Display Case Part 2!!

So after talking about it with my instructor, I began making my final model out of chipboard. Since my original idea was to display only one lipstick per tier, I had to revamp my layers a bit to add for 3 more (thats 4 total) per tier of my "lipstick cake"

Somehow in my measurements, I went a little wrong. My display case turned out a bit topsey-turvier then planned but that was a mistake I was proud to make. In the end, I felt it really made the lipsticks jut out more and highlighted them on each tier. My scale was a bit off...still not sure when that happened but maybe somewhere between chipboard and plaster...

I plastered useing sheets of fabric with plaster on them (like a guaze) that I carefully dipped in water and wrapped my chipboard model in. Of course we're never as carefull as we first seem and a lot of sanding went into trying to get my edges nice a smooth!!



I then painted the whole model my gunmetal blue color, to stick with my color scheme and add a pop to the model.

I really went back and forth between doing the red top. Part of me thought it looked super chic and the other half thought it was just a little too barbie. I'm glad I stuck with it though because especially after the lace detailing on the sides, it really brought the whole design and concept together and reminded my customer what we were selling.

I used a new (and beautiful) lace pattern that was very similar to my case as a stencil to spray paint the lilac lace design through.

Lipstick Display!

Originally I started off with a maze like idea, inspired by the above picture. My original model was done with foam core. Unfortunately, thanks to some rain and a shuttle ride...it didn't make it. But i'm not too heartbroken about that one. The model was very bulky and confusing (kinda like a maze...should've guessed that one). In the end, I thought it was more distracting then artisitc. Instead of framing my lipsticks, it seemed to really take away from the product I was selling.


So I began thinking again, I was reminded by a conversation I had had on the phone with my mother the previous day. She was telling me how not to get so caught up in an alice and wonderland theme and not too go all out and start making everything "topsy turvey"....and I thought "what a great idea, a topsey turvey model" Literally in a minute I had this sketch drawn and was immediately obsessed with the idea.

Then of course came the oh so obvious question of how to design this and with what. I already knew that I wanted a ledge all the way around each tier of my model, so when you came to the sharp edge on the high side, I could make a small pocket for my lipstick to sit in. Originally, I thought about using foam but since I'd had no previous experience usin foam or sculpting of any kind, I decided to instead make a wire model and paper mache.

At the time, this sounded like a really awesome idea, I'd have a light model and it was still relatively sturdy. That is of  course until I was reminded that I hadn't paper mached since I was 8 and for good reason. My model was very delicate...too delicate and the wire mesh model didn't allow for the clean edges I had really wanted. And of course half of it collapsed by the time it actually dried (i'm really hoping this is not a pattern)

Any way, I'm convinced that chipboard is the way to go and yes I'm doing it cake style. Treating each tier as its own seperate piece and then I'll be able to stack them all up. Since I still want a smooth surface, which I obviosuly won't get with curved chipboard. I'm going to experiment with plaster of paris or heavier paper (maybe oaktag) or something similar

A Box is a Box...but why?!?

So I spent this past week catching up on some thinking and really getting a good grip on where I wanted my box to be and what I wanted to become. After some digging into my subconscious, I returned to the question "Why lace?"...simple yet there was something aparent that I was missing and it was frankly driving my crazy. While on yet another visit to the fabric store, the gentlemen who owns the shop asked me if I sew and that's why I have such an eye for fabric. Well of course that was it, not only did I sew but both of my grandmothers and most importantly my great grandmother made lace.

Now, without going into my whole family history since it's completely unnecessary, I'll cut right to the chase. My great grandmothers lace is treated like the Holy Grail...in fact if my mother or grandmother found the holy grail I don't think they'd give it up for that lace. There is not too many pieces left, but what they have they covet and if i could show you, you'd see why. The attention to detail is unimaginable. How one woman could have the paitence and talent to create something like that I might never understand. But there is one thing i know, it's that attention to detail that I want for my lipstick.

It's that detail I would want a customer to feel while walking from the store. Not just that they had bought a great lipstick but that they'd walked away with something just for them. After all the goal is "Glamour for All"! And what better way to inforce you're own inner beauty then the package that it comes home in.

My first idea had been to spray paint on plastic...yes the design was transferred and it was beautiful but still not the box I wanted to give away my lipstick in

 My second idea was to glue the lace drectly to the plastic box which turned out to be even more gorgeous but for some reason still wasn't sitting well with me. So I began thinking but why a box, when boxes are used for so many other things, I have to make it more personal



So then came my first satchel (for lack of a better word) I'd kept the top and bottom still hard with disguised plastic but the design just didn't flow like I wanted it too and the closure was definitely an issue.

So I reverted back to my old ways, merging the two by making a wooden box with the spray paint lace overlay. Painting the inside crimson (like my lips from the advertisement) and having matching lace spill out into a draw string. I loved this box but somehow the two elements seemed to be competeing with one another.

 And so my final model was born. One beautiful drawstring pouch that allowed for my product to peak out from underneath. The lace (dyed my gunmetal blue with acrylic ink) didn't compete with the case, instead It simply allowed the product to stannd for itself. The lace only a small reminder of the beauy in "Glamour for All"



The label came from a makeup deisgn I'd seen in my research of MAC cosmetics. I liked the edgier feel of the label and felt it to be in true character of what MAC would have done. But that's not all...

On the back, I simply could stop myself from adding this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson "Though we travel the world to find beauty, we must carry it with us or we find it not"....If this didn't singlehandly describe "Glamour for All" Then I don't know what would. This is the exact thought I want every woman who enters my store to leave with because glamour should extend far beyond the bounds of a makeup studio. I see the glamour in what some women would describe as their "ordinary" features. My hope is only that they leave knowing that makeup only enhances the beauty they already have and I'd like for their little lace case to be a constant reminder of their inner glamour girl

Project 3...Part 1

So, my idea for project 3 stems partially from my advertisement. I decided to stick with the gunmetal blue color since I feel that it has an edge that MAC would most definitely choose for any of their cosmetic lines, but I also decided to add a liliac-pink (to soften up the project and add that romantic feel) and crimson obviously for the lips. I also decided to stick with the lace idea. For me, although I wasn't too huge of a fan of how the lace turned out on the second project, the idea of lace is very soft and feminine and to me very glamourous.

My first model (above, I apologize for the orientataion, but of course it won't let me change it)  has the gunmetal background and the MAC logo written in liliac. I decided to glue the lace directly to the box and although it looks nice, after speaking with professor Leshinsky, I did agree that the lace competed with my colors and ideas a little. So we agreed to try using my colors and either painting or spray painting through.

Model 2 (i've also included a picture of the lace I used) was my attempt at painting through the lace. Originally, I was not a fan, then it kinda grew on me a little, and I thought "maybe I can make this work." But then I folded it, and it lost all its cute, patterned messiness and just looked like a mess...which is not exactly the plan I was going for.

So on to Plan B....

Projects 1 & 2

For the semester the topic I was given was cosmetics and within cosmetics I chose lipstick as my theme for the semester.

My first thoughts when I think lipstick is glamorous and chic. I feel that the peak of lipsticks success was especially during the 40s and 50s and the rise of what we know now as old Hollywood glamour. I don’t feel that there is a person who can say that long lashes and alluring lips ever look unattractive on a woman. That confidence and beauty is what I wanted to capture with my project.

For project number one, I decided to do a simple lipstick case. Originally I wanted to play with the texture of the lipstick, how it would smear across a page or feel on a woman’s lips. But every concept I designed seemed too complex and overdone and simply distracting. So I took a step back and decided I didn’t want the focus to be the texture; I wanted it to be the lipstick itself. When one looks at the case, you can see its clean edges, its modern, yet elegant design, and its beauty. I wanted to try and capture that allure of a woman’s lipstick, simply from the case itself.

I started with a pink background. I played around with different shades (darker or lighter) and different types of painting (neat or messy edges). I decided that to really highlight my feelings, a firework type design worked best in a bright pink. I channeled my inner Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, except this time it was not about diamonds, but lipstick. I still liked the play on texture (as I’m sure you’ll see throughout my work this semester), so instead of a simple lipstick tube I decided to keep the clean edges but create a messy texture; as if lipstick was my medium. I did so by using a heavy bodied paint, applying in globs and allowing to settle as is.

In the end, my design was much simpler than I would have liked, but I thought that was what was best for the project. I wanted a postcard that was going to stand out and keep its message simple without overcomplicating it.



For the second project, we were allowed much more space to design a poster to sell our project. I’m not the best artist but no matter what I’m doing my first thought is always to research as much as possible. So I bought a whole stack of magazines and scanned the internet for the perfect ad ideas and photographs that I could use for my project. It just so happened that I stumbled upon this gorgeous photo of a model in glamour magazine and with some more research was able to find a high quality photo of her:

Next was what design I wanted to portray. My model was glamorous with a bit of a funky edge (see green nails) and I wanted to play on that idea. So I downloaded Photoshop and experimented with different ways to morph my photo. Through Google, I even found out how to add color to a black and white photo and decided that this was the best way to highlight her lips.

But I was still stumped on how to arrange my Ad. So many ads were beautiful models, with big gorgeous lips and then the product tacked on to the side of the photo. I wanted my ad to convey more, I wanted it to show that glamour was possible for everyone. So after discussing it some more in class, I staged a photo-shoot with my very glamorous friends. I had them all copy the pose that the model was making and just with the click of my camera not only did I see glamour but I also go their personalities. This wasn’t just a model hired to sell the product and not her. These were my friends, even though posing, managed to somehow bring their character and their own type of allure.

So after a very successful photo-shoot, I was still stumped by how I was going to lay it out on my poster. After playing around with a few different ideas, I decided horizontally was the best way and began painting my background. Originally I had wanted very sheer gunmetal, almost a stain, on my poster. But somehow in my paint mixing process and on my third sheet of canvas paper, I decided that my gunmetal blue mistake was a very good one and went with it. It helped the black and white photos pop even more and allowed me to keep a modern edge to my very classic design (which is what M.A.C cosmetics is all about). After having arranged all the photos, I decided to add some lace design work to my idea, since I felt it needed an extra punch. Looking back on it, lace is glamorous but definitely not on my poster. It just hadn’t turned out the way I wanted it to and to my despair the next morning, the lace pieces wouldn’t budge…so lace it was!! My final touch was adding my slogan Glamour for All which is what I want my M.A.C. collection to empower throughout the semester.

My First Post

Hello Everyone!!

This is my very first post, so I do hope it actually works. As part of our first assignment we had to write a review, mine is based on the first sketch of Central Park & NYC by Lapin.

I must admit that my first interest in this sketch was purely of my own vanity since I do come from New York and my favorite part of my train ride home is the 5 minutes spent stopped across form the NYC skyline. To me, it will always be one of the most beautiful sights. But of course everyone has their own interpretation of what is and is not beautiful.



For me, I love the peaceful portrayal of the city. Especially using watercolors, I feel like the view of central park seamlessly merges into the NYC skyline. Many people would never consider New York to be peaceful in anyway and sometimes this is very true. But for me, I've always found the beauty in seeing so many people, all doing their own things and living their lives and feeling almost a part of it in a way. (Which yes I realize may sound a bit creepy, but that’s really not my intention)


I simply mean that there is this undeniable New York connection that feels palpable in the air and in Lapin's sketch. He has caught the magic and beauty that the city holds. In such a simple sketch, I feel like I’m walking the streets once again and seeing people from all over the world come together.