grace5418461

[grace5418461]

Week 10 - Completing the Loop

Continuing from last week, I picked up my 3d print from the fabrication lab.

Step 5: 3d printing - dealing with imperfections (sanding)

The printing took some time and did not produce the smooth surfaces I was expecting. To fix this, I used sand paper and a Dremel with a sanding attachment to smooth out the cap.

I accidentally over sanding some surfaces as seen in the images above, I believe that this could have been avoided if I just decreased the speed of Dremel and worked the sanding attachment slowly to produce a smoother look.

Final Images of 3d printed prototype.

The Final Reflection :'(

I am sad that this week will be the last week of this class, it was overall a more hands-on subject which I typically prefer. The subject has given me an insight into many things about the design process designers in the industry have to go through when a new product is being developed.

Taking design ideas from initial sketches to more technical engineering drawings, translating them into a physical foam prototype to produce both digital and 3d printed prototypes. This process seems incredibly innovative and makes so much sense, giving so many insights the world of product design.

Completing this subject has given me a sense of achievement, even if it was very hard keeping up with the pre-class and post-class activities on top of the tutorials and lectures. Through this struggle, i found that I create some friendships through the collective confusion during lectures. I felt very proud of myself when someone asked for my help or advice and felt proud for others when they answered my question with confidence.

I have learned the import of practice with both hand drawing, and digital drawing and know the right tools to use. Subtle elements like line thicknesses have such a great impact on an overall hand sketch and communicate a specific meaning to clients and other fellow designers.

Softwares like Photoshop, Rhino, 3dsmax, Solidworks etc. are also such vital tools for product design but never replace good old paper and pencil. Hand sketches are equally important as digital drawings and vice versa, even if Citrix was quite tempramental.

This class has taught me to never discredit the amount of creative freedom hand sketching can bring me. I was always so eager to jump into CAD software with an idea in mine without any existing sketches. The model would come out alright but I would not have extra length and the right fillet radius without mapping it out first on a piece of paper with a simple or comprehensive sketch.

I believe that throughout the duration of the course there has been an improvement in drawing skills in both technical drawing and free-hand sketching. The week 5 drawing exercises were probably my favourite tutorial, it created such a fun atmosphere in the classroom and also greatly improved my idea of 3D forms on a 2D page.

I am very thankful for this class, and for Gonz, Rob, and Sarah for helping us along the way and teaching us very valuable lessons. I could see the amount of effort they have put the whole term into creating an environment that was welcoming and a safe space to ask questions even if they were simple ones. They even went through the trouble of inviting second and third-year students to the classroom to give incredibly valuable advice and shared their experiences with internships and jobs in the in industry.

See you guys next term!!!!

[grace5418461]

Week 9 - Preparing a 3d scan for printing

The design process is a really important component when managing time and expenses when producing a design. During the design process of prototyping, many important decisions are made. The materiality, colours, textures, manufacturing techniques, finishes, and how the product is marketed and who is marketed towards.

Rapid prototyping is also a way to save funds, instead of using expensive materials and techniques. Examples like additive 3d printing prototyping and subtractive CNC prototypes.

Step 1: 3D-scanning

Step 2: Quadify scan on rhino

I imported the 3d scan STL file to rhino and applied the Quad Remesh tool to the form. This tool gave a much simpler polygon structure compared to the initial triangular mesh which would be useful in 3Dsmax, a polygon modelling software.

Triangular mesh Polygon mesh

Comparing the initial triangular structure to a more organised polygon structure.

Step 3: Orientating scan on 3Dsmax

After quadifying the scan, I imported the file to 3Dsmax and rotated the shape using the rotate tool, align tool, and move tool. I orientated the bottle in the orientation I would like considering the origin, and the X, Y, and Z axes and saved the file for printing.

Since my model has purposefully placed dents, I did not find the need to smooth out any dents. I wanted to maintain the organic aesthetic of the bottle to evoke the serene emotion

This part was a little bit frustrating working with Citrix again it was not as fast as the demonstration during the tutorial. I was very thankful the tutorial was recorded and I was to work through the remeshing stage at my own pace without interrupting the tutor or fellow students.

Step 4: Uploading to Cura

I then uploaded the file to Cura to print, however for some reason the scan was still not in the correct orientation. Perhaps have done some wrong or did not save properly. I was thankful that Cura also had a rotating and alignment tool as well.

When setting up the print settings, I was advised to print with a lower infill percentage to help with the cost and time required. I was also advised to add some support around the curved edge on the base to ensure it print successfully.

This week was full of new processes that I was not familiar with, it was very fun, interesting, and enriching to learn about the processes that are performed in the industry on a smaller scale.

[grace5418461]

Week 8 - Digital Iteration

This week encompassed the exploration of model making, using models for their volume, size, ergonomic, shape, form etc. It is extremely interesting how physical models can be translated into a digital platform and how digitally rendered models can be translated into physical models. Models answer the questions sketches and drawings can't answer like the exploration of material, scale, ergonomics, and aesthetics. Good products have considered both form and function, especially toward the target market. Model making helps the designer and client determine the types of textures, colours and materials for their design concept or final physical product.

Physical vs Digital models both techniques of models introduce fluidity to the design process giving designers the ability to make minimal and major changes to the design. Digital modelling could potentially introduce some roadblocks when your knowledge and capabilities are limited when using the software.

Exploring 3Dsmax

Working through the tutorial exercise, I was given the opportunity to learn the basics of polygon modelling on 3Dsmax. I was very confusing in the beginning as most of the toolbar was on the right side of the screen compared to the top like some other CAD software I have used. As instructed, I created a sphere using the standard primitives tab and proceeded to modify it.

Using Transform Tools

3Dsmax has a set of modifiers that manipulate the shape, in this part of the exercise I explored the stretch, bend and melt modifiers. I enjoyed playing around with different percentages of different parameters like amount, direction, and biases until I had the form I wanted.

Stretch Bend Melt

Stretch + Bend Stretch + Bend + Melt

I was fascinated at the way I was able to layer different modifiers on top of each other and also removed some from my view with the eye icon on the modifier list bar.

Part 2: Sculptural Forms

Extruding, Chamfering, Cloning, Bridging, and NURMS

Forms from week 8 tutorial videos

The second part of the exercise challenged me to explore the more complex capabilities of polygon modelling like extruding, and chamfering while extruding and using the NURMS function with the ability to apply smoothness to a polygon model.

Bowl Wine Glass

In the week 8 tutorial videos, I was also introduced to the lathe modifier with creates objects by rotating splines around an axis create with an inserted plane. This tool gave me the capability of creating a simple shallow bowl with looks the same in all front, left, right, and back views. Using the same technique, I also created a wine glass with a set of more complex curves.

Navigating 3Dsmax through Citrix was quite nerve-wracking on a MacBook but overall improved my patience with carrying out the tasks required.

In the future, I would plan to invest in a more suitable device to increase the efficiency in my work.

[grace5418461]

Week 7 - Sketch Models

Week 7 was a very hands-on and interactive week, giving me the opportunity to get my designs off the paper and into a 3-dimensional form. Prototyping is a very experimental stage of product design, letting designers visualise the design solution on a real-life scale to understand the appropriate materials, colours, and ergonomics of the product.

Making multiple models helps to choose the best design solution but also to determine the design's strong and weak points as supposed to make only one model.

Pre-class activities: Orthogonal Drawing

I selected one of the perfume bottle designs from the last week and projected the front, side, and top views of the form while also considering the real-life dimensions.

Step 1: Constructing Templates

After drawing the orthogonal drawing of the bottle design, I cut the three views to construct a template for the model. I used the paper outlines to cut another template out of box board for a more rigid stencil.

Step 2: Hot wire cutting with blue foam

Using masking tape, I adhered the templates to some blue foam, a material suitable for sanding and sculpting prototypes. The foam can be cut using a hot wire cutter to ensure that the correct measurements are considered.

Step 3: Finetuning and redesign

After cutting out one basic form, I produced 3 more forms exactly the same to test out different textures.

To achieve different textures, used a Dremel with a coned sanding tip to make both fine and thicker lines and dents.

Final sketch model for design #1

After comparing the other designs, I found that I personally preferred the first initial model. It produced a very simple and minimalistic aesthetic which I thought was suitable for the emotion of feeling serene.

[grace5418461]

Week 6 - Digital Rendering

This week was a very stressful flex week with multiple assignments due during the same time frame. It was very hard to balance other subjects on top of each other and I was very stress. I found doing the digital sketching on photoshop quite stress relieving and therapeutic compared to other work form other classes.

The digital sketching tutorial videos were extremely helpful in introducing me to this type of rendering. I found it really useful that it was broken up into 8 different parts, allowing me to catch up step by step. The videos could be repeated slowed down and sped up, unlike in-person tutorials where I tend to get lost.

I did find it a little challenging at first but as I had gotten used to the feel of the mouse I had become more confident in my strokes.

Excited to go back to uni next week!!!

[grace5418461]

Week 5

This week's lecture and tutorial were extremely fun and interactive, I really enjoyed the class activities and the discussions and conversations that took place. However I was quite taken aback by the amount of content that we had gone through.

Sketching Drills

During most of the tutorial I was introduced to 7 different drawing exercises, all aiming to relax my body in order to draw feely without any rulers, pencils or templates.

A super helpful piece of advice given by the tutors was to draw from your shoulders as compared to drawing from your wrist. This technique of drawing is suitable for drawing straight lines, circles, and ellipses and allows the upper body to be free flowing.

As I worked through the drawing drills, I found that the first few fundamental drills had played a big part in preparing for more intricate drills like the cubes and ellipses in perspective.

This sketching drill allowed me to experiment with ballpoint pen and ink pens.

Part 2: 2D Orthographic Thumbnails

This section was both challenging and interesting, giving us an opportunity to work on our sketching skills while also drawing up perfume bottle concept ideas for the studio 1B class.

I found myself having a relaxed atmosphere when coming up with different silhouettes and shapes that I could incorporate into my own design whilst also taking inspiration from the current market.

This exercise also gave the chance to visualise the possible types of colours, materials, and textures i wanted my perfume bottle to have.

Part 3: Perspective sketch

This exercise was very similar to a sketching drill where I had to draw cubes in perspective. I find being able to draw perspective drawing is a very important skill to have especially when one is pursuing to become an industrial designer.It allows both the designer and client to visualise the product and have a sense of its overall composition, depth, aesthetic.

This was a very packed and full-on week with a lot of useful content and advice.

Excited to bring my sketches to photoshop and experience rendering with it for the first time!

[grace5418461]

Week 4 - Perspective Drawing

During this week I was lost in the content at the start and did not quite understand the difference between 1 point perspective and 2 point perspective. This confusion led to not completing the tutorial exercises during the duration of the tutorial, giving me a sense of frustration and struggle.

After the tutorial, I sat down and looked back at the readings and lecture content which was very extremely helpful and finally understood the overall premise of the subtopic.

Part 1: Construct a 2 point perspective view of your chamfered box

Part 1 was drawn during the tutorial and faced many issues like laying out the page incorrectly and drawing the top view on the wrong angle. I had used a lot of advice and instruction given by my peers and tutors.

I had a really hard time wrapping my head around how non of the lines were parallel but were all meeting at two singular points of the page. THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED 2-POINT PERSPECTIVE!!! I got really excited when it finally understood the overall concept.

Part 2: Extending a box in perspective

The duration of the tutorial was not enough to complete the other exercises, which gave me the opportunity to complete it at home where I had my own clean work area and an absence of a time restraint.

After drawing the same 3-dimensional shape as part 1 from a further viewing position, I found that the size or dimension of the shape had changed. They had changed the shape into looking a little smaller just like the shape into real life.

The second part of extending the 3 visible surfaces was self-explanatory until the concern of dimensions came into play. Since the dimensions of the shape are usually exaggerated, had a bit hard time determining the thickness and height. I ended up projecting the existing lines from the original shape and also used the 2 vanishing points.

Part 3: Drawing circles in perspective

When starting part 3 found myself very familiar with laying down the initial elements on the page. I believe that the decision of placing 3 exercises for this tutorial really forced me to fully understand perspective.

Using green and red pens, I marked the major and minor axises.

I found drawing the ellipses a little bit challenging especially to make them symmetrical in perspective.

This week's tutorial was very frustrating but also helped to learn a very fundamental concept in drawing in the industry.

Excited for next week!

[grace5418461]

Week 3 - Auxiliary View

This week has been an exciting week of further exploration of engineering drawings, learning about drawing sectional views and projecting its partial auxiliary view as well.

Part 1: Drawing a rough layout for accurate placement

Similar to last week's engineering drawing, I mapped out the overall layout to ensure that the four drawings were placed in the right orientation, leaving enough space for the title block and border that outlines the page.

Part 2: Drawing it accurately

The tapered block is very different to a normal block with its uneven sides and its tapered triangular cutout. These features made it difficult for me to visualise it on a 2-dimensional level, especially when drawing the cutout surface.

I expressed this difficulty to tutors giving very helpful advice and directions which I had passed on to my fellow colleagues. Creating an endless loop of support.

Very excited about next week's lecture and tutorial!

[grace5418461]

Week 2 - Engineering Drawing

The second week of term has been a stressful but productive week comprising other tasks from multiple subjects. During this week's class, I was introduced to the inner workings of engineering drawings and the important elements, tools, and techniques needed to produce these drawings.

Part 1: Construct a 5 sided box to fit over your chosen object

The first part of the tutorial was quite fun and interesting, I found that constructing a simple 5-sided box had helped me and my fellow colleagues visualise each of the 3 angles that were required for an orthogonal drawing. The labelled written on the paper box was a great guide for placement when laying out my a3 sheet of paper. I found it very interesting that the but perfectly fit the hole puncher with the simple equations given in the exercise sheet.

Part 2: Sketch a third angle orthographic drawing of your object. (3 views)

The second part of the exercise was to map out the overall layout to ensure that the three drawings were placed in the right orientation, leaving enough space for the title block and border that outlines the page. I found that this rough freehand sketch was very useful when placing the first initial lines of the drawing.

After drawing this rough layout of the page, I freehand sketched the hole-puncher in a 3-dimensional view for me to fully comprehend the composition of the product.

Part 3: Construct the orthogonal drawing accurately using using your drafting equipment.

The final section of the tutorial was very difficult as I chose an object with many angles, curves, and hardware like very thin springs. I couldn't correctly measure the angles of the handle which gives my drawings some inaccurate lines and dimensions.

This week's tutorial was a fun challenge and had given me opportunities to help and also seek help from my colleagues. I am really looking forward to the next week's lesson!

[grace5418461]

Week 1

This has been a very exciting Week 1, being able to reconnect with other fellow industrial designers after the break has given me a very rewarding and heartwarming feeling.

During this week of in-class activities, we were tasked to recreate three respective drawings using specific techniques and drafting materials, such as t-squares, removable tape, circle stencils, set squares, and bond paper. These tools have allowed us to create to most accurate drawings to the best of our abilities and to help us point out the flaws in our work as well.

Part 1: Figure 1 & 2

Shown above are the progress photo and end product of the first part of the in-class activities. I found recreating figure 1 was a lot simpler as it only consists of straight lines. However when drawing figure 2 the more complex curves were harder to control even with a circle stencil.

If the stencil or set square was to move even a millimetre, both drawings would have been inaccurate and falsely drawn. A similar frustration had risen when the respective shape had to be outlined with a liner pen. A steady hand was needed to smoothly draw the curved and straight lines to produce a clean-finished overall aesthetic.

Part 2: Tessellating pattern

The second of the in-class activities had been conducted at home as I had time management issues when struggling with the first part of the activities.

For this task, we were required to recreate a pattern made from 12 equilateral triangles drawn 4 times to assess the level of accuracy of the angles and lengths of the triangles. It was important for each side to be measured to 30mm and for each angle to be 60 degrees. This level of accuracy would then be shown when separate but identical pieces are to be put together.

During the process of drawing the pattern, I found it very difficult to secure the t-square and set square and would often draw jagged lines. Another problem I faced was cutting the piece with a precision knife which required a steady hand just like the previous activity.

The photographs above show the process and development of the activity and the end result.

[grace5418461]

About me

Hi, I’m Grace and a first-year industrial design student. I enjoy the world of design and working through the design process and very excited to study the industry.

I really enjoy everything creative and working with colours and different mediums to create anything with a hands-on approach.