Sunday, September 19, 2010

ROSEDALE: Do you know where you live?


Do you know where you live? Its a simple question, really, but there are residents within Rosedale that wouldn’t be able to give you the answer.
This street banner represents Rosedale in the past. This is one of the few markers in Rosedale that lets us know we are in fact in Rosedale. When you get closer to the banner you realize that it was actually handmade, which is evidence a caring community that has been lost.
This is rosedale today. THis sign for the park doesn’t express Rosedales true philosophy. It is weathered, worn down, and uncared for.
This is Rosedale in the future. This marker within Rosedale is a collaborative mural effort. it is located on a very busy road in which a lot of commuters see, and it is evidence of a progressive movement towards a new sense of community pride.
Who are How can graphic design help give Rosedale distinct boundaries and a greater sense of community pride? When a new resident moves into Rosedale, they usually have no idea that they are going be living there. Not knowing the town, in which you reside, automatically cancels out any opportunity for a sense of community pride.
So...who are we going to be targeting?
Renters and Schoolchildren are our main focus.
Renters make up 60% of Rosedales population. This includes students that are attending surrounding schools, as well as low income renters who cannot purchase a home.
Schoolchildren are a huge part of Rosedale, and they are the future. We want to make a sustaining impact on the sense of community pride within Rosedale through these children.
This is the idea receptivity gradient, in which we have placed our audience figures. It helps us visualize our audiences current position on Community pride within Rosedale. Our renters are primarily the ones that are not ready to know about Rosedale. They are considered nomadic, and usually only stay in Rosedale for about 4 years. There education seems to be the priority, and more of a focus in comparison to the surrounding community of Rosedale. The schoolchildren are already familiar with Rosedale, but we want to instill the sense of community pride in them.This way they can be advocates for the cause in the future, and share Rosedale with others. This also provides a way of sustaining Rosedales vision for years to come.
We envision the name of Rosedale holding meaning & relevance to not only the current members of its community, but also with other commuters.
The effectiveness of our work will be measured.
So we hope that when we ask you this question again later ... you will be able to answer.

DESIGNSYS: Names & B&W comps
















SOME VISUAL INSPIRATION
I looked towards some beer labels for a couple of reasons. They are great examples of how to handle some containment ideas and for their bold/macho/authentic look & feels.





sa

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

MX: URBAN GARDENING

MAKE LIKE A SEED AND GROW
1. finding a team member (Tammy Shell - YAY)
2. choose an activity/hobby to create a web space that will enhance that communities activity (Gardening - AWESOME!)
3. create a community model
4. create 2 posters (individual & community) that will fuel ideas for the creation of your system designed for this community
5. revise and edit
6. discover needs & create solutions to those needs
7. wireframe solutions to those needs


ROUND 1 OF POSTERS



REVISE FOR ROUND 2



CONCEPTUAL DESIGN:
Moving from research to ideas & solutions

NEEDS
1. finding gardening space
2. beginning tips
3. bug identification/ plant disease identification
4. tools (rain barrel)
5. volunteers (community & personal garden)
6. need expert advice
7. show off bounty
8. foraging - location
9. safe foraging - berries and mushrooms
10. surplus distribution
11. beautify the city
12. expert needs to publish his knowledge
13. identifying difference between amateur & expert
14. need to know what to do with bounty
15. if the soil is healthy/fertile & for types of plants
16. collaboration on local level


SOLUTIONS
1. personal/community/guerilla - GEOTAG IT
2. tools needed, plants in season, HAVES & WANTS
3. app-take pic-get identification RECOGNITION SOFT.
4. CROW SOURCE for tools
5. CALL to community
6. follow experts, ask questions
7. gallery/personal space/profile
8. GEOTAG - levels of caution/flag dangers
9. check peoples posts/flag
10. people can giveaway, trade excess
11. seed bomb tutorials
12. articles-online space to upload
13. tiered signup model - “most helpful”
14. canning, shared recipes, flower arranging, potpourrie
15. isoil tester - GEOTAG
16. allow for group making

RECENT COMMUNITY MODEL IMPROVEMENTS

Each one of these gardeners have their own personal life goals and historical background that they bring with them when they join any sort of community. They have their own reasons for gardening and this space is a way for them to connect, discover, and respond to others just like them. Each individual joins the circle at different levels of involvement which then expands and helps the community grow.



RECENT POSTER IMPROVEMENTS

Changes are still being made, but here are the two posters so far. We both appealed to the idea that when joining these two posters together they create one large visually interesting piece...that tells a story. Tammy had the great idea of including photography and basically creating a poetic feel to the posters. The hands below are sharing and providing enrichment to anothers life. More to come soon.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

FALL CHALKBOARDS!

Chalkboard #1 - Anniversary Blend




BACKYARD GARDENING AND BEYOND!




The focus of this model is relationships
As the individual along with his or her history and life goals interact and intertwine with the structure and agency within the site, relationships emerge. The newly blossomed relationships potentially result in a more powerful impact on society, especially with community gardening as the focus.

The ability to control or make decisions within the community will be guided organically by the participants. Those who are active and post or upload often will naturally and likely carry the most influence within the community.

All are necessary contributors. Some participants may be more focused on gardening as a hobby while others consider gardening a profession. Some are proponents to voluteering within the community, others are just longing to learn. All are grounded by a common interest in gardening.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

KC STAR!

Our Kauffman Center Mural Painting has made it into the KC STAR! Check out the article HERE!

I'm sitting in a chair in the backroom of my Starbucks on break. I'm sipping on a delicious Passion Iced Tea Apple Juice (because we were out of lemonade), and I'm rummaging through the KC STAR. I remembered the guy who came to "take notes" about a week and a half ago...and have been checking the paper everyday since (just about). Finally, I stumble upon a page with the Kauffman Center of Performing Arts on the front with CEO Jane Chu. I thought to myself, "This has to be the issue! This has to be the issue with our story!" And well it was. Immediately at that moment, my break was over. Sad, I know. My texting skills throughout the past few years have prepared me for a moment like this to happen. I quickly grab my phone, switch it to T9 and all caps and write "GRAB A STAR...WERE IN TODAY'S ISSUE! PASS THE WORD!" I sent it to the 7 mural kids who were on my most recent list. Then, you guessed it...back to work.

Here are a couple more related articles that came out recently also.

Building Relationships
About Glass Panels
Aretha Franklin
Richard Harriman
Letters

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Chalkboards

HELLO SUMMER!

Life at the bucks is still in motion. Check out the new chalkboards!