Interviews

Within the space of 2 days i had my interview for a placement and also my interview for my 3rd year course. For me the first one (with Dakota) went really well peter liked my work and i think i put myself across really well, I have been given the opportunity to have a undisturbed few weeks of placement with him once I finished my second year on FD interior.

The following day I had the interview for my 3rd year course. i spoke to a few people who had been in before me to see what to expect and how the felt during it, the replies were that it was a very informal interview and you were made to feel yourself so I was already brimming with confidence from the previous at and think I came across really well. if both my interviews turn out to have landed me a placement/ job that would be amazing!

Current project ( final major)

for my final major I have decided to under go a refurbishment project, this is the area I feel is a real strong point of mine and at the moment I am re designing a garage into a top notch rustic themed restaurant. the reason for this is the area it self has undergone a serious updating over the past few days and this is one of 2 building in the area I believe could do with a revamp which in turn would also benefit the area. these are some of the ideas I have so far

My QR code.

I have added a QR code to my business card which links directly to my blogspot side so in the pace of a few seconds potential employers or anyone of the general public can be links straight to my work in a click or two.

Statement of intent for 3RD year interview.

For my negotiated project I will be attempting to realise the industry of  refurbishment. Over the past 4 years of my design life the projects I have most enjoyed have been doing this, The Cockfield project, converting a derilict church into a family home. An old hexham post office into a cafe (which was a client based project and was realised) and finally the current project I am at now which is converting an old tin garage into a high end rustic restaurant.

I believe there would be the oppurtunity for me to succeed in this area  as with the current economic climate there is not much disposable income around so people are always looking for the best offers. Converting already existing buildings saves on many buildings costs and also shortens the expected finish date significantly,  also the large use of sustainable materials and reclaiming products will be cost efficient for a buisiness plan such as this and could be the difference between the profit and a loss. Currently I am in line to start a placement for a company called Dakota design and I am hoping to bring my ideas to them to.

Overall I am hoping to realise the opportunity of refurbishment in an ever changing design world. If the project was a success I think the prospect of taking it out onto a bigger scale of self employment or taken the idea to a bigger company would have every chance of succeeding and be a way of taken things forward even on smaller budgets.

3RD Year choice

For my third year choice there was several ideas I had. I was not sure whether to broaden my horizons and travel to a different uni or chose the top up course to the one I am currently on at the moment, I settled for the top up course as the fact it is a self ran project attracted me to it as over my past few projects I have realised I like to take charge of my work and I feel the praise is more deserved when I know everything I done was off my own back. Also there is a course that works along side the creative industries it is called concept 3D, i have been involved in one of there projects so far and it involved developing a cafe of which my ideas were chosen to take forward and develop. having that in my CV has really helped my confidence and I am looking forward to doing more projects with them.

Advance in technology

Over the two years on my course I have realised a significant change in the way people are now designing. Alot of what gets made is not make electronically such as cnc routing laser cutting etc.The art of design by high is a slowly dieing tradition which is a shame as it gives a lot more pride in what you can succeed in doing yourself without the need of a computer doing it for you.

Business card

I have decided to put together a business card, for professional reason and also for contact information as i have a final major presentation up and coming and want people to be able to get a hold of me if and when they want.

archicad

I decided to try and improve my overall skills and introduce archiCad into my inventory, This is what could be what helps me move forward with placements and also help me become a more all round professional

design trends of 2012

These 8 styles are the expected styles to trend through-out 2012 they include;
Pastels with neon brights.
Mid-century modern
1970's
Craft and folk
industrial
foxes
Lace
victoriana

For me the industrial look is the nicest and I believe will be the most successful as its fairly cheap and alot of the stuff is and can be reclaimed and re-upholstered.

interest in utilitarian/rustic style.

My interest in rustic/utilitarian style interiors began during the forth hotel project because of the use of revealed brickwork. its a cheaper for of making a room feel comforting when it is used well. I would say its more for commercial use than residential living. My current project is designing a restaurant and I will be involving both these styles into it.

dakota design

http://www.dakotahouseofdesign.com/

Since the rejection of neil wilson I have been in contact with dokota design in newcastle the website caught my eye straight away they develop and design the exact interiors I have always been interested in. hopefully this will be the chance I have been looking for.

neil wilson design

http://www.neilwilsondesign.co.uk/frame.htm

I began looking into placements and after several companies I came across neil wilson design, I liked the way he worked and the final outcomes he had so decided to apply for his company, unfortunately he did not like the standard of my work and decided to reject my application. for me this was a kick up the backside i needed, aswell as making me feel a little low about myself it spurred me onto to produce better work and i have now began applying for other placements

The forth newcastle

We were given another live brief, this time it was the forth hotel in newcastle upon tyne. WE were given a budget of roughly 100k to refurbish the interior of the pub. we had a client meeting at the site and took notes on what the client desired. The initial idea would be it would be  competetion and the bet idea would be given a prize this gave an extra incentive to the project. for the interior i chose a utilitarian themed style to go with what i thought was an already nice interior. i receieved good marks for my idea and think if it was chosen would have worked well for the pub.

cafe project

For this project we were giving a live brief and this entailed redesigning an old hexham post office into a new cafe. we had a sight visit and met up with the client, we were given two weeks to come up with a final design of which 5 people ideas would be chose. I was one of the 5 people whos work was chosen. for me it was as successful as we all hope as the client left with our design and took it upon her self to do her own version. hopefully this is not what the future will be like for future projects.