remember this project?

Remember the parade home from this summer?  Refresh your memory by viewing my portfolio.
Just looking at these images this morning brings back a bit of summer warmth to my soon to be snowy winter day.

A big thanks again to the talented Bry Cox {aka RC1 on this blog} for the photography.

Part Two: The Event

Two years ago I was on my way to a class when I stopped in to check out the graduating design student portfolio event. After only a few minutes in the room I went outside and sat under the blossoming trees and told myself to breathe. It was overwhelming what I saw in there! The details, the hours they must have spent, the gigantic hurdle I saw before me to be on that level.
So I pulled it together, went back inside and from that day on had one goal in mind: my portfolio would be simple, not overdone, and it would be about what I think design should be. I wasn't even sure what that was yet or how to pull it off, but I was on a quest to figure it out.

On the way I met some really amazing people who made the experience better than I could have imagined. My friends enriched my days and we became a support system. A lot of wise cracks and a lot of tears. With graduation next week I feel a loss because I'll miss the creative interaction school has brought to my life.

My instructors have been beyond compare. It's been a privilege to be able to learn from a group of people who are talented and enthusiastic about design.

My parents are the best kind of people and willing to help any way they can. They have been a listening ear on the other end of the phone as I talked through ideas, frustrations, triumphs and failures.
And Bry. What a great friend. Without his expertise I would never have been able to make my portfolio the way I saw it in my mind. I'm stubborn and like to think I have solutions for everything but I've learned to listen to him because he's proven to have spot on judgment and an excellent way of simplifying things that I make difficult. Follow this link to his blogtopia to see a slice of what my book looks like on the inside. {thnx RC1 for the post!}

Pouring hundreds of hours into this project I was aware of the days quickly evaporating and I'd try to slow down and take more in. I felt like it was going to fast, have I even had time to soak it all in?
I was happy to feel peace of mind settle in when I needed it most. I couldn't compare myself to my peers, we are all too different. I just had to focus on what I could do and do my best. I've never done that before, I've never put it all in. I usually let self doubt or distractions get in the way.

So when it came time for awards and when it got down to one last one to hand out...and my name was called...."First Place Commercial Design - Jenna Rix"... I can't really even begin to tell you how thrilled I was. I know even more now that it wasn't about the little blue square I brought home, it was about the refining experience that led up to it.

Part 1: the beginning to a beautiful day

Today, The Big Day {aka The Portfolio Event} has been a day I have been looking forward to with about every emotion I have in me. Anxiety, sometimes dread, but most of the time excitement mixed with fear of letting myself down and happiness knowing I was putting everything I have into something I care about. I've never worked so hard on anything in my life and the great surprise is that the anticipation of something has up until now been better for me. Today changed that. Real life was even better than all the dreams leading up to it.

The day started out after a couple hours of sleep {I was too excited to sleep} with a few finishing touches to my portfolio display. Then the girls, our friend Ben and I headed off for pedicures and lunch at Mazza. The five of us have really been close so it was so fitting to spend the afternoon together while our portfolios were being judged.

no one wanted pictures taken, we've all been tethered to our portfolios and haven't given much attention to other things like pulling it together to be seen in public places. In the spirit of relief and relaxation I happily sported my flippy floppies provided by the pedi people today to the restaurant in only the most hip part of town. {9th n 9th}

I don't feel like I can finish this story just yet with out images to back it up. You'll have to wait in anticipation for Part Two of how the rest of the day went down.

project: definition of personality

if you had to pick colors to explain who you were, what would you pick? mix up some blues, gray, gold..red but not too red, more tomato soup red... Really. Can you ever define yourself since you would hope to be ever changing, one step ahead of definition. It is a soul searching task.
remember that line from You've Got Mail? '.. a defining sense of self..' as Tom Hanks writes about how people order their coffee in the most detailed way trying to show the world they are interesting.
So if I had to pick a drink, it'd be chai {decaf}. spicy. comfortable. translucent. complicated. and versatile {served hot or over ice}
"I don't want to be interesting, I just want to be good." {not a direct quote, but something Mies said} and I agree. I don't want to try too hard to create who I am. I just want to be. I don't want to be too thought out. Never that designer who takes my self image too seriously.
this project is supposed to be easy, and I guess it is on the surface, but when I try to pick words to define who I want to be as a designer can I just say conflicting things: textured layered with a bit of whimsy.. don't pin me to one thing cuz I don't wanna be the same thing tomorrow.

Hope's Dream Room

Project: Hope
Client: 13 year old Hope. A sick little girl living here in Utah in need of a transplant. Make - A - Wish Foundation is granting her wish of a new room and my AutoCAD class presented options to them Wednesday night.

We were given a few of her likes/dislikes and a pretty hefty budget. Blue/fairies/gardening/Twighlight/Jonas Brothers. I gave her a restful room with plenty of room to grow and the option to give her a few hundred dollars from the design budget to accessorize as she pleases.



These drawings were scanned in before I put the finishing touches on them, but it shows the color scheme and general style of furniture.

My favorite parts of the room are the rug found on DesignPublic.com and the fairy artwork {not shown here, pretend it is in the frame above her bed} with a mermaid fairy conversing with a dragon fly. Too cute.

This was a fun opportunity to dream big and meet the wishes of a sick little girl. It was easy enough to think back to when I was that age and what I would have wanted in my dream room.

It was an emotional night for all of us as we met with people from the foundation and heard stories of other wishes they have granted in the past. After we presented out ideas, the excitement built as we were told that many of them will be implemented into the design of Hope's room.