School of Design

School of Design at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 5 Part 2

The laser in action once again for the final boards.

We did manage to crash the laser cutter just after this, as it did not like a particular line. It stopped, shut down and started beeping, not what I like to hear from a brand new £50,000 piece of kit. We managed to resolve it be deleting the line and redrawing it, phew.

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 5

Here are 3 different panels at various stages of the production process.

Left: Just come off the laser after 1 hour of machining, then cut down to size on the band saw.

Middle: Sanded down to remove the burnt hazing around the letters and drawings.

Right: All oiled up and looking beautiful.

The final thing to do is to get the nuts and bolts, then get it up on the wall at the school.

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 4

After taking all of the kids drawings and scanning them into the computer I had to take each page into illustrator to perform wizardry. All of the kids will have their name on the sign but not all will have their drawings due to some only having 2 sessions with me, therefore not having time, and others have been subject to quality control. With hundreds of drawings and only 8 panels, I had to select the best,  convert them into line drawings and delete a lot of line work from each individual picture to create a image that will look good when burnt into the oak, whilst maintaining the charm and detail of the original drawing. Eventually I ended up with a set of panels that I was happy with before the final spell-checking and editing, done after taking the last snapshot, ready for it all to be sent to the laser!

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 3 Part 2

Laser cutting into oak! As The Mask would say “smoking!”

This is how the final sign will be made.

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 3

The oak has finally arrived! It was chopped into two and transported to DMU’s workshops.

The test pieces were laser etched and routed to see the best results. The laser showed up really well and the clarity was perfect, the routed part (not shown) was hard to make out from a distance.

The laser etched test was initially done on 100% speed and 100% power. The second (left) was at 100% power and 90% speed to make the large letters show up more.

Other parts were at 60% power such as the bird and girl drawing on the second try.

It looks amazing, I will take it into the school to show the head teacher before we order enough wood for the 6 or 8 panelled sign.

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Stokes Wood Week 4

So my last week at Stokes Wood went very well, besides one kid crying because he made a mistake on his work, which I told him it didn’t matter as it was the practice sheet anyway. Oh well. He still managed to finish his work eventual and left happy.

We drew our names again in perspective, though at a different angle this time. For each group I decided if we were going to tackle the new sheet or re-do last weeks one. We then completed an A3 version of that sheet to make a big one that looked awesome.

A very good end to working with the kids. Also a lot learned in my first experience in doing so.

With teaching over, I am still working on the sign to cheer up the dreary concrete wall outside of the reception. My test piece of European oak has been ordered and I am waiting for it to arrive although I am a bit pre-occupied this week!

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 2

The next step was to test how well the kids drawings could be machined onto wood. I took the image of the bird that I liked and then imported I into illustrator, converting it into a DXF. With the new file, the image was laser etched onto plywood, resulting in a really nice looking mini plaque. The first routed MDF part followed both the interior and exterior of the line work, making a slightly fuzzy feel to it. Using the same pointed cutter, a new part was cut with the router following just one of the lines, creating a finer cut image. The final test was using a flat cutter rather than a pointed cutter, this is what I originally planned to use however a lot of the detail has been lost. Overall, the testing showed that the drawings can easily be placed onto the sign, with the best results coming from the laser and from the CNC router using a single line and a pointed cutter.

I pitched the current design to the school and the head teacher said it looked so good that it may be bigger than originally planned. The only added cost is the extra material to be used.

Let’s see how it goes!

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Stokes Wood Mural Development 1

As part of my role at the school, I am creating a Mural/Sign for the school.

I want to create an oak piece, that has the kids drawings routed or laser etched onto it. My sketch work show various ideas of sizes and shapes, although the content is pretty much the same.

It should look gorgeous, simple oak with these kids drawings all over it and the name of the school. Keeping it really simple.

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Stokes Wood Week 3

This week at Stokes Wood I attempted to get the kids to write their name or part of it in 3D perspective. And as you can see from a Polish girl, Wiktoria, she did a very good job at it.

My new worksheet that I created was a little too minimum for the Tuesday groups. When I returned on Friday I added more construction lines to help the kids and created a sheet with pre drawn grids on so they didn’t have to struggle with drawing those either.

It was more of a learning curve these sessions and the end groups were much more successful thanks to my lesson re-adjustments along the way.

I just have to decide what we will do next week for the final session.

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Stokes Wood Week 2

This week at stokes wood we did some shading. You can see my efforts above and like before the kids did a pretty good job of it. We began by practicing drawing our cubes from my worksheet and then shaded 3 different tones onto the sides of the cubes. We also did some drawings of things related to the school, I collected them all up and selected some of the best. The birds above are a favourite of mine, the boy who drew them was not great at the shading, or much else, but these birds have a certain charm. I needed drawings for the mural/design that will be placed outside of the school reception, and with some magic applied to the drawings, I (hopefully) will create a really nice piece.

My Friday was cut short due to me having to set up the degree show at DMU, so I taught 6 pupils instead of 4 so not all of the kids missed the afternoon sessions.

Degree show info to come soon!

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Stokes Wood Week 1

After my first week as Mr Clarke, I was really surprised at how successful my workshops turned out.

My dot-to-dot in 2-point perspective sheet worked a treat. Above you can see my sheets that I completed whilst showing the kids what to do. Some were really good! Seriously, very good work. With 4 pupils in each session we worked through learning to draw 3D shapes and also started to think of things that we could draw to go on the mural that I will design. No problems to report either, awesome!

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Lee Clarke Design Goes To Stokes Wood Primary School

From Thursday 5th June I will be going to Stokes Wood Primary School to teach year 6 pupils in design workshop.

The workshop will involve learning about 2-point perspective drawing! This may sound complicated for an 11 year old to tackle, and it probably will be. Hopefully with my specially made worksheets, we will be able to get these pupils to create some 3D drawings. I have also been commissioned to design, manufacture and install a piece of artwork/design/sculpture to be placed outside of the reception entrance. The pupils will be helping me to design this too, and show them the design process in action.

This project has been arrange through the DMU Graduate Champions Scheme, a programme where graduates are paid by DMU, to work at various organisations.

Exciting stuff!

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'Made In Mind' Internship Winner

by James McGill, Yr2, Product Design BA (Hons)

The Made in Mind competition brief centred on the theme of ‘Productivity in the Home’ and was set as our major design project during the Spring Term. My idea was based on the goal of reducing cross-contamination when preparing food. The brief required me to undertake thorough research and examine products that would come into contact with food such as chopping boards, work surfaces and knives. After producing several concepts and iterative developments, I decided that the knife contact with food could be reduced by minimising the surface area of the blade. This was achieved through a novel design utilising a cutting wire with a trigger mechanism that would incrementally move forward to maintain a sharp edge. The wire of the knife is stored in two reel cartridges, one containing fresh wire and another with used wire. The user is able to open the knife when the wire has been used up, enabling safe removal and replacement of the reels.

I feel privileged and excited to be chosen by the Made in Mind team to undertake a summer internship, providing me with the experience of working with an established design studio and with the potential of further developing my ‘Wire Knife’ concept.

Also commended were my fellow students, Steven Copp and Agnete Linikaite who developed a dog collar and a hybrid laptop case respectively - they will both be receiving mentoring support for their third year projects from the Made in Mind team.

madeinmind.co.uk – designers of the multi-award-winning Mu Folding Plug products

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Seymourpowell Winner

By Luke Wadsworth, Design Products MDes (3rd year)

Recently DMU and Northumbria students were offered the opportunity to take part in a competition led by the iconic Seymourpowell design consultancy. Although we were all very busy with our major projects, to take part in the competition was a straightforward choice for me – not only did we get to learn from the experts, but the prize was a year-long paid placement. I am sure any product design student from across the country would agree that this was an opportunity not to be missed.

We were given two image capture-based briefs to choose from. These gave both aesthetic-conscious and concept-focussed / functionally-minded students the opportunity to pursue their interests and demonstrate their personal talents which they had acquired over two and a half years.

I chose the latter ‘function’ brief and after two weeks of work and a short wait, three of the favoured designs were selected by Seymourpowell from each University (Alex Stewart, Tom Mackow and me from DMU) and all six students were interviewed at Seymourpowell’s impressive design offices in London. I am incredibly proud to say that I won this brilliant opportunity. Now I just have one more summer holiday before I begin my adventure in the real product design world this coming September! Everyone always says that you learn through experience, so I am really looking forward to the knowledge I will acquire during my product design internship with Seymourpowell.

I am sure everyone else will agree that the competition was a great learning curve. All the designers we met were incredibly helpful and down to earth, so we all felt comfortable discussing our projects. It was an intense couple of weeks of solid design in which we got close feedback from many Design Products tutors. Putting in 100% more than paid off for all of us and it felt very rewarding. I definitely encourage any other student who is offered such a great opportunity to take part – no matter how much else you have on. Designers will always find the room to squeeze in an extra few hours and it will eventually pay off, I promise!

Luke Wadsworth

To see more of my work go to www.lukewadsworth.co.uk

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Collaborative Design

by Andrew Kyprianou, Finham Park School

As a teacher of Product Design with an expertise in computer-aided design I encourage my students to be innovative in their designs. As a result, they confidently realise their ideas by utilising computer-aided design and where relevant, computer-aided manufacture.

As students move through the A-level course in Product Design, they develop technical knowledge and master a range of different manufacturing methods. They often design complex interlocking product parts which require CNC machining and or 3D printing. Our partnership with Design Products at De Montfort University has given the opportunity for our students to create products which involve them using modern computer-aided design techniques and technologies to design and make realistic working products.

One of our students, Tanim Ahmed, has had part of his design of his product ‘Rapid Prototyped’ in the DMU’s manufacturing labs. Tanim’s product investigates the way in which water can be distributed and channelled away from housing. The 3D prototype enabled him to clearly demonstrate a physical model and enable him to achieve a high quality, completed final outcome.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Stuart Lawson and Anthony Eland for their help and support they have shown to Finham Park School and the 2013/2014 cohort of A-level Design Students. The A-level students have said that their experience has encouraged them to want to continue their studies in product design at university.

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Take a ‘walk’ inside Roman buildings

Leicester’s ruined Roman past can now be seen springing back to life in front of your eyes thanks to a remarkable iPad app and 3D digital technology developed by a team from De Montfort University.

Standing at several of the city’s most important Roman sites, you can hold your iPad up and use it as a ‘window’ to see breathtaking imagery of what the Roman building around you looked like.

With the help of augmented reality technology, the type used in electronic gaming, you can ‘walk into’ and tour several Roman buildings, superimposing the 3D virtual reconstructions onto the real-life scene in front of you, which change as you walk around or face different directions.

“Buried under the John Lewis car park, for example, there is a large villa,” explained DMU technology lecturer Eric Tatham, one of the app builders. “This app really brings it to life. The scale of it all is a real eye-opener, seeing it all around you through the iPad.

“Beforehand, we had artists’ replications of these buildings but now you get a real sense of what they were like to be inside them.”

And in a virtual treasure hunt, you can also search out several Roman artefacts placed around the buildings, which you can collect, spin around on screen and zoom in on to look at in fine detail.

“You find the items in augmented reality on the app and each time you collect one of them, you get a stamp, so you can collect the set,” added Eric.

The Virtual Romans app is being officially launched at the Jewry Wall museum on Friday as part of its re-opening following its annual winter closure.

Harnessing the expertise of the DMU digital technology experts, the project has been a collaboration spanning several years with archaeological researchers at the University of Leicester and the Jewry Wall Museum.

The 3D virtual reconstructions can now be viewed in four ways - on the website www.romanleicester.dmu.ac.uk, at an interactive touchscreen kiosk in the museum in front of the excavated ruins of the Roman baths, through a 3D print in the museum of the Roman Baths, and with the iPad app.

Project leader Nick Higgett, principal lecturer at DMU’s School of Design, explained: “Our bit has been the digital reconstructions of the buildings in 3D, the 3D scanning of archaeological  artefacts from the museum, and to make it all available through mobile devices such as the iPad app.

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Jaguar Land Rover – Success

by Agnete Linikaite, Product & Furniture Design BA (Hons)

I’m a second-year Product & Furniture Design student and just before the New Year, I applied for the Design Undergraduate programme at Jaguar Land Rover. After a few months, I was invited to attend the very last stage - the Assessment Centre. I was really shocked when I found out about it since a great many university students had applied for the placement role (Surfacing / Studio Engineering, Cubing Engineer). The interview consisted of two activities; a portfolio review and a behaviour questionnaire.

During the first part of the interview, I had to present my portfolio consisting of work that I submitted at the time of my application. My portfolio contained university projects undertaken in the first two years at DMU, such as rendering, modelling and visual language projects, which demonstrated my current skills.

The competency-based interview was based around my previous experiences, where I used the ‘CAR’ approach when answering these questions. This means explaining the context of the situation, the action that I took and the result I achieved. Majority of questions I was able to relate to my university projects, where I learnt how to work in a team, manage the time required for the projects. The questions were linked to the company’s ‘high performance behaviours’. For undergraduates these are:

'My business' (ensuring JLR's continued success by e.g. taking up business opportunities and focusing on customers' needs)

'Clear direction' (both in terms of ability to make sensible business decisions and whether my career aims would tie in with what Jaguar Land Rover does)

'Effective relationships' (not only working well with others, but also sharing my skills and knowledge)

'Positive impact' (influencing others while acting with integrity)

'High performance' (developing myself and others to deliver the best for the company)

I am absolutely over the moon at winning a one year placement with Jaguar Land Rover. I believe a strong portfolio and preparation were the main reasons that I was able to succeed. During the first two years of my Design Products course, I had a chance to develop a range of industry-level projects and to learn the key skills for employment. I am looking forward to starting and am convinced that it will be a fantastic experience that will help me to decide what I want to do after graduating.

Agnete Linikaite's website: http://agnetelinik.com