Poppy Plaza

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Will those that don't like the rust-brown start calling this "poopy plaza"?

I already have. Although even without thinking about the rust. I'm just THAT juvenile.

[AUM]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

The Marc Boutain website is hands down the stupidest website for an architectual firm i have ever seen. What a pain in the ass to navigate.

I think its great and the people there are a creative group who do great work. I like that there website isn't the standard convention like every other architectural website. I think that people who go to them with projects are not looking for the typical design office....there is a reason he is a Prix de Rome winner among many other awards.

[DizzyEdge]

Since it's brown anyways, they should have just made it from extracts of real poppies.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Will those that don't like the rust-brown start calling this "poopy plaza"?

I won't call it that, but I sure think it every time I see the name. All most impossible not to. Do we already have Memorial Plaza?

[polishavenger]

Originally Posted by AUM

I think its great and the people there are a creative group who do great work. I like that there website isn't the standard convention like every other architectural website. I think that people who go to them with projects are not looking for the typical design office....there is a reason he is a Prix de Rome winner among many other awards.

The website would be much better if the opening graphic actually showed you where to click on it to get anywhere, and labelled where you are going. I have no patience to try every square inch of a large graphic to find links, and then guess and test which one takes me where.

Under the projects section, the fact that you cant sort them by category makes it really annoying to find what you are looking for. Aesthetically it looks good, but navigation wise its terrible. Of coures it could be just my browser at work missing some essential plug in that would solve all these problems.

[Ramsayfarian]

Here's part of the plaza on Memorial Drive.


We Lived by D-2-C, on Flickr

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

The website would be much better if the opening graphic actually showed you where to click on it to get anywhere, and labelled where you are going. I have no patience to try every square inch of a large graphic to find links, and then guess and test which one takes me where.

Under the projects section, the fact that you cant sort them by category makes it really annoying to find what you are looking for. Aesthetically it looks good, but navigation wise its terrible. Of coures it could be just my browser at work missing some essential plug in that would solve all these problems.

A common case of a website being designed more to be art itself, rather than useful.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by AUM

I think its great and the people there are a creative group who do great work. I like that there website isn't the standard convention like every other architectural website. I think that people who go to them with projects are not looking for the typical design office....there is a reason he is a Prix de Rome winner among many other awards.

The point of a portfolio website is to showcase your work for press and future clients, not to annoy people with your pretentious attempts at cleverness.

Only an architect would have such a deliberately confusing website. I used to run into this kind of masturbatory tripe all the time when i had to work with them....they might be good at designing buildings, but in my experience they are terrible at any sort of graphic or information design. Everything always has to be super complicated and have some contrived thesis. I swear that part of their routine is to stare into a mirror every night and tell themselves how clever they are.

Having said that, I like poopy plaza.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Here's part of the plaza on Memorial Drive.


We Lived by D-2-C, on Flickr

you've got some really nice photos on flickr... I don't always agree with your comments, but just wanted to say you have a very good eye...

love the tilt shift effects btw.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

The point of a portfolio website is to showcase your work for press and future clients, not to annoy people with your pretentious attempts at cleverness.

Only an architect would have such a deliberately confusing website. I used to run into this kind of masturbatory tripe all the time when i had to work with them....they might be good at designing buildings, but in my experience they are terrible at any sort of graphic or information design. Everything always has to be super complicated and have some contrived thesis. I swear that part of their routine is to stare into a mirror every night and tell themselves how clever they are.

Having said that, I like poopy plaza.

I disagree. Not everything has to be standardized to fit within some set of rules. So, the website is slightly hard to navigate......Big deal. The graphic design on the poppy plaza is stellar. He is obviously marketing to another crowd......and its working!

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

you've got some really nice photos on flickr... I don't always agree with your comments, but just wanted to say you have a very good eye...

love the tilt shift effects btw.

Thanks for the very kind comments. I'm glad that you don't let my inane comments taint my photography.

The rodeo tilt-shift photos were all taken with my new point & shoot. It's a Canon S95 and it does the tilt-shift right in camera. It's my new favourite toy.

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

I won't call it that, but I sure think it every time I see the name. All most impossible not to. Do we already have Memorial Plaza?

Well, we have Central Memorial Park. It might get a little confusing, and/or boring, if we start having Memorial Park, Memorial Plaza, Memorial Square, Memorial Court, etcetera.

[polishavenger]

Originally Posted by kw5150

I disagree. Not everything has to be standardized to fit within some set of rules. So, the website is slightly hard to navigate......Big deal. The graphic design on the poppy plaza is stellar. He is obviously marketing to another crowd......and its working!

What crowd do you market too through painfully difficult to navigate websites? Theres no reason it cant be artistic and well laid out. Strange logic.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by kw5150

I disagree. Not everything has to be standardized to fit within some set of rules. So, the website is slightly hard to navigate......Big deal. The graphic design on the poppy plaza is stellar. He is obviously marketing to another crowd......and its working!

When it comes to actually getting things done, navigation is a big deal.

Nobody said it has to be standard, but at the basic level a good website has to function. I used the be part of the audience (editorial media) that architects would want to grab the attention of most. These types of sites would always get our wrath, and it would rarely lead to positive coverage....often times we'd pass them over. Part of my job these days still includes researching/culling creative talent to work with....and if I can't access the work with 10 seconds, but instead am bogged down with shitty flash and pretentious crap, I'm out of there. There's too much good work out there to slog through this time of stuff.

Oh and as for the graphic design for poopy plaza....I'm sure it was done by a graphic designer (either in-house or farmed out), and not the architect. If the architect did it, it would probably be a random collection of dots and dashes.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

What crowd do you market too through painfully difficult to navigate websites? Theres no reason it cant be artistic and well laid out. Strange logic.

People who think they're being "different" and "artistic" maybe "edgy" by being able to figure out pointlessly confusing navigation.

It's a form of elitism, and a rather hilarious one at that. Makes me think of the eastern European car Homer was test-driving once: "put it in H!". I bet the same crowd would LOVE that car.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

When it comes to actually getting things done, navigation is a big deal.

Nobody said it has to be standard, but at the basic level a good website has to function. I used the be part of the audience (editorial media) that architects would want to grab the attention of most. These types of sites would always get our wrath, and it would rarely lead to positive coverage....often times we'd pass them over. Part of my job these days still includes researching/culling creative talent to work with....and if I can't access the work with 10 seconds, but instead am bogged down with shitty flash and pretentious crap, I'm out of there. There's too much good work out there to slog through this time of stuff.

Oh and as for the graphic design for poopy plaza....I'm sure it was done by a graphic designer (either in-house or farmed out), and not the architect. If the architect did it, it would probably be a random collection of dots and dashes.

Many of the architects I know are amazing graphic designers as well.

Marc Boutin Arch. Collaborative did all of their graphics in house for the poppy plaza; I know that for a fact. Some architects start with other degree like fine arts before they enter the profession. Most (if not all) are artistic before they even consider it.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Many of the architects I know are amazing graphic designers as well.

And every single one I've worked with has been awful when you compare them to professional graphic design standards. The only ones who have been worse were photographers (although many of them were at least aware of it!).

Originally Posted by kw5150

Marc Boutin Arch. Collaborative did all of their graphics in house for the poppy plaza; I know that for a fact.

That does not mean that an architect himself did the actual graphic design. They might have a designer on staff for these types of things. More often than not, the guy who designs the building does not work on the signage, wayfinding, and graphic design elements.

Oh, and I'm artistic too and like to dabble in other fields....but it doesn't mean I could design as nice of a building as an architect, shoot as nice of a photo as a photographer, or design a car as nice as an industrial designer. At the end of the day when you compare dabble work like this to someone actually working in that profession, it almost never stacks up.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

And every single one I've worked with has been awful when you compare them to professional graphic design standards. The only ones who have been worse were photographers (although many of them were at least aware of it!).



That does not mean that an architect himself did the actual graphic design. They might have a designer on staff for these types of things. More often than not, the guy who designs the building does not work on the signage, wayfinding, and graphic design elements.

Oh, and I'm artistic too and like to dabble in other fields....but it doesn't mean I could design as nice of a building as an architect, shoot as nice of a photo as a photographer, or design a car as nice as an industrial designer. At the end of the day when you compare dabble work like this to someone actually working in that profession, it almost never stacks up.

Ya, unless the architect (landscape architect, interior designer) focused on graphic design more than other people. There are exceptions to the rule. And, like I said, some of them come from a fine arts degree....or from an art college........and then go into architecture.

I dont think people really realize just how broad a design degree really is; you can pick what to focus on, on top of what you are already learning. Graphic design is a HUGE part or architecture, interior, landscape......how else do you think that they communicate their ideas to the client? Some schools pay more attention to graphics than others but it is definately key. The students of the U of M are taught by an amazing graphic designer every semester for the full 4 years. That is 8 courses in graphic design. That does not include the other 3d courses, drawing classes, and the extensive studio work that all of this graphic design is applied to. They do more than dabble. Dabbling is microsoft paint and corel draw and I can guarantee that those programs were not used.

[CorporateWhore]

Ok, now you're just starting to make shit up. Graphic design is a "HUGE" component of landscape and interior design? Let's not get crazy now.

You're right in that presentations are and should be a big deal for architects, and graphic design training can only help. However, it still doesn't change the fact that a lot of current architects are just not very good at it, just like I'd be terrible at architecture if I took only a few courses.

You have to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Architects seems to have this idea that they are the mother of all design, and therefore they can do it all. Some of them are decent, but the vast majority I've run into are just terrible....no concept of type, hierarchy or basic graphic principles. I used to get 10-15 submissions per day from architecture firms, and the vast majority were contrived and over-complicated.

If schools are teaching graphic design, then great....but it takes more than a couple of courses to get good at it. I spent 4 years getting a Graphic Design BDes, and 2 years getting a Graphic Design MFA....and to be honest, I still felt like I only really started getting the hang of it once I started working. My GF graduated from Parsons, in Interior Design, and she said she received one token course.

And again, having a fine arts degree does not mean you have inherent design skills...a lot of the skills don't transfer over as well as one might think. During my MA schooling, we had a few people stream in from fine arts.....every single one of them dropped out before the first semester was over. They just didn't have the skills to hack it when you compared them to people who had take a 4 year degree. They could draw or paint, but were lacking in a lot of critical-thinking areas.

Btw, Corel Draw? I didn't even know that was still around?

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Thanks for the very kind comments. I'm glad that you don't let my inane comments taint my photography.

The rodeo tilt-shift photos were all taken with my new point & shoot. It's a Canon S95 and it does the tilt-shift right in camera. It's my new favourite toy.

usually I just roll my eyes at your comments!

Actually, I love looking at some of the pics people have taken around town...makes the average buildings look good, and the good buildings great!

I love photography, just find the SLRs have so many features that I'd be wasting money because I wouldn't know how to use the damn thing!