SX: Final Project 3

Stranded in the middle of the sun-scorched desert, Las Vegas has earned a reputation as an oasis of sin. Travelers are drawn to its glittering strip in search of release… release from their families, their desk jobs, and the day-to-day grind. They find pleasure in the comfort of strangers, in the thrill of chance, and in over-indulgence. It’s as if there were something deep underneath the cracked, dry earth; some dark force whispering in ears, pressing you to go further, to do more, to satisfy your most secret desires…It’s to this spirit we pay homage.

We want to open a gate, rip a hole in the earth outside of Las Vegas so that travelers can directly pay tribute to the spirit of sin city. Here, you can sacrifice as burnt offerings the things you wish to leave behind: old photos in your wallet, your neck ties, the ring you still wear after all this time…It is a spot to embrace all that vegas promises, and to let go of everything else.

Rausch Rojas Monument

SX: Project 2 FInal

The design and principles of Dieter Rams all seem to chime a central tone, that the product must be honest about what it is and not try to aspire to anything beyond it's practical usefulness. This is echoed in decisions of form and complexity and often the results are extremely streamlined and in this way bold in their own right. Our Rams exhibit Dieter Rams: Design Principles in Action focuses on walking the audience through various experiences that break that mold, contrasting, refining, reducing, and manipulating these experiences that oppose his principles. The hope is that through the process of understanding each task or moment of engagement, the associated principle will be given new light.

Our color palette is subdued much like many of his products. The type used for the title is more ornate, calling out that contrast that we're looking to establish as a theme, while the body type is also subdued.

An example of a task that an exhibit goer could take part in is that of the principle of understandable. There are a large pair of dice, one with the front halves of animals printed on them, the other with five blank sides and a bowling ball printed on one. This illustrates the failure of a product that you know the core purpose of, yet it is not self explanatory because of confusing form or unneeded
functionality.

Rams Presentation

SX: Project 1 Final

Kansas City Art Institute is a place for creatives to pursue their artistic freedom, growth, and expression. They can aim their future in any direction they choose. The base of our design and intentions lie within the passion and creativity found in the students, the energy and vibrancy of the culture on campus, and the depth and complexity of the art making process.

We wanted to use textures and colors that would adapt as KCAI changes and grows. The materials we are using to embody the depth and complexity of KCAI are perforated metal, painted metal and Plexiglas glass. The metal has a square pattern punched out for the perforation. We liked highlighting the color choices peaking out as a viewer sees it from different angles.  From a distance the signage appears as one solid block but when examined upon closely you’ll notice that it’s not just one piece of material, but rather a layering of several materials. This reinforces the fact that nothing is as simple as it seems, which we can all agree is true in the creative process.

Creatives have the ability to mold their life into a successful career in unconventional ways. This ability means we can craft success in infinite amounts of ways, which way will you let KCAI lead you?

Practical 1

SX: Project 2

For our final project in SX Collin and I decided to create a monument to the spirit of Sin City, Las Vegas. We knew that our monument would not be to an object or a person. This would not be a memorial to an important figure, but rather a celebration to everything that represents the spirit of Las Vegas.

The experience we wanted to create was one that could be actively integrated into everyday life (in Sin City), not one you visit solely on special occasions. Usually, a monument calls for a visit at a particular time of year, suggests recognition of a particular event, or to evoke a particular emotion. Our monument allows the viewer to create their significant moment by declaring a divorce from their past and saying hello to new adventures in Sin City.

With this monument, one of our goals was to challenge the idea of a monument. We asked ourselves how we could create an experience that is atypical, but still maintain an element of importance and legitimacy. This was a bit of a challenge considering that we wanted to approach this monument with the idea that this monument was an opening into the earth. We decided that it was best with our concept that the hole not look man made, that it look like mother nature herself could not stop this gate from forming.

Assessment

Howdy.

So far, spatial has been some what challenging and it has been quite the learning experience. The spatial experience is different from what we have been learning in our other design courses the past couple of years because it is a discipline that lives in a three dimensional space and requires interaction for it to be successful.

This interaction calls for an emphasis on scale. Having the correct scale can determine how successfully it functions in the space, such as directional way finding. The scale of the structure should not overwhelm the space but it should be large enough for the viewer to see at a distance. One can not determine the success of scale without putting it in context. Understanding the context and doing so very early in the process can effect how successful it is in the end. Sketching for an environment is not as easily done on the screen as if you were designing a poster. The designer must go into the space and see for themselves how each element will fit.

SX: Dieter Rams

The essence of Dieter Rams lies within his ten principles. In collaboration with Michael, we've decided that while it is the goal to reflect these principles in our spatial design of the H&R space, it is also one of our goals to transform it into a space that can provide a new experience for these principles.

The underlying concept of our proposed exhibition is the idea of:

perspective     reduction     transformation     deconstruction

Floor One
The first floor of the H&R space will house the introduction to this exhibit. This introduction will include standard bio information and a summary of the exhibition, but it will also have a wall gridded with a mixture of products design by Rams and products not designed by the man himself, in order to showcase the comparison of the success of the form and function of these products.

The second gallery will incorporate augmented reality to provide a new perspective on the forms and processes of Rams. This will be made possible by having a white structure attached to the wall that mimics a few select Rams products and a free standing tablet/viewfinder that the user can interact with in order to gain knowledge about the product.

Floor Two

The second floor will include a viewing room. This room will have a curated cue of products, commercials, videos that are inspired by Dieter Rams. This is a way to get the viewer to understand just how influential Rams' products are in the world of design. 

The larger gallery will be a breakdown/deconstruction of everyday products into a product designed by Rams. The space will have two additional walls providing a linear pathway for the users to follow. One side of each wall will showcase the beginning and ending of this transformation. When the viewer stands at a certain point they can see the before and after side by side.

SX: Week 4

Well, this past week has been about expanding our concept across the board with cohesion and refining it. We have been exploring how the use of perforated metal is to be used in this project. It is primarily used on the site identifier, and will be featured on the directional signs. We have been discussing how much of this material we should incorporate into our system, while we want it to be a cohesive system, we don't want to over whelm the campus with this material, so we've decided that we incorporate the metallic quality into other places, like street signs and interior directional signage.

We have also been working on the pattern that is going to be used through out our system. We created a set of arrows for our signage and have expanded on this since last week. The KCAI websites' welcoming message is "Do Things Your Way" and it felt right to use these arrows to get at this idea of choosing your own direction so we have created a pattern that will be used appropriately in our system. Right now they are featured on the street banners, but we have yet to decide on what other element to feature them on.

KCAI Spatial Design by McKenzie Marston

Spatial: Initial COncepts

We began mind mapping to see what KCAI is really about. We decided on two different concepts that we are now branching off from. The current essence that our school has works, but we believe that starting fresh will allow us to push the design conceptually and it will become a more thoughtful process.

One direction we see ourselves going in is inspired by the history of KCAI. This institute has such a rich history and we don't know that a first time visitor can really see that by a first time visit to our school. By incorporating imagery from the past as well as small moments of history where necessary the experience would become much more engaging for the viewer. This idea also stems off the notion that KCAI has progressed to become a unique and diverse school. Over time our school has had many additions which symbolize the need for advancement and expansion. Being a school for the arts and design– a visually stimulating design needs to be created and adding imagery would definitely add to that idea. 

After  mind mapping we had a multitude of adjectives describing KCAI and it's students. But for this concept we wanted to focus on the students. That is what makes a school the school that it is. The students and their individuality. The words showmanship, diversity, and community stood out to us. As art students we are all here to create art and design work the best of our abilities. We are a diverse group stemming from places all over the country and world. And of course the one thing that brings us all together is KCAI. It becomes our community. These three traits: showmanship, diversity, and community, have this idea of direction. The direction of one's self within a community or from a certain community. We think first time visitors should be able to recognize this. With this concept we would like to incorporate moments of narrative again on the signage. Things that as students and faculty know, but probably things a first time visitor might not. For example if a visitor is at Vanderslice being directed to the Baty House that sign might read, "8 minute walk until Baty House."

Location! Location! Location!

Below you will find the location plan that I worked on with McKenzie. The plots are still pretty general, but they definitely gave us a better idea of where each component is necessary.