Scan of Drafting Copy

Done in two parts to get it up here, but I got most of the image to show!

What a Mess...

We had to draw some mess sketches for Suzanne this week- I haven't been able to be excited about the material, add that on top of the fact that I was really sick and we don't have a winning formula. For some reason, I can't quite get the hang of hatching- I've tried longer, shorter, darker, lighter, etc. I just can't seem to quite grasp it, these sketches took me forever, and they still aren't right. Frustration. Much frustration.

Furniture Design

Just got back from break- wasn't long enough, of course, but I'm ready to get back into the normal swing of things. I was sketching some random things over break and started to put down some elementary ideas for furniture pieces. Still rough, but it would be fun to develop them further.

Done

Finally finished with drawing for the semester- here are some sketches of a small magnolia leaf that they had us do.

Foreign Magazines

PingMag was actually a cool Japanese design magazine, but it was different than what I expected. Not only is the majority of the magazine online, but it focused less on design and more on new products and how they are made. The issue I looked at was featuring a prototype convention. Everything in the magazine was very high-tech in its design, but the facade of the designs varied from traditional looking Japanese design and other was futuristic in its look. Very eclectic mix featured in this magazine, I am not sure if this indicates and eclectic mix of design in all of Japanese culture or whether this is an eclectic magazine. But the high-tech theme seems in line with the high-tech image that Japan has managed to build through years of innovation and invention.



Domus magazine is an Italian magazine which I found by someone else's suggestion. Everything that I flipped through the magazine and saw seemed very slick and cutting edge. A really nice thing about this magazine is that it is in both Italian and in English. It seems that, based on the designs, the up and coming companies and the innovative companies seem to be based in Italy. It also seemed that a lot of the design was furniture and the like, leading me to believe that Italy seems to be one of the leading modern furniture areas.


This issue of Interior Design Magazine focused on China- Some things that I noticed were that it focused on the urban areas mostly- leading me to believe that the current trend in the population is urbanization- the design in the magazine seems to indicate this same trend as everything seems very urban in its design- sleek and modern with a lot of clean lined metal and design. Interesting- similar to what I had imagined Japanese design would be like

Solar Power

Solar power, or energy from the sun, is becoming more and more commonly used in the world today. A close example is Guilford College, they have used solar power to provide complete energy for an entire dorm. Solar power can be used for anything from agriculture to cooking, to architecture. Solar power has little to no negative effect on the environment and is probably the best outlook for a future energy source to replace fossil fuel as the leading energy provider.

Geothermal Energy- Flash Steam

Flash Steam geothermal plants seem to be a future answer for our heating needs. Although the first geothermal plant was built in 1904, it still only accounts for 1% of energy provided. In a flash steam plant the water is held below ground at a temperature above boiling, though the additional pressure causes it to stay in a liquid form- when the water is pumped above ground the reduced pressure causes the water to turn or "flash" into steam and turn a turbine to generate electricity- the unused water is then flushed back for reuse later. This method does emit some gases into the atmosphere, though only 5% of the amount that fossil fuel burning does.