Shirley Van ACCD T.A.

This page is dedicated to Shirley Van, my amazing T.A. for this ACCD session.

Shirley took on the role as class TA, focusing on CMD and being my left hand and "DIT" Diva in Training.

Being an MLAb T.A. is not as easy as students think, it's come with lots of power and responsibility and very little sleep.Shirley made sure to own this role being a source of expertise for students while also creating her own material swatch library AND creating this blog!

So this is a huge Thank You for a job well done and great success in quietly yielding that big velvet stick.

Thanks for everything Shirley!

 

 

DAY 13

THE FINALE

Today is the long awaited final day. Presentations begin at 6PM sharp and there's no time to waste. All four teams work till the last minute to bring together their boards and practice their presentations for the perfect delivery. 

THE LAST HOUR

With the boards assembled, the teams spend their last hour rehearsing their presentations. Each member has 3 minutes to explain their process, sport, inspiration and story. They need to deliver a strong pitch while still manage a cohesive flow with their other teammates. Even though it's a stressful last minute for the designers, they manage to keep it together for a strong finish. 

DAY 11

COLOR BLOCKING 

CMD's start the day dropping in colors onto their line art for color blocking. Color blocking exercises help designers visualize the silhouettes as well as the opportunities for colors to highlight the feature or story of the shoe. CMD's note down that not every color needs to be placed on the shoe, and sometimes less is more. They also learned that details, accuracy and proportions are key important components needed for line art in order to successfully communicate the design of the shoe.  

Team Vans uses bold color ways to highlight the intensity of their sports. 

Sara gets some feedback on her color blocking by Eric

DAY 10

FINALIZING

With only 3 days left, the CM Designers crank out the finalized color palettes and mood boards. They start the process of color blocking for their shoes as well as develop their final layouts for their presentation. 

Everyone is focused in the early morning as they push through their last 3 days.

Pan starts her line drawing from the design sketches given by her footwear designer

Adrian is in the zone solidifying his color palettes. 

Azeez practices his color blocking for his free soloing minimalist shoe.

DAY 9

POWER THROUGH

The CM's push through their 9th day with refining their color palettes, materials and mood boards. They continue to work with their footwear designers in collaborating with the correct material choices, defining their final pitch, and the development of their overall arching theme. 

Chase and Suzette share a moment with a much needed drink- "Thanks Sophia"

Chase populates his board with vibrant colors that represent Paris for Team Adidas

Jazzy refines and edits her mood board for Sketchers 

DAY 8

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

With all that they have learned for the past week, CM Designers move forward to start building their color, materials, patterns and images for their final boards. They're putting in a huge effort of teamwork as they work with their footwear designers to solidify their design language, user, inspiration, colors and materials.  

Vans pick electric neon colors to match with the explosiveness of Redbull. 

Jazzy powers through her images for heeled performance shoe for women's.

Chase looks for an abrasion proof and breathable material for his equestrian boot.

Pan creates her own secluded work office to focus on her work.

Show- San Fang Synthetic Leather

Below- Carbitex & Kurim 

DAY 7

THE RIGHT MOOD

The teams start to build their mood boards with compositions of imagery that represents their story visually and emotionally. It is critical for them to pick the perfect image that encapsulates their message clearly. This is an important step in the process that will be one of the foundation to fuel their colors, textures and patterns. 

Shown- Favini Casting Paper & Mood Boards 2018/19

Below Shown-SRL Leather 

DAY 6

MATERIAL MARATHON CONTINUED

CM Designers powered through a second full day of learning materials. On the second day of the material lecture, Suzette went over the beauty of leather and the versatility of synthetics. This lesson covered textures :how they are applied to syn & lea, the different types of manufacturing processes, categories of leather, and innovations for both leather and synthetics. 

Shown- Sappi Casting papers(Thank You Nicholas for letting me raid your table!) 

Show- Favini Casting paper & mood boards 2018/19 (Always a huge support,Thanks Sam!)

Below-ISA & SRL Leather

DAY 5

HELLO, MATERIALS

The entire class of CM & Ftwr Designers had a hands on experience with materials as they had their first material lecture with Suzette. They spent the entire day learning the different textiles, manufacturing processes, and functionalities that materials have to offer. 

Suzette teaching with examples of woven, warp & weft knit constructions.

Shown-Giant Knitting,TLC Cordura and Paiho Power Mesh

MESHES, KNITS, WOVENS AND MORE

Designers are introduced to the different types of textiles such as meshes and knits. They learn about the endless opportunities that textiles have to offer in terms of the new technologies and innovations that can be weaved and implemented.

Natural textiles: hemp, jute and cotton

Below- Mogye and Dong Jin Textiles

THE POWER OF COLORS

CM Designers learned the magic of color and what an incredible tool it is for storytelling. Color is a powerful visual that influences us psychologically, emotionally and visually. 

Shown-Merck EMD Consumer color strategy tools

Below-Merck EMD Finish Fans,TLC Mtllc Coated woven

DAY 4

A DIP INTO COLORS

While footwear begins their first day in sketches, CM's start their first day of research, starting with colors. Each team delivered their brands core, strategic and seasonal colors. It’s a late night for the CM's as they work together with their footwear team to solidify their design briefs. 

DAY 3

The Research Begins

CM and Footwear designers dig deep into research to gain full understanding of their brands. Team Adidas, Under Armour, Sketchers and Vans are encouraged to go out and spend their day exploring to gain inspiration and and gather insights for their project briefs. 

After a long day of hard work, CM designer Adrian attempts to do some back stretches.

DAY 1

Meet the CM Designers

This years ArtCenter x PENSOLE footwear design program starts with a fresh batch of promising young CM Designers. For the next 13 days, these students will be under the wings of Suzette Henry  Founder of the MLab, to learn about the foundation and role of what it takes to be a color material designer-CMD. They will work alongside their footwear designers to deliver a shoe for their sponsored brands. 

Welcome to the MLab

To kick off the first day, CM Designers are given a tour of the MLab. They had their first introduction to the world of colors,materials and finishes, and their influence in design. The MLab is an amazing resource that provides material swatches, informative books on a wide selection of industries , samples and inspiration. 

Shown here-Ecco Leather,San Fang, Ariaprene, Mogye, and Clarino just to name a few

Brand products always great teaching tools

Left to right-Suzette's leather design-HotShop 9,Vince Lebon 's Rollie Brand,Chris Dixon's Linda 1of 1

Below-Color tools Thank U Diva"L.C.",Textures, Schoeller Textiles, Clarino "Ruffneck" outdoor Microfiber