Project 7 - WOED Field Trip

I enjoyed our trip to West Office Design in Oakland. The first thing I noticed at West Office was their air of professionalism. It was interesting after experiencing the smaller, more colloquial Mauk Design, to see how a larger firm might function. It seemed to me that West Office was proficient at structuring and organizing work processes while still maintaining a certain openness that allowed the development of creative ideas.

What I really like about West Office design was their commitment to concept. If you looked at their library, there were very few books on design in relation to books on every other topic. I don’t feel it makes sense to say, “I got this commission to design the Plains Indian Museum. I’m going to research this project by reading a bunch of design magazines,” and it seems West Office agrees with me, being that they had an entire shelf of books on plains Indians.

And they have a cool building! It’s this crazy industrial factory turned design firm. On top of that, the building is in a sweet area. China town is maybe 5 blocks away from their office. If I worked there I could get like 10 BBQ pork buns on my lunch break, and that would be sweet.

Oh, and the models were insane!

project 7: WOED

With creatives from across the nation, the 20+ person design studio encompasses design professionals ranging in specialty from writing, graphic design, multi-media design, content developing, 3D animation to hands-on model making.. Steve Wiersema informed our group of the lengthy, solid training that takes place at a specialized firm before one can comprehend the craft and task of exhibition design; a profession that isn’t readily taught at art school. WOED designers’ ability to collaborate openly in a beautiful and airy environment, lends greatly to effective communication, and must provide a hotbed of collaborative creativity..

photo: WOED creative motivators..

Project 7: Paul Carlson -- West Office Exhibition Design

One thing that struck me about our trip to West Office was their emphasis on rough sketches and sketch models. With all the technology available nowadays, I think often the “preferred” approach is to use it as much as possible for the wow factor. However, as was pointed out, some people just cannot be engaged by 3D CAD mockups or renderings; in these cases, drawings or sketch models can be invaluable. I think this is a good lesson for us to take to heart; for all of the tools and resources we have at our disposal, sometimes nothing beats taking pen to paper or making something out of foamcore or clay or whatnot.

Project 7-Tiffany Yip

Going to a field trip to the West Office in Oakland was an excellent experience for me because I saw how it would be like to work at a design firm. I loved seeing the models of the museums because there was so much detail and it’s amazing to know how the final museum will come to look like. I like the idea how the models are in a table in the middle of the big room so people would circle around it while observing the student’s projects.

project-7-west-office-design-LEo Zhao

West Office Exhibition Design Field Trip

The west office field is definitely an eye opening experience for me. I loved it is office. That's the kind of design office I always dreamed about. They have large open space, they have a shop inside the office, and the office itself is well designed. I think the presentation is like reviewing what we are doing right now. I am glad that our design process is similar to theirs which means we are on the right track.
They also talked about looking for space and the very important thing is how the exhibition feels. It is like creating a mood. And also make the decision about the overall aesthetic for the show is important too. Then we will be able to figure out what kind of design will be more suitable for our show and what’s not. Then we can make choices for both the 2-D and 3-D designs.
I like their idea about use stories to communicate which client. They also know exactly what they want to do and what they don't want to. I think it is important for a designer to know what he wants to design, what his strength is and make the most use of it.
The models in the office are impressing. Seeing all the models is inspiring because our structure team is almost getting to the same phase about our design. It will be great if we can create some models for the overall structure.

Project 7 - WOED - Noriko Matsuba

Yay West Office!

The entire office is quite impressive with its wide-open space that encourages creativity and collaboration between designers, the overall organization and cleanliness that allow designers to concentrate on their work without environmental distractions and the array of exhibit models that showcases all their genius. The models are so fascinating in their ability to create an aesthetic functioning space that evokes a certain mood, time or story. It is amazing that these exhibits may be up for a few months to fifteen years and still be just as effective as the opening day!

Our class may be able to implement the principles of their workspace set up. They have separate areas to work on individual projects yet can easily access their neighbors for feedback. So far in class, we crowd around each other and try to map out responsibilities but it is a bit cramped with all the groups and we often do not have our own space to work. If we can create this sort of set up within the classroom, perhaps we can work more comfortably and effectively with each other.

Project 7, Tabassom

     In West Office Exhibition Design field trip, I really liked the open space of the office, and the way that all designers and departments see and interact with each other without thick and tall walls blocking their way. All the ideas and designs for 1 project were pined up next to each other on a wall and the designers could see them easily or walk up to them to add some new ideas or just make some changes. The open space that they had, made it more accessible and convenient for them to work within the workspace and each other.

     The most effective influence that WOED visit had on me was beautiful models that were laid out everywhere in entire office. The perfectly made models were so adequately detailed that attract every eye in the room to themselves. I could spend minutes standing next to them and observing every piece of the model with admiration.

     In my point of view, since our exhibit is a group project, it is nice to have a space where we put all the ideas that we have for the exhibition next to each other so that we can see them all at the same time. In that order, we can easily subtract the thoughts that we don't like and add the designs that we need more to complete our mission. Also, nicely made models are key to present thoughts to others and that's the other issue that we have to consider.

Sherwin David - Project 7: West Office Trip

West Office is a design firm who specializes in museums and interactive science exhibits. The studio consists of multi-disciplinary designers from graphics designers to product. The class field trip to West Office was an exciting and helpful experience. I found out a little bit about their own process in designing as well as an inside look into some of their past and currently in development projects.

West Office believes in story telling and that is why they chose to specialize in cultural, historical and science musuems. Projects they have worked on includes the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, Louiseville Science Center and Levis Strauss & Co. On rare occasions, West Office will design for corporations but do not involve itself in any marketing or branding.

In the same manner that Mauk exhibits motions into his designs, West Office believes that interactivity makes for a more dynamic and exciting experience for exhibits. The studios process is very similar to that of an architectural firm and is very client intensive. Like many good and well established design firms, they conceptialize, draw and make models and mock ups to test out their ideas. I thought that the models and mockups that they had on display were fun. They were so tiny and detailed.

Their process is definitely one that we can use and structure our own process around but I thought that we were already doing some of what they did in a just less detailed and less organized way. We have milestones tand deadlines to meet and if everyone takes part then it shouldn't be as hard as it already is.