Project 7 West Office Maria Alvarez

I had a great time at our visit to West Office Design in Oakland. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the office and the people seemed very focused in this kind of environment. Their office was very clean and the displays were neatly set up. All their sketches and ideations were perfectly aligned on the wall.  The presentation was enlightening. It was good to see their approach at design process and the development of their projects. They work in project teams; a graphic designer, exhibit developer, researcher writer, and a multimedia designer all associated on a project. They do a fair amount of modeling much like an architecture firm. They have a position called the exhibit developer. This particular position entails someone typically with an education or museum background. They’re the people that really are the brain trust of their office. They are the ones that research the content and synthesize it for the designer to some degrees. As a result, they ultimately specialize in interactive museums, cultural centers and corporate exhibits.

One of my favorite displays was the visitor center for Levi Strauss. It was very colorful and dynamic and good use of open space. The letters that included stories from fans to Levi was pretty cool to see as well. 

West Office Design - Mary's take

I really enjoyed our trip to West Office Design in Oakland. I thought the presentation was very informative, and it really gave me a sense of what this company did. I never realised how much thought went into a display at a science museum. It was really interesting to see the huge variety of their work, how each display for every museum is so different, yet unique. The people who worked there seem to truly enjoy their job and put a lot of thought into everything they do. I liked how this group was a group of people from different backgrounds of study, all working together to produce something really thoughtful for the public to enjoy. I never thought about all the aspects of the displays at a science museum, especially the ones where children get to interact with it.

field trip project 7

I love going to history and science museums so I was really fascinated walking through the west office studios and being being able to see many of these different projects in progress. 

and also see projects that are intended for long term use (as opposed to short-term trade show oriented projects). 

One thing that sort of stuck out in my head from the initial presentation was of them having to convince a client to put out FEWER of their native american artifacts, when the first instinct would be to put out everything you have. that the overclutter of stuff would take away from the effect as a whole. I sort of got inspiration from that in terms of how to limit how MUCH of the process we choose to show at our exhibit. 

I also appreciated the attention to detail, and the scale models. people do see to trust and relate to something they can touch and feel better than just a computer model (can we use this somehow in our fundraising ideas?)

I also got a great idea for a way for us to display the past years from this wall panel they had there (I got permission to take a picture, but my camera is being weird about sending it to my email right now). it would involve printing the name of the past exhibit, and then the observer would lift up that to reveal further imagery from that show- this would be as opposed to having all of the pictures just all out there, it would keep things more contained). 

Project 7 - Stephanie Wong

The field trip to west office was a very interesting one. I really did enjoy this trip, because it was more professional plus everything was very detailed, I learned more from this trip then the previous trip. This company usually has hints of storytelling in each theme. Some themes they are working on were for science, technology, history, and historical artifacts an exhibit they recently created was the Cassville science center named “world around us” and the water analogy. The local projects they do are usually low projects and they feel as if they are giving back to the community that way.

Project 7 : West Office Design | Wilson Chiu

West Office Exhibition Design

I really enjoyed walking around and seeing every part of the design office because I was very curious as to how real designers work. Unlike the Mauk Design office, the West Office was very spaced out. I felt almost too cluttered up in the Mauk Design office whereas in the West Office, I felt free to wander around. The office itself was almost an exhibit for young designers to get lost in.

The head of West Office, Andy Kramer, gave a great presentation in their design process. He talked about research, concept, development, and final stages of exhibit design. I was completely immersed in his presentation because it reminded me so much of what we learn back in class. Using his methodology, I’ve already begun my own process of exhibit designing.

What really sparked my interest was that Kramer himself was initially a graphic designer to begin with. He doesn’t just do graphics but actually work in every part in the exhibit from concept designing to structure building, which brings me to what Mauk had said before that every designer should be able to design anything.

The West Office experience really added on knowledge to my design ethics an expanded my view on design as a whole. My view on design was paused at one point because there were no direction but now I see design as a limitless opportunity to become just about anything.

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: West office Design by; Marion G.

West Office Exhibition Design: Observation


The visit to West Office was an informative event where I learn what renders good design for exhibits building. The main focus for their design work evolved around making exhibits for museums and corporations. Our tour guide explained that their work is specialized and when they hire new employees are taught on the job. Most of their staff is trained in 3-D designs, graphics, and multi-media. This office completes its designs for exhibits in as short as six months and up to fifteen years. Unlike most design offices that use preliminary sketch modeling their hands on modeling techniques are extensive and intricately detailed. Some of the models on display where approximately five feet by five feet. The guide explained that their work is client intensive which means they work closely with their clients, and all work is done to their specifications.

One of the first phases in making contracts for clients is budgeting and work schedules for completing. The next phase is researching all possible exhibit styles, space management, and creating mood boards. West office design does a fair amount of hand drawing because it’s faster and saves time. The final phase of this process is the concept design phase, and this consists of creating a book on the exhibit. The book indicates what the exhibit is about with pictures describing its theme. Prototyping is done in the office, and design programs such as vector works is used to convert sketches. We were informed that most clients like physical model when starting their exhibits because it gives them an idea of what the end project will look like.

In concluding my observation on the west office field trip I wanted to say that it was informative on how to work with others to complete one project. Designers must work efficiently. Their design processes is similar to our own. We will need to work together using everything learned at west office and all of our course work. Some of the similarities used at west office and our own design work include mood boards, prototyping, sketching, and analyzing different exhibits.

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.