Happy New Year

Happy New Year from all of us at nextGEN! 

We hope you had a wonderful year. See you in 2012!

Let's Talk Website Building

Times are changing. Having your own website and online portfolio is becoming a necessity for design students entering the industry. You may be asking yourself were to I begin? There are various website building companies out there. 

It may seeming overwhelming to start designing your website. The easy out would be to have someone else design it for you. If you are extremely busy, having someone else design your website may be the best choice. However, we strongly recommend designing your website yourself. Our society is fulled with many do it yourselfers. So why not build your website yourself? It will expand your skills and a great experience. 

Here are a few companies that help you design your own website. 

Squarespace

Wix

Flavors

Mooonfruit

Cargo Collective

Carbonmade

Happy designing!

Break the Multitasking Habit

Multitasking is one habit that is far too familiar and common for many us. Break the Multitasking Habit by Antia Bruzzese is a great article. The article explains how multitasking is hurtful to one's productivity. Even though multitasking is a difficult habit to break, it's a habit that needs to be broken.   

To read the complete article please click here.

Make the Most of Your Break

Hey students, we hope you are enjoying your break from school. Why not make the most of your time off and apply for a job or internship. US Green Building Council (USGBC) has some jobs available!! If you are interested in learning more about sustainability and design then apply for one of the positions available. What a great way to expand your knowledge about sustainability and design.

To see the positions available please click here.

Happy Holidays

We hope you have a wonderful holiday and a great New Year.

From all of us at nextGEN, Happy Holidays!

The Young Guns Contest

Hot off the Twitter feed, Dwell is having a design competition for students. What student would not want to be recognized in a world-renowned magazine such as Dwell.

Reprising last year's solicitation of student-made graphic, industrial, font, interactive, and architectural design work, Dwell is proud to invite students to submit their work for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine. (Accompanied by an online feature, naturally.)

If you were enrolled in some kind of schooling when you engineered your groundbreaking design, and it can be visually represented in a photograph or rendering, then we want to share your work with our community. Once we gather up some favorites, the editors will pick a selection for a page in the May 2012 issue. The community-led voting session will determine which twenty submissions will be featured in an online roundup. Cue accolades, congratulations, toasting, laurels, and so on.

All it takes is one static image to represent your hard-won academic achievements. When you email it to us, don't forget to include a short statement about your project's theme, what materials you used, when you created it, and what school you attend. And it goes without saying that we only want to see your own work. Source Dwell Magazine

Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/the-youngest-guns.html#ixzz1h71dLBNg

Intersecting Retail & Philanthropy

Who doesn't love design, fashion, and charitable causes? Treasure & Bond wants to generate change for its surrounding community. With every purchase made, 100% of all of their after-cost profits goes directly to those who are in need.

What may surprise you is Nordstrom is the name behind Treasure & Bond. Treasure & Bond opened it's doors in August 2011. Part gift boutique, part art gallery and part neighborhood gathering place, it’s an exciting new experiment in giving that has, at its core, one simple goal: To help people help people—and to do so with wit, imagination and style.

Treasure & Bond has an unique feel. The merchandise itself is used to display goods. The space has a funky, trendy feel that is exhibited in the SoHo neighborhood. The design of the store is flexible with the varying merchandise that comes in.

You can read more about Nordstrom's charity concept store, Treasure & Bond, here.

Let's Talk Portfolios

A portfolio is a great way to showcase your work to a potential employer. There are a few questions you need to ask yourself before you design your portfolio. Who is your audience? Are you interviewing with a large or small firm? Commercial or residential? What is the size of your portfolio? How will your portfolio be bound?

First, come up with a concept or a design for your portfolio. You can come up with ideas by cartooning, or sketching, them out on paper. When you are cartooning, make sure you are using some kind of scale. You want your cartoon, or sketch, to be as accurate as possible. It is better to lay out the design on paper, then  go straight to the computer. Work out the kinks on paper. It will save you a lot of time and headache.

Another important part of a portfolio is editing. As a student you may love all the past projects, however, do not put them all in your portfolio. Go through your past projects and find 3-4 that are your best work. You want to be able to showcase yourself when you are in the interview. Don't underwhelm a potential employer with mediocre work.

It is important to consider the overall design of your portfolio. Make sure the background image or color is neutral. You do not want to detract from your work.

If you need to find inspiration, don't be afraid to look through books of browse the internet. Here is a simple yet effective portfolio design, found here.

Have fun designing your portfolio!

A Little Piece of Shoe Heaven

What girl doesn't love shoe shopping? The Frye Company has finally opened a flagship store. The Frye Company is the oldest continuously operating shoe company in the United States. The 148-year old brand is known for its quality and attention to detail in the boots and shoes they produce.

The company's rich history begun by pioneers and cowboys wearing Frye's footwear. Generations of American soldiers in the Civil War, the Spanish War, and World War II wore Frye boots. There is so much history behind the Frye Company.

Since the Frye Company as well as its leather footwear that has stood the test of time, the design of the store needed to reflect that. The design team at AvroKO showcased the timelessness of the brand by using suitably design fixtures and fittings. Inspiration of the flagship store was drawn from 20th-century workshops and toolboxes.

The design of the store is reminiscent of an industrial factory. The cash-wrap desk from vintage industrial drawers and blackened panels gives the space an aged timeless feel.Above the sales floor, locally fabricated brass pendant fixtures flank a ceiling installation of more than 400 leather straps, each fitted with a brass ring meant to recall Frye's War-era boots.

This is an unique store that was able to rack up enough LEED points to achieve Platinum certification for Frye. Rolling display cases were built from reclaimed American walnut. Flooring is reclaimed oak, oiled and stained. Original structural columns and brick walls remain, but there are some key additions: the HVAC system, low-energy lighting, and low-VOC finishes. Source Interior Design Magazine

Pop Up Student Challenge (cont'd)

(left to right) Angela Saladino (RDI Treasurer), VJ Rodriguez (Judge),  Angela Lindsay (WATG), Mimi Yacobucci (RDI Event Coordinator)

Model building

Model building

Judges VJ Rodriguez (left) and Stephen B. Heckman (far right)

CSLB students supporting their fellow students competing

Finalist Kandy Chang showing off her finished model

Ashlee Harper, IDI, giving her final presentation of the evening

Kandy Chang, CSLB, giving her final presentation of the evening

Ann Taylor concept model (Ashlee Harper IDI)

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker concept model (Kandy Chang CSLB)

Ashlee Harper and Kandy Chang

(left to right) Judges Stephen B. Heckman, Nichole A. Fowler, and VJ Rodriguez

Competition winner Kandy Chang (CSLB)

Ashlee Harper and Jenny Diaz (nextGEN President)

James Farnell (RDI President) congratulating competition winner Kandy Chang for a job well done

(left to right) James Farnell (RDI President), Ashlee Harper (IDI), Jenny Diaz (nextGEN President), & Kandy Chang (CSLB)

(left to right) Jenny Diaz, Ashlee Harper, James Farnell, James Schauer, Nichole A. Fowler, Kandy Chang, Paul Dove, Stephen B. Heckman, & VJ Rodriguez

Thank you for coming to support the first annual student competition!

Pop Up Student Challenge (cont'd)

Lunch time for the mentors!

(left to right) Paul Dove, Tracy Woods, Angela Lindsay, Matt Welsh, James Schnauer, Chris Love, & Susanne Andrey (RDI Event Coordinator)

nextGEN Student Member Stephanie Loose

Judge VJ Rodriguez & RDI President James Farnell

Waiting patiently for the taco man 

Student and their mentors pose of a picture after the presentations

(left to right) nextGEN Events Coordinator Kelly Nguyen, RDI President James Farnell, & nextGEN President Jenny Diaz

(left to right) Stephanie Loose, John Geyer, Jenny Diaz (nextGEN President), James Farnell (RDI President). Kelly Nguyen (nextGEN Events Coordinator), & Michelle Curry (nextGEN Communications Chair)

Ashlee Harper (left) further discussing her design concept with Judge Stephen B. Heckman (left)

Time for the second round! The two finalists built a model to show off their design concept. Their mentors James Schnauer and  Paul Dove could not stand on the sidelines cheering. They jumped in to help the students build their models.

James Schnauer (left) helping finalist Ashlee Harper (right: white shirt) build model 

James Schnauer (left) helping finalist Ashlee Harper (right: white shirt) build model 

Paul Dove (right) helping finalist Kandy Chang (right) build model