Meeting the Client

The project I have taken on is from my client Jordyn Baldwin. Her ritual is that at night time she doesn't shut her curtains so that in the morning she is awaken by the natural light of the sun rise. This started from a young age of 11 when her and her family re-did her room. She painted her room but as the paint dried, they continually forgot to get some new curtains. Jordyn became use to the light in the mornings and continued this daily with light flowing curtains that the suns rays could shine through.

My clients documents

This is my clients drawing/rubbing of the morning light shining on her desk. It shows the directions of the light rays and also with interfering furniture such as her dresser the lights creates shadows and multiple shapes.

- consistent natural wake up
- marking of light and shadows on the walls
- light patterns surround her bedroom


This is not too obvious to me at first glance as to what ritual it would be referring to but after hearing what she'd done and what it is, the ritual becomes a lot more obvious and clear in terms of this document.
Why? I can see the different shadows and lines of light that would be shinning into her room.


"...When i woke up this morning, i realised that i always wake up to natural light as i don’t shut my curtains. (like a natural alarm clock) So when i woke up i quickly rubbed some charcoal around where the light was shinning on my page. This Abstract drawing shows the fractions of light bouncing across my room and how the light contrasts the darkness of me still sleeping, about to be woken up today." Jordyn Baldwin

This is her aesthetic gesture. It shows her drawing of the light reflecting onto her wall and gives off different shadows.

"It is calm and quiet i can hear the noises outside and the birds chirping. My sheets are all ruffled up and the light is shinning on my face. The organic linen and natural light creates an atmosphere that is moody yet light and has a very friendly energetic feeling to it."

The feelings from her ritual are,

- warm

- bright

- awakening

- revived

- energetic

My interpretation of this document is more of the dark side before she would wake up. i can see the ruffled sheets and the cosyness and therefor warmth of the ritual but because of the dark colours and lack of colours it feels like its being shown as more of a night time thing oppose to the morning light and the warmth it has to it. 

Interviewing the Client

My client describes her ritual as 'normal' - it is the ritual that she does wherever she is, whether she's at home, at a friends place or at her flat. The ritual brings the same feelings of warmth and awakening as she would feel at home.

In a sequence, it starts at night where she purposefully would not close her curtains knowing that the morning sun shine is a good way for her to wake up, its natural and is supposedly a healthy way for someone to wake up by.     "I believe the human body is intrinsically tied to the rhythms of the earth. Now, we have more and more research showing exactly how these rhythms influence our health. For example, earthing – getting skin-to-earth connection – has been shown to reduce stress hormones. Daylight is another way in which nature shapes our wellbeing." 

She would then go to sleep in the darkness, slightly lit by the night sky. And ultimately wake up when the sun shines into her bedroom, awakening her with warm and relaxed feelings.

I asked my client to then describe the scale and the quality of the space of the ritual.

- open

- spacious

- not cluttered

- fresh

- cosy in bed

- brisk breeze coming through

- ready for day

- active/energetic

In a discussion we decided on the best room for me to design within - this is at the site of 20 Wallace Street, Mount Cook, Wellington. We both decided to use the lounge/dinning room for the chosen room because of the larger space, generous light during most of the day (afternoon till evening - we choose this instead of the bedrooms as they only get morning sun). The lounge has the biggest potential for maximum light for majority of the day. The design itself should include some of the following - neutral, creams, whites, light woods, recycled materials, textural/pattered, fresh greenery, glass, concrete and organic materials such as wood.

To define the aesthetic composition my client named the following,

- clean

- organic lines

- linear

- minimal

- little bit quirky

Over all I think the essence of my clients ritual is all about the light and warmth of it in terms of awakening and starting the day. I think the light will be the main essence that I will pull from this ritual and use as a design concept.