Bertha and Beatrix

I apologize for the lack of posting this week. A mixture of not having internet in the apartment (which is a whole story in and of itself) and pouring EVERY EXTRA MINUTE into my internship journal has left me absolutely no time for myself. My closet is also suffering a bit, with the monstrous pile of clothes inhabiting one of its corners. Buuut, I'm making up for it with pretty pretty pictures of what I've been doing this week.

Firstly, I moved into Studio! I'm loving the digs. And so is Bertha (my monitor) and Beatrix A. Macbook.



Secondly, the internship journal is well under way. In a previous post I mentioned my idea of writing a book entitled "Things They'll Never Teach You in Design School." Well, I'm going through with it. I spoke to my "professor" (I put quotes because Vicky's just grading our journals and posters), and she seemed very enthused about the idea. Here are a couple sample pages and the cover of the book:

[Note: The text is just filler text, taken from the journal's criteria sheet and is the same on each page.]



The book is 7"x7". The cover is a wrap-around image and will be changing before print. I will add redlines onto it, handwritten in red ink of course. The title will also be handwritten, but will be in the same font and size. I haven't decided if I want to scan the final cover into my computer or take a picture of it, with the red pen resting on the sheet. It would be neat to have the pen on it, so that it looks like you're looking down at a desk when you view the cover. I may test both options, post both the pictures and get a vote.







And now, furniture design studio. I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED for this year's furniture studios. I've been sketching like crazy, and yesterday I finally bought some model-making materials and went to town.

This semester, I want to work mainly with wood and upholstery/fabrics. I also want a simple, classic look. I've taken a lot of my inspiration from Hans Wegner and Danish mid-century modern design. This fact alone has gained special interest from Rod, who I will ask to be my major mentor for next semester's furniture capstone. He not only specializes in chair design, but he is the resident genius on upholstery and is a HUGE fan of Wegner.

For this studio, we are allowed to design either a casegood (TV stand, coffee table, night stand, etc.) or a chair. I'm keen on the chair idea. And we only need to create one piece. Of course, I'm wanting to make about three or four. I may have to settle with making two or three of the same piece with minor differences, such as materials, finish, or high/low/no back.

Here are two initial studies. The first is a stool. the main idea is the separating of the base legs from the seat, creating a simple, flush look, but with about an inch-long gap. You'd have to look under the seat to figure out the structure. Right now, I know it wouldn't be structurally sound, and there are ideas in the works on how to fix that, possibly with steel.

The fabric is woven straps, stretched and mounted.







Next is simply a study on proportion. The actual look of the chair is a bit "hospital waiting room" for me, and with one bad choice in upholstery, could look hideous. This model is more of a statement on how I want my final piece to be detailed. I like the flush-ness in the transition from upholstery to wood. The angles are simple and attention to human proportion is important. It doesn't really deal with joinery at all (because the pieces are too small to detail that well), so it's not a "true" miniature, but it's definitely got the aesthetic down.







So that's what I've been wasting my time on this week. I would love to build other pieces this semester, and I've got some ideas I've been kicking around, including a modern head board that integrates hinged lighting. Sketches posted when I make them.

Now, it's time to ask my peoples for a favor. I'm taking a product design studio, and we've been given free reign to design ANY KIND OF PRODUCT WE CAN IMAGINE. Everything from egg beaters to jet plane interiors. I've been doing some research in the library, trying to brainstorm a bit, but I need some input. If any of you have any ideas whatsoever, vague or specific, I want to hear them. I'd like to get as many ideas as possible down on paper and then start narrowing my scope.

These next few weeks pretty much determine how my last year at KSU will go, so it's been a bit stressful the past couple of days. As soon as I have current/future projects worked out, I'll be able to settle into the groove a bit and start using those wonderful time management skills that I've spent the last 8 months honing. I'm still feeling a little out of place back at school, like I'm a "continuing education" folk, but I'm sure I'll feel right at home in no time.

Freelance

It has been a hectic week, full of visiting friends and family, packing, driving, and unpacking again. The last two days taking the brunt of it. On Thursday, my peeps at PGAV and elsewhere got together to give me one last hurrah. On the way, I managed to snag a highly dangerous but completely worth it shot of a rainbow. (It's in the lower, center portion of the picture.)



And since the delinquency gave me a rush, I went ahead and took a couple snapshots on the way to Manhattan.

First, the beautiful sky:



Then, the beautiful rolling hills:



Then, of course, a panorama!



I'm sad to have left St. Louis so soon after getting back, but I'm excited for the upcoming semester. There's so much that I want to do, I'm debating on whether to keep my job at P-Sub this year. I've been commissioned to make three chairs for Architecture's plot club, in the style of a previous design of mine:



I would be given the steel frames and tasked with sewing the leather seat and back. They would be connected via zipper, as in the picture above. The perk? I'd get PAID! My first freelance gig! And if I actually get the pay that I'm asking for, it would equal about two months' worth of P-Sub paychecks. All for about a week or two's worth of work. And I would like that very much. If I could manage that for the entire year, I would have no problem saying goodbye to P-Sub. But I'm pretty sure this is a one-time opportunity. Unless the Interior Architecture Plot Club gets all jealous and wants some too.

Sworn Enemies

Tuesday was my first day behind the wheel in about two months. I was kind of nervous–I was afraid that my mind would just sort of wander off like it would if I were on the bus, and I'd just run off the road and crash into a light pole. Luckily, I did not. I guess it's sort of like riding a bike. But while I was out and about, I pulled up to a left turn behind my family's sworn enemies... the Streibs!



I feel a prank call coming on.

Photo Shoot

After our final critique, we were taken separately into an adjoining room with our chairs, and were treated to a professional photo shoot. Here are my pictures:

Day 9: Stockholm to Copenhagen

(Finally, I've added the last day from our Scandinavia trip!)

Friday, July 18th, 2008

The last day was fairly short, and much was spent in the bus sleeping, but it was just about the most that we could do because it had been a very long week. Morning, however, started on the boat, around 3:30 in the morning:









It was just gorgeous! Not many people were outside for it, probably about 4 other people from our trip, but Flemming came out to enjoy it with us.

Then we headed for our final buffet breakfast, seated at the front of the boat.

After packing our stuff up and arriving at the dock, everyone headed off the boat and to our bus, to finally get some sleep as we drove to our first stop, IKEA!



Almhult is the home of IKEA, and I expected everything to make up some sort of IKEAland, which it actually did. Almost every street name involved IKEA in some way and the many many warehouses that make it up were dispersed throughout the town.

The first warehouse we toured was the Pattern Shop, a building where the latest textiles and furniture are born. It take about 2-4 years from concept to release to make a new piece, but if you think that doesn't involve much work, think again. They produce about 1600-1700 prototypes a year! And that is made possible because of computers and their state-of-the-art prototyping machine. And they only have 13 people in the shop during their open season (they take the whole season of summer off).

New fabrics, after being designed on the computer, are printed out on a canvas plotter so that designers can get an accurate idea of what the final product will look like. I promptly put one of those on my Christmas list.

IKEA has only 12 in house designers. Most of their products come from their 70 hired freelance designers. This information we got from one of their in-house designers, who took us through the IKEA Museum, a large permanent exhibit showcasing their most popular and innovative pieces of furniture over the years. One thing I learned is that the company actually got its start selling pencils, not furniture. And from that, it grew to be the powerhouse of design that it is today.

The designer that we talked to told us what the rough design process is at IKEA when they've decided to create a new piece.

"To get an idea of what needs to be designed, we look at the product matrix–what exists, what can be combined, and what can be gotten rid of."

"Sometimes they (the project managers) tell us exactly the criteria for a new piece, like that they want a rocking chair made of wood and wicker, that folds up. But sometimes there is very little criteria and we can experiment with something new."

It was really neat to get to talk to a designer about his own process as well as IKEA's. I definitely could have spent all day there, picking his brain about the profession.

But it was time to move on, so we got back on the bus and took a nice long sleep while driving towards lunch, a quick stop at a highway-side cafeteria. Then it was back to driving across Sweden and ending the day, driving across the bridge that connects Denmark with Sweden, finally entering Copenhagen.

Overall, it was a very exciting and educational trip, a wonderful supplement to my study abroad experience!

Final Day in Copenhagen

Today could not have been a more beautiful day. I'm happy to say that my final full day in Copenhagen was well spent.

I woke up outrageously early. Like 6AM early. And not on purpose or to an alarm clock. I think my body just new it was my last day in Copenhagen and wanted me up and out of bed for it. So I spent my first hour awake writing a bunch of post cards. Then I leisurely got ready and headed to the S-Train.



I got to Kobenhavn station about 15 minutes before the Post Office opened at 10, so I strolled around a bit. I went into one of the Kwik-E-Mart type places and saw, to my surprise, a Mountain Dew!



I snatched one up, along with a scrumptious looking Danish, and went to eat my breakfast while waiting for the P.O. to open. The Mountain Dew, oddly enough, was probably the worst part of my day. It tasted horrible! Either 4 weeks without one has built up some sort of Mountain Dew aversion (god forbid!), or it's made differently over here. I could tell it wasn't the American packaged kind like my Stockholm beverage of goodness was. It tasted like Sprite mixed with 409. Or what I imagine Sprite and 409 to taste like. Either way, gross.

Then I headed to the Town Hall, to buy my last family souvenir, a "I (bike) CPH" shirt for my dad. Apparently, they are only sold in this one location. That's it. Nowhere else, not even online, can you find this shirt. And, to make it even more peculiar, they keep them in a locked cabinet, guarded by security! I almost felt like getting myself one just because of the rarity.

After that, I thought I would take a stroll along Stroget, the shopping district that runs through the center of Copenhagen.





About midway through, I popped into a bookstore and found the English section, all three shelves of it, and found an interesting book:



A Short History of Everything by Bill Bryson. Here's the summary from the back of the book:

"Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveler, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization––how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, revealing the world in a way most of us have never seen it before."

The voice Bryson uses is very humorous, and you sort of absorb his intense interest in not just the facts, but how scientists made their discoveries. It's going to make for a very educational flight home. I made it a good 30 pages in during lunch at "Sunset Boulevard":



Also, during lunch, I accidentally set my camera to the Movie option and took a short movie. After figuring this out and then watching my inadvertent movie, I found the quality to be actually quite amazing. That paired with a 4-gig memory card, allowed me to take the following movie, as I walked from where I had lunch to the nearby Norreport station. The movie is 4 minutes long, so it may get kind of boring, but there's a good part in there where I pass by a street musician and his music provides a nice soundtrack. And I apologize for my apparent "big foot" walking. It's hard to keep the camera steady as I'm holding it at my waist. Anyway, enjoy!



After the train ride home, I headed out again to the Rodovre shopping center, the closest thing to a mall that I've seen here, and did some shopping for myself, as I realized today that I hadn't gotten myself anything to remember Copenhagen by. Other than hundreds of pictures and a chair, of course.

The Tivoli

I definitely underestimated the awesomeness that was today. After figuring out that we didn't need to do anything in order to ship our chairs, I ran into Danielle, who told me she was going to the Tivoli today, and she asked if I wanted to come with. Of course! I was disappointed that I had missed it last Friday, but it was raining all day and most of the rides had shut down because of it. But today was a perfect day and we took full advantage. They wouldn't allow me to take my monstrous camera onto any of the rides, but I found some good footage on YouTube.

The first ride we went on was the Star Flyer:





It doesn't look like much, but it pulls you up 25 stories and then flings you around so you get a massive view of the city. It was absolutely beautiful and terrifying at the same time. About mid-way through, I mentioned to Danielle that the only thing keeping us up were a few very tiny chains, to which she replied, "Ahhhhh! Lemmedown lemmedown lemmedown!"

Next was the Golden Tower:





Short and sweet, but even more terrifying than the first ride. It takes you quickly up and then lets you dangle there a while in anticipation. You really can't help but scream. I do wish it had been a little taller though, like the ones at Cedar Point.

Then the Dragon:



This one was so intense! We didn't see it in motion before going on, so we had no idea what was coming. I had worn my glasses today and had to grab them before they flew off my face. This was easily the most damaging of all the rides. My shoulders took quite a beating when we would flip all the way over.

Next, Dæmonen (The Demon):



Can you give me a "Woohoo?" Standard roller coaster. Although, the second time we went on, we got a recommendation from the operator to sit in the last row. It did feel a bit more intense, I must say.

And finally, (apparently) the oldest roller coaster in the world, Rutschebanen (literally meaning Roller Coaster):



Reminds me a bit of the Mine Train at Six Flags, St. Louis. Except more rickety.

We braved lunch somewhere in there, a 70DKK helping of chicken nuggets and french fries. But at least I get to keep the cup!



So Tivoli Gardens actually has gardens. Go figure!



Adorable!





I couldn't resist snagging this picture:



Yep, it sure is.

One of the most enjoyable rides of the day was an 3-minute-long rendition of EVERY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN FAIRY TALE EVER. Told in broken English, I think it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. I managed to snag a non-blurry pic of the ice maiden:



All in all, it was a fantastic day. Lessons learned? Everyone screams in the same language.

Packman

Woke up bright and early this morning, as we're shipping out our chairs today. However, we've been waiting a while for Packman (the shipping service we're using) to get set up. I'm glad I brought my camera cord, so I can share a few more pictures with you.



My B Train, so happy to see me.



Rare footage from inside the train! I had to pretend like I was going through old pictures in order to snap this puppy.



And finally, everyone waiting around, truly testing their chairs out. Mine is good as a task chair, but it is definitely not a lounger.

Today is going to be chock full of awesome! Yesterday, we had the day completely off, but I was suffering from a type of head wound--not serious, but painful. I somehow, in my infinite luck, got bitten by a bug on Wednesday night, right on my forehead. Right away, it swelled up like a balloon. It felt somewhat like the business-end of a pitchfork going through my head, with a little burning to go along with.

So I headed for an Apotek, got some "pain creme" as the woman behind the counter called it, and went home to lay down. I slept much of yesterday, as any sort of movement threw my head into an electric shock. By the end of the last night, it was starting to feel much better, and this morning it's more akin to the feeling of a bruise.

I'm still not sure what bit me, but it sure got the job done. Anyway, today is going to be my "Getting the Small Things Done" day. I've got some last minute shopping I need to get done, as well as sending out postcards. I also want to hit a bookstore, to pick up something to read on the plane ride back to the States. Then I want to pack up tonight, so that tomorrow can be completely stress free and fun. More pictures to come!

Final Critique

I had my final critique today, with two of our lecturers from last week, Tina Christensen and Troels Svendsen. Both of them are professional furniture designers and we got to see some of their amazing designs over the course of their careers. This was the first official critique from a design professional (besides Flemming, Bjorli, and Nils-Ole, but they haven't really critiqued the chair at all). And I was definitely interested in getting an opinion from people who do this for a living.

Here are the main points I made when presenting my chair:

• I wanted no exposed edges, so every end (either rod or tube) dies into a larger tube. 20mm tube dies into 25mm. 6mm rod dies into 25mm. And 25mm makes a complete loop. This creates a simplistic aesthetic.
  
• I started designing in profile, but moved to 3d view, which allowed for a better aesthetic from all angles.
  
• The 20mm "spines" are placed in a way to be both visually appealing and structurally supportive.

Here are the notes (from the critique) that I wrote down right afterwards and some borrowed from others who wrote for me:

• Troels started by saying that he really liked and appreciated the "hierarchy" within my chair, how the 25, 20, and 6mm look together, and how the ratio works.
  
• Tina started by saying that the chair looks very comfortable despite being completely steel, and that she liked the proportions a lot.
  
• Both of them really liked the spines, how they started inward on the top and flared down and outward towards the legs. And they also liked how they interacted with the 25mm tube.
  
• Troels suggested it was a "great way to update the traditional cantilever chair," which has become almost a standard in steel chair design.
  
• Tina said that although the chair uses three different types of steel, it is very "understated."
  
• They both liked how the rods bent on a separate line from the spines, following their own path and creating their own space in which to sit.
  
• They ended by giving me my only piece of criticism, that the seat is a little bit short (as in depth-wise), due to the rods being the only seating element. You can see it if you look closely. The only way for me to have fixed this would be to have added a rolled tube going from leg to leg, which would have detracted from the aesthetic of the chair. I mentioned that and they agreed that I made the better decision. The solution in the future would be to create a slightly deeper chair to account for the seat's shortness.

So, all in all, the critique went better than I could have ever expected! It is definitely validating getting such high marks from professionals on my first steel chair. Tina asked me if I had wanted to work with steel to which I said yes. And she replied that it showed in my chair. After the crit, a bunch of fellow students came up, wanting to sit in it and test it out for themselves. Bjorli even came over and commented on how he liked how it turned out.

Overall, this was the easiest design I've ever done. The finished product looks almost exactly like my first sketch. Design dilemmas were kept to a minimum, and the only real tinkering was with the human proportions. And, while I didn't go crazy experimental with my chair, I do think it has some commercial appeal. I'm hoping that my fall furniture studio goes as smoothly. If so, I may have found my niche.

Also, I finished this project DAYS IN ADVANCE. I have NEVER EVER done that. I always dawdle and tinker and draw out my projects, and this was like, "Oh, I'm done? Really? Nothing left to do? Well, alright. I guess I'll go home and sleep now. Boy, that just sounds weird coming out of my mouth."

Personally, though, I think I need to not look at my chair for a couple of weeks so that I can look at it with fresh eyes later. I've got every square centimeter memorized right now so I can't really tell if I would change anything on it or not.

Wednesday is our big exhibit, so I'll be taking pictures of everyone else's chairs and posting them up for you all to see. Meanwhile, take a look at some pictures I took of other students' steel tube and/or rod chairs from my studio.

Photo Booth Wedding Reception

So it totally slipped my mind that I wanted to post pictures from Charlie and Ashleigh's wedding reception. (This is why I make lists, so I remember to share awesomeness with the rest of the world.) Due to a massive error on DIS's part, I was unable to attend said reception, but I was able to relive it via the photo booth that the guests of honor rented for the occasion. Please enjoy the following:



Here's the happy couple! Charlie is the one without the mustache.



This is Kristin, showing some love.



My dad and half-brother, Max. First frame, Dad checking alcohol content. Second frame, deciding to down it. Third frame, empty bottle salute!



You can barely see the baby behind the schnoz!



Brad and Steve, on good behavior.



Grandma J, flashin' her gang sign.



Red is definitely Rob's color.

From the photos, it looked like an incredibly fun night. I'm very sad to have missed it, but I swear, the next occasion where I can possibly swing it, I'm renting one of these photo booths.