From Sample Board Online in Aus to Creative Buzz

http://creativebuzzing.wordpress.com

Hi
Thank for visiting the Sample Board Online in Aus blog

The Sample Board Online website has been increased to include other design disciplines

Interior Design, Graphic & Web Design, Fashion and Textile Design, Wedding Planning and Landscape Design. What ever your design focus sample board can be used as a powerful design tool to enhance your design experience. 

Take a look at how the new site looks

 

The name has also changed from Sample Board Online to SampleBoard and was relaunched in December 2010

Basic membership is FREE and the Advanced membership is only $9.99 per month and has a host of brilliant features

I invite you to visit the site http://sampleboard.com it is awesome

SampleBoard has an official blog and my blog has become Creative Buzzing you can visit my new blog at  

 http://creativebuzzing.wordpress.com 

I have also written a number of articles on all the things design you can find them by going to http://www.sampleboard.com/creative-buzz

Below are some examples of mood boards created on the new SampleBoard with the digital mood board editor

I am sure you will find the new improved SampleBoard experience fun, creative and a valuable resource

 

Enjoy we look forward to and welcome your feedback

Rosena

The Decoration of Houses by Edith & Ogden

As part of my reading plan I often read biographies of writers. I like to find out how writers planned their writing, when they started to write, where they lived and who they knew. Also what it was like to live in the era in which they lived. I find this fascinating.  

During this past few months I have read two very interesting biographies; one on the life of Edith Wharton and one on the Duchess of Newcastle both female writers. Edith Wharton is most famous for her novels. However her first book was ‘The Decoration of Houses’ written in 1897 with the architect Ogden Codman Jr.  

It is interesting as I returned to the subject of Art Nouveau and Art Deco I was reading the life story of Edith who lived in the US and France in this very era. As I wrote about these eras I was again stuck by how the influence of new styles slowly gain acceptance. We can sometimes look at periods of design history in isolation forgetting they are only part of a bigger picture.

Ogden and Edith’s decorating book was very influential. Edith believed rooms should be simple in design, be symmetrical with classic proportions. The book was a great success and is important to us in the design profession. It led to the emergence of professional decorators such as Elsie de Wolfe.

Codman Jr re-introduced the classical design of the Federal period. The wall colours and architectural detailing he used and recommended were an attempt to overcome the fussy, over the top designs of the Victorian era. In 1913-1915 Ogden designed the building that now houses the National Academy Of Design.

Edith came from a very well to do New York family. She loved architecture, gardens and design. She travelled extensively and fell in love with Italian classical designs. Edith wrote about her passion in the book ‘Italian Villas and Their Gardens’. She also designed and oversaw the construction of her home The Mount. It was built in the Palladian style and the garden was designed by her niece Beatrix Ferrand. The Mount is now a national US landmark.

Besides writing about design and gardens Edith wrote short stories, articles for magazines, travel essays and poetry. She is most famous for her novels ‘The House of Mirth’ a 1905 best seller and ‘The Age of Innocence’ for which she won the Pulitzer Prize of 1920. She was the first women to win this prize.

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look through Edith and Ogden’s book ‘The Decoration of Houses’ in a few blogs.          

The Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind Quick Mini Quiz

I have published this post on the SBO website but I thought I would place the information on this blog  in case you do not go to the SBO blog 

Over the years I have developed a theory about the impact of interior design and colour selections on different personalities. It all started in the 1980’s. In the early 1980’s I studied art but soon realised I liked working with people as much as going art work. I then did a couple of  interior design and decorating courses.

At the same time we bought our first house and I wanted to decorate our home to a high standard. This eventually led to an offer of a job as a kitchen designer. But I wanted to be involved with all aspects of design and applied and was accepted into the interior design course at the Queensland College of Art. I was delighted to find I could combine my artistic flare and my love of people with a career in interior design.

During the 1980’s I also became involved with success motivation and personality profiling. So began my interest in personality. Over the years I have studied psychology and counselling. I was and continue to be fascinated and study people and interior design.

I have written a series of four articles called ‘Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind’ if you would like to read the articles please follow this links:

Part 1:
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-1-2403304.html

Part 2:
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-2-2403321.html

Part 3:
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-3-2403342.html

Part 4:                                                                                                                            http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-4-2403355.html

In the articles I provided a link to this blog. If you have read the articles and followed the link to the ‘Quick Personality Quiz’ here it is.

If you would like to do a full personality test go tohttp://www.discinsights.com/cyber/Scripts/disc.asp

If you want some fun go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/personality_plus_1 you will find a quiz on the subject connected to dating  

Design Life Audit

Do you need to do an audit of your design life?

Interior design has become a trendy profession. Students often comment about how much more is involved in interior design than they originally thought. Although it can appear glamorous, it takes hard work and long hours to succeed.

‘Intelligent people are always open to new ideas’ 

Proverbs 18:15

I was amazed when I looked through the list of interior designers in the yellow pages in the major cities of Australia to see how many designers are listed. When I first started out in the 1980’s the lists were much shorter.

To succeed in interior design these days’ designers need to be many things. Besides having creative and organizational skills there are a number of things a designer needs to be and things they can do to stay ahead of the game. More than ever interior designers need to be aware and adaptable.

Designers need
• Creativity
• Organizational abilities
• Technological expertise
• To be a team player
• To have time management skills
• People skills
• Selling skills
• To be adaptable
• To be flexible
And the list goes on……

Work out your niche
It is important to work out your niche in the market place. To do this you need to know your strengths and weakness. Target your business to your strengths. This may appear obvious but sometimes we struggle along trying to fulfill the many roles involved in interior design practice. It pays to do an audit of our design life every few years. Ask the hard questions. Am I enjoying my work? Am I making as much money as I desire? When do I feel a sense of achievement? Am I stressed? How could I improve my work life?

Work out your strengths and weakness by asking questions
1. What do you love about your work?
2. What do you hate about your work?
3. Am I enjoying my work?
4. Am I making as much money as I need/want?
5. What activities give me a sense of achievement?
6. Am I stressed?
7. How can I improve my work life?

Some experts in the field recommend designers specialise. To base your design business to a particular niche that enhances your strengths. It can be based on something you excel at or the most popular need in your area.

Success comes by:
1. Continuing to learn as much as you can
2. Being professional
3. Adapting yourself to different seasons in the market
4. Looking at opportunities to increase your options
For example:
• Solar panel installation
• Help others become green
• Clean technology consultants are in high demand
• Emission Trader

You may be very successful and completely happy with your design life. So you can ignore all of the above. But it is helpful and encouraging to see the number of diverse skills and the abilities we need and often have.

I left the field of design for a number of years. When I came back I did a refresher course and had a close look at my strengths and weakness. Although I am a good organizer and manage my time well my weakness was in the business side of the design business. I hated dealing with money, doing quotes and accounts.

My main strengths were my people skills and creativity. I had also found I loved to encourage others, to teach and write. So I have found my niche I now combine my people skills, training skills and artist skills by tutoring, writing, some consulting and doing the occasional painting. I don’t think I have ever been as happy in my work as I am now.

‘Get all the advice and instruction you can 

and be wise the rest of your life’

Proverbs 19:20

One of my favorite books is the book of proverbs. Every time I read it (which I try to do every day) I find new gems of wisdom to help me along life’s way.

I hope you find or have found your niche and happiness.