Week 8: Unexpected Road Trips

Finally some relief...rain and cooler weather started off the week! Monday felt kind of chaotic. I seemed to be doing several little projects at once for different designers. I made a contractor’s board and delivered it to the client, as well as continued to collect finishes for another sample board. I also continued the finish organization for the National Accounts group; checking a lot of fabrics to make sure they are still available. I also continued to pull finishes for the three different finish schemes for the bathroom upgrade project.

Tuesday started off like any other day. I did some organizing of the materials library and made a “placemat” for a designer to take to a presentation. I also had to deliver a set of drawings to the building that reviews the drawings for correct codes, as well as distributes the building permits. After lunch I am told that there is a group going to the Paoli furniture factory and if I would like to go there is room. I rush home to pack before the bus arrives…only the bus did not arrive anywhere close to the expected arrival time (it was 4 hours late and I was starting to question my decision to go on the trip!!) So after some long waiting and confusion about the bus we make it to Paoli, Indiana at 1:30 in the morning!

If anyone is curious what is in Paoli, Indiana…not much. Originally the factory was located in the town, but has expanded and has moved a few miles down the road. On Wednesday we toured the factory, got a small training session, and walked through the showroom. It was very interesting to see how everything starts and then all the different steps from beginning to end. Surprisingly, the factory was clean and fairly dust free considering all the wood that is being cut, sanded, and stained. Even though the bus ride was pretty rough and I times questioned my last minute decision, the tour was definitely worth it!

Thursday was a busy day. I started off the morning by working on a finish board that will be displayed in the client’s office. I also finished up the organization of all of the binders and fabrics for the National Accounts group. In the afternoon I did an electronic finish board for Ashley in the Vanderbilt group. An electronic finish board is a publisher file that includes images of the seating, tables, etc. along with their corresponding finishes.

Finish board that I worked on for a display board for the client.

Friday was another busy day. I started off the day by going onto the Steelcase and Coalesse website to verify which fabrics passed testing on different seating. I also did another electronic finish board for a different building for Vanderbilt University. I did another finish board that would be used for display purposes in an apartment complex clubhouse. At the end of the day I set up the finishes in a conference room for a client meeting Monday morning. The rain also stopped in the afternoon and we got some needed sunshine!!

Presentation Techniques & Computer Applications

There are several different techniques that the designers use to communicate their ideas to the client; these include finish boards, contract documents, and images and renderings. The format does change based on the phase that the project is in. the beginning phases start out with a simple concept board and then move into a finalized finish board. Sometimes the finish board will also include images of the furniture and lighting. Renderings are always a big part as well. The next part would be the contract documents to show the contractors and subcontractors. IDS typically uses AutoCAD, Google Sketchup, and Photoshop as their main computer programs. Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and Publisher are also used frequently for text type documents.

Name: Shandi Harmon

Shandi is part of the design team along with Sarina (who you might recognize from an earlier post). Sarina and Shandi were practing their picture poses! Shandi is very knowledgeable abou design and her projects typically lean towards the modern, contempory side. A fun fact about her is that she recently got engaged!