Plant Informed Design Process
Advanced Graphic Design Fall 2013
Part 1: Quantitative Map A Year in the Life of Grass
1”=50’ Base of Tree 18"
Base of Tree 20"
Base of Tree 24"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 12"
Base of Tree 06"
BLDG. BLDG. BLDG.
Base of Tree 02"
BLDG.
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
BLDG. BLDG.
Base of Tree 02"
BLDG. BLDG.
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Placement for Purification and Capture
Base of Tree 18"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 24"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 30"
Base of Tree 18"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 24"
Base of Tree 18"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 24"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 24"
Base of Tree 03" Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03" Base of Tree 03"
Advanced Graphic Design taught by Stacy Asher
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 03" Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03"
After taking a couple years away from graphic design classes, I developed a new process with this project. This is a quantitative map of a rain garden I maintained and planted at Lewis Ball Fields in Lincoln, NE. It shows the water needs of the six species of plants in one of the four rain gardens at this location. This project informs my next project, a quantitative map of seasonal interest of these same plants. Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Information Collection
Auto Cad drawing of Lewis Ball Fields parking lot and rain garden section by Olson Associates.
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 15"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 02" Base of Tree 15" Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 12"
Base of Tree 02"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 03"
Base of Tree 03"
2 Zine Creation
1 Initial Ideation
3 Garden Mapping
4 Concepting
Sketchbook Process
5 Format
6 Plant Research
7 Format
9 Feedback
8 Graphic Development
10 Feedback
11 Moving Forward
ig bbs pd fs bs so
Plant Mapping
Concrete Curb and Gutter
Geotextile Filter Fabric Coarse Gravel
Rain Garden Section
Created Graphics
Soil Ammendment 18’’ Min. to 24’’ Max 10% Native, 40% Organic Compost and 50% Sand Mixture
Bottlebrush Sedge 80%
Little Bluestem 30%
Fox Sedge 60%
Prairie Dropseed 20%
Indian Grass 30%
Sideoats Grama 30%
water usage: wet-dry sun exposure: 0-100% height: 2-6 feet
[Key] 100%
min-max
Research Informed Diagram
Plant species on large map
Color and Line Study
The circles’ different colors represent different species of plants. Those with different stroke weights represent different plant height. I did a few variations until I found one that I felt most clearly showed differences in species and focused most on water use as opposed to plant height.
Each circle represents the amount of water a plant uses in relation to the other plants. The different colors of circles are different species of plants. bottlebrush sedge fox sedge Indian grass little bluestem prairie dropseed sideoats grama
Fill Line Once the level of water reaches this height, the water will begin to flow into the center drain.
Drain The drain in the center directs the water above the fill line to an underground drain in the stormwater sewer system.
Curb Cut The curb has been completely removed letting water from the parking lot drain easily into the depression of the rain garden.
Water Flow
Placement for Purification and Capture
Formal Critique
Classmate and Professor Feedback
Part 2: Qualitative Map Placement for Purification & Captrure
Sketchbook Process
Sketchbook Process
Sketchbook Process
Chris Helzer
Photography Use
Helvetica Neue LT Std 67 Medium Condensed Helvetica Neue LT Std 67 Medium Condensed Helvetica Neue LT Std 66 Medium Italic Helvetica Neue LT Std 65 Medium--title! Helvetica Neue LT Std 57 Condensed Helvetica Neue LT Std 57 Condensed Oblique Helvetica Neue LT Std 56 Italic Helvetica Neue LT Std 45 Light--copy, subhead! Helvetica Neue LT Std 46 Light Italic Helvetica Neue LT Std 47 Light Condensed--subhead Helvetica Neue LT Std 47 Light Condensed Oblique Helvetica Neue LT Std 43 Light Extended Helvetica Neue LT Std 43 Light Extended Helvetica Neue LT Std 37 Thin Condensed Helvetica Neue LT Std 37 Thin Condensed Oblique Helvetica Neue LT Std 35 Thin Helvetica Neue LT Std 33 Thin Extended Helvetica Neue LT Std 33 Thin Extended Oblique Helvetica Neue LT Std 27 Ultra Light Condensed Helvetica Neue LT Std 27 Ultra Light Condensed Oblique Helvetica Neue LT Std 25 Ultra Light Helvetica Neue LT Std 26 Ultra Light Italic Helvetica Neue LT Std 23 Ultra Light Extended Helvetica Neue LT Std 23 Ultra Light Extended Oblique
Typography Study
Mar b e F c De ian g ind
ian ind
May
Nov
ras s
grama sideoats
gra
ss
indian grass
Ap r
indian
grass
ss
n gra
india
indian
grass
india
n gra
ss
Oct
Jun
ia ind
indian grass
l Ju
ss
s ras
gra
ng
ian
ind
Se p Aug
Project 2 Beginning Process
Color and Iconography
Background Color
Each season of the year, grasses provide a beautiful display of unique colors. This is a study on the seasonal interest of six different grasses located in a parking lot rain garden at Lewis Ball Fields in Lin coln, Nebraska.
Fox Sedge
Prairie D ropseed
Little Bluestem
Indian Grass
Sideoats Grama
Bottlebrush Sedge
Development of Created Graphics
Chris Helzer
Photography Use
Spring
Fox Sedge
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
2 feet
plant height
6 feet
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
2 feet
plant height
6 feet
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
2 feet
plant height
6 feet
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
2 feet
plant height
6 feet
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
2 feet
plant height
6 feet
wet
water usage
dry
0%
sun exposure
100%
plant height
6 feet
Summer
Fall
Spring
Prairie Dropseed
Summer
Fall
Spring
Little Bluestem
Summer
Fall
Spring
Indian Grass
Summer
Fall
Early Spring
Sideoats Grama
Spring
Fall
Spring
Bottlebrush Sedge
Summer
Fall
2 feet
Typology
Moving Forward-Atlases in Special Collection
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ttl
eb
dg
e se
ru
sh
August
er
ge sed fox ed pse dro m e irie luest pra b little n grass india a s gram sideoat h sedge
Novem ber
bottlebrus
ober Oct
fox sedge prairie dr op seed lit tle bluest em india n gra sid e ss o ttle ats g ram bru a sh sed ge
June
bo
May
Sep tem b
Ap ril sid
pra fox sed irie ge dro litt pse le ed in blue eo dian stem at s g gras s ra m a
e fox sedg pseed prairie dro little bluestem indian grass sideoats gra ma bottleb rush se dge
ed se m op e dr est ss ie lu air le b n gra r p litt ia ma ind s gra e t a edg eo sid rush s leb tt bo
ge
March
lit
ed se m op e dr est ss ie lu air le b n gra t pr ia ma ind s gra e at edg eo sid rush s leb bott
e fox sedg pseed prairie dro little bluestem indian grass sideoats gra ma bottleb rush se dge
fox pra sed irie ge d litt rop le see d in blue eo dian stem at s g gras s ra m a sid
ly Ju
ed
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eb c-F De bo
e ttl
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ge sed fox ed pse dro irie stem ra p blue little n grass india a s gram sideoat h sedge bottlebrus
fox sedge prairie dropse ed little bluest em india n side bo oats grass ttle bru gram a sh sed ge
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Project 2 Final Presentation and Critique
Atlas: Grass: Functional & Aesthetic
1 Grid Layout
I chose an 8�x8� grid for my atlas and at first just went with a 4x4 grid. Then I decided it would work to include a 3x4 grid with the 4x4 grids. This worked better on my spreads where I explain each plant because I only had three pictures of the plants.
2 Table of Contents Inspiration
3 Top Border
4 Feedback
5 Table of Contents Concepting
6 Fibonacci Sequence for Text Size The table of contents design I used for my portfolio was not really working with my atlas, so tried to dream up other options. I ended up doing a very simple one with small rectangles of color for each section. That colored rectangle then reoccurs in its respective section in the pages of the atlas. My professor provided us with a page layout sheet to visualize where all of our content would go. This was helpful for me to put all the components of the front and back end matter in the correct order.
7 Pagination
Sketchbook Process
Cover Page Process
Table of Contents Evolution
Evolution of Pages
Section Spread Evolution
Content Spread and Fold Out Spread Evolution
Throughout the process of building the atlas, I decided that I liked how some of the copy and illustrations looked on a white background better than the dark background. I mixed up both backgrounds in the final atlas, so each page has content with the background it looks best with. For example, the rain gardens with circles have a dark background because the color pops much better and the transparency of the circles glows a lot more and shows better depth on dark grey than on white. The fold out sections also morphed into full pages and the text moved farther down so it wasn’t the main focus of the page.
Cover, Title Spread
Preface
Bibliography
Final Versions
Printed Book
Thanks! Leah Goossen corina_leah@hotmail.com