I have thought alot about the final project and what I could do that I would be interested in, feel invested in and also work on some things that I have wanted to work on technically for my portfolio. I would like to do something that requires more typesetting than I have done, and also something I can illustrate and do some pattern design for. And of course, I want to work on something that is important to me and hopefully important to others as well.
The idea I feel most strongly about is working around the topic of community gardens in portland. Community gardens provide such a great place for communities to organize and share space, ideas and output. As you can see, Portland isn't lacking of them. I think there are many aspects to look at with community gardens–economy, food, community-building are just a few.
The website for portland community gardens is quite comprehensive and there are many different levels of involvement. I also heard a recent think out loud show that showcased growing your own food and community gardens.
I really like the idea of going around and experiencing the different gardens, gardeners and collecting data and making a handbook about the Portland's gardens. This is something that could also live as a pdf for people interested or in the program to download, like an online magazine.
I imagine that it could have interviews, etiquette, maps, tips, recipes, canning instructions & recipes...different information and info-graphics. I could collect seeds from different gardeners and make packaging for them, also label systems that people could download for tags, recipe cards, labeling canned goods. Also different plantings ideas/borderline landscape design or types of gardens i.e. cut flower garden or salad garden. I feel I could go and on with different ideas for this, and I love the idea of doing some simple, beautiful line illustrations and patterning for the deliverables.
I admit that I have put much more though into this than other ideas, but for the sake of having other ideas, I thought a little about something along the lines of a sewing/pattern book. I love to sew and figure out patterns, and have been planning on doing this for myself sometime for my sewing clothes for my kids, although I can see where I could also get really frustrated with this.
A third idea would be curating some small books about different artists I love, in a way inspired by this.