My Personal Event

I just finished my 'personal event' project for my Designing Experiences class at UCLA Extension. I chose to plan my graduation party from art school, hoping that some day this will happen... The project is focused around three symbols/unique objects we all individually picked to represent ourselves. I chose a watercolor of a bike I painted in Florence, a necklace my boyfriend gave me, and a cookbook created by the family friends. Choosing and analyzing the three objects as well as explaining how they would be represented at the event required some soul searching and deep thought into what's important to me.

I started looking around my apartment, wondering, if this place burned down, what would I want to take with me out the door--not my Ikea furniture, computer (well that would be the fourth thing), my TV or any of my clothing. I chose the bike because it represented the beginning of my self-realization that art really made me happy/fulfilled me and that it was missing from my daily life. It also represents independence, self-sustainability, and curiosity (from it peaking around the corner). The necklace represents support and trust in my relationship. The cookbook represents family, creativeness (in the cooking), tradition, and growing up. I wrote pages on all three things, but I'm sparing you the mushy details.

Bike Peaking Around the Corner
Watercolor 12" x 9"

The Family Friends Cookbook

My idea was to have it in San Francisco, still my favorite city, at my parents place. I'd redesign and reorganize the furniture in a more modern-feminine look and serve appetizer sized dishes from the cookbook as well as Italian delights. Below is an example of the invitation to give you an idea of the colors, feminine but not too girly. Each room would represent a different area of art: design, paintings/collage, and photography. Guests are asked to wear their favorite color in hopes they would see their own choices as design choices and be a talking point for new acquaintances. Graduation Invitation 6" x 6"
Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

Right now I'm working on re-doing the space for a local Organic Deli which is a bit too hippie and hidden. Al thought they make amazing organic nachos and smoothies. I'll post my ideas once I learn SketchUp, a free google application that allows you to make a 3D model on the computer, similar to a CAD program.

In my Intro to Graphic Design class I'm working on a movie title re-do (for example on a DVD, Lord of the Rings is in gold color serif font with ancient looking texture--I'm doing that). I chose 10 things I hate about you, an old favorite, but without a very memorable title. So far I've traced a whole bunch of fonts (we're doing this old school, sans computers) and now am working on pushing the ideas even further. I'll show you them soon.

Finally in my Design 1 class I'm still working on cutting out black shapes (think tangrams) and arranging them as to embody certain design adjectives such as order, horizontal, movement and personal expression. Cutting out paper so they look like a machine cut them is HARD! Then we are mounting them on a foam board for a professional look. I will def. post these when I'm done as they are requiring lots of time.

On the side I'm working on a website, invitation, and brochure system which have both been very fun. Unfortunately I'm a perfectionist and it's taking a little more time than planned, but they are looking good! I'll show them when they are finished.

Oh, lots of balls in the air...off to painting class.

Have a creative day!