Life is Ironic

Well, well, well - here I am, one quarter of grad school down, nine to go. This first quarter has been… crazy. Crazy good. Crazy crazy. Crazy weird. But not crazy bad. 

Two quick prefaces before I go on: 1) I just finished reading the first fictional piece of writing ("How to be an Adult" by XYZ) I've looked at in over 10 weeks, so I apologize now if this post has a flair for the dramatic side. 2)  I'm writing this post on a plane home, and I'm a broke graduate student - so I won't be purchasing wifi and I won't be referencing any delightful interiors and/or pieces. 

I was nervous when I first moved to Philadelphia to study at Drexel. What was I doing? Was it worth giving so many things up? In some ways, I still am nervous, but I'm more confident about it being right than I ever thought that I would be. I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do with it once I'm done, but I figure I have three more years to figure that out.

Design I: Black and White Design [Course Projects]

Woah - in the blink of an eye, it seems that I'm suddenly halfway through my FOURTH week of grad school. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN??!

The past few months - as noted by my lack of blogging - have been a complete whirlwind. I left Chicago, moved to Philadelphia, started at Drexel; and now, here I am with one three-week course already under my belt. Coming from a non-creative background, Drexel requires that I take three, intensive (but super shortened) design courses. The first, Black and White design, covered (wait for it) the use of BLACKs, WHITEs and the unlimited number of values in-between in varying compositions.

Here's a quick glimpse at some of the projects over the past few weeks:

[Be] Designtagious

Fear. It can do one of either two things. It can hold you back or it can catapult you forward. I'm scared shitless, and I'm buckling in for a hell of ride. At least I hope I am.

Next month, I'll be taking my first courses at Drexel University as a master's student. What will I be studying, you ask? Interior Architecture and Design *insert a ridiculous number of exclamation points here* I'm finally doing it. I'm finally throwing caution to the wind and trusting, hoping, praying that I'm making the right decision. I think that I am, but just like with any major, life-changing event, there are sacrifices to be had.

In preparing to turn over this new leaf, I felt a re-vamping was due of this neglected outlet, beginning with it's name. Formerly My Cup of Color, the name just wasn't doing it for me. It never really had been. And what good is a blog, if it's not titled correctly? Answer: Not so good. So, ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you my outlet for design and creativity: [Be] Designtagious.

 Because, to quote Einstein, "creativity is contagious," and good design goes hand in hand with that. So, I'm passing it on.

[Be] Designtagious

I hope to accomplish many things with this blog: 1) I hope to inspire myself to be creative, admire good art and design and enjoy life; 2) I hope to inspire others of the same; 3) I hope to share what I learn in school along the way.

This is only the beginning, my friends, only the beginning.

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Until next time, 

LG

Interior Design Concept Competitions Offering Real-World Practice

In my quest to transition into a career within the interior design industry, I've been attending several info sessions and open classes at Harrington College of Design in Chicago. For now, it's one of a few options that I'm currently looking into, but it was quite an interesting glimpse into what my world as an ID student may look like.

The presentations that I attended this evening were semester-end presentations from a creative collaborative studio course. The students were assigned to groups of two or three and asked to find, prepare designs for and submit to an open ID competition.

(Real-world application is something I strongly value in educational settings, so I rather liked how students had to develop entire concepts for these actual competitions)

This experience resulted in a couple of things:

A) Now I'm all intrigued - what kinds of interior design-related competitions are even out there? How does one find them?

B) Just for shits and giggles - I would like to try my hand putting together something that at least "fits" the qualifications (I'm not saying I would submit it...). In case you (read: I) was wondering, the 2014 IIDA SDC conceptual competition to evolve the idea of open offices:

The 2014 IIDA SDC invites you to evolve the concept of the open office to offer employees’ a workplace that encourages health, well-being, collaboration, and productivity... (more)

C) A new understanding of just what interior design covers (i.e., everything). Case in point, this 40th Annual Interior Design Competition (2013) winner for a mausoleum:

Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum, Minneapolis, MN - HGA Architects and Engineers, Minneapolis, MN via IIDA

Yes, it's somewhat morbid, but it's definitely something I had never even thought of before.

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What aspects of Interior Design shock you, if any?

-LG