Project proposal// bicycle baskets

More and more people are using biking as an alternative to cars. They are biking to get to school, to work, and to get their groceries. In order to do so they need either a really big bag or baskets that can carry the load. Searching for a bicycle basket one will encounter several kinds. One is a wicker wood based basket. This basket would be a good look for a cruiser bicycle, but would look displaced on a road bicycle. There are also fabric bags that go on bicycles, but are prone to being stolen and damaged by the weather. A lot of these fabric bags are in dark blues or blacks and do not have any patterns or designs on it. Finally, there are the metal baskets. Some are folding and others require elastic chords to hold objects down. While these are harder to steal, the open-grid bottom allow smaller items to fall out easily or move around. All of these are baskets are useful, but none of them are easy to customize to fit the bicycle’s color, style, or the rider’s personality and most of them are not aesthetically pleasing. I would like to design a product that is weather friendly, aesthetically
pleasing, and can carry all the weight of a grocery trip. Some baskets were not designed to fit on the bicycle well, such as the wicker basket can not fit the front of a road bicycle with all the cables in the way, other baskets are simply too big to go on drop handle bars or can only be one height in relation to the wheel because of a support bar. Sunday Streets in San Francisco, a event where people can take over a street with biking, is here to stay, and San Francisco just approved 45 new bicycle lanes. Bicycling is becoming the safe and green alternative to driving and we need the products to move forward with it by adding convenience and beauty.

furoshiki

i have to admit. i have a problem. when it comes to bags, i have too many. i buy them for the sake of having another oh-but-it-will-be-perfect-with-my-outfit. which is a major problem.

enter the maker faire. i went on saturday. fun. one of the first things I saw was a furoshiki. the perfect thing about this is that I have tons of fabric lying around waiting to turn into one! and now they can be tied in many ways...

furoshiki


sweet. now i can silkscreen onto fabric and make these..

mary

Fashion (+) Design

I have to admit, I love fashion. It's fun and beautiful. A well tailored outfit can change everything. So is it important to Graphic Designers?

Look at Angie Wang, designer, typographer. Clothes? Definitely has a sense of style, color coordination. Dexsy was showing me an outfit. ahh very nice. I am in love with a pair of shoes (for the shape and color..).

Today I got a nice jcrew coat, white, wool and cashmere. Only 19 dollars (sale at Jeremy's) and I know I got it for the cut and color. In many ways, that's how I buy a book too. Visual sensibility. And that is how I should design a book.

In a world that is based alot of speech, ideas, and appearance, fashion does play a key role. Though I would love to say that I do not judge you by the shirt you are wearing, I sure will notice if it's a nice dress shirt with a pattern that pops. And though I'd hate to admit it as well, I appreciate that people care about their clothes.

Of course, I dress in an awful rush for school. 8 am. I'm not put together at all (mind and everything too.) But it's Friday night and I'm going out with my boy, so l'm going to go stand in front of the mirror.

Mary

field trip!

i went on two field trips this week. one to dwell magazine (inspiring to say the least) and one to point reyes (inspiring in nature). it's always an intense week. it was great today to talk to some some about overtones in music. it's been a long time since i've picked up that flute. i love this literature in the environment class that dexsy and i are taking in class today. hopefully her and i can design a book of pictures for ever-so-awesome professors. I need to start making the posters for this final and also i'm going to write the paper tomorrow.

should i go to napa? it's hard to say.. i say let's stay and work on the cheese and flash website.

ahhhh!

this week was hectic. emotionally difficult. and in need of air.
but i got what i need to do done. and this weekend is going to be living the life of graphic design.
immerse.
float bak up on monday.
i swear i got it.

ice cream. apple juice. pure survival.

poster from this week that i made for student affairs.
mary

i dropped a class!

Amazing. I've been taking a class that I don't need. Not that I mind really. I love the class. Classical Art History. The ceramics are stunning, and the vase painting? Wow. The idea of craft is really there, the idea of time being spent. Sometimes we move too fast or want things too fast. Slow it, slow it.

Speaking of crazy fast.....



04.01.08
2 x 3 feet
b+w plotter.
Quadraat and Edwardian

I made this poster in one day for Student Affairs. I don't like the cursive writing.. quite hard to read. Though it does evoke a nice feeling. I did show the guy a variation with the names in italic... I don't think he liked it too much. I should've fought more.








Also I didn't like that the names were not alphabetical... how confusing! But time was short and 4 had to be printed before my 4 hour shift and I couldn't play editor too long. I love the florals though.


This week has been a bit tough. It's my first week working both jobs and going to all my classes on time, so it was a bit crazy. OH and I'm sleeping before 12 now as a pledge to balance my body. And I'm biking more. Of course I take my breaks. Now with this class drop I'll have more time to dream, think, and think more. I can't wait to jump into the magazine face first no helmet and maybe a parachute.

al.rite. let's get this weekend all great and beautiful and cook some pasta tonight.

mare ware

cleaning it up

So my room has been a mess for the past two weeks. The boyfriend forgives. I list my reasons over and over again. He sighs. I look at the room. It kinda reflects how I feel in my head. Its been a jumble recently. And sleep has been something of an accidental event.

Yesterday I went hiking with my Literature in the Environment class, field trip. It was sweeeet to say the very least. Somehow I know I've been losing ground. What's most important? It put me back to where I act like a child, running on the path and talking to plants. I had a chat with the little boy, son of a student in the class, and I forgot how smart and mature they can be... I almost felt that kid knew more than me about things, but he hardly said anything.

Maybe because in his eyes you can see that he's living with the right now, he's got it down. He's rubbing two rocks together to see which one is more strong. Yet he didn't have to explain to me, I could just assume.

Sometimes the simplest ways to learn are right in front of us, why don't we pick it up and test the rocks? Growing older I find myself losing the kind of curiosity that cannot be explained. Why didn't I care about two different rocks like he did?

And you're wondering how this goes into design. I think that design somehow starts at the core. If I hit the right string inside, it'll resonate. I know my work isn't the most exciting yet and in type class I'm trying to keep it as classic, but I think it's nice to learn how to iterate the classic before I go out. At the same time, do I have a fear of rubbing two rocks together? I don't think so. I've kinda always plan things outs, whether I would like it or not.

Somehow, I know that if I had gone to art school right away and graduated this semester like all my peers (facebook says... oh last semester!! etc etc) I would not be where I am right now as a person. I had a lot of things messed up as I grew up and I hid a lot of things. So going to Cal kind of really hit me down as far as I can go... and now it's going to have to be uphill.

The rain's cleared up. I'm going to clean up the rest of this room and go for a walk.

mare

ps. if you haven't tried American Analog Set i would give it a try. esp born on the cusp.

pss. amazing how work just starts coming to me... friends want me to make a logo for their jewelry shop...boyfriend wants me to make one for the ethics commission and something else for his brother... holllyyy