Michelle Westenhaver

The Color of Life is a new exhibit at the California Academy of the Sciences in San Francisco, exploring the role of color in nature.  The client created all the graphic files in-house, but I was responsible for overseeing the production of the more than three hundred pieces while at Lexington Design + Fabrication.

The exhibit is very graphics-heavy, using large expanses of colorful wallpaper, direct prints on Sintra, acrylic, and even some 3form. The result is a highly engaging and immersive exhibit.

During the sample phase, the intro panels presented a challenge. The client wanted a frosted look, but the print resolution wasn’t great when printing first surface to a frosted acrylic. We ended up using regular clear 3/8” acrylic, printing first surface with a 30% white background behind the print. This mimicked the frosted look they were going for while also cutting the glare we would have gotten if this was done second surface. 

This image is just part of one of the two large-scale lightbox “windows” to adorn the walls of the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, located just south of Yosemite.  A photo of Half Dome was blown up to more than 7-feet wide.  Leading was drawn over the image in Adobe Illustrator to simulate an artistic stained glass effect.  The pieces within the leading were “painted” digitally in Photoshop to simulate stained glass.  The image at top is the final result installed in the casino. This was a project I worked on while at Lexington Design + Fabrication.

This is a room divider in the Dakota Dunes Casino in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada, a project that I worked on while at Lexington Design + Fabrication. Stylized silhouettes of the native dune grass are etched into the glass to create a dynamic pattern while providing some privacy to the patrons on the other side of the wall. We couldn’t find a high resolution image of the actual grass, so I improvised, using some Timothy hay I found at a local pet store that I then scanned and vectorized in Illustrator for etching. The finished product was gorgeous. 

These are some animal icons I created for The Treehouse, a family center at a the Snowmass ski resort in Aspen, Colorado, while working for Lexington Design + Fabrication.

The center is divided into different areas based on the ages of the children.  Each area is defined by an icon based on animals indigenous to the area.  The animals shown here are a beaver, a fox, and a black bear cub (and also the bird in the photo on the left).  The design had to allow for them being cut from sheet material so that any negative space was a hole.

The Roseville Utility Exploration Center encourages its visitors to take individual actions for a sustainable future. This LEED certified project features hands-on interactive exhibits and high-tech media covering topics including energy efficiency, renewable technology, water conservation and recycling. The “Garbage Pile” is an interactive exhibit with dozens of themed graphics informing visitors of various environmental issues. It was made almost entirely of found objects (i.e. garbage).

This was another project I worked on while at Lexington Design + Fabrication.

The Start Your Engines exhibit is about speed, power, control, and the science behind Formula I racing. Visiting drivers can race against the clock to change race car tires in the pit stop, design and build their own race car, or use driving simulators to try their hand at high-speed racing.  The Children’s Museum of the Upstate received an LEED Silver certification. This was a design/build project I worked on while at Lexington Design + Fabrication, based on schematic designs by Architecture Is Fun.

This visitor center on Catalina Island teaches guests the importance of protecting endemic plant and animal species. The theme was PURE - an acronym for Protect, Understand, Renew, Explore. The exhibit consists of graphic panels decorated with real oak branches, mounted props and specimens, and custom carved wood signs. This was a design/build project I worked on for the Catalina Island Conservancy while at Lexington Design + Fabrication.

I worked with Lexington Design + Fabrication, Design Studio and Tilton Pacific Construction to add character to the Frazier Park Library. The library’s windows received a digitally painted "stained glass" treatment, created to resemble fall foliage. This process was similar to my work on the Chukchansi Casino project, where a stained glass look was mimicked through Photoshop, a huge cost-saving technique to achieve the same effect. This can be seen from the exterior of the building, as well as inside, where windows divide the entry from the children's area. 

Patrons enter the children’s area through a 13' tall open-book portal, featuring beautifully printed encyclopedia pages, as well as a hand-painted book spine, using a stencil I created.

InMotion is a boutique communications, social media and digital marketing agency specializing in creating great content to help shape the image and identity of a brand. This Orange County based firm is a partner company of Spirit Media, which is why I tried to keep a common look between the two identities.

The top logo is the final and the samples below were some of the steps to get there.

This is a logo for a public relations firm promoting private schools to increase student enrollment, retention and enhance advancement with the strategic use of social media.

Below that are some of the logo options that led to this final one.

Logo design for Casa Teresa, a nonprofit organization providing a temporary home, life skills, education and on-going support for pregnant women who are alone. 

At the top is the final logo, and below are some of the options that led them there.

This is a work in progress for a current client.

CIELO stands for Community for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Opportunities, and is an organization based in Huntington Beach, CA, founded by a collaboration between Oak View Renewal Partnership (OVRP) and Golden West Community College. Their aim is to narrow the cultural, social, educational, health, and economic gaps between the Oak View community and the surrounding City of Huntington Beach; and to serve as a model for community development in Orange County and beyond. 

This project was for branding identity for a forensic psychologist. It started off with logo design, then progressed into business cards, a brochure, an ad, and banners for a tradeshow.

Bandura, etc. is a public relations firm focused mainly on women's lifestyle, baby products & food. The logo at the top is a recent update I did to reflect a more modern, sophisticated brand.

Below is my original logo and business card design. We used an old-timey phone and traditional typeface to emphasize a more personal touch to modern communication.

This is a logo for an accountant. I had to stay pretty conservative

in the design, both in style and color.