My Moonfruit Website: That's More Like It

I have made some amendments and changes to my moonfruit website. I feel that it now better matches my graphic identity. The dark background with bold colours in the foreground draws on the themes used in my blog.

I have also added a welcome page which I think is inviting with an air of mystery.

Source: www.annekuforiji.moonfruit.com

Self Promotion: Help Anne!

After looking at various ways of promoting myself through business cards, I have come to realise that business cards are more suited to establish professionals; they are appropriate when trying to to establish yourself rather than getting your foot in the door. As what I need is work experience, and for people in the uindustry to give me a chance to prove myself, I have decided to start a campaign inspired by Stephen Woowat.

Modelling his 'employment campaign' on the charity appeals that we are so familiar with, the humourous “Help Stephen” campaign“appeal pack” includes “I Helped Stephen” stickers, a badge, mug coaster and an interview appointment card.

I could change it up by including 'Help Anne' badges or even a stylish, well designed 'I helped Anne' wrist band!

Source: http://www.woowat.com/05.html

Art = Rubbish = Art = Rubbish = Art = Rubbish = Art

I have recently cone across the work of Oliver Bishop Young. These hilarious and (almost) beautiful installations show how anything can be recereated and regenerated.

Source: http://oliverbishopyoung.co.uk

Ideas for My Business Card: Economy and Environment Friendly Business Cards

Succeeding in a challenging economic climate, as well as a desire not to destroy the earth's climate, require an innovative approach to promoting yourself. This is why I think these business cards by Leornardo Borges for http://www..com/ are such a fantastic idea.

The business card is about the third of the size of the average card . This has clear environmental benefits in terms of reducing your contribution to deforestation. That's all in addition to being cheaper to produce.

I also like the idea of having multiple designs. Especially in terms of a creative profession like mine; it enables me to give different examples of my work, designs and ideas on different cards

www.anne.kuforiji.moonfruit.com

This section of focus week consist of me creating my online portfolio during this time I was able to explore different ways to show all of work you have been doing throughout the year in the form of a digital portfolio. This gives me the opportunity to present my work to a wider audience and represent myself through the work and layout I eventually choose.

I found a website by Form Associate who are a Landscape firm. There website has been done in flash and what I liked about this website was its clean clear layout and use of bold colours throught the website. The graphics are clearly identifiable to them and their graphics clearly communicate their proposals. All round I really liked this website and I will take elements such as colour and layout continuaty into considereation whilst designing my website.

http://www.formassociates.eu/index.php

I also looked at some of the moonfruit website pages created by last years Landscape Architect Students. The majority of them were easy to navigate around. I really like the simplicity of Kaori Kishi's website :

http://www.kkishi.moonfruit.com/

In terms of creating a clear graphic identity for myself which I have seen on Form Associates I will make sure that this is done taking into consideration my Blog which I have already created since last year. I will make adjustement to have a consitent colours and layout on both my blog and website.

IOC Visit to London

On a there recent visit to London, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) praised the 'astounding' progress being made on the London 2012 Games.

The construction of venues is proceeding quickly and relatively smoothly.

The Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, Denis Oswald, commented that:

'Seeing the transformation that has taken place in the Lower Lea Valley is nothing short of astounding, and this area will be a great legacy for the people of London and the UK.'

However, as I am exploring in my extended essay, the aims of the IOC and the requirements of the Games can be quite contrasting to the desirers of the local population and the requirements for a positive legacy. In terms of the Chairman's comments, I feel that it is far too early in the day to claim that a 'great legacy' is definite.

The "Rocking Chair" ... But Not As You Know It

Furniture for public spaces is always a challenge. There is a need to appear to be a natural addition as well as standing out. Rainer Mutsch's Rocking Chair seems to meet both.

The chairs are made out of hollow rotomoulded plastic and come in a variety of colours.

According to Rainer: "The concept of the Rocking Chair is the artificial, technical interpretation of natural rock formations. The chair reduces important ergonomic sections to a polygonal structure, thereby minimizing material and weight. The concept was to analyse the ergonomically important zones of a chair, reducing them to the very essential ones and to substitute them eventually with exact, plane surfaces and triangles."

Job Opportunities at Hargreaves

Fortunately Hargreave Associates are offering summer interships within their firm throught the world. My intrest in Hargreaves Associates work stems from their proposals for the Olympic Parkland for the London 2012 Olympics. My dissertation centres around the Landscape Legacy of the Parklands Legacy which have been proposed by Hargreaves Associates. As I looked further into Hargreaves Associates website to gain a deeper understanding of the principals they follow:

'In reaction, the last twenty-five years have brought about the emergence of an ecological approach to planning, the preservation and restoration of natural systems, and the notion of sustainable landscape. Our own built landscapes eschew these polarized approaches to the land -- one potentially damaging to the balance of natural systems, the other blind to culture and remote from people's lives -- seeking the in-between.'

I clearly understand how this reflects in their work, with such a unique proposal for the Olympic parklands, to have wetlands and meadows on a site which was formerly derelict and contaminated.

I looked at other projets by Hargreave Associates:

SINGAPORE MARINA BAY

SINGAPORE

Shepherds Bush Common Competition

London, UK

Well I guess all I need to do is apply :http://www.hargreaves.com/news/PDFs/2009_HA_Internship_Poster_web.pdf

Year - Out Opportunities

I have also found this year - out opportunity from BroadwayMaylan. Broadway Maylan are a well establish firm which consist of a mix workforce in the design field. They are a large company with integrated team of specialists including architects, masterplanners, landscape architects, regeneration and sustainability consultants and interior designers.
I would value the opportunity to work in such a diverse company who work with architects, urbanist and designers. Having studied Architetcture in my first year it would be interesting to be able to work with not only Landscape architects and architects but a broad mix of people across the field to gain great understanding how we can work together as designers.

Plan: University of Surrey

http://www.broadwaymalyan.com/projects/landscape/university-of-surrey.cfm

I then went through the website and found details of the year - out opportunities they provide. The opportunity is to join their BM graduate development programme at one of their offices.
If I were to be successful, whilst on the programme I will be assessed for the Graduate Bursary which would help towards my post-graduate studies. This is the first I have seen of this type of programme for my year out and is interesting because of its long term commitment, this type of opportunity may beneficial considering the current financial climate we are in.

Ideas for My Business Card: Google It!

I absolutely love this Dallas Based Printing Company. Laser Printing Inc have fully embraced the direction of the modern consumer and spoken in a media language that every web literate perosn will understand.

In the Google seach box, I can put 'Landscape Designer London', which will clearly indicate my profession and location. The positioning of my details undser the Google search box makes me appear to be the 'first choice' for whoever is searching for such services. I can direct people to my moonfruit portfolio.

Source: http://www.scaryideas.com/content/9736/

What's floating on Rainham Marshes?

I also used this week as an opportunity to further my understanding on the management of a wetland, so I revisted Rainham marshes in Purfleet. Fortunately I was able to talk to the Visitor Services Manager who I spoke to in depth about the different roles and responsibilites taken on the site, he also told me as much as he knew about the management of the site and introduce me to the site manager. He also gave me a brief guided tour and took me down to the new area on the site whre they were volunteers were currently creating artificial floating islands. My visit to Rainham Marshes was very insightly to understanding how a large scale wetland is managed, day to day, month to month and year to year.

Flood Alleviation Scheme at Sutcliffe Park

To further my development for my Wey and Arun project I felt that it was crucial for me to visit a site that has dealt with flood plains. Hence my decision to visit the flood alleviation scheme for the Quaggy, it is the key to restoring this river.
Similarly to my site at on the Wey and Arun, Sutcliffe Park is well known as an area where the flood risk is high and here a solution has been established for local flood alleviation schemes in this areas.
The area consisted of open grassland, meadow, and wetland. The river Quaggy meanders through the site. Visually i felt the site worked really well, it gave me a clear idea of how to establish the idea of a wetland on my site whilst controlling water levels, allowing access and movement around the site with the use of broaad walks. Definately a valuable day out!

London Ice Sculpture

Just thought I should share this fasicnating sculpture by sculptor Percy Salazar who has chiselled his own version of Cool Britannia, with these ice sculptures of famous London landmarks.

Percy Salazar challenges global warming by exhibiting ice sculptures of London landmarks outdoors at the height of the British summer.