Long Over Due Updates

So, it's been a crazy few weeks and I haven't had time to do much besides school and travel!  I guess that's what I'm supposed to be doing here, but I've sadly neglected my blog.  So here's 3 weeks worth of updates!  We'll start with school in this post...  It's been pushing us to our limits every second of everyday!  I'm a little overloaded and overwhelmed with all that STILL has to be accomplished in the next 39 days!  Yes, that's right, I'll be home in 39 days, which actually means that my projects have to be completed in 36 days for our exhibition and let's take out the 7 days that Jason, Leslie, and Mom will be here, so now I'm down to 29!  Ahhhhh!  No worries though, I love working under pressure and pulling all-nighters with the roomies, especially when we have 4:30am Michael Jackson dance parties!  We have decided that cappuccino-fest has begun and that the little coffee shop below our apartment is going to love us this next month when we triple their business!

Here's a look at my type project that I finished the day after mom and dad left... it was for sure an all-nighter, completed to perfection at 6:30am :)  I showed a couple different pictures of it before in the process, the ones that were black and white type and shapes.  It looks a little different now, but still has the same elements within it.  It has a long story behind the projects and each element has a certain meaning.  There are four different poster plates, each having a specific list of requirements.  All in all, to put is simply, the whole project tells the story of when I got to Rome and how it has made me feel so far.  I can explain more later, but here's a peak at it!

For another class, our main studio, we are working on a project all semester long that is the branding and corporate identity of a location here in Rome, which is called Isola Tiberina.  I know that I've mentioned things about it before, but  here's a glance at finished logo mark and signature.  It took a cursive "i" and a "t" and combined them with a wave like splash to create one quarter of this mark.  I then twisted the letters around, moved and smoothed parts of the form until it became just what I wanted.  I then repeated the image and rotated them to create the four piece logo.  I wanted my final form to be an organic cross to represent both the hospital and church that are located on the island, as well as have the feeling or presence of a snake, which is what the history of the island is based on.  It doesn't seem like it should have taken lots and lots trials, hours and a couple all-nighters, but I got just how I love it!  I'm currently working on the website, stationary, maps, and wayfinding for the location as well.  Plus there is a whole bunch of other things still to be completed for this project too!  But we'll get there... someday!

For another class, I'm working on a packaging project that is called Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  We are to create a packaging that after it is bought and used up, it can transform to have a new use and purpose.  I decided to do a packaging system for hair styling tools, such as curling irons and straighteners.  It will transform into a package that is heat protector for the storage of the styler, as well as a travel kit for hair supplies, and a wall-mounted storage container.  It is a little hard to explain without showing pictures, but just think of it as a container that will store all your hair products and protect all your surfaces from becoming burnt.  For the identity of this project, I decided that the brand name will be  "Dangerous Damsel" and with that, I want to create a personality or personal identity for each type of styler.  An example may be a skinny 1/2" curling iron with the name "Sultry Scarlet."  I want it to be fun, sassy, and appealing to girls around my age.  We'll see how it actually turns out...

Those are just a few highlights of main project that I have going right now.  Of course there are a million other things going that I'd love to tell you about, but I think that maybe I should actually get some work done on them now instead.  Can't wait to tell you more about what happened in these last few weeks, so look for more a little later!  Love to all from far away!