Waves

Design Statement

For my final project I decided to make objects where there was a wave transposed on top of a different object. I ultimately decided to put an EKG graph on top of a heart, and two different breathing pattern waves on top of lips. I was very inspired by the sculpting data project that we did earlier this semester. I really wanted to make something multidimensional piece that could serve as part of a collection. I wanted these pieces to be recognizable, while also raising questions.

To create this process I first did a “pictureframe” of the three waves that I used (the EKG, and two breathing waves). I used points to form the wave curve using the command “curve through point”. After that I then free handed a heart, and again used a picture frame to get the rough shape of the lips. For the lips I used both extrude curve, boolean difference, and cap to get the final closed polly surface. I then extruded the wave curve and used boolean intersection to get the breathing wave transposed on top. After I did that I did a prototype print to see how they would come out.

For the heart I did a similar process, but instead of extrude curve, which is what I did in my very first (blue hear below) prototype I did a rail revolve for the curve to give it more dimension. I extruded the EKG curve over the heart and preformed a boolean intersection to get my prototype print ready.

Pictured below are my first two sets of prototype prints as well as my rhino building process.

After I did my first two sets of prints I saw what I needed to fix before I did my final print. For both I saw where there were imperfections in the curves and I used the cage edit command to make the more defined. I also made them larger because part of the reason you could not make out some of the curves on the test prints was because of the size. On top of all of that for one of the sets of lips I noticed on the test print that part of the wave came down really far onto it. This was compromising the structural integrity of the lips. To fix this I made the base of both the lips and wave bigger. This was to give more space between the bottom of the piece and where the wave actually started.

To finish this collection I sanded the pieces down to give both a smoother finish and to get rid of all the imperfections of 3D printing. My original thought was the  paint them but after seeing what they looked like sanded I decided not to. I decided not paint them because I felt as though it would not give them the same quality as what they had being white. It is easy to see the curves and when their are shadows on them it makes the curves more defined. I thought I might lose some of this definition if it was painted, and I thought it looked very clean being white.

All in all I am happy with my pieces. I would like to keep going and making more in the future but I think this was a good place to start. I got to figure out how to make something multi dimensional, and I got to play around with different curves. I feel that I created a piece that is both easily understood and one that can raise questions, which was part of my original goal.

Pictured below are the processed photos of my final pieces.

ENJOY 🙂

Final Prototype

For the final project I really wanted to do something that was inspired by my sculpting data project. I really liked the idea of taking some sort of data/waves and transposing it on top of something else. For  my sculpting data I took a sound way of my mom saying “I love you” and put it on top of a heart. I realized that a sound wave of something that short was not super intricate so I started thinking of other ideas. I think I am going to use an EKG graph and put it on top of a heart. As well I am going to do three different types of breathing pattern waves and put it on top of  lips.

For the prototype I wanted to see what my original idea would look like so I printed it along with the EKG graph. I was mostly looking for how PLA would turn out on a standard setting and how good the graphs looked when in the physical form. Since it was only on the standard setting I am hopeful for how the material and forms will turn out.

I was also testing for thickness. On the heart form it was super thin and it turns out that I do not like it as much. I am going to try and make it thicker without taking away from the wave that goes on top of it.

Coffee Sleeve

For this project my group and I decided to make a coffee sleeve. We wanted to make something that wasn’t going to be wasteful like the disposable sleeves you get at starbucks, but that was also unique and had more that one purpose. We decided to make something that had a detachable handle because we all like the idea of having a handle, BUT did not want to always have to have a handle. We really wanted this piece to be unique, appealing and user friendly. We ended with a piece that looks really nice and that anyone could use.

When we started this process we first did research on different cup sizes. After finding the different sizes we modeled an average cup, and then started with the sleeve. We found a size for the sleeve that looked nice to us. One that was not too large or small. We offset those curves to give the sleeve a little depth. Next, we wanted to play around with the joint. We like the idea of something that was curvy and not so geometric. We used three different sized circles and connected them with curves. We then extruded that curve and then about a fourth of the way up we made a ridge so that it could be more snug in the sleeve. We placed a copy of the joint on the sleeve and messed around with the angles and placement to get it just right. We finally did a polar array, and then boolean difference to get the design for the sleeve part.

The handle was a little different. We started with just a curve for a shape we liked for the handle. Once we got that we made a curve that fit along the curve of the sleeve. We used the “extrude curve along curve” command to get our final handle. We then did a fillet edge to all of the edges to get it rounder.

For the printing part of this project we decided to print all of the pieces at the same time. We did this so that if the material did something a little weird it would at least be consistent. We printed the sleeve upside down so that there would be no hangover. We printed the joint straight up and down, and we printed the handle on its side. Once it was done printing we glued the joint to the handle and let it sit. We ended up having a few problems making it fit, so for this actual piece the ridge is sanded off to allow it to press-fit, instead of slide in. We had to do this because the material that we printed in was not flexible enough to allow for the tolerance of the joint.

Below is photos of all the process and final product and then an individual statement, and a group artist statement. Also linked are the blogs to the following contributors to this project, Tess Korpela and David Ingraham.

From the Group

From Me

https://davidingrahamblog.wordpress.com/

https://tesskorpela.wordpress.com/

Sound Wave: I love you

For the sculpting data project I decided to turn a sound wave into a 3D object. When making this I decided that what better of a sound wave then your mom saying “I love you”. I found a website that will record something and then turns it into a sound wave for you. I took that sound wave and took a screen shot of it to then imported it into rhino. I made a line to fit each of these of these waves. To give these waves more substance I moved all of the lines to start at the point in the the axis. from there I created a curve to connect the top of all the lines. I then made it a closed curve so that I could extrude it later.

I wanted to make this different than just an extruded curve so I decided to place it on top of a heart. I made a heart by making a curve of half of it and then copying it and flipping it to finish it out. Next, I placed the curve of the sound wave at the base of the heart and extruded it to cover the entire length of the heart. I also noticed that it didn’t quite fit the width of it so I used the “scale 1D” to make it fit. I then extruded the heart curve to the highest point of my sound wave curve. I used the “cap” command on both of these extrusions to make them closed surfaces. Finally, I used the “booleanIntersect” command, choosing first the heart, and then the sound wave, to get the final product.

I am very happy with the final product. Not only do I think it is interesting because there are different views of this object, but they are both meaningful to me. Whenever I see a heart I think of love and that is what you see when you look at this object from above. Then to see the wave of my mom saying “I love you” is what you see when you look at this object from the front view. I am excited because now I can continue to do this with different sound waves and different objects, and I cannot wait to see what they will all look like.

 

Coasters

For this project I really wanted to make a set of coasters. I didn’t want them to be all the same but I also didn’t want them to be super geometric. I decided to make various curves based on bot a 3×3 inch square and a 3 inch diameter circle. I made the all so that they would get smaller and smaller. That was so as you stack them then they have an order for how they should be. Even though they do not have lots of order between them when they are all sitting next to each other, I still wanted something to connect them all. They all have some sort of symmetry about them, while still looking original.

The next steps I would take would be to put a dowel through them all so that they could fit on a base together. I would also consider making them so that they fit together just as a center piece.

I have further ideas that I think could all work, but for the time being I think they work well together while they are all separate beings.

Connector

For this assignment I decided to try a few different types of connections. I ultimately decided on this press fit slider to see how it could work. I wanted to see how designing something like this would go, and the next step will be to physically print it and see how the material responds and what I would need to do next to actually make it work.

The first design that I tried was a sphere and a connection piece. I decided to not continue with that because it didn’t seem quite as plausible. I thought it would not really work to physically make, and for the next project it is not the type of connection we are planning on using. I finally made the press fit slider because it was closer to they type that we are planning on using.

The most challenging part of this process was making the initial slider piece. I didn’t know what I really wanted it to look like so getting something that looked good and that would work was hard. After I had that part done it was easy because I just needed to do a  boolean difference to get a matching part.

Below are the the process photos and the final product that designed.

 

Project 3 Inspiration

For project three my group and I wanted to do something that was not only going to be useful, but potentially something that could have multiple uses. We came up with the idea of making a coffee cup holder/sleeve, that can connect to something to then become a coffee cup carrier. Our main goals for this assignment are to make something that is really is multi-purpose. We want it to be very useful for not just us but for anyone. We want all of the pieces that we use to be able to stand alone or together in this piece. We want these pieces to be aesthetically pleasing, and we also want the joints to be user friendly and simple.

To recap our main take always for this project are to make something that looks clean and can be used in many different ways. Along with that we want it to be user friendly, and have it be something that we can use on a daily basis.

Here are some ideas that we have come up with.

Ellie

Ellie is a laser cut elephant, that lives inside a room full of animals. She wants to have lots of friends that are all made the same way. She is really made to be a part of a larger collection and to have fun with all of her friends.

I was inspired to make Ellie because I think that all of these types of animals are very cute. Not only are they cute but they are safe for children to play with, and soon there are going to be a few little crawlers around in my life. I wanted to design something that they can not only look at when they are infants, but also play with when they get older.

I was also inspired to design an elephant because in 2008 I went to South Africa. When I was on that trip I went on a safari and got to see lots of animals. The one that always stuck out to me, though, was the elephant. Not only was I mesmerized by them, but I also started to fall in love with them.

Elephants are so much more than just something appealing to look at or play with. They symbolize strength, happiness and wisdom. All of those qualities are something that I would want a little kid to acquire.

Ellie the Elephant

Becky Nelson

10/16/16

The Process

For this project I started my rhino model by using the picture frame tool. I found a basic photo of an elephant to get the shape down. After I had that part of it I needed to think about how to make it 3D. I was playing around with a few ideas and finally decided on two cross sections to connect the legs. For the head I first was just going to do ears sticking off the top but they kept looking like mouse ears. I then decided to make more of the full head as one to then connect to the top of the body. I then decided on the cardboard for the material. After knowing that I went back to the rhino model and took 1/8″ notches out of the pieces (because this is the thickness of the material).

When piecing them together I needed to make sure that I got all of the pieces to match in the correct way. After I got the legs together it was easier to get them all set up on the body. The hardest part was getting the tail, tail notch, and body to all fit together. Since they were so small it they didn’t want to fit together without bending.

Star Joinery

In this joinery project Sarah and decided to try and do something a little outside the box. Our final product ended up being something kind of like a puzzle. We wanted it to be more of a form fitting product that only had three pieces but our rhino file ended up having the surface lines, which we didn’t even think of before we laser cut it. So instead of having three pieces we had 5 so it did not stick together quite as well as we had hoped. We also tried cutting the center piece out of a different material in hopes of it helping them all stay together better, but I think that if we would have done it in all the same material it would have worked a little better. I do think that it looks more interesting having different materials, it just doesn’t work as well for actually keeping them together well.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Makerspace Laser Cut

For this assignment I really wanted to laser cut one of the makerspace signs I previously made for another assignment. Like I said before I am making a cart for a Makerspace and I thought it would be cool to make a sign for it. I didn’t really have any problems with the process other than I originally had my sign scaled way to large for the piece of acrylic I was using. We just scaled it down and then the laser cutting process worked really well. All in all I love how the sign turned out and I think it is going to be a great addition to the cart once it is finished.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

3D Mini Flower Pot

For this assignment I decided to make a mini flower pot. I had a few problematic events happen, but overall I now know how to fix them. To start my file kept importing to cura as a super small object. My rhino file was in inches and when it imported it didn’t scale my inches to millimeters, it basically just turned it into millimeters. So instead of having a 1x1x1 in. box for example I had a 1x1x1 mm box. I had to make a new file in millimeters to make sure it would all work out correctly. Then, I accidentally kept the support structure on in cura, which I did not need. This in return make the bottom of my structure not flush, but I learned to double check everything multiple times before I press print. All in all I did learn a lot about the process and now know a few better tricks on how to set stuff up for bigger and more important projects.

Inspiration 2

For this project two I am looking at doing a piece of furniture, or something that will be easily used in everyday life. I looked on pinterest and I found lots of very interest ways that they can all fit together. I am still toying around with the idea of an animal as well. I think they are super cute and interesting on how they go together, I am just stuck with the fact that they are not super functional like the furniture could be. I am really leaning more towards doing the furniture purely based on the functionality, I can still make it creative an interesting, it is just going to be lacking the cuteness factor. At the end of the day though, who really needs it to be super cute if it does its job really well right? I guess form does ever follow function.

Design and principals of design…

A few basic things that I think people forget about design is that principals and ideas around good design are not going to be leaving us anytime soon. After reading ‘The Demise of ‘Form follows Function’ I learned a few helpful things. First, and this might make me sound novice but let’s be honest I am, I did not know the real quote was “form ever follows function”. In my mind this has a significant difference than the often quoted “form follows function’ that people normally say. To me I do not see that this can be going away anytime soon. I think that it first your product has to work, and then how it comes together is a side affect. You need to have a well working design to get anything to be able to work properly. Moving on to “Startups, this is how design woks”, I think it was important to realize that the CEO and the engineer value to same things as designers, and that they do not follow Dieter Rams’ Principles. I must say that I myself would view it how they do as well. I do think that a few pieces are a little more important to a consumer, and other pieces need to come as after thoughts. For example, lets make sure that someone can understand how they are supposed to use the product, and then make it aesthetically pleasing, and then find a way to make it better for the environment. I view it more as a hierarchy where all of them should get done but there is an order in which they should be done.

Makerspace Typography

For this assignment I made a makerspace sign. In another class I am building a cart for a makerspace, and one of the items that my client wants is for there to be a few signs that says makerspace on it. I thought this would be a perfect way to make a sign for the cart because how it is done is the same type of concept of what a makerspace is. Since the main audience is children I didn’t think that a cursive font would work because they are sometimes harder to read. Instead I decided to use a mix between cursive and block letters. I also made another sign that was only made out of block letters with it in mind that when it was cut out I would use the part that was cut not the piece that I was cutting from for the sign. You will see both in the photos below.

I used two different techniques to make both of these. For the strict block letter one I strictly used rhino to build it. I used the text tool then I shifted them all so that they would be connected. Then used the splitting tool to make them all one piece. For the other one I used Illustrator. I used the pathfinder tool to make them all one piece.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Peaceful Petals

For this project I decided to make a flower seat. This project was inspired because I draw lots of doodle flowers on my notes. I took a step back and asked myself why I liked flowers so much. I realized that it was because they have this calming affect on me. I just love how beautiful they are. It doesn’t matter what kind they all are just amazing to me.

When starting this project I realized it is really hard to get something organic looking. It took lots of different attempts of making curves and moving the points to really get the base shapes of the petals that I wanted. After getting the base shape for the petal I then raised up a copy of it and lofted between the two curves. I used a fillet on the edges to not make them as sharp, again to try and make it the most organic looking. For a few of the petals I also made them have a varying thickness throughout the petal. After arraying all the petals around the semi-circle of the base of the flower, I used both the bend and twist command on all the different petals to get the desired look. On the base semi-circle for the middle of the flower I used a boolean-difference, and polar-array, to get the divots in it.

I was aiming to get something that was very organic looking, and something that could represent a real flower. I also realized that this piece needs to go somewhere and it cannot just be in the shape of a flower. That is when I thought of the seat idea. It would fit right in with a garden so that you would have a place to go when you needed to relax.

Peaceful Petals Presentation

 

Peaceful Petals

In this piece of art, I am trying to convey the sense of an organic flower. This flower has its own home in the garden right next to all of its companions. Yet, the biggest difference is not just the material it is made out of but also the fact that it is a sitting rock.

I was inspired to make this sitting rock into a flower because I feel that flowers encompass true, pure, beauty. The doodle on the sides of the pages, from the notes of my classes, have always consisted of flowers. I have always loved to draw flowers since middle school, and even though the type may have changed the fact that it’s flower has not. This is mostly because when I am in class sometimes I just need a short break to relax myself.

Flowers are so peaceful; whenever I look at them it gives me a sense of tranquility. I love the idea of being in a garden whenever life is hectic so that I can calm down, but I don’t want something to distract me from all the natural beauty that is surrounding me. This piece represents the calmness that I aspire to have in my life.

~Rebecca Nelson

Peaceful Petals

9/12/16

 

Feelings vs. Design

If something is put in front of you how does it make you feel? Do you get a happy feeling? A bad feeling? Does it make you feel uncomfortable? Between the video “Why Design Matters” by Alain de Botton and the Dwell Article Product Design, I have come to realize there is more to design than it just being good or bad. How something is designed actually gives people feelings, that in return are explained by us saying that they are good or bad, but have much more of a root to them than that.

Both of these sources now have made me reconsider design choices I have made. For example; why did I ever paint my room yellow? Well at the time it made me happy, it was my favorite color and it made everything seem so bright and cheerful. Thinking now though, it was awful, and I can’t believe that I ever did that. Yet, I just did it for what I wanted then. Going back to Alain de Botton I designed within the context of the period of my life that I was in. Now thinking though asking the simple question on how a design choice simply makes me feel is going to be a big part in how I choose to model it.

These sources put in real life examples how changing one little thing can make a big difference. Like how even if the thing we are designing is a common need or necessity of people, they are going to choose the one that makes them feel the best. So you cannot just design something because we need it anymore.

Crazy Cones

For my game piece I decided to make a cone, but why you might ask? Well, if we are being honest if an iron can be a monopoly game piece why can’t a cone? I also thought it would be a good trial because it involves many different elements to get a good amount of detail in it. Through out this process I used a few different elements in rhino. These included: different surfaces, boolean difference and union, a fillet edge around the top and bottom, and linear array. At first tried a polar array for the smaller cylinders around the bottom box but very quickly found out that it was not the look I was going for. I did a little searching and after a little finally got this piece.

Final

Sketch

me

hi! Here are a few basic things about my life. So, I am an engineering plus major at CU, I love my dogs and my family. I am also addicted to coffee, and I hate when the hair tie on my wrist gets wet. I love to go up to my cabin because the view is stunning (a picture will be provided below don’t worry). Probably the most interesting thing about my life though is that I am a competitive jump roper… and yes I do “the double dutch”. I was just in Sweden to compete at the world competition and my team and I actually did really well:)