{October 2011

George_Zeigler_Proposal

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Parker_Reid_Proposal

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Chris_Ardoin_Proposal

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eva_Proposal

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GeorgeCoffin_Proposal

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Jason_Alvarado Proposal

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Ross_Kristin Proposal

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CHACE CENTER CAFE REDESIGNRISD

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Kate_Golden_Prososal

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AleUtrera_Proposal

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AnnaFulton_Proposal

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As requested, I’ve created a sample proposal loosely based on the one I showed in class.  This is for a project of modest scale. Often times an RFP (Request for Proposal), a proposal for a large project, or a project with a client whom is not familiar with you, will require more than I’ve included, such as a bio, a portfolio, case studies, or references.

How Magazine has published a redacted version of design firm Rogue Element’s winning proposal for a web design project for a law school.
Check out the introduction from How Magazine here
Check out the proposal here

Also, I’m posting a sample of an RFP from the textbook Professional Practice for Interior Designers, by Christine M. Piotrowski. As you might have guessed, this RFP is for an interior design project, but it might help clarify what an RFP may contain.

There is plenty of other useful information on the web about proposals:

• Graphic Designer Nigel Gordijk has a thorough article describing his approach to writing proposals for web design projects. Because its written with a focus on web design projects, some aspects of his approach are more relevant to your task than others, but you’ll see the purpose is the same.
• Deep in the Core77 archives there is an article about freelancing that has some comments on the importance of a good proposal to securing work. Although there are some tips that are irrelevant in a technological sense, its an interesting read.
• This article from the “Career Lab”, though seemingly not at all related to design, provides some good advice about how a proposal fits into winning a job. It also makes some remarks about the legal stability of proposals, despite the article starting with a legal disclaimer.

f Christopher

In class on Monday we took a quick look at how spreadsheet applications like Excel can make quoting easier and more responsive to “market volitility“. Unless you use equations and structure your spreadsheet carefully, the only benefit your deriving from these applications is penmanship.

I’ve made a sample of a spreadsheet using Google Doc’s Spreadsheets application that details production costs and profit margins for a hypothetical product. I haven’t distinguished between retail and wholesale in this example, but this spreadsheet not only tells you how much it costs to produce a good and how much profit can be expected, it also provides insight as to what is expensive about this product, what is inexpensive, and where costs might be cut. The relationship between profit and production costs are also offered in two ways: one has the retail price of the item determined as a factor of profit x production cost, the other assumes a target retail price and figures a profit margin based on the production cost relative to the price. I’ve also created a pie chart on this spreadsheet that displays cell values in a graphical breakdown of the production costs.

I’ve shared the document with you all, so you can edit the document and see how the different variables affect the results. You should also be able to “save a copy” as a starting point for your own use. Look for the little yellow triangles in the top right corner of cells for an explanation of what the various tables do and how they function. Keep in mind that many of the cell values are equation driven. One useful equation is to equate the value of one cell with another. For example: If I have an hourly rate of $20 per hour, I can make one “master” cell that can be linked to from multiple other cells. Every cell that I need to input my hourly rate is linked to this master cell rather than inputting the value directly. When I make a change to this master cell, all linked instances reflect this change.

Here is the editable copy of the spreadsheet I’ve shared with everyone (you might need to sign into your risd google apps account to view it):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjS3fbMAPm9WdDk5ZHNKZjAxNjFqQkFncG1RTGt0MVE#gid=1

Here is a public copy that can not be edited (in case you are having trouble accessing it):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjS3fbMAPm9WdG9tQjhTbG15VzQ3S0poVGpOdVpuSEE&hl=en_US

f Christopher

{ 6:14 pm

KristinRoss_QuoteDirect

KristinRoss_QuoteWholesale

KristinRoss_QuoteSpreadsheet

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eva_QuoteSpreadsheet2

eva_QuoteSpreadsheet1

quote1+2

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JasonAlvarado_QuoteSpreadsheet

JasonAlvarado_Quote

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{ 12:59 pm

AnnaFulton_QuoteSpreadsheet1

AnnaFulton_QuoteSpreadsheet2

AnnaFulton_Quote

I couldn’t condense the spread sheet into one file, so the itemized lists are individual.

{ 12:52 pm

JacobWasserman_Quote

JacobWasserman_QuoteSpreadsheetDirect

JacobWasserman_QuoteSpreadsheetWholesale

{ 12:29 pm

{ 11:49 am

ChrisArdoin_QuoteSpreadSheet
ChrisArdoin_Quotes

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Ale_Utrera_Spreadsheet

Ale_Utrera_Quote

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Quote Spreadsheet (Google Docs)
KateGolden_Quote

Sorry for the quote not including a picture, I will take one and update the pdf tomorrow afternoon.

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{ 12:06 am

GeorgeCoffin_QUOTE
GeorgeCoffin_Quotespreadsheet

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Hi,

This reading was recommended to me by career services. I have yet to read it but it looks pretty great.

Best,
MK

Get_a_Design_Job_2008

f Matthew Kulp

In class this past Monday, we viewed some examples of Brand Standards documents.  These documents detail the ins and outs of a particular brand, showing potential affiliates, employees, and businesses how to properly represent the brand or organizational identity.  Design firms invest huge amounts of time and effort into conveying a precise attitude and message through branding.  The resulting corporate or organizational identity is only fully realized when used and represented in a coherent and consistent manner.   This Apple Logo Guidelines document and this New School Brand Standards document are two solid examples of brand standards are implemented.

These documents can also reveal some great technical tips about how to portray identity through graphic media.  For extra resources, this Style Guidelines and Standards Resource, will provide you with more enough material to satiate your interests.

Again, all this information about branding and identity design does not mean you need to develop your own brand standards or even your own logo.  Keep your efforts on representing your identity appropriate to your career.  You most likely are interested in being professional furniture designers, and should not overwhelm any potential clients or consumers with flashy logos, or graphic media void of real substance.  Rather, a simple and concise use of graphic elements to convey your professional persona is the goal.  Allow a refined and consistent format of your personal media to be the vehicle that exhibits your talent, creativity, and potential.

f Taylor McKenzie-Veal

In you case you need a reference or a refresher on some of the identity design and branding concepts brought up in class this Monday, you can follow the link below for a PDF of the presentation.

ProfessionalPractice_IdentityDesignPresentation_Web

f Taylor McKenzie-Veal

If you are curious to delve deeper into the worlds of brands, branding, brand strategy, identity design, etc, I’m posting two texts that might be of interest.

First is The Designer’s Guide To Brand Strategy, which is a PDF book that was published and written by M. Damien Newman. Although the author claims that his book “…is by no means the definitive text on the topic…”, it is a very readable, thorough, and helpful introduction. He makes the point that branding “… is a marketing term that came about largely in the last decade to mean the marketing of products.”, and is something different that brand strategy, but this might just be semantics. He presents a thorough analysis on the terms: brand, brand identity, brand personality, and strategy. The focus of the text is skewed a bit corporate, but without much effort the ideas presented can be applied to pretty much anything.

At the end of the book is a link to a website that seems to no longer be associated with the author. This document is re-distributed several places online, but if you are curious to learn more about the Damien Newman, see his Linkedin profile or check out his consultancy, Central.

The second is an excerpt from the book Designing Brand Identity, by Alina Wheeler. This text analyzes some critical success factors to consider when designing a brand identity. This too is a very readable and helpful reference if you are considering developing a more deliberate “personal brand”. Even more so than in other text, much of the material here is directed at sizable corporate projects. Some of what is presented might not really be relevant to the individual, but it does provide an idea of the many variables one often needs to consider when taking this kind of work on. The author, Alina Wheeler, has a brand consultancy business and describes her work as “…managing perception…strategic imagination”

Another great source for information, analysis and inspiration related to brand identity is Brand New. It’s a frequently updated blog that focuses specifically on the topic of identity design, and they do a great job of presenting new work in the field, while offering authoritative criticism. A highlight is their annual best and worst lists.

f Christopher

It’s easy:
Go to Gravatar.com and create an account that uses the same email you are using for your account on this site. After you upload a profile image, it will automatically be associated with your profile. Don’t worry if it doesn’t happen right away, it may take a few minutes to sync up.

f Christopher

Eva Martin was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. The daughter of a graphic designer and illustrator, she’s been submersed in art, and creativity since birth.  To the Martin family a career in art was not only assumed but absolutely expected. After graduating high school, Eva enrolled in The Rhode Island School of design. Determined to become a well rounded artist, Eva studied a variety of subjects at RISD including apparel design, textiles, painting and sculpture, ultimately graduating with a  BFA in Furniture Design in 2012. Studying a variety of subjects has certainly paid off as her pieces most often use a combination of different materials and methods.  As a collection, Eva’s work can best be described as functional sculpture, wearable forms and large scale installations.

{ 6:20 pm

Eva Martin was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. The product of a graphic designer and illustrator, she’s been submerged in art, creativity  and talent since birth.  To the Martin family a career in art was not only assumed but absolutely expected. After graduating high school she chose the Prestigious Rhode Island School of design. Determined to transform herself into a well rounded artist, Eva studied a variety of subjects at RISD including apparel design, textiles, painting and sculpture, ultimately graduating with a  BFA in Furniture Design in 2012. Studying a variety of subjects has certainly paid off as her pieces most often use a combination of different materials and methods. Eva’s work can best be described as ranging from functional sculpture to wearable forms to large scale installations to the beyond

resume

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Parker Reid is Senior at Rhode Island School of Design receiving his BFA in Furniture Design. In his design practice, he also has participated  in subjects  of  landscape, fashion, textiles, automotive and product design.  With that history he defines himself as simply a designer. The reason for being a part of all these subcategories is to understand and create a universal design philosophy that can be given to others.

Resume

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Born in 1988 in America, Jason Alvarado is a Spanish-American architect with interests in fashion and furniture. His main inspiration is fashion in architecture and the overlap between both disciplines. His style of work and design process is known for pure aesthetics and affect. “Design without fear, provoke strong opinions, design to be talked about” – Jason Alvarado. The designer produces his creations using simple and sophisticated forms while maintaining a strong sense of awe factor.

At a young age he interned at 2005 AIA National Firm award recipients, Lake|Flato Architects Inc. in San Antonio, Texas. To this date Jason has interned at four firms, two architecture and two engineering. The designer continues his handmade humidor and jewelry box creations for high-society clients.

Jason received his Bachelor’s Degree from Texas A&M university in 2011 and now pursues his graduate studies at Rhode Island School of Design. He continues to study architecture while developing his abilities in fashion design and furniture.

Resume

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  Jacob Riley-Wasserman is a young designer from the small town of Bridgeton NJ. Jacob is currently studying Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design. As a senior Jacob hopes to bring a new perspective and a sense of excitement to the world of objects.      Many of Wasserman’s designs reflect his love of classic toys and a childhood of exploration and adventure.  He believes no matter how old we get, we never lose the desire to play.

JRW Resume 2011-2012

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{ 9:27 pm

George Coffin is a native New Englander and a furniture/product designer
currently studying at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI.
Growing up in a suburb of Boston, MA, Coffin was always hands on. With
a carpenter for a father, and studying painting in high school, he experienced
a broad range of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work. He arrived
at RISD in 2008 and has focused on furniture and product design with an emphasis
on specific utility, user experience and high quality materials. In his senior year and beyond,
he aims to direct users towards a distinct function through objects that are both visually
striking, but also withstand the test of time. Coffin aspires one day to bring thoughtful
and aesthetically rich designs to North America, while also innovating systems
to cut down on the production waste so commonly seen in the North American marketplace.

Resume

{ 8:23 pm

portfolioupdate1

Alejandra Utrera hails from the lively metropolis of Madrid, Spain. Throughout her life, her desire to travel and continually build on her knowledge of art and design has led her to many places, including school in the United States and a year of working in the Netherlands.

While she is now completing her final year studying Furniture Design, at Rhode Island School of Design, Alejandra first began doing art that focused on Art Therapy. Her current work questions traditional and modern practices throughout a variety cultures. Playing with continuity is of importance in her pieces, as she strives to make them fluid in their own way.

Above all, Alejandra sees most value and potential in all the little things in life. Aside from design, she spends her time getting lost while cycling, cooking family style dinners for loved ones, and experimenting with photography.

She hopes to work for a small studio in order to have the chance to work on a more personal level with clients, as well as gain more knowledge on entrepreneurship.  Soon, she will start her own studio.

{ 5:02 pm

Born in Kansas and raised in New England, Anna credits the suburban environment of her past with greatly influencing her design aesthetic. After spending two years in the photography department at Maine College of Art, Anna decided that her heart was more deeply connected to the processes of designing and building furniture. She left Maine to complete her BFA in Furniture Design at The Rhode Island School of Design. While attending RISD, Anna had the opportunity to intern at Fix Studio in Portland, Oregon where she was exposed to the responsibilities of running a design firm. She also had the opportunity to meet with several other design studios in the Pacific Northwest, only adding to the entrepreneurial experience. Anna hopes to continue to design and build furniture that evokes a sense of comfort and nostalgia in the user while remaining contemporary and relevant in execution and aesthetics.

 THIS:
ResumeDraft.ai

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