handletters: 2011

We are making an Alphabet Pattern for our next project that will be submitted to Spoonflower.com. Here are the requirements based on their contest requirements: Create a fabric design that uses the alphabet as a design motif. Please submit original work. Do not submit centered images unless the design is intended to be ordered as a pattern rather than as fabric. Their entry deadline is Tuesday, April 12, 2011, so we will have one week to complete this project.

Pls bring your designs to class for morning crit.

Use alphabets from your sketchbook. Remember the 2D principles I discussed in the initial exercises on Letter, Word, Text and the abstract designs you derived from them. You can submit as many patterns as you like. Be conceptual, or narrative, or play with shape and color. Think about an audience. Use a few letters or many.

IMPORTANT: See http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/05/welcome-julia-and-how-to-make-a-repeat-pattern.html for Julia Rothman's quick lesson on making a repeat [you can also do this with Photoshop] http://www.juliarothman.com/, or use tools in CS5 if you know them to create a pattern. BUT consult the spoonflower.com site to understand pattern requirements for their fabric sizes and for the contest.

Here is great example by the incomparable Ray Fenwick.

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Becca Mullinix

My design is

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Minjie Yoo

My design is

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Hannah Trieb

My design is

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Stacey Montibello

My design is

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Gabriela Gonzales

My design is

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Kristen Acampora

My design is based off of the restaurant owner's childhood living on a horse farm, and also tying into the horse painting in the bottom floor of Alchemy. I incorporated cursive text with a calligraphic style of linework placed in the interior of the horses to create a solid yet elegant feel. The words coming from the mane and tails are key words that I interpreted from our meeting with the owner. My intention is to have this painted onto the walls.

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Suki

Inspiration:
"mi casa es su casa"
"home is where the heart is"
the word "alchemy"

I remember when the owner talked about how she wants her customers to feel comfortable around the restaurant and it was her passion to serve them home cooked platters; allowing them to feel like they are eating at their home.

She also mentioned that she is attracted to animal patterns and vines.
i came up with the design where the vines are crawling up the wall, from the bottom of the wall up to the ceiling. The phrases will appear inside of the vines. As for the design aspect, i purposefully design the words to slightly disappear with the vine image. it was the intention of bring out the question to the customers, so that they could take some time to look around the space and find the words inside of the image.

I would like to take down the framed photographs and pictures in order to put vines all around the walls. the colors going to be in black and white(not too white) and may be put hint of olive color on the leaves and blossoms.

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Nora Truskey
I wanted to focus on fluidity and motion, so when visitors walk upstairs the flowing motion of the main design draws them in, as well as serving as a transition between the first and second floors. It will be a mosaic constructed from broken plates, both white, off-white and simply patterned plates. Smaller mosaics will continue throughout the room in order to maintain continuity, as well as draw back to the original piece along the stairwell. The hand lettering, adjectives that best describe the restaurant, will appear among the mosaic in cursive, gold paint.

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Nicole Mueller

Here the geometric design found on the downstairs upholstery was brought upstairs to create a dynamic pattern that flows around the room. Quotes involving food and alchemy float around the circular shapes, at varying sizes and in sometimes unexpected places, adding a surprise element for guests to enjoy as they continue to dine at Alchemy. Quotes dispersed throughout the room include: "Alchemy is the art of far and near." - Robert Morgan "Food is our common ground, a universal experience." -James Beard "The joys of the table belong equally to all ages, conditions, countries, and times." - Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (The Physiology of Taste) "Successful cooking comes from the heart, and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life." -Georges Blanc "Laughter is brighter where food is best." -Irish Proverb

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Sarah Machicado

""Wine is sunlight, held together by water" - Galileo. The illustration is defined by a grid that starts from the wall on top of the stairs and continue on the ceiling and end on the opposite wall. The quote will be divided into two parts, each part on each wall. My original concept was inspired by repurpose and reuse. Each circle has a 3 inch diameter which could be painted on the wall or be the bottom half of an actual empty wine bottles . The colors I am proposing is blue, gold, silver, green and purple."

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Dain Suh

My two inspirational words are ‘fusion’ and ‘traveling.’ Many travelers visit Hamden to see different stores and have fun experience walking on the street. Among many dynamic casual restaurants, Alchemy is a restaurant for a family or a couple and friends for special occasions. I used the quote, ‘Happiness is not a state to arriving at, but a manner of traveling.’ Therefore, the quote symbolizes that Alchemy welcomes everyone and encourages people to experience new things. On upstairs in Alchemy, I wanted to create classic and modern atmosphere, and also present friendly feelings to visitors. Against the blue wall, sky-blue color texts will give fresh and clean impression, and little decorations with green, mustard yellow, and maroon colors will give a hint of surrounding green nature.

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Chelsea Soisson

My design incorporates a phrase that the Alchemy owner and her family seem to live by, and has become a type of "mantra" in her life. The design incorporates imagery that she voiced her attachment to, such as her love of wine, grapes, grape leaves, and the little ‘portals’ or windows in the mural, lead to scenes of wine fields. I think the piece gives the room a little bit of depth, the pattern wraps around the room and the little scenes give the viewer, or customers a visual escape. The design would be hand sketched onto the wall, and then painted with white values, multiple cream colors, a lighter purple value for the grapes, and warmer light yellows and oranges and other cream colors for the oval framed scenes of bottles of wine, and wine fields.

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Eve Mobley

For the design I wanted incorporate the origins of alchemy. The transmutation circles, antiquated script, and apothecary bottle are reminiscent of that ancient chemistry while also connecting to fine dining

(ie champagne bubbles). The definition will help patrons to understand why the name

"Alchemy" was chosen for the restaurant. The goal was to be clean and elegant so that it can fill up the whole wall without overpowering the other decor in the room.

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Sairom Moon

In Alchemy, I was inspired by a painting of the Time Square and drink menu which was titled “Portions”. Putting both sources together, I wanted to give extended live space. Therefore, I painted buildings with signs on the street. The signs are name of the Portions. On the other

side of the wall will be a silhouette of buildings creating subtle feelings added to live and active painting on the main wall.

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Kate Guthrie

My design focuses on this restaurant's fusion of cultures and lifestyles as well as the importance of bringing people together through food. To accomplish this, I selected a quote by Tolkien who is by nature magical and whimsical, which I felt resonated well with alchemy as a concept. The other walls in this given room would also have letterforms which reflect the ideas of the social community that food creates. The lettering is blended with patterns that derive from various parts of the world to reflect the diverse dining menu. I would intend for the design to be painted on the wall directly.

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Alex Lasher

My concept is inspired by the Aristophanes quote, which humorously expresses a sentiment to which many people can relate—the value of wine as a confidence booster, a social lubricant, a catalyst for cleverness (at least in the mind of the drinker). From there, I picked out “clever” as a key word and found two additional quotes to go with that theme; one by Oscar Wilde, the other by John Peel. Between them, the quotes stretch across much of recorded history, but all share a timeless, snarky sense of humor, geared toward a sophisticated audience. The application of the mural will be simple. Once the outlines are transferred to the wall, its simple design allows for it to be executed by a team of painters without requiring any specific skill level.

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Jiah Sin

This design explores fluidity and movement for the interior space. Coming up from the direction of the staircase, the design takes the viewer ground the room. The quote that is integrated with the design is 'yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream' by Kahlil Gibran. The image will be painted, with white wash and grey colors. This message is about bringing hopefulness to the environment. The overall interior design integrates well with the atmosphere of the lower floor and the mood of the upper floor as the light color tone and the delicate shapes does not overpower the overall restaurant setting.

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Annalise Olson

Proposed idea for a bushed metal shelving system:
The metal circles would be cut from brushed metal, the same as Alchemy’s bar, and a tab would be left so it could be bent at a 90° angle, forming a shelf. The small and medium sized circles are made from mirror, easily purchased at any craft store online. The lettering can be applied as a vinyl decal around the shelves.
Suggestions of items to put on the shelves: vases, teacups, antique items, Dried herbs or flowers in jars or vases, pieces that might be found in a chemistry set.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Monday, April 25, 2011

Handletters Book

Monday, April 18, 2011

Spoonflower Contest Entries

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Alphabet Fabric Contest

Alchemy Restaurant Presentation

Alchemy Restaurant Presentation

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