Blog task

Throughout my time on this course so far, I have learnt many new things and developed upon my current skills. In the first project I worked on in 3D design, I took on an architectural approach to my project. This required me to use programmes such as Sketch up and Photoshop. Prior to this project I had no experience in using these programmes but after I gained a basic understanding and can now use these programmes without much of a struggle. I have also learnt how to manipulate a given object through 3D experimentation and recording process and how to analyse and visually communicate the function and form of a given object through the ‘3Rs’ project. By presenting my work in the form or presentation sheets at the end of project, I am now capable of presenting my work in a simple and effective layout.

I would like to improve upon my Photoshop skills, although I do have a basic understanding of all the tools and function, I find it difficult to manipulate an image and make it look realistic such as the photo shop edit I did in the first project. Something I would like to learn in the future during my course would be how to use other software programmes such as solid works and also how to 3D print.

Still light Week 1 and 2

My new project 'Still Light' began with researching and creating a mood board on Pinterest of my given person who was Charlie Brown. By creating a mood board of Charlie Brown, I was able to pick out the different colours and shapes that relate to him such as yellow and black and the signature zig zag on Charlies t-shirt. The overall mood I felt when looking at my completed mood board was mellow and relaxed and this is the feel I wanted my final outcome to give.

After my research, I moved on to experimentation. As I had never worked with light before I wanted to explore the different ways in which light can work within 3D forms. I created a number of 3D forms and placed a LED light strip in them. I created different random shapes so that I had a variety of different forms to explore and experiment with. At this stage my design and ideas were diverse and spontaneous, some of my designs were rather abstract and I felt like the shapes I used in these designs fitted in well with the theme that I was going for. Something I found difficult during this process was creating a form that would hide the light source and give a clean and immaculate final outcome.

After testing my initial ideas with the LED light, I narrowed my ideas down. I really liked how the triangular structure worked as a body for my lamp. The light bounced off well on all corners and gave off a nice beam of light. I decided that I wanted the main design of the lamp to be the zig zag on Charlie’s t-shirt and I wanted my lamp to be a desk lamp. I wanted it to be aimed towards children and comic nerds so I had to keep my design funky and fresh.

I began to test out some of my designs to see how they would work. The first design I tested out was a sphere made from wire with a zig zag hanging from the middle which would be the light source. Once I finished making this model, I decided I didn’t really like it, it didn’t work as a desk lamp and reminded me too much of a globe and the design wasn’t very stable. 

I then created another design, this one was formed of three long triangle prisms to form a triangle, this design was very abstract and unique and I felt like it worked really well so I decided to develop upon this design.

To make my design relate to Charlie Brown, I wanted my lamp to have a strong graphic touch to it, so I decided to create the triangle prisms out of clear acetate and border it with a thick black tape. I feel like this worked really well. The clear acetate gave the design a minimalist touch.

Overall I was pleased with my final outcome, It looked interesting and fitted in with the theme I going for. However something I would improve about my design would be making sure that the light source was hidden away and not visible so that the final lamp looks immaculate and not messy.

Fixtures and Fitting Week 2

After a week of inspiration, I started to plan out my final outcome. I developed upon my objects and did some sketches with tracing paper to generate more ideas. This process was fun and experimentive. I focused on picking out the different shapes and angles within my objects so that I could develop them into a structure for a building. 

One image I took of my objects stood out to me the most and I decided to develop upon it. The image initially looks like a bundle of mess but I managed to form a design of an architectural structure out of it.

After this stage, I decided what I wanted the building I was designing to be. I came up with the idea of a house built for an artist. The house has two sections, one being the living space and the other being a working studio. The main structure is made from cross-laminated timber. The large windows also provide natural light to flood the interior. I worked on some sketches on sketch up.

The next step for me was creating my building. I created a net on card and cut it out to see if it all fits together and to see if my final outcome needs any amending. I was pleased with how it turned and out and then I created my final outcome. I used foam board to represent the timber; this was an easy material to work. Overall this project was a great start into my pathway, I became familiar with programmes such as Photoshop and sketch up and I developed my skills. My final outcome is presented below in my presentation sheet.