Week 3: Re-imagining the Way We Travel

This week in IP I began to narrow down my subject matter. I am now working on the rebranding of the train, in the same way that I like to take old furniture and make it something fresh and new. To me, train culture is dying and it could use a fresh new look to get people to choose to take the train over other modes of transportation. Specifically, I would like to look at how to brand a train within Michigan by creating my own line that would travel from lower Michigan to northern Michigan. In order to get people to travel on the train, I would like to bring back some of the luxury and sophistication trains once had.

I spent all day thursday brainstorming names and styles for my company. It is important to me that the name and style evoke a feeling in the customer, making them want to take the train instead of a car up north. I am happy with my brainstorming process and I think that quickly jotting down every word and synonym of that word that came to mind helped me to discover what felt right for the name of my company.
Some brainstorming notes, displaying my thought process:

Inspiration from OnceWed, for the feeling I want my company to have (delicate, sophisticated and beautiful) : 

In addition to sketching this week, I also spent a great deal of time researching train culture around the world. I researched trains in Europe, Japan and the decline of the train culture in the United States. It was easy to see why trains in Europe and Japan are more successful than trains here. During the next week, I would like to check out some books from the library to further learn about these different trains and get a feel for what would be needed to make the train desirable.

Plan this week: Work on my logo. I would like to get a solid start to the identity of my company. After brainstorming on Thursday and looking at many different possibilities of names, I think I have chosen one that suits the idea of my train the best. I would like to start exploring different typographic styles for the name as well as for a tagline. For now, I am leaning towards my company name being: escape.

My IP work done this week: Research 3 hours, consulted with Janie and Seth 1/2 hour, consulted with Amanda 1/2 hour, Sketched 2 1/2 hours.

What's old is new again

The Shabby Chic Movement
Rachel Ashwell is an Interior designer and entrepreneur. In 1989, Rachel Ashwell created Shabby Chic, an interior design concept that featured a light color palette, distressed furniture with character, slipcovers, and old–style designs known today as "Shabby-Chic". Ashwell's interest in antiques began in Great Britain, where she was born and raised. Her mother was a restorer of antique dolls and teddy bears, while her father was a secondhand, rare book dealer. Ashwell learned to love shopping in flea markets and antique stores as a young girl. Later in her life, Ashwell moved to the United States and began to decorate her own home in a "Shabby-Chic" style. She made washable, design–friendly slipcovers for her furniture. Friends soon wanted them, which led to her first store which she opened in Santa Monica, California. Today, in addition to her own company, Ashwell has paired with Target to create a shabby chic brand to be mass produced and sold nationwide. Her mass produced shabby chic items are inspired by one-of-a-kind antiques. 
A few images of her work: 

          

"A faded, peeling old dresser, a cracked white chandelier, a chipped metal trash can painted with roses. To one person, these items are rejects from the junkyard, to another they are a bounty of riches. Discovering beauty in finding new uses for the old and worn discards of others greatly appeals to me, there is no better place to find the faded and decayed, the crumbing and the scuffed than a salvage yard or flea market, garage or estate sale”. -Ashwell 

The connection that I feel between Ashwell's work and my own interests is her passion for restoring the old and making it new again. I appreciate that her work involves taking what some people believe to be junk and meaningless and making it brand new and beautiful.  She can look beyond the dust and chipped paint and appreciate how much the item still has to offer. Her work inspires me to do the same. I believe that this concept can be applied to other areas of interest such as graphic design. There are companies who's image is old and crumbling (just like and old piece of furniture at the flea market). However, while Rachel uses a can of paint to restore and give a fresh new look to these old items, I plan to use graphic design. 

Week 2

I spent the beginning of this week focusing my time on my love for home decor and the "shabby chic" style. I created a collage/design board by visiting many home decor websites (such as country living) and looking at what was striking about each room. During this process, I discovered that while I am extremely interested in the physical object placed in a room I am more drawn to the space and the atmosphere created by a collection of objects.

My studio time on Thursday was spent doing research on a completely different subject matter: graphic design and branding. I looked at many different websites and read about what it means to brand a company and create an identity. Further, I learned that while it is important to create an outstanding logo for your company it is just as important to create an atmosphere. This type of branding is considered environmental branding, where the environment plays a significant role in the company. For example, the metro airport. I think that I could practice environmental branding with my love for design and home elements by creating not only a graphic quality to my work such as a logo but an entire feeling and atmosphere. 

An example of creating corporate identity: 

Next, I think that I should start to further identify what spaces and things I am most interested in when it comes to home decor. In addition, I would like to start deciding if my company is going to be real or fake (if I am going to take an already made brand and rebrand it or create my own from scratch). After I decide this, I would like to start to sketch a logo and come up with a theme for the company. 

This week: Research 3 hrs, discussed ideas with Amanda 1/2 hr, wrote notes and brainstormed in my notebook 2 hrs, discussed ideas with peers 1 hr, worked on photo collage/design board 2 hrs. 

Studio Space: 5A

Beginning Freshmen year, I have always anticipated moving into my Senior studio space. On Tuesday, September 7th, I picked my space and could not be happier! I am currently in the process of putting it together and making it into a workable and inspirational environment. I am excited to share updates of this space as I design it. I will post updates as I put it together- stay tuned!