New Quarter!

So I'm backing up recent projects and according to the little bar on my computer it'll be 15...no 23...no 10 minutes til it's finished...ok now it'll be 7 (you know what I mean :-P) so I thought I'd be productive and get some goals written down. While you read, anyone else like Josh Ritter?





Ok, so about these goals:

1. Get a Job. I haven't been this excited about design in 2 years. I think last quarter's little break really amplified my enthusiasm, and I'm ready to become the designer I want to be. I'm also really excited about Dale's and Mike's visions for the classes this quarter. I feel like we're all about to make a huge jump from people who can sketch, model and deliver a product to more professional designers who have something significant to say and can communicate it well.

2. Stop Complaining. I am very honest with myself. I know my faults, and this is one of the biggest ones. No one wants to hear it, and I always feel a little worse about myself when I do it. Simple.

3. Improve Speed Sketching. The speed exercises in Dale's class today actually yielded some okay results (keyword some), especially compared to how my sketches look when I take my time. Going over my sketches/ simply sketching with regular Prismacolor in the first place should help. The figure drawing class I'm taking with some cool ID kids should help with that. Gesture drawing is so fun to me, but I always get so self-conscious I tighten up and my full potential doesn't make it to the paper.

4. Be Healthier. I spent spring quarter with my favorite family, and the mother of this family is an excellent cook. I didn't have to make my own meals, and they were so delicious I didn't care that I wasn't eating as well as I do when I'm at school. Also, my favorite activity was doing the daily crossword...so...
Sylvia wanna start a get-healthy club? :)

Clear2o

http://clear2o.com/

I was really wishing today that the water fountain water tasted better so I could just fill up a cup at DAAP and save some money/time. Then I saw this, which aside from the poorly (or rather, painfully obvious) photoshopped pic of the girl using the product, really caught my eye. It's a water bottle with a replaceable filter incorporated into it. I love the idea and would definitely buy one of these if I looked up reviews and the general consensus was good. Now all they need to do is figure out a way to clean these so I don't have to go out and buy a replacement filter every 100 gallons (though that's obviously what the businessman is going for).

Luvvy Duvvy Gummies

If you don't follow the character sketching blog Sylvia and Tracy started, Sketcheration, I definitely recommend you start, and you can join in if you want to. I don't really plan on doing this too often, so I'll just post this one on my own blog, but if you want to join in you can ask them to be an administrator and post your own sketches. This week was Candy Characters. I chose gummy bears. The Wacom settings for photoshop just weren't working (ie. pressure sensitivity, preset buttons), and I intended to just play around a bit, but I figured I might as well just put it up. It's all in fun anyway. I guess I should have spent that time on my lamp. That will be my next post. I'm going to redo the process book I think. Also, since we got that email from Tom, I guess I should start working on the teaser I want to be sent to potential employers this quarter. I enjoyed having classes that required me to read, memorize, and take exams for a little while, but I'm eager to get back to design.

Also...

As an addition to Elliot Cowan's blog, I also enjoyed his gallery of illustrations and other work. Much of it is very morbid, but I love the style of a lot of his stuff.

http://elliotelliotelliot.com/gallery.html

Interesting

Hello there. I found this blog with interesting characters and funny dialog. It's "DownBeat" by Elliot Cowan

Jukebox

I get a lot of forwards from my Gramma, and normally they are deleted pretty quickly, but this one was pretty cool.

http://upchucky.com/music-jukes/1992/player.html

I think 1993 is the latest there is, but it goes back to the 40s, and I love oldies music so its fun going back. You can just change the year in the URL

Also, I think to hear 40s music you have to make it say 40s

Process Book!

Here's the process book for the lamp, as promised.

Process Book!

Dew Lamp

Hello there, here's the final board for my lamp, with the process book soon to follow. Comments always welcome.

New Blog from the other section

Hey everyone,

In case you didn't know, I've been taking Howie's class this quarter, so I've been learning with the peeps from the other section. Jeff Engelhardt started a blog where people can post any materials info they have, so I thought you might be interested.

http://ucidmaterials.blogspot.com/

Product Placement

This video is cute in a ridiculous way, but the reason I'm putting it on here is at 1:42. It's better if you watch it from the beginning I think- more of a "HA!" factor. I got a kick out of it, thought someone else might too.

Some Iterations

Hello!

Here are some iterations of the first lamp, and I will be redoing the Bs from last time for my final process book, which will be up here as well pretty soon.

Also, here's a song! It's one of those songs you just can't help but be happy listening to : )

Vector Art

I saw this amazing art and realized how simple the little illustrator renderings we do are- piece of cake. I recommend clicking on the preview and (ctrl +)-ing to really see all the detail. Sweetness.

Bs!

Yo there. I got some B's for you to look at if you'd like. If I do the pull-up one, I think I'll try out some petal-y looking things. I think the thing that makes the first one look the coolest is the graphic, so I dunno how much that matters. And I've got a few ideas for the cork one too. The most practical is my favorite. Guess which one that is?


B STAGE!

A New Medium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qywqNXbHpLE&NR=1

Solution to long lines in the RPC

A hidden cult of people wielding tricked-out laser pointers is gonna kill us all.

You can get one of these yourself for only $300!

A is for Amanda

http://www.daapspace.daap.uc.edu/files/download/deininan/FAJI0uDaMcFISLFH-a_qRA

Because these are still "A's," (<- look at all those ",' and ") I'm still sketching, but I think I'll have some 3d models in the next phase. I feel odd calling these 'concepts' as they're mostly just things that are pretty. I do enjoy the corkboard one, however, because I actually feel like there is some semblance of a concept there. Are these too loose? Any opinions? Again, does anyone have a favorite? On a side note, while I was uploading my pdf just now, I happened upon this article, which is pretty sweet

http://daap.uc.edu/stories/DAAP_Student_Designers_Are_the_U_S_Winners_in_an_International_Design_Competition

One Tea Kettle Won

I saw this and fell in love! I recommend watching the video. Vessel Ideation, Inc. really took it to the next level.

One Site

ha!

And this looks a lot like a samovar I've seen lol.


http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/03/31/aqua-hydra-or-simply-water-it-needs-to-be-clean/

I WANT this RUG

http://roomservice.blogg.se/2009/march/gandia-blasco-senaste-matta-caleido.html

This Look Familiar?

Reminds me of a certain 'wave' computer for Brazilians.. Seems Justin's mindlinking with lots of peeps around the world.

http://designyearbook.blogspot.com/2009/04/vage-scale.html

Ideation!

Last night was a bit rough. I guess I miscalculated the workload I would be having from my 'regular' classes this quarter. Here's the ideation I have for the lamp, though I think I'll need to do more later. I was experiencing the worst sketcher's block ever last night, so I feel like I can do better. There are some I really like in here, though.
Let me know if any of them jump out at you :)

Ideation

P.S. These are pdfs, so open them in reader

Just Can't Get Enough!

Right now I'm working on a project for Mike R. that will hopefully help me improve my ideation sketching (not to mention my grade) and will be posting process tidbits throughout the next couple of weeks. For now, here's my intro; what I'm going to be doing. I'm actually really looking forward to it. You can download it here. My biggest goal here is to make something that I can feel proud to put in my portfolio, which I am going to spend most of this quarter working on. Stay tuned...

Knifeball (cont.)

In response to Max Schlacter's post here, I thought I'd post this addition, which makes me very happy :) It also emphasizes the 'no sleep' factor he mentioned...

Burble Burble Burble!

Hey I just realized I didn't get a chance to upload my final board for my tea kettle on here, which is surprising because I liked that one a lot. I plan on working on it a bit more so it can be portfolio-worthy.

Well, here you go!

The quarter's finally over!

The HP crit went pretty well in my eyes, though regrettably all of those all-nighters caught up with me and it was a struggle to stay awake (sorry guys!) Anyway, here's my final board. I'm really happy with how my boards have been improving, and I credit Mike Roller for that. Thanks yo. I guess I should really lend more praise to Hypershot, but I notice more details now that I previously would have overlooked. Can't wait to see what my next one'll look like.

Did anyone else walk into studio on Wednesday to find a completely different place than it's been all quarter? Coming from someone who spends more time there than most, it was very eerie. I actually found myself wanting to hurry and leave because I felt like I shouldn't have been there. Does anyone know why that happens? Studio has been my home for such a long time that it was really quite scary.

I looked at quite a few storyboards in search of an artist that could really catch my attention, and whose style I could possibly emulate, as I have not done much storyboarding. I knew my search was over when I came across this story about a drink called Pia, created by artist Vinicius Menezes. I've found that he often zooms in on important aspects of that point in the story. There are plenty of interesting vantage points, and I love his use of color. The facial expressions are great, especially in the second one. His other art is worth a look as well. You can find him on deviantART here:

Vinicius Menezes

I've started to make a storyboard for the HP project. Here's what I've got so far. It will be changing considerably as my design develops and my story changes. I would appreciate any comments.

Process Book

I've put together a process book for the USB project. If you want to take a look, you can find it here:

http://www.daapspace.daap.uc.edu/files/download/deininan/QRlMjLeNAUt0UUg-JSWoNzA1QgmUdy3YAImPl9F9ki0

I also improved my original two Illustrator renderings...

Here's the final render, using a little more Alias and less Photoshop, along with the final Illustrator rendering...

More USBs

USBs for you and me

Here are some renderings of USBs I did branded to the Adidas brand. They range from a little bit of Alias and a lot of Photoshop to a little more Alias and a little less Photoshop. I think I will split these into categories.

These are half of the ones I did with mostly Photoshop.

Teknowledgies

Regrettably, I am not extremely tech-savvy, so when I find something new and am excited about it, there is a good chance that it has been around for ages and I am just now catching on. On that note, here are some technologies I've found that I think will be very useful in my HP design.

Flash-based solid-state hard drives, originally utilized in low-cost computers for developing nations, then also for netbooks, may find a good application because of their reliability, low power consumption, size, and cost efficiency. This combined with extended capacity SD drives such as this one, which holds 2 TB of files, along with some kind of developed Live USB technology that would allow for the kind of easy upgradability I am looking for, may result in an interesting product.

USBs

Here are some Adidas USBs I made for Des Comm.





















































It was nice seeing all of the things you can do with Illustrator to make a nice rendering. I learned pretty quick that you really get out of it what you put in. If you take the time and effort to put as much detail as possible, you can really come out with something presentable in the end, and the inverse of that as well. Depending on how finalized the visualization needs to be, you can create an appropriate level of detail for what you are trying to portray. Some specific things I learned about Illustrator were the Expand Appearance function, and the difference between effects and filters. I had already known about the Appearance palette and changing effects, but I really put that to use for this project. I'm hoping to do some more work in illustrator to improve these to a quality I can be happy with.

Not Completely Irrelevant

Okay, this was originally going to be a useless post about something fun I found on the internet. But I think I could make a pretty believable argument that this is good design.


So why is this good design? Many reasons.

1. It fits the target market to a T. Football fans can completely relate to this product.
2. It fills a need. You gotta eat, right? And if you're going to be eating all these completely unhealthy snacks, anyway, why not add in some fun interaction? I can totally see a couple of my friends acting out some play with their vienna sausage teams- which brings me to #3
3. Emotional draw. Why eat from a bag when you can eat from a miniature football field?

If you want to see their process book, here's the link:

http://www.holytaco.com/ultimate-super-bowl-snack-stadium

Teaser

Due to technical difficulties, the teaser is just now making it onto my blog. Luckily daapspace was not as finicky, so it was at least there on time. Also, I realized I didn't post any screenshots of my portfolio, so here they are...

This is going to be a weekend of catching up

And it begins with the blog. The portfolio has put me dreadfully far behind on every other thing in my life, so now that I at least have a partly finished portfolio, I'm using this weekend to stop being a slacker. Strangely enough writing a blog makes me feel like I'm wasting time, so I'm gonna make this quick.

One brand I have already expressed interest in, and would apply here as well, is Disney. Imagination at its finest. A Disney product represents an entire culture founded on dreams coming true. Of course, Disney Stores are simply trying to capitalize on that idea, but I, for one, am happy to contribute (see my Mickey Mouse keychain for more information). Prince Charming's and beautiful Princesses just never seem to get old. Every new generation is just as dazzled as the one before, and Disney is always evolving to keep up with the times. My favorite example of this is Ratatouille, which I was very excited about. First of all the 3D animation looks amazing, and the story is more reminiscent of the classic Disney stories with all of its charm. Shall I use this opportunity to knock out two blogs with one single post? Here's the preview, which had me anticipating this movie for months...



It uses innocent humor, a fun song, and excitement to get you interested, and it tells just enough of the story to make you curious. Kudos once again to Disney.

Portfolio is up!

Hey everyone! The link to my portfolio is

http://www.uc.edu/propractice/ind_design/Deininger_Amanda_10.pdf

If you have time, would you mind taking a look and leaving some comments? Thank you!

Bad Habits

So, I found a list of "25 Bad Habits of Industrial Designers," and have decided to print it out and hang it up on my wall, as a constant reminder of what NOT to do.

http://www.designsojourn.com/25-bad-habits-of-industrial-designers/

Sweet.

Honestly there isn't much substance to this presentation, but it IS very cool.

http://www.madein.la/featuredprojects/interactiveoracles/section-three/

It's that time again...

Portfolio Time!

Sooo...I've been trying to find some inspiration by looking at the portfolios on coroflot.com, and seeing all of that talent in one place is really depressing. One of my favorites was this guy, Hugh Thomas.

http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_details.asp?individual_id=164789


I loved his renderings, and have asked him what rendering program he uses, because I have never seen such perfection. I really like the hand mixer (shown) and doorstop he did. They're just fun. I've finally made a coroflot account, so maybe once I turn in my portfolio I'll be happy enough with it to upload and get some criticism.

Hi. My name's Amanda. Welcome to my blog :)

For those of you that don't know much about me, let me give you a quick summary:

I'm a 4th-year junior at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. It's tough, but I enjoy it. iDAAP will mostly pertain to that part of my life, so get ready for some design discussion!

I just returned from my 4th co-op quarter, working as a packaging designer for Evenflo and learning a lot about corrugate and CAD. I'm really glad I got exposure to that side of design, and would not be upset with another packaging job in the future. The co-op quarter before that, I was also at Evenflo, but in the Playtime & Feeding department, spending a lot of time making Alias models and Photoshop renders. That was a lot of fun.

My first two co-op quarters were spent at a small company in Irvine, California called Aspen Medical Products. It was a great place to start my design experiences, and the people there taught me to always look for new design and form opinions about it. The geographical location was an excellent bonus.

As far as design goes, I still feel I would likely be content designing anything if I was in the right environment with good, friendly people. My dream job, however, would be to work for Disney some day. I suppose I should start sketching Mickey ears- get prepared and all.

In fact I think that's a good way to start out my goals for the quarter...

1. Improve my sketching. One of the most depressing drawbacks of coming back to school currently is that I seem to have lost my sketching skills, which by the end of last quarter had been doing so well. My goal is to sketch more outside of class and really become more comfortable with a pencil. A good way to do that would be to draw Disney characters ;)

2. Amp up my portfolio. It's getting tougher out there, and currently my portfolio does not reflect my full potential. I have finally invested in a Wacom tablet, so I'm hoping that will help me go to that next level. I'm also hoping for a lot of good feedback Thursday.

3. Give an interesting and persuasive final presentation. Under this same goal should fall the sub-goal of anti-procrastination, which always seems to go by the wayside. It is because I always rush through the final presentation in a time crunch that I never give myself time to prepare and practice an organized presentation. "Winging it" never worked for me, so you'd think I would have learned my lesson by now. Well, this time, I'm gonna do it right. I hope.

Wish me luck.