Swooners and Such by Brittany

Sweet melodies by locals, "faux fur" (stuffed animals) sightings in coffee shops, an exotic Brasilieira who just arrived in os Estados Unidos a month prior, determined to find success as a supermodel (sadly, just 5'2").

 

Venice Beach? Central Park? Nope, I'm at 14th Street, District of Columbia. And yes, I was really serenaded by three men outside of CVS on the corner of 14th and U who have made the street their home, met a lady at Mayorga Cafe who created a brilliant fur coat out of Pound Puppies, and did my best to slosh my way through my once-fluent Portuguese with our Brasileira follower from Columbia Heights to U Street. This was just one day, two hours really, in the bleak month we call February. Yet life was brighter and more colorful in these few hours than any summer day I had known for quite some time.

 

And that is just what this class is about. Design? Of course. Innovation? I should hope so! The highlight, however, has been the people: the store owners, the residents (and once and future residents), the visionaries. They each have a different story to tell and a unique vision of their neighborhood. And I got to be a part of it. Thank you.

 

Course Reflections: Stephanie

This class has not only brought out my creative side, but has also taught me about the history of my neighborhood.  I have lived in the DC area practically my entire life, and I was never taught about the important history of the 14th Street corridor.  It has been great to have guest lecturers come and talk, as well as, going out into the street ourself and interview locals from that area.  I did not realize the rich history that existed in this city - so much of what you learn about this city has to do with politics and the founding fathers.

We are now in our second week of building our window designs, and I have to say this is the most exciting part.  I can't wait to see how all our ideas, and all our pieces come together.  I never thought I would be going to home depot to ask where the cinder blocks are (a piece of our design).  It has been great to work with my team, and get together and start to experiment with what we have and go from there.  I really hope you all come to our party to celebrate these great designs.  I know I am looking forward to seeing what the other teams have come up with!

Course Refelections: Darlene

The second part of this class, implementing the window designs, has been so much fun. Katie, Asri, Maurice, Jennifer, and I have been working on Vastu's window for the past couple of weeks. We went down to Vastu to check out some of the store's fabrics and visualize what the design will look like in the space. We went to a local embroidery shop and talked about our design with the owner. It was great to find a place on 14th street that could help us out. Since then, we've been doing a lot of research and gathering materials. We were so excited when Knoll graciously offered us the fabric of our choice at a really great price. Shawn, one of the graphic students in our class, helped us out by perfecting the digital furniture images for the embroidery. So it's safe to say our window is well on its way to being installed! It's been great working on 14th Street and coming together as a team to make these window designs work!

Course Reflections

The last part of this class – planning, building, and testing design ideas – has been the most enjoyable for me. I learned a quite a bit about the culture of the city, marketing, and branding through research and class readings but I've grown the most as a designer by actually designing. Although the foundation of the class was absolutely necessary, this is the part that is the most exciting. As a team, we've worked together to make sure our concept works with our client and is accessible to our target audience. We've brainstormed and planned and now we're beginning to actually construct the design we've spent so many weeks developing. At this stage we are faced with a whole new set of problems – many that hadn't even occurred to us while creating our concept - and I've learned a lot about the design process by coming up with solutions for them. With the goal of evoking a particular idea in people who pass the storefront windows, we've tried to capture an emotional or cerebral moment with various materials arranged in just such a way.  Perhaps this seems like a simple project, and in some respects it is – at least the idea of it is.  But translating a thought to a physical medium is a challenge, albeit a very rewarding one. I've learned that this is what this sort of design seems to be about: conveying an idea or mood visually, simply and clearly. While my team is still in the beginning stages of building our final design, we are making lots of progress and are thrilled to be a part of such a unique class and learning opportunity.