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

1. Visual inking
Trash receptacle installment proposal for
Cesar Chavez Street, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Based o a visual analysis of environmental
urban color.
Mike Borell

2. 175 Cesar Chavez Street
Facade #1

3. 178 Concord Street
Facade #2

4. 194 Cesar Chavez Street
Signage

5. 194 Cesar Chavez Street
Signage 2

6. Full Palette

7. Word Image Scale
From Kobayashi’s Colorist

8. Word Image Scale
-Light & Pale
-Pure & Genuine
-Neat
-Bracing
-Enjoyable
-Vivid
-Natural
-Friendly
-Chic
-Fashionable
-Urbane
-Cultivated
Key Words

9. New Receptacles
Color palette extracted from environment

10. Application 1

11. Application 2

12. Conclusion
By thoroughly examining the Cesar Chavez niehgborhood surrounding El Burrito Mer-
cado and applying Shigenobu Kobayashi’s color theory I was able to take on a whole
new understanding of the areas atmosphere. e multiple businesses all tend to draw on
certain color schemes that create similar feelings. Pure, genuine, vivid, natural, friendly,
chic, urbane, cultivated. A er extracting and organizing the colors found within the
neighborhood I was able to come up with these words by applying Kobayashi’s word
image theory. In order to further accentuate these feelings I wanted to further integrate
the colors that create these feelings within the environment. By replacing the existing
trash receptacles (that contained only one color) with new receptacles, designed with a
color palette that encompasses all of these feelings, I feel I have accomplished my goal.
rough the application of Kobayashi’s theory and using his techniques I was able to
further examine and understand the atmosphere created by the colors in the Cesar
Chavez neighborhood. I now nd myself applying Kobayashi’s theory and technique to
many di erent neighborhoods, especially my own. is is a valuable tool that I will be
able to use for all kinds of environments in the future.
ank you.