CREATIVE STRATEGIES ahrhembyeol stella lee
environmental design
fall 2012
Exploring a strategic approach to creativity that will stimulate, encourage and liberate our own creative potential. Taking ideas of breaking patterns, reframing problems and applying new conceptual thinking into our work. The assignments are designed to explore the theoretical components of creativity further and to discover our individual unchartered territories for new methods of problem solving. With the use of cross disciplinary evaluation techniques we will better understand our own learning process and be able to apply them to expand their range of creative thinking skills.
Copyright 2012 by Ahrhembyeol Stella Lee 1 626 529 4167 i.astellalee@gmail.com Art Center College of Design 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena, CA 91103 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publiction may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechnical, inclusing photocopy, recording or an information storage and retrieval system, withour prior permission in writing from the publisher. Designed and printed in Los Angeles, California, USA.
SELF PORTRAIT
Investigate the following question: Who are you as a designer? Think of this assignment as a creative self- portrait. Choice of medium and executive are entirely up to you, but make sure they clearly highlight your strengths in a unique way.
KEEN PERCEPTIVE DIRECT STRATEGIC WHIMSICAL
PROPOSED PROBLEMS How do I present myself using they key attributes which describe me as an “experience� designer?
- creating layers of approach as one uncovers and discovers me - not giving the whole, instead strategically giving the experience of piecing together - transformation pieces--> whole - allows for closer observation
What does a disassembled self portrait look like?
- collection of very personal items - lifestyle collage - various journals to keep track, reflect, and record - shoes tell alot about a girl and her personality - sensitive to environments, smelling and hearing - capturing interesting encounter in my camera - traveling - health conscious
How do I present a self portrait collage to create layers of experiences?
- closer observation as one pieces together fragments of my self portrait
PROBLEM: Pieces alone do not serve its purpose. The pieces must remain together in order to tell the whole story . Therefore, each puzzle piece becoming a name card does not work. SOLUTION: A box to keep the puzzles together. It becomes a personal branded promotion item. The completed picture is not visualized, but the incomplete picture matained together is completely transparent within the container. Without a solution to the complete picture, one has to observe individual pieces more closely. However, for solutions, one is directed to a personal contact information rastered on the box.
LAYERS OF ASSEMBLING A DISASSEMBLED SELF PORTRAIT 1. Encounter upon a tranparent box with glossy puzzle piece contained inside. 2. Take out the puzzle pieces, which surprisingly and oddly fits each other in mutiple ways. 3. One must observe the details of the puzzle piece in order to find the right pair. 4. On the back of the transparent box, there is a designer statement with contact information rastered. To see more projects AND SOLUTIONS TO THE PUZZLE, one can contact me via my phone number, email, or website.
MOCKUP LAYOUT
PROBLEM REFRAMING “Problem framing” is method of design thinking which delves into understanding the roots of a problem and framing it effectively in order to have a profound influence on the decisions we make. Reframe [one] of your classmate’s problems into a new one. The result should be in the form of a question and be an improvement compared to the original one. Answer the new question.
QUESTION.
“How can I always feel passionate about what I am doing now?” - Eliana, product design 6th term
WHY?
“I want to find inspiration outside of Art Center that reignites my passion.”
GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM
From one of my classmates, a product design student, I was asked to re-frame the given the question,“How can I always feel passionate about what I am doing now?” First of all, the words “ALWAYS”, “PASSIONATE”, and “NOW” stuck out to me because I realized one can never be “always”, because we change and react differently according to our environments. From there, I asked more questions such as “Is this your passion?” and “Are you happy?” because ultimately what my classmate wanted was to be satisfied and happy about the work which took up most of her time and energy. I came up with a flow chart to guide my classmate to regain her passion and stop being BURNT OUT. I believed that ultimately the real question was: “How can I change my perspective?” The answer to that question, I suggested was making a habit of positive thinking by writing 3 grateful things every day. *A decade of research in the business world proved that happiness raises nearly every business and educational outcome: raising sales by 37%, productivity by 31%, and accuracy on tasks by 19%, as well as a myriad of health and quality-of-life improvements.
THE REAL QUESTION IS: “How can I change my perspective?”
SOLUTION:
Making a habit of positive thinking by writing 3 grateful things everyday *because circumstances change when you change your perspective.
PROCESS:
set of questionaire which guides you to first of all, figure out if what you are considering REALLY is your passion.
burnt pages fade away as one flips through the pages and fills it with thankful thoughts.
ART CENTER SOUVENIR
Using the principal of pattern breaking, create a new concept for an Art Center Souvenir. Go for uniqueness and break away from the cliches but also capture the ACCD essence. Do think about what shape and form an Art Center Souvenir could take. This could be sold in the student store or be a give- away for guests or visitors. Ask yourself: What is the Art Center essence?
Art Center Vending machines
BACKDROP STORY: The vending machines around Art Center has unfortunately become essential to Art Center students. It embraces the Art Center student’s nightlife, many of us making frequent stops to the vending as we pull all nighters. PROBLEM: The contents of the machine does not embrace the Art Center student’s health. SOLUTION: This Art Center Souvenir would be a reminder and a surprise for students making their run to the vending machine while working late at night.
surprise! delight! engage.
Discovery of the “ORANGE” DOT amogst the junk food displayed in the Art Center vending machines
ART CENTER SOUVENIR
SECRET SANTA
Gift giving can be an artform: Using the collections as a starting point for inspiration, create a unique gift for the person that you have been assigned. Consider meaningfulness, longevity and packagin in the conceptual developement of this project.
JEANNIE PARK age: 24 major: graphics term: 3rd nationality: Korean *born and raise in America signature look: bleach hair ends hobby: going to be beach, watching movies, talking about movies
ART CENTER HACK
Hack into Art Center’s reality.
AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY where do students... gather most? spend most time? pass by most? have inside jokes about
QUALITY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Student Parking Lot Smoking Areas PC/MAC Labs Vending machines Black Sofas Overflowing Trash Bins
SMOKING AREA OPPORTUNITIES 1. Excuse to take a break 2. Information exchanged 3. Easy Atmosphere 4. Meet new faces*
*Especially important because our work constrains our opportunity to go outside our circles of colleges.
1. spot 2. be curious 3. smile and laugh 4. share with others
CREATIVE REMIX 1. Remix creativity around a theme that appeals to you. 2. Make it amazing
Inside my small studio, my life is filled with adventures. I burn my bathrobe, I break things, I dance, fall, and laugh, friends come in and out, and stories accumulate behind the facade of my windows. This in mind, whenever I travel, I stand in front buildings starring at the rows and columns of windows and balconies, and imagine the lives and stories hidden beyond the glimpse of life I see on the facades. I imagine what kinds of people and objects would fill the space.
3 locations. 3 facades. 3 tenants. 1 imagination.
Hong Kong
Macau
New York City
Causeway Bay area
Ruins of St.Paul Temple area
Meat Packing District
Freja Beha Erichsen
Iris Apfel
Natalia Vodianova
modern flair to it urban plan and architecture extremely crammed clothes hanging from the hundreds of windows diverse ethnicities
Hong Kong During my 2nd visit to Hong Kong, I stayed at Lanson Place, 5 star hotel in Causeway Bay area. One side of the room was made entirely out of glass. There, I took my camera and began to zoom into the buildings, people, and objects below. I sat there by the window for 1hour straight watching tiny dots(umbrellas) moving, people working on construction sites, the secrets alleys with graffiti written on them. To the right were apartment buildings with countless numbers of windows with clothes hanging from them. I noticed the “penthouses” on the rooftop, and wondered what kind of people of what status would live there. There was so much detail to the landscape, my eyes and my mind could not settle. Causeway Bay area Freja Beha is a high profile Danish model ranked 6th in the world. She’s known for her androgynous look, hair, and tattoo. Her color is black and white; you will always find her in a loose white t-shirt, black skinny jean, and black boots. She resides in New York for her job, and is constantly traveling all over the world. In an interview, she said, “I value the normal live. I’m always traveling, so going to shopping, doing laundry, and walking in the park… those usual things are very precious to me.” With the Hong Kong landscape in mind, I imagine Freja becoming a part of the raw unhindered movement and pace of the city. Freja Beha Erichsen
In looking at the apartment buildings in Macau, I could imagine a more romantic life in Macau compared to the raw industrial life in Hong Kong. This is probably due to its eclectic mixture of the West and the East from the Portuguese colonization.
Macau The Balcony I photographed is interesting because it is from an apartment building next to the ruins of the St.Paul temple. If we google ruins of the St.Paul Temple, you will also be able to find the same balcony image from an angle. However, no one really captures the houses and people living in those tourist sights, but when I was there, I wondered someone must live in those houses. They aren’t just sitting there to decorate the tourist sight.
Ruins of St.Paul Temple area Iris Apfel is a 90 year old American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon. She is recognized for her bold moves in mix matching fashion pieces. Her look is, she quotes, “very baroque or very ZEN”. She represents a confident free-spirited lifestyle. In an interview she says, “I am a hopeless romantic, I buy thing b/c I fall in love with hem. I never buy anything just because its valuable.”
Iris Apfel
I imagined this Apartment in Macau to be Iris Apel’s getaway spot which she purchased unbeknownst her husband during her younger days when she was passing through Macau looking for textile inspirations. It would be filled with flowers bold colors, and unique prints. She would come out to her balcony to watch the tourist who came to tour the temple and that’s when I would capture her on my camera.
New York City can be very mainstream or very eclectic mixture of small depending where you decide to go.
New York City A cozy looking balcony I sighted while walking on the highline. it stands in front of an old gigantic apartment building about 5 times its size, which makes this apartment with the balcony even more snug. This balcony fascinates me because of how frail the balcony looks. There are barely any support beam lift the balcony up. And yet, there is a chair and a table set up. Seeing this I assume that the tenants do come out
Meat Packing District Natalia Vodianova is a Russian model, icon, and philanthropist who now resides in the United Kingdom. As a teenager, Vodianova helped her mother sell fruit on the street and later set up her own fruit stand with a friend to help her family out of poverty. Vodianova’s father walked out on the family when she was a toddler, and she did not have any further contact with him until after she had become famous. Now she run charities to help build playgrounds in some of the bleakest parts of the country, including her old hometown. This relatively humble abode for who she is now, is a secret getaway studio home which she purchased as a model before she got married and had kids when she had just enough money to purchase a home in New York. I imagined this smaller quaint apartment for Natalia located in the meat packing district near all the designers and artist. Natalia Vodianova
Thank you
Fridolin Beisert, my instructor, who has helped me to realize the “fun� in design, and have awakened and focused my eyes back to my passion for problem solving and providing branded experiences. Always, my family, for their unconditional love, prayer, and support. To all my classmates and friends, who I have reminded the importance of conversations when solving problems. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to meet and work with designers from cross disciplines, and open my eyes to new ways of thinking. This class was truly the therapy session I needed to realize myself, my passions, and get out of being jaded from my routine design processes. Ahrhembyeol Stella Lee
Stella Ahrhembyeol Lee i.astellalee@gmail.com