Itsy Bitsy Color Board - Project 4
Introduction
In your Intro. to Interior Design course you recently conducted a client interview gaining experience in listening and developing a program that would eventually guide you in creating an interior space for your classmate.  Now is your chance!  For this project you will be developing a small color or presentation board that will showcase some design solutions for the space you are going to create for your client.
What is a Color Board?
Color or Presentation Boards are tools interior designers use to help neatly display chosen furniture, materials and finishes to convey their design solutions. Often color boards will also include renderings of the spaces to help fully tell the story.  For this project however, you will be concentrating on furniture selections, finishes like paints and stains, and materials like fabrics, flooring and wall materials.
Using a Grid
Organizing a board so that it reads clearly is one of the biggest challenges in putting together a beautiful color board.  One of the best tools you can use is “the grid.”  The grid arranges your images in a neat, organized manner with set gutters (the negative space between images) that create rows and columns.  The gutters allow the viewer’s eye to focus in on the pictures and samples.
The Assignment
You will create a color board representing chosen materials, furnishings, and finishes for your “client” from your Intro. to Interior Design class.  These items will be for an “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Tiny” apartment.  (Don’t worry, you will get to do a furniture plan for this apartment for your final project!)  Your board will be 11” x 17”, and it must follow the specs provided.
The board must include images of chosen furniture for the space which includes the following:
Main Room:
- One sofa
- One dining table and seating for two
- Thirteen (13) square feet of base cabinets with a sink and a small range
- One under counter refrigerator
- Five linear feet of wall cabinets
- One full-size bed with shelving above for storage
- One night stand/end table
Bath Room:
- One vanity of 5 square feet and one sink
- One standard water closet
- One 36” x 36” shower
You do not need to show every single one of the items listed above, but use the list as a guide as you start looking for items for your spaces. The information listed above will also give you direction as to how you will organize your board.
A Sampling of Materials and Finishes. 
You must include a minimum of two real samples. These can be fabrics, flooring, tile, paint, and/or stain.  
Wrap fabrics around foam core or matboard. (Follow directions provided in class.) Adhere your samples directly to your board making sure they are fully secured and are working with your grid.
An Overall Title for Your Board
Choose an appropriate font that works to enhance your overall design aesthetic, but be careful not to go overboard.  The key word is “enhance,” not “overwhelm.”
Labels or a Key for All the Provided Samples and Images.
A Brief Concept Statement
Use some of the design principles and elements to describe your design solution for the space. (This process will be covered in class.)
Process
Begin by finding your images and samples. Sources include:
- The internet
- Magazines
- The Materials Lab
- Fabric Stores
- Tile Stores
- Paint Stores 
Keep in mind, some samples in the Material’s Lab are available for you to take, others must be checked out. You can scan fabric samples from books that cannot be removed form the lab.
If you get fabric samples from a retailer, be sure to get a large enough sample that you can wrap it around a piece of foam core or mat board.
Once you’ve found all your samples and images, do several thumbnail sketches of your layout. This is a significant step in the process and will help you produce your final board more quickly. Spend time thinking about your overall design so that you have a solid plan before advancing to production.
Research different style fonts to help you decide what you would like to use.
- Never use more than two different fonts on your boards.
- Avoid using real elaborate fonts that are hard to read, and think very hard about using all caps. This can appear as though you are yelling.
- With larger bodies of text, like in your concept statement, do not use center justification, avoid hyphens, and keep lines no longer than about 5 inches.
Production
The boards will be 11” x 17” foam core.  For this project you will have several different  alternatives for how you would like to construct your board. Your options are:
Using the computer: 
- InDesign
- PowerPoint
- Word
(Real samples must be adhered to the board after printing it off and mounting it to the foam core.)
Constructing the board by hand: 
- Use rubber cement in a dry mount technique to adhere your images directly to your foam core
- Labels and the title must be mounted to the board (consider using Word for creating titles and labels for a professional look.)
- Real samples will be mounted 
Regardless of what method you use to construct your board, your finished board must be very neat, and you must utilize the grid. See the example provided and follow the dimensions given.
Download the Rubric
Detailed Specifications
Grid Specs
3 x 5 Modular Grid
Top Margin - 2”
Bottom Margin - 1/2”
Right Margin - 1/2”
Left Margin - 1/2”
Cell Width - 3”
Cell Height - 2 1/2”
Gutters - 1/2”
Labels placed directly on an image or sample, or in the gutters (be consistent).
Presentation Board Specs
11” x 17”
White Foam Core
Student Examples
Emily Batterson
Emily Batterson
Haley Wietelman
Haley Wietelman
Kati Hand
Kati Hand