Essential Question

How can I predict the 2013 fall fashion trends? 




Why did you select this as your essential question?
I selected this as my essential question because, over the years I regularly read the fall issue of Vogue so I can have a heads up on what is to come that season. I am always interested to find out what designers have come up with for their runway collections and what new lines they will be releasing. Sometimes the designs are not accepted or applicable to our towns society but they are always brave ideas that express the designers vision for the fall. So going into picking an essential question I thought it would a fun project to on my own try and figure out what the designers will come up with for the fall trends in 2013. 


What excites you most about finding the answer to this essential question? 
If I am right and I am able to predict at least one new fall fashion trend I would be so pleased and believe that maybe I can one day find a career in this. I will be able to look in depth at trends from years ago and see if they will reappear in years to come. Even though the designers are always creating new visions for their clothes there is always an old trend or idea from years before that will influence them. 


Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic?
Yes, I think I can relate to my topic because it influences me and the way I dress. I will have the desire to research many designers and their previous clothing lines to help me make my prediction. The fashion world is constantly changing what was "in" yesterday could no longer be "in" today. This is what drives the designers imagination and keeps them on their toes to create the hottest new look. I will think like them and see where they get their inspiration from. This topic will challenge me but if i get the trends right it will be very rewarding. 

Broken Video : December 2nd

       I have found myself countless times frustrated when I'm in situations where I have no control of the outcome. Someone else is controlling what is happening and I think I could do a much better job. Seth Godin said in his "Broken" video that their are so many things broken with our society but at the end of the day we just have to just find a way to make it work for us. For instance there is a projector in one of my classes and when the screen pops up it says if the picture is not showing press the power button. But if it was not working you would not be able to see that so the sign is useless and is not benefiting anyone. 


     Schools are broken now too. We put so much force and attention on the educational side of learning that we eliminate students ability to be creative and think differently. Their are so many rules and regulations put on students that they are not getting a well rounded education. To fix this students have to find alternate ways to express their creativity, thus working through the broken system to make it work for them. 

Article : An Architects View on Interior Design

   Mitchell E. Sawasy the writer of "Why Does the Interior Design Profession Need to be Legislated? An Architect's View" supports the hard work of Interior Designers that is commonly overlooked. He calls them equals to architects, this is not a common statement but after carefully acknowledging their schooling and hard work they put into their projects it is clear that they are just as important and necessary as architects. 
    "The public falls under the belief that the designer only picks out colors and furniture but they must work hand in hand with the architects to make the clients vision become a reality," says Sawasy. He proves that architects are dependent on designers and without them their projects would not be complete. Designers are the ones will the skills to know how to make a space complete and also in certain situations have the building meet certain requirements. 
   I think Sawasy did a very good job of convincing the reader of how even the architect and interior design workplace is. He used specific evidence and used facts to back up all of his claims. His most convincing statement was that they are both specially trained and have worked internships and have the job experience but if one works without the other the project would not be complete. This proves how vital a role  interior designers play in   the design world and that they are not subordinate to architects. 

SIr Ken Robinson : TED Video

1. If I were given the time and resources to pursue anything I would take my first year out off high school and travel. I would take all the money I had saved up and explore what Europe has to offer. Having a year off from school can also backfire by putting me behind but I think within that year I would be able to find what I really want to do with my life. The past 18 years I have tried different sports and hobbies but I have yet to find something I am truly talented in and that I enjoying working on for long periods of time. I have always thought that given the opportunity I would be able to find something I'm passionate about outside of school and without all the other stresses of life. I have had an interest in clothes and fashion and the past  four months of mentoring have shown me that I could possibly even make a career in interior design. But I feel like I would know for sure what I want to do with my life if I were able to explore job opportunities of design interest. 


2. I think they have great influence but with me I believe attitude has more influence on me. If I am interested in something and I care deeply about it I can work hard to get it complete. My best work in school can most likely depend on me having a good attitude about getting it done right. 


3. My grades in school are A's and B's but the value and point system seems irrelevant to me. If you know what is being taught and can apply it later in life when it is needed you should receive an A regardless of how well you may or may not have done on the exam. 


4. I am pretty good with a computer and I am dependable to show up to my mentorship when I am suppose to but I have learned over the past few months that I need better time management. I will receive assignments but I will put them off to do other things and will forget to come back to them. I need more self discipline to keep me structured on getting school task done. 

College

Next year I hope to continue my education by going to college with an interest in design. I wish I knew exactly where I wanted to go, but as of right now I don't. Looking through this website, I have picked three schools that offer classes and programs that would give me a major in design. Savannah College of Art and Design, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise, and Florida State University are the three I have chosen for interests in design. I will need to take a art and drawing classes and of course actual design classes, that all three of these schools offer. None of these schools require anything special besides test scores and GPA except FIDM requires for all applicants to have an interview. I have always thought that I would be at Georgia or a big school in the south but the more I plan for my life I realize I will get a better education for my degree at other schools. When it comes to size I am comfortable with big schools, it does not intimidate me and the diversity does not bother me either. SCAD and FSU have a great location of being in the south and not too far from home but FIDM is a beautiful school all the way in California. It is in a perfect location in Los Angeles but I don't know how my parents would feel with me being so far away. FSU and FIDM are out of state schools so tuition would not be cheap. FIDM is about $25,00 and FSU is about $34,000 and even though SCAD is an in state school it is still private which makes it about $50,000. Once completing school and getting a degree in interior design, I hope to find a job opportunity where I can go to work for an architecture firm or a design company and maybe after years of working I could eventually have my own design business. 

Week Five : life/college

It is almost the end of September of my senior year and these past two weeks have been the most challenging for me. I have been trying to keep up with a reading schedule on Crime and Punishment for my AP Lit class, while rewriting the constitution for AP Government, and making sure I pass both my tests in math and AP Bio. In-between all of that I am in the middle of helping student council plan homecoming and still finding afternoons where I can go meet with my mentor. This week in mentoring I went by Cortney’s office and watched her design the plan of a business and also read some of her design books, looking for furniture for my current assignment (I am designing an apartment on my own from the floor up).

 I realized how expensive a chair can be and there are so many different measurements that you must take into account when creating a kitchen counter or the trim on a door frame. I have a new appreciation for interior designers because they must pay attention to every detail that is in a room. This week I also got to go with Cortney to meet a client that is currently remodeling her house and I got to help pick out new curtains and contribute to the process of deciding which to go with. It is so important when you are designing to work with a color scheme and stick to it so that you can make the whole room connect and tie together.

Another thing I am working on that I am sure most other seniors are too is applying to college. I have already sent out two applications but I won’t hear back till November or December, but in the mean time I will take the SAT for the last time so my score will increase before I apply to UGA. This is a very tedious and not enjoyable time right now but once I get accepted and know where I am going it will all be worth it. I just want to maintain focus this year so I can graduate will honors and be able to go to the college of my choice! 

 p.s. pictures to come. 

Week Four: Debt

I have enjoyed being able to mentor with and learn from Cortney Orme these past few weeks. She has so much creativity when it comes to design; I am always learning a new technique or style from her. But along with other working Americans she is not making as much as she use to and the interior design field as a whole is hurting right now. This scares me to think that I am hoping to one day be in a job where I may not be able to provide for myself. I am hoping that by the time I graduate college that our economy will finally have bounced back so there will be job opportunities for interior designers and that they will be paying as much as they use to. I hope that this does happen because I have a major interest in design and I know that it is something I want to make a living out of. I would hate to have to sacrifice that for another job just so I can make more money in the long run.

My Dream: Week Three

Even though I am just getting started with mentoring Cortney at BCA I hope to finish this year knowing and retaining all the tips and guidelines of interior designing that she teaches me. I hope that this really is the area I will work in some day and that I will benefit from being with my mentor and seeing her at work. To make sure I am taking advantage of this opportunity I will keep an open mind about everything and jump on any projects she allows me to help with.

Mission Statement

I seek to always bring an optimistic personality to all challenges and tasks I am faced with. I want to continue to be an honest person and always stick to my word. I don’t want to get caught up in things that don’t matter and I want to benefit and helps others as much as I can.  

Wisdom of Play, by Shawn Acher

In Shawn Archers video he discuses’ how the relationship between success and happiness has been corrupted over the years. People have allowed the amount of money and their success defines if they are happy or not. Once you achieve something there is momentary bliss and then you are stressed again trying to be more successful.  At the end of his speech he challenges the listeners to be a part of a 21 day challenge where you use one of his five research habits to try and find happiness in your daily life. I am going to try it but using the first option and write down three things each day that I am thankful for. Doing this is supposed to show an improvement in your optimism and increase your success rates. The other four are writing for two minutes a day to describe a positive experience from that day, to increase work happiness; or exercise for 10 minutes a day to train your brain to believe that behavior matters in your success; or meditate for 2 minutes a day to undo the negative effects of multi-tasking in your life, this decreases stress; and the last one ids to write an email or note the first thing in the morning to someone in your life praising them or thanking them.

Week Two: Communication Styles

I feel that I handle leadership with a spirited attitude and that I handle everything as positively as I can. During the Lapdog retreat I learned how to communicate better with other types of leaders and that it will better my relationships with them if I can adhere to there preferred communication type. Sometimes when working on projects and such I have a hard time delegating things out because I am concerned that people will not follow through or not do a good job on what they are assigned. I think it is easier to be the on being trusted because I have trust in myself to get jobs done and I am willing to prove it to others. I can definitely work on how I receive criticism or feedback I sometimes think people are out to get me and I take it in a negative way and almost always get my feelings hurt. I just need to keep in mind that they are trying to help better me and how I am as a leader. During the retreat I enjoyed getting able to be with the other kids from different schools and doing the communications game where we had to make matching crafts out of objects without being able to look at each others, we had to rely on successful communication to complete the game.