion, but eventually decided upon the Swinging 60s. For clarity and good visualization on what fashion designs looked like during the Swinging 60s, a moodboard was created.

I did a lot of research before making my headdress design. With my research, I've designed a very simple spring hat.

I combined two of the common hat styles from the 60's, cossack and bumper. I incorporated a two colours popular in the 60s. It's looks quite dated, and also very plain. While plain is not necessarily bad, the hat could have more personality into it. Since my group and I are going for Swinging 60s, which is a movement driven by the youth, this initial design is a little too traditional and conservative for its time. That said, with my professor's constructive criticism, I added more fun elements to the design.

I've added flowers, as flower hats were popular in the 60s. They also are representative of the flower power movement. Next, I added a common pattern to the top area of the hat. This pattern is commonly found in 60s dresses. Last, I added a hanging ribbon, to finish off the pink ribbon on the hat, and also to give it a little bit more of an accent. Clearly, these additions have made the design more fun and youthful.

Sir Rino wanted us to add some Filipino elements to our design. The Filipino elements had to be modern, though. This has lead to the final design.

I've added modern, 2010s Philippine peso bills, as well as two modern Filipino coins (5php and 20php). The Philippine bills add to the colours of the design, and goes well with the theme despite its modernity. The coins do not only add shine to the design, but also add more context to modern Philippine money, especially with the addition of the 20 peso coin.

[zmvdes]

VISCOM: Hippie-inspired Webpage

We were tasked to create UI/UX design. As I mentioned in my introductory blog, the design had to have the essence of the 60s.

if the images appear to have low quality, i suggest that you click on the images for better quality :>

Before my team and I started creating designs, we researched the key elements of designs from the 60s, as well as why those elements were a trend in the 60s. Besides creating a sheet for our research, we have made a moodboard for it.

Most of my teammates have created a webpage design, including me.

Here is my initial web design:

The idea was that the website is to be used by musical event organizers. Its target audience are enthusiasts of 60s music, particularly the ones that were popular among hippies.

I made sure that the colour palette and the fonts used are accurate to the moodboard that my team and I have created.

The landing page and the "about" page is meant to have that cluttered, maximalist, psychedelic hippie design, hence the "presentation-like" design.

What were the things that needed to be revised in the initial design? I think it's obvious. The pages did not really look like functional webpages. They don't look user friendly, and mostly look like presentations. They also lack a navigation bar, which is a very important thing for websites. Our professor also mentioned that it must be less artsy, and more effective as a webpage. He also told us to make the text on the webpages more generic; that they should show what the particular page is meant for.

At first, I thought that it would be impossible to minimalize my design while still making it look like a 60s design. After all, hippie graphics tend to be very artsy and cluttered.

But of course, I could improve. That is the art of revisions and receiving constructive criticism, and the power of thorough research. Here is my final design:

I added a consistent navigation bar to all pages. I've simplified the landing page and the "about us" page as well. I've changed some of the texts (notably in the "shows" page) as a placeholder that shows what that page is meant to be used for. I've also made the colours more less saturated— this is so that users would not have their eyes strained from bright, saturated colours. Evidently, the revised design looks much more like an effective, functional webpage, while still keeping the 60s theme.

From here, I learned how important it is to hear constructive criticism, as revisions with the criticism in mind can and will make the initial design much better !

[zmvdes]

Before I start showing my works...

meet my team!

This is REPUBLIKHA. We are students from Miriam College taking up the course Design History, with our professor being Mr. Rino Datuin. The one on the far right is me (Zeanne Viray)!

Our main theme for our designs throughout this course is the 60s. Together, we have researched about different aspects of designs from the 60s. We always make sure that our research is as accurate as possible, and that our designs have the essence of the 60s.

Check out my other teammate's blogs!

Andrea | Ann | Claire | Bea