Blog #7- Photo Analysis

Principles of Design

The photo I chose for my photo analysis had many design principles such as unity, variety, harmony, balance, scale, emphasis, and rhythm. I chose this picture because of the fact that it has so many design principles, that the room itself seems very proportional.

            When you first look at this picture you see the picture frames above the bed which creates an enormous amount of emphasis with the bright greens, and dark greens going against the white wall. Another object that creates emphasis is the piece that is sitting in the front of the bed and the chair that is on the side of the bed. The main focus of this picture is the unity, harmony and variety. These three design elements stand out the most when you actually take a good look at what is going on in the picture.

            In this interior, I believe that the designer decided to go with a lot of variety with different scales of the pictures. When you look at the frames the largest frame stands out the most and it takes your eye all the way across to your left, as you look the frames get smaller as well as the picture. This in fact brings in harmony and unity to these picture frames in the room.

The unity and harmony in the room is brought about in the picture that is being used over and over again in the variety of scales picture frames. There is also unity and harmony in the rectangular and square shapes like the designs on the pillow, the picture frames, the shelves, the rectangular boards above the picture frames, and the rectangular bed.

There is also balance in the room as well with the bed being in the center of the room with the head of the bed against the wall, and in between the shelves. The room is so well proportioned, and it creates a rhythm with the help of the picture frames.

This picture is considered good design, in the simplest way of doing so. Just with the unity, variety, harmony, balance, scale, emphasis, and rhythm in the interior, especially with the frames is so simple, but it is such a great design, and it is pleasing to the eye. The main focus of the interior is doing something similar to this piece, and making it as simple as can be to consider it good design.

Blog #6- Unusual Materials

The Use of an Eco-Friendly Garden Hose

We were given an assignment to look for an unusual material that was used in a unique way, and I came across a chair, which my first impression was, it was made out of romen noodles. As I read up on what the chair was made out of, I couldn’t believe that someone actually made a chair out of recycled garden hoses. This eco- chair is considered to be green design and sustainable development.

Society today is trying their best to stay eco-friendly or staying green, designer Kwangho Lee is doing just that, as he noticed that these garden hoses as well as electrical wires were being thrown away, and he thought that these materials could be put into great use, since we are trying to save the planet from situations like this. However, this chair that Kwangho Lee designed was made out of thrown away garden hoses to create a very useful eco-friendly chair.

This chair can be uses indoors or outdoors. When using this chair indoors it can create a unique artistic look. Kwangho Lee has designed other sets of furniture as well as lighting that can definitely look great indoors. When looking at this chair, I see its use being used more outside, because when I think garden hose, I think of vintage, and I think of the outdoors or my great-grandmothers garden.

As I said in the previous paragraph, Kwangho Lee has designed many other furniture and accessories using recycled materials as far as metal, sockets, copper, wood, felt, candle lights, teacups, styrofoam, garden hoses, phone cords, electrical wires. Lee has also designed jewelry made out of barbed wire, and automobile parts. Kwangho Lee got his inspiration from his childhood memories, by watching his mother who knitted all his clothing when he was young, and from watching his grandfather, a farmer, who would make his own tools, and doing everything else with his hands.

Kwangho Lee developed these ideas by going by two things “One is about the search for possible changes and new meanings in the most ordinary objects of our daily lives. I believe that many of the mundane objects have boudless capabilities of transforming into something else. Second is to express the symphony of design and craft. My projects never undergo machinery process. Therefore only small quantities are 'crafted' out of my hands.” (Lee). Lee does something that is meaningful and that has an effect on the world by staying green.

This eco-friendly chair is a very great design and it will soon decrease dumping into the land fill and it will do less harm to the environment. Kwangho Lee has a great website with all his work and great ideas, it is www.kwangholee.com. Ideas like these should be taken into consideration and developed, and green design should be a main focus and it has taught me to not just design with the usual, but design with the unusual, and make something your own.

 Lee, Kwangho. Kwangho Lee Official Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct 2011.             http://www.kwangholee.com/.

Blog #5- Design Day

The Future

            Attending the Texas Tech, 2011Design Expo, where we were able to visit with sponsors and learn new things about design, and on the plus side we got FREE STUFF! As I was walking up to most of the tables where the sponsors showed off their products, I noticed that the sponsors didn’t have good presentations, and they didn’t quite show off what they had, so they never really grabbed my attention. For me to be interested, I have to be given a good presentation, or they should have interest in showing off their product, or they should show that they love what they do with some sort of emotion. A lot of these so called “presentations” that some of these sponsors presented didn’t have much an effect on me, and I can honestly say that the food was way better than some of these designer’s presentations.

            While walking past some of these sponsors, I saw a sponsor that had no one there to show off the products to. I decided to see what he had to say about the products he sold. His name was Bart Turner, associated with Bart Turner and Associates, and he grabbed my attention with his great presentations and I was there for at least 30 minutes, because he was so interested in telling me all the projects he has done all over the world.

            When I came up to the sponsor of Bart Turner and Associates, he started to talk about the products of Takeform Architectural Graphics. He talked about the new signage collections that are being used in interior and exterior buildings, such as hospitals and businesses. They also design letters and logos that fit the company’s they design for and the design of customized name palettes. He also asked us if we think that objects on the walls were plain such as the clear magazine nests and sanitizer stations. That’s when he began to tell us that they designed additions to wall accessories so that the wall wouldn’t have to look so plain, and it can be customized. He then moved on to talking about the KI Healthcare solutions for patients, family, and staff. The KI Healthcare is designed to work the same way you do, it’s a way to make furniture accustomed to your needs.

            He saved the best for last and before he got to it, he had my attention directly drawn to him, as he started talking about T1Visions. T1Visions is a connection screen that is a durable multi-user touchscreen, which is integrated into tables, walls, and kiosks. He started to go on about how it can be used, which they can be used in classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, media-centers, and restaurants. He then brought out his ipad and showed a commercial of how these touch screens are used. What shocked me was that these touchscreens can be used in restaurants, but customers can order from it, without the waiters and waitresses asking for your order, you can just order when you’re ready. You can also play games while waiting, and two people can use it, all you have to do is divide it.

I was really impressed by this product, and the sponsor’s presentation. He was so excited with it, and he also enjoyed giving his presentation. No sponsor in the Design Expo grabbed my attention, except for the sponsor for Bart Turner and Associates, and I was very pleased with it. I hope to see them again next year at the Design Expo and hopefully I will find more sponsors that might give just as a better presentation than Bart Turner and Associates, but for now Bart Turner and Associates have me sold.

T1Visions Social Touch Screen Solutions." t1visions. Stormlab, 2011. Web. 17 Oct 2011. <http://www.t1visions.com/gallery/customers/>.

Blog Post #4- Learning Lunch

Featuring Brian Graham

One of the greatest, hilarious, presentations, Brian Graham gave at the Design Expo in Lubbock, Texas. As freshman, sophomores, juniors, and senior, sign up to attend the lecture lunch, little do they know what they have in store for them. As the presentation was being set up, interior design majors as well as professors all lined up to the tables and served themselves to the catered lunch of sandwiches, chips, and dessert. As everyone was trying to get settled to their seats for the presentation, the lights were dimmed, and standing before everyone was Brian Graham.

Brian Graham talked about his adventures and his success as an interior designer, mainly furniture designer. His presentation was both inspirational and meaningful to the interior design and architecture world. Graham’s had a sense of humor, which was a sign of relief that the design world does not always have to be so serious, but to have fun with what you do, which will then make you progress as a designer.

It was reminded to everybody that everything is designed, even the simplest things. Graham drilled into every single, young interior designer that we need to jot down our ideas, even if it does not make sense to you, but it could make sense to everyone else. His idea of trying multiple ways of designing furniture was unbelievable, especially with all the possibilities that were available. His way of thinking, was unique, designing miniature furniture of the life size piece of furniture, to give him an idea what his design was going to look like.

Brian Graham’s presentation was very entertaining, meaningful, and it gave every designer some sort of inspiration that might help them become successful in their careers. Everything is designed, even the simplest things, which will make something become more than it really is, if you put the effort into it.

Blog Post #3- All About Looks

Unique Trends 

            A few days ago I went on a very interesting field trip to All About Looks, an interior fabric retail store in Lubbock. They are very different from other interior fabric retail stores, especially in West Texas, who are a little late in catching up with the trends of today, or they are taking a little longer to accept the changes in trends. 

            All About Looks sales all the new trends of today, but just because they are new doesn’t mean it is pricey. All About Looks is very reasonable, and works around your budget. They also have their own upholsterer, which is also a cheaper route to go, instead of buying new furniture, reupholster your old furniture. They also give their customers a chance to pick their own style and taste, since the whole process is satisfying your customer.

            All About Looks takes care of your drapery and drapery accessories, bedding, wallpaper, window coverings, area rugs, slip covers, as well as reupholstering done by an experienced upholsterer. They can do just about anything, and they really care about the customer’s safety and they also know what fabrics are needed to do the job, to have a safe and ostentatious interior.

            One of the interesting things that were mentioned on the field trip was that printing on fabric is becoming really popular and it looks really amazing to me, just as if you would buy any other fabric. They showed us an example of a printed fabric and it was of the Beatles, which looked absolutely great, and it amazes you, where technology has taken us.

            I really enjoyed this field trip, especially with all the information that was given, and how nice these people took their time to go over everything they knew. I really appreciated all the left over fabric books that they let us take, which in fact we took to many to count. I recommend this place to anyone who is interested in reupholstering furniture, or who simply just wants the new trends of today.

Blog Post #2- Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute: Visit 2

Fiber Haze 

            A few days ago I attended a field trip to the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute in Lubbock, Texas. Walking into the doors of FBRI, you couldn’t avoid the fiber in the air, and you couldn’t help, but deal with the upcoming of allergies. With FBRI’s motives to change the fiber quality, their goal in doing so, is serving the research needs of manufacturers, cotton breeders and public agencies.

            Once cotton is picked, it has to go through a process, where it is then tested. The cotton is tested in a multiple of ways, so it is one hundred percent positive to be used for any type of fabric. One of the testing processes caught my eye, in which I’m going to go over. Once the fabric has been through the cleaning process and everything other process, it is then brought to the Break Force and Elongation of Textile Fabrics.

            The Break Force and Elongation of Textile Fabrics machine, determines the breaking force and elongation of the fabrics, using a grab sample, and another way of testing the fabric is determining its bursting strength. This machine can be programmed to do skein breaks of yarn and other fiber strengths.

With the different accessories and load cells being used, this type of method is not required for knitting fabrics due to its stretching ability. When testing the strength of knitting fabrics, a machine called the Ball Bursting Strength is used. When dealing with the two methods of strip strength test, the raveled strip test, tests woven fabrics and the cut strip test, test non-woven fabrics, felted fabrics and dipped or coated fabrics. Once they are both set in their lengths of  one inch wide by six inches  in length, the specimen is prepared for warp and filling direction.

The grab test procedure determines the strength of the fabric, but the breaking force of the grab test is not a reflection of the strength of the fabrics. When using the Testometric machine it is set for varying speed depending on what type of fabric is being used. The results can be reported in either inch- pound units, or SI units. The values of the breaking force and elongation of the test specimens are gathered from the computer, which is then interfaced with the testing machine.

The tedious work put into cotton to find the quality and strength is a long process, but with the FBRI’s motive to change the way cotton is processed, brings a positive outlook of what will make of the future.


Fiber and biopolymer research institute. (2011, September 15). Retrieved from http://www.itc.ttu.edu/

Blog Post #1- Fibers

The Start of a Miracle

The brightness, the similarities it shares with cotton, a fiber also known as having its own “ray of light,” was given the name Rayon, the French word for ray.  Rayon was the first manufactured fiber developed which was made from wood or cotton pulp and was first known as artificial silk. Artificial silk was made by Swiss Chemist, George Audemars in 1855, by simply dipping a needle in a liquid solution, mulberry bark pulp and gummy rubber, and a thread was created. The issue during this time period, the process in developing rayon was very slow, and it required precision and skill. In 1905, Courtaulds Fibers produced the first commercial viscose rayon, and the first viscose rayon in the United States was in 1910 by the American Viscose Company.

The purpose of developing rayon was making it a lower-cost alternative to cotton, but the cost of rayon and cotton are about the same. Rayon and cotton share similar characteristics, rayon chemically, just about performs the same as cotton. When it comes to rayon and cotton and their differences, rayon is less stable than cotton when wet because it is most likely to stretch. To prevent rayon from stretching, polynosic rayon was developed, a high-wet-modulus of rayon.

In producing rayon there are three methods in doing so, but the main one of producing rayon is viscose because its cellulosic material is already processed into a liquid and is then forced out into a filament. The second method of rayon is the cuprammonium, and it is extended in a copper solution, but it is only produced in Europe and not the United States because of the cost of up keeping the copper residue from the waste water. The last method of rayon is the Saponified rayon, and it is reverted from acetate through a chemical process so that the fiber looks like rayon, but dyes like acetate.

In producing acetate, the cellulosic fiber is extruded through an acetate solution. Acetate is a different from any other fiber because it requires a special dye. It also has poor abrasion resistance and cannot be made into a wide variety of yarn fabrication. Since acetate is lost cost, light resistant, and dimensionally stable, it is fabulous when used for drapery-lining fabric and for drapery-fabric warp yarns.

The miracle, rayon, is used in a filament form or a long-staple spun form. With rayon’s high level of brightness, it simulates silk. It brings brightness and drape when it is blended with other types of fibers. When using rayon it should not be used as vertical yarn in a drapery because the fabric’s weight will pull and make the panel sag. Rayon’s attributes make it excellent as an accent yarn in fabrics of almost any end-use, from wallcoverings to drapery and upholstery fabrics with fill-effect yarns.