Breaking Away With Style

A thought; an idea; a concept - that's all it takes for a designer to create something that will change your perception of beauty forever.

As my comrades and I graduated from what I'm sure we once thought would be a very definitive path in life, many instead explored routes in the design field that were indeed molded by our time spent at Architecture School.  Miss Cyrena Forbes has had the arms of jewelry design grab and reel her in, while Mr. Lionel Spence has dipped his feet into the pool of furniture design.  Both of these artists have used their strengths in the field of Architecture to delve into a particular area of interest.

Forbes has used her strength in design to create artistic explosions of colour, style, and vogue.  She's storming the fashion scene in Jamaica with her amazing copper, feather, and bead accessories and has added her own exotic flavour to the already chic nature of the island's fashion scene.  Her tiny masterpieces are proof that 'architecture' can be found anywhere - even in what we wear.

Spence on the other hand, has taken his experience in the architectural field and applied it with great consistency to his furniture designs.  What I particular like about Lionel's figures are the sleek and very elegant curves that he uses to soften very linear forms, while the sharp angles in others add sophistication to an otherwise relaxed setting.

It is no doubt that these two individuals are protege's of style and class.

You can check out Cyrena's work at https://www.facebook.com/pages/CYRENdipity/168373466560504?ref=ts

Lionel's designs may be found at http://www.coroflot.com/lionelspence

Planting the Seed of Technology

A few days ago, a colleague and myself were invited to take part in a local school tour for International Women in ICT Day.  We visited the island's four primary schools with the intention of enlightening the young girls on island to the endless opportunities in the world of technology.  Nerissa Golden (the Director of Information & Communication at the Premier's Office) influenced the young ladies to explore different ways in using ICT to help others, while I took pride in presenting them with a variety of applications that architects and graphic designers use to communicate design concepts.

It was a load of fun interacting with all of the girls.  The truth is, I had never presented to anyone in this age group before, so it was initially a challenge for me to reduce the scope of the presentation's content in terms of technical jargon, as well as it's time frame.  I was also a bit apprehensive because I wasn't quite sure how many of our young female minds may actually be interested in the field of design.  To my surprise, they all paid keen attention to both of our presentations and some even admitted to being attracted to discipline!  I was even told yesterday evening, that some of the girls had already downloaded the program Google Sketchup (which I had mentioned in the presentations), and had started designing their future homes!  How awesome is that?

Needless to say, I was quite impressed with their little minds and I'm eager for the next round of presentations on the upcoming career day!

(Link to the article on the event: http://www.gov.ms/?p=6365)
(Photos are courtesy of GIU: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=367479369956456&set=a.367477919956601.74457.103640209673708&type=1&theater)

Trading Places and Spaces

Well, I have to admit: my trip to Jamaica this time around was definitely the most productive in quite a while!  I tried curried crab for the first time (excellent dish - but a bit too much of a task cracking into the shell for me to be fully satisfied with the overall meal), and I finally got the opportunity to stop by a social for the Jamaica Association of Young Professionals (JAYP), which was quite interesting.

The highlight of my trip however, was my time spent at my alma mater, the Caribbean School of Architecture, in Kingston.  I had initially stopped by to say hi to a few of my favoured lecturers and friends, and to my surprise was invited to be a guest critic at the 2nd year Design Studio final presentations the following week.  Although I had assisted friends in the years below me with design ideas in the past, this would be the first time I would take part in a design critique, acting in this capacity.  Considering I had graduated only 2 years prior, I was initially a bit nervous (thinking that perhaps I'd clam up and have very little to offer), but instead I opened up and spoke as objectively as possible in a very subjective scenario.

Needless to say, the presentations were impressive.  In general, the students were ambitious, and many appeared to want to 'go out with a bang' this semester.  I witnessed some presentations that took risks in their design concepts, while others took a safer route but decided to 'spice things up' in the aesthetics of their presentation.

Briefly stepping inside the shoes of my former lecturers/critics allowed me to understand how human they in fact are.

Overall, I was grateful for the experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  Hopefully, in a few years I'll be able to step inside those shoes permanently and with a bit more confidence.

Here's an article that was written on event: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/montserrat.php?news_id=10633&start=0&category_id=22