RELAXATION STATION: AN INTERVENTION
For the final project, I was at a complete loss for what I should do. I found myself going back to the drawing board, trying to explore various possibilities and new mediums. However, the more I strayed away from my usual–digital art and typography–it only made me come back to it even more. Though my project does not exactly correlate with my Seminar 2 essay, it shares certain aspects in regards to one’s perspective, how one views their surroundings in terms of people and the spaces they find themselves in.
I titled my project The Relaxation Station: An Intervention. This was a response to what I observed during a visit to the Walter A. and Vera Eberstadt Student Lounge, found on the fourth floor of The New School’s University Center.
During my visit, I noticed how people, despite having to do work, they try to find some form of relaxation in it. Whether it is reclining their backs on their seat or propping their feet up, they make use of the given space by getting comfortable. Though the space lacks a variety of comfy seating, and does not offer a lot of seating, for that matter, people find a way to make it work.
Inspired by this visit, and as a way to encourage more people to make use of the space, I made signs as a means to give this specific area a different perspective. I called the space a “Relaxation Station”. Besides the fact that it has a nice ring to it, this allows passersby to take a quick glimpse at the space with a different view. Instead of simply seeing it as a space provided by the school to simply sit in, people are given the opportunity to see it as something more, as something to relax in. The typography I used replicated the label that was already on the wall. How I made it was by tracing each letter digitally based off a photo I took of the original wall label. I initially wanted to make it in black to make it blend in with the original label, but then I thought that it would be less noticeable that way. To really grab people’s attention, I used the Parsons Red color (from their style guide) in order for it to stand out against the white wall and next to the black text. Part of visual culture is color, and each color carries and evokes various meanings, reactions, and emotions. This was something I learned from the color sketchbook assignments we did in this class at the beginning of the semester. In this case, the color red served as an eye-catcher, grabbing its viewer’s attention, telling them to stop and read what was being said.
With this, I wanted to create another sign for a seating area in the space, specifically the rigid, geometric bench-like ledge protruding from the staircase. Seeing as people already make use of the seat as a recliner, I decided to encourage this approach even more by labeling it a “chaise longue”. Besides this, the sign offers more encouragement among passersby as it lists things one can do while lounging. The sign is designed to be like just any other sign posted by the school itself, such as the one below.
