Intro to Sustainable Design Assignments and Revisions

This semester I took a course in the Design and Environmental Analysis Department at Cornell called Introduction to Sustainable Design. In the course, we focused on the design of exterior and interior spaces and learned ways to analyze designs from a sustainability perspective. For this course, we primarily turned in assignments in the form of 11"x17" sheets with aesthetically pleasing information and graphics. We pinned them up on the wall of the classroom and 3-4 students would volunteer each time to receive feedback on their assignments. This course provided my first experiences with design critiques, and I loved it. I solicited a lot of feedback applied it to my assignments and presentations for my engineering courses. Next semester, I hope to continue learning more from the same instructor in her Digital Communications course.

Sustainable Sites assignment

This was my first ever "infographic" type assignment, and I had no idea what to do. I made this drawing using crayons and sharpies, already imagining the disdain of my classmates (who were mostly architecture and design students) when I put it up on the wall for the design critique. When it came time for the design critique, I decided I wanted feedback on it right away so I could make my assignments better for the future. To my surprise, the crayon drawing drew a lot of compliments from my classmates; all of the advice focused on the text and content...

Below is the revised assignment, with edits to the text and layout. I also used an extra page to expand more on the analysis.

Materials/Product Lifecycle Assignment

Later, we were asked to do a material analysis, with the option of focusing on a specific product. I chose climbing rope (which is made of a single material), since I worked with it but had no understanding of its lifecycle. My first version is below.

This really needed a revision, and I learned a lot from the instructor and my peers about ways to improve it from one-on-one discussions. For the revised version below, I focused on simplifying the layout and highlighting key phrases to make the text easier to digest. I also added an extra page for recommendations with a full color image.

↑Back to Top