Afterhours, or as I affectionately refer to it now, as the BEAST,was our final class project for Rendering class. We had to design a restaurant bar within a very large space given a set of parameters and constraints, just as in the real world. I was very pleased with my final presentation and received a good grade, but the hours and tears put into it were countless!
It was March – Spring Break time in college. I had the opportunity to go with friends to Florida if I finished this a bit early. I still remember working through the night, but to no avail, it wouldn’t be done in time! I was so frustrated with myself and with these classes!
This was not the first all-nighter nor the first time I missed out on something fun. I hadn’t signed up for medical school, this was Interior Design for goodness sake! Everyone seemed to have a life except me! Was it all worth it? I was beginning to doubt it. When I turned in the project, I realized that mine was so much more detailed than most of my classmates. My perfectionism had gotten the best of me AGAIN!
Our second major assignment was to design a small space to be used for both living and learning, such as a student. I imagined if I had my own place what it might look like: a small one-bedroom apartment with the basic amenities plus two cats.
It’s crazy how much technology has changed in twelve years! I’m sure the ID students today are rendering giant flat screen TVs instead of tiny televisions and they surely aren’t rendering speakers hanging on the wall!
(Side note: Why did I choose a hot pink wall? I hate hot pink!)
For this project, we had to design our own fantasy home. The Fantasy Façade was one of my favorite assignments. I incorporated many of my wish list features. I have always wanted to live in a large cottage-in-the-woods type of home surrounded by large beautiful trees. The exterior is natural stone masonry with a large double door entryway. On the second level, french doors open to an expansive balcony off the master suite. Inside, a giant living room fireplace is made of stone for those chilly nights. An indoor/outdoor sauna and hot-tub for relaxing are a must have.
I have often wondered if one day I’ll actually find my fantasy house just the way little Susan did in the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street.
In 1989 I began my Interior Design classes at Michigan State University. I’ll never forget my first class assignment: creating a complete design, from soup to nuts, for a new restaurant to be housed in a renovated library in Massachusetts. The task seemed enormous! What had I gotten myself into? I knew I could draw and paint but I had never tapped into this side of my creativity before. It would prove to be a challenge! My first board was basically rejected by the professor. I was so angry with her, but even more so, disappointed with myself! After swallowing my pride I took another stab at it and this time ended up with a very nice result and a good grade to boot! The images below are my final boards submitted throughout the term.
The first task was to create a name and come up with a theme that would tie the whole design together. I settled on the name Binders and added: “Your Intelligent Choice In Fine Dining” which represented the main theme.
Once the theme was determined, it was time to design the wallpaper and carpet. It seemed simple enough, boy was I wrong! After many painstaking hours of looking at carpet and wallpaper samples, considering the theme, location, and a million other little details, I settled on an elegant flower and leaf pattern. I created a template for both, transferred them, and drew in the remaining details. Then it was time to add color. Simple, right? I’ll spare you the gory details such as: markers drying up half-way through, running to the store at the 18th hour only to find that the colors don’t match; working on the “wrong” side of the paper; accidentally coloring outside a line and having to start all over, AGAIN; running out of supplies; hand-cramping, starving, sleep-deprivation, etc…
Next came the design of the menu. Although this task was less fraught with problems, it was very time-consuming. For those of you not familiar with Interior Design, it is a very PRECISE art form. Professors expect perfection, especially in lines, lettering, measurements, etc. Don’t even get me started with drafting!
The last part of the assignment was to design the packaging; one small and one medium box, and a take-out bag. Of course we couldn’t run to the nearest Hallmark and modify existing packages, we had to create them, from scratch. It was accomplished by scoring and folding the heavy weight paper in just the PRECISE fashion. Once created, it was time to apply the design (Refer to Gory Details of Wallpaper and Carpet).
Needless to say, I survived! Which I think is the goal of some of these intro classes – to weed out those who aren’t tough enough (or crazy enough) to complete the program. And I learned a great deal about design, materials, construction, and myself!
Jennefer Chaudhry 