Created as a design proposal that featured urban-surfaces and street-furniture derived from vernacular color studies of the Cathedral Hill Neighborhood of St. Paul, MN. Done in Kevin Byrne’s Visual Thinking course at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2008-2010

1. Visual Thinking
A Proposal For Outdoor Seating In a Cathedral Hill Neighborhood
Based On Its Color Vernacular and Businesses
Matthew Plumstead

2. Exhibit 1
Condominiums

3. Exhibit 2
Fleur de Lis & Bon Vie Cafe

4. Exhibit 3
Zander Cafe & Solo Vino

5. Color Bar
Complete Sample

6. Word Image Scale
From Kobayashi’s Colorist

7. Word Image Scale
Cathedral Hill is:
Cozy & Comfortable Artistic & Tasteful
Rich & Luxurious Quiet & Tranquil
Key Words Extracted

8. Word Image Scale
Restaurant Cafe Florist Wine Shop

Rich & Luxurious Artistic & Tasteful Quiet & Tranquil Cozy & Comfortable
Icon Creation

9. Word Image Scale
Restaurant Cafe Florist Wine Shop

Rich & Luxurious Artistic & Tasteful Quiet & Tranquil Cozy & Comfortable
Benches

10. Benches Applied


11. Conclusion
The neighborhood that I chose to analyze already demonstrates character by
having a few businesses that draw people in to eat, drink, buy flowers and wine. The
color palette that each owner chose for designing the exterior of their businesses are
similar to each other. This demonstrates that they are trying to attract similar clientele
and cultivate a similar environment. Businesses like cafes and restaurants generally
have some sort of outside seating. Yet none of the businesses here have this (possibly
due to zoning restrictions). I decided to address this by using the existing color palette
as a departure point for establishing a cohesive seating solution that each business
could use. Pulling out a refined color palette from the overall sample, I associated not
just connotative words with this palette but denotative icons as well. Blending all
of these elements together provided a solution that would nicely fit into the existing
environment.
Matthew Plumstead