By definition:

Perfect

1.         without errors, flaws, or faults

2.         complete and lacking nothing essential

3.         excellent or ideal in every way

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

In our society we are always striving for things to be perfect.  We want the perfect job, the perfect boss, the perfect family with the perfect house, etc.  It seems to me it’s all about perception.  What doesn’t seem right to you may be perfect for someone else.  Here at TSI we always strive for things to be “perfect” - the perfect color, time goal, install, etc.  Funny thing, it never is… or perhaps, it is?  When were born there was no “inspected by # 23″ for quality control. We are, by nature, flawed.  For example, I have two children; both were born with hearing loss.  Both my children wear hearing aids and both require speech therapy to learn to talk.  In one month we may have 20 to 30 appointments all in an effort for them to appear “perfect” to the rest of society.   If everything was perfect, there would be no need for improvement, no need to plan ahead, nobody would ever make a mistake, and “lessons learned” would never come into play.  Luckily for us, life isn’t perfect.  That allows us to overcome obstacles like a flooded loading dock, walls that don’t match the construction drawings, and a child that can’t hear.  It’s those things that force us to make choices, good or bad, and from those choices we build character and become stronger individuals.  By being flawed, we become better.  So perhaps instead of striving for perfection at home and at work, we should just strive to become better.  Perhaps we should work harder at becoming a better spouse, a better mother, a better boss, a better artist.  When the perfect moment happens, perhaps it will look like the first time my son said “I love mommy.”  That’s as close to perfect as I ever wish to come.

Posted by: Janice

When I started as a project manager for Taylor Studios, one of the most exciting aspects was that I’d be in an industry that was different and intriguing, doing my part to help create inspirational museum exhibits! Even with some experience under my belt, I am still learning the nuances of this industry, on both the design and the fabrication end. So, I thought with this blog post, I would try to break down what we do using an analogy we can all relate to. Let’s make a sandwich!

Exhibits have two major periods, the design process and the fabrication process. The design process can be further broken down into schematic, design development, and final design phases. The schematic phase is a sort of discovery process. We explore the major concepts and ideas of an exhibit, and decide what exactly we want to convey. Not much, if any, actual design work is done during this phase. For our analogy, at the end of schematic we would have come to the conclusion that a sandwich was, in fact, what we want for lunch. Design development is when things begin to take shape. This phase would develop the first pictures of our sandwich. What type of sandwich is it? Is it on bread, hoagie, or dare-I-say pita? Will it be hot or cold? Would a sane person eat it? Starting with the information provided in the schematic phase, we will create the first design, and then continue to alter and develop it throughout this phase until we have a product that is ready to go into final design. Let’s say our final decision was a delicious BLT. Now, in final design, we’ll hammer out all the tiny details. How many strips of bacon? What size tomato slices? Where do we want to purchase the lettuce? “We need to create a drawing showing exactly how much mayo to use and how we want it spread.” It may seem neurotic, but the goal is to have everything clearly defined so that the transition into fabrication will be seamless and efficient.

Fabrication is when the magic happens. The designers hand over all the necessary drawings and instructions to those fabricators that have the desired skills (unfortunately, there isn’t a baker or butcher on staff as TSI). Then the needed materials are ordered, and each individual component is made. Finally we combine all the items to make the finished product, our beautiful BLT. Enjoy your lunch!

Posted by: Sean