Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mind Freeing Narrative [The Hatchery]

Have you ever played the game taboo? That game sums up how I began my process. I found images that I thought related to the hatchery, and caught my attention. The images ranged from modern store interiors, to eggs of all kinds. I then created a word list with words related to the inspiration images. I narrowed down my choices, and chose my concept: reveal. I wanted the research images and words, to illustrate the main idea of the hatchery, just as you would want to illustrate your game card to your teammates in a game of taboo.
The hatchery is a place where the departments of UNCG can display our best works, and reveal them to the public. Reveal can be illustrated through material, flow of traffic, and display placement throughout the store. We as a whole will reveal the hatchery to the public as a collaboration of student work.
I envision my design to capture the attention of pedestrians walking past the hatchery. The windows will give just a hint of what is within the store, so they feel welcomed in, but keeping it just enough hidden to spark interest. When you tell a person they cannot see something, it motivates them to find a way to view it. I would like to use materials, wall partitions, and wall cut outs to make reveals for displaying the student work. I intend to research materials and displays, to find the most innovative ways to reveal the student work of the hatchery, to the public.

Friday, October 23, 2009

T-Shirt Tote Bags [Salvation Army Select]








Fashionable re-use for a t-shirt; t-shirt tote bags are a great way to be eco-friendly!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

BUTTONING UP MY PORTFOLIO









With internship opportunities in progress, I handcrafted my first go at a portfolio ... viola!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

inventory investigation

The Hatchery would be lucky to have works from every department on the UNC-G campus, however this may be impossible, so we'll settle on the willing and able.












iArc, Art, Dance, CARS, English, Music, English, Communication, Business...
This is the small list I have come up with, but hope to expand as we dive deeper into the project.

Precedent Research












            This a shop featuring works from artists all over the world. Volunteers that show passion and interest in all aspects of the shop run the shop. This store is located in Cameron village, in Raleigh, NC. Items within the shop resemble what would be sold at the hatchery, from jewelry, and art, to furniture.  This shop made me think of the hatchery, because the bones of the store stay the same, but the people working and the items being sold are continually changing.








            A New Orleans native jeweler sparked an interest in my president study, because she focuses on the sale of a collection of her personally made products. She is a famous jeweler in New Orleans, and has become known for her elegant display of work. The Mignon Faget shops are all over New Orleans, in many different parts of the city. This made me think of how The Hatchery will be in an unusual spot for the sales of UNCG student works. Most would expect the hatchery to be closer to campus, but the display will make it stand out in the crowd of downtown, sparking interest in the community. We should dream big, you never know, what we do could have an impact on the city of Greensboro and The Hatchery will be very well known.













            New Orleans is great places to site see, and one of my personal favorite places to visit in the French Quarter of New Orleans, is the French Market. This is an area dedicated specifically to vendors selling merchandise that they have either crafted or created, or that they have purchased to re-sell. The common way to describe this place would be one big flea market. We are creating a small version of a flea market with the hatchery, by having an eclectic variety of products and services being sold. Thinking of the French Market made me think of how we should make the layout very user friendly so that you can walk through all the areas and either pay as you go, or pay at the exit, limiting traffic in the shopping area.













            Mmm Coffee and Beignets, the thought of this wonderful place and the wonderful food puts a smile on my face. While this is a different place to research for the hatchery, it does coincide with what we are doing and how we want to do it. We want to create a place that will remain classic, yet display the product well. Café Du Monde has had the same look for years on end, yet the product is what has people coming back. The signature sign and colors (green and white) stand out to New Orleans natives, as well as visiting tourists. While this shop sells food, they allow street vendors to sit outside the café playing music and selling artwork. If we can design a classic look in the hatchery, the work will stand out and keep people coming back, also minimizing maintenance of the designed space.













            Oh finding little places that catch your eye and contain wonderful things is just so much fun! This little shop in Raleigh, NC has always sparked my attention when passing, and this past weekend I decided to check it out. The colorful building and sign are just the start of the fun that this place inspires. The store sells refurbished furniture, and other odds and ends, but mostly the furniture. I was inspired to find old pieces and re-do them to a pristine state as they were sold in this store. I think this place was a great place to see that space is a necessity with selling a variety of shapes and sizes in all different works, not only furniture. The tiny shop was jam packed with all the fun colorful things, from floor to ceiling there were items to be seen. I believe we need to limit the overcrowding in the hatchery, because like this place we are limited on space.
















            Fun name, fun place! In five points, a small area near downtown Raleigh, there is a wonderful shop with just everything from food to clothing, and everything in between. I just loved the artistic flare of this old building that was re organized and re designed to be a wonderful café and shop. The building was originally a piggly wiggly grocery store, but you would never know now, except for the large sign kept inside to honor its history. We can put an artistic spin on anything and the hatchery will be a great place to do that! We can take an old building and make it look polished and new just like NoFo. 











            This antique shop, located in Raleigh NC, blends the old and new very nicely. They have 11,000 square feet of dealer merchandise, and it is all so fascinating. This store takes works from many dealers, and sells them under their name just as we would be doing at the hatchery. They have a collection of creative pieces, and it is a fun place to shop, which made me hope to take the aspect of turning old into new or classic to modern into our design of the hatchery.










            This clothing store is known for bright colors and bold prints. Having something to signature your self with helps create a brand. The hatchery is a place that will need a definite brand, because the items being sold will be forever changing. This shop is a place that shoppers can easily stroll in and out, which is what I hope to create with the hatchery.  




            This design, and furniture store in Richmond, VA is one of my favorites. This is on the opposite spectrum of what we are going for with the hatchery, because of its size and high end finishes. This store just made me think of how we could think big, but we need to remember we are working with a small space. This store takes up a full city block, and has the variety of merchandise we will not have. So this is a good place to look for layout and how they section off parts of the store, but we need to keep in mind we will not be working with the size of this store. 






            This clothing shop at North Hills, in Raleigh, NC, is a fun an artistic place to stroll on Saturday afternoons. I love the layout of this store, with the old furniture made new, arranged sporadically and used to display the merchandise. This made me think of a fun way to showcase the works we will be selling at the hatchery on top of furniture we will be selling. This store has a great center with eye catching pieces of merchandise on the walls surrounding, it uses every inch of the space in the store without making it look or feel jammed in there. 

















Site Visit: The Hatchery

While working with classmates to collect all needed measurements, one of my group members snapped a few photographs of the space. The photo's show the designated space in its raw and present form. Oh the possibilities are endless, let the fun begin!