EVERYBODY CONTAIN YOUR EXCITEMENT! IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME OF YEAR! The leaves are getting crisp, photos of Devin Gardner taking over our twitter feeds, and the fresh smell of laser cutter fumes are beginning to permeate our memories. Studio is coming! The following article gives some brief guidelines about how to prepare for this coming Fall (especially if it’s your first year in Taubman!)

SUPPLIES

Taubman gives it’s lovely recommendations on the following site: http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/students/orientation/supplies/

I’ll summarize it with this here haiku:
buy borco vinyl
share a sheet of MDF
it will cost you less

One of the most stressful parts of starting junior year is figuring out how to get a drawing board. I recommend buying a sheet of MDF with a friend at Lowe’s or Home Depot and having them cut it down into 2 3×4′ sheets for each of you to save money. Then buy some borco vinyl & a parallel rule from our handy dandy friends at Amazon and self assembling!

Most supplies you can get as you need and are listed on the Taubman website. Don’t forget other necessary supplies like coffee pots, photos to decorate your desks, and awesome APX flyers to show off to everyone that you’re in the world’s coolest fraternity!

WHERE DO I BUY THIS?

Almost everything can be purchased easiest and cheapest from Amazon. If you are interested in coordinating a group trip to Millers (Farmington Hills) or Utrecht (Detroit) in the first week or so of school fill this out!

WHERE’S DA BEST COFFEE IN TOWN?!?
No matter if it’s your freshman year, your senior year, or if you’re a tenured professor and you’ve somehow stumbled upon this post you’re probably all thinking about coffee currently. We’re architects, it’s just in our DNA. Here’s a graph I compiled weighing the best coffee available on campus. 

 

APPLYING THIS YEAR?! YIKES! (good thing this article is here!

Are you a Sophomore planning on applying to Taubman this Spring? Me neither.

Just kidding! If you are stay cool knowing that APX offers portfolio workshops in the winter and stay ahead of the game by scanning all of your drawings in the Duderstadt now before you get swept up in the semester!

My recommendation is to start slowly, working a little bit each week on your portfolio and application – any questions ask an older brother! Photograph your models in the photo booth available on the 3rd floor of the architecture school and edit your scanned drawings in photoshop (tutorials on that to come later!) Familiarize yourself with InDesign now and stay calm knowing you have until March to finish!

Are you a senior applying to grad school this winter? Me too.

Research accredited programs on the NCARB website and visit colleges now before UG3 sucks the life out of you! (in the best way!). Make sure you take that GRE and study up on your vocabulary words so that you can impress your old DF2 professors with your newfound grip on the english language.

Study up on portfolio styles and layouts but mainly be yourself! Let your true personality and design asthetic be apparent in your portfolio – we love you for you, so will the graduate schools you apply to. Don’t succumb to senioritis, you’re on the path to greatness!

Check out Michigan’s amazing Master’s programs here —> http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/architecture/programs/graduate/

 

Now you’re all ready to take on Fall 2014 Semester! See you all soon and don’t forget to fill out the form if you’re interested in a group trip to a studio supply store!

Your hilarious, beautiful, and ever modest WAA,
Lillian Candela