Out of all the things we have listed on the itinerary I was most excited for The Design Museum. Upon arrival to the site all of my designer-y nerves in me were tingling. From the advertisement for the exhibits inside to the sign for the museum itself, I was loving it. I love design, hence why I chose this major. It inspires me greatly and honestly, looking at good design just makes me happy. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face this morning. But for some reason I thought the museum would be showing mostly if not all graphic design works. I was naive of me to think this way but I am almost happy I made this mistake because wow, walking through the modern wooden doors and down the neon lit hallway that opened up to a large room with so much more than just graphic design, I was speechless. I honestly felt like a kid in the candy shop. There was so much to see, I was so excited I really had to show myself down as I took everything in. Posters, books, furniture, paper products, surf and skateboards, were just some of the things that were included in the exhibit.

What really caught my attention was the self driving car they had on display. I had first heard about these probably early 2016 when my uncle who lives in San Francisco was talking about it at a family gathering. “It is really strange to look out the window and see a car driving with nobody in it.” I couldn’t believe what he had said, I didn’t think I had even heard him right, I had no idea self driving cars were even in the making. I was informed at the museum by a classmate that the testing that they’ve done with it is 90% reliable which is still not enough to have them on the roads yet, but the good news was that the accidents that the prototypes had been in came from other vehicles on the road meaning it wasn’t the fault of the self driving car. This concept was/is so interesting to me because that is the future, that is the direction were going in. I mean come on! How cool is it to look at a car without a steering wheel that is designed for riding and not driving! That experience is going to be so different and I wonder how it will effect us, the invention and innovation got me excited for what is to come. And come on- look at that clean logo!

-Bubbly self driving car w/ cute logo. Notice the position of the seats since there is no steering wheel!

Today, (Thursday) was the day we went into Kingsington for the V&A along with the Natural History Museum (both of these places had amazing logos in my opinion).

Upon arrival to the Victoria and Albert museum we were able to view that Christobal Balenciaga showing. He was a master at fashion design from Spain. I really enjoyed the exhibit and his works because he focused a lot on form rather than sexualizing the female body by sucking in the waist and accentuating the chest. He created his own silhouettes with different and new designs with ruffles, unique material, layers and intricate tying methods.

The Natural History Museum had some very confusing wayfinding methods which helped me gather some pictures for one of the assignments I will be completing to go along with this study abroad experience. But besides that, it was an extremely cool place to explore. With three interesting gift shops to correlate with the topics of the museum such as human evolution, volcanoes and earthquakes along with dinosaurs and other animals it was a great place to spend some time. They also had a tent outside filled with butterflies that you could pay to go and stand in the little habitat that was created for the little flying friends.

I was very proud of knowing my way back on the tube today, getting off at a different spot and also getting back from there on foot. I know the underground systems better than I do in Boston! London is a very comfortable city for me, it sort of feels like home.

I’m looking forward for the drawing lesson Regina is teaching tomorrow when we visit the gardens. And I’m awaiting the awesome experience of the Hackathon this weekend.

Until tomorrow. Cheer!