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.

 

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.

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.

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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