Experimenting with Materials @michaeljonesdsdn141-blog - Tumblr Blog

Project 3 Summary

The emotion my object expresses is happiness / joy, and it does this through the use of a "bubbles" visual theme. The sound is meant to excite with coloured polystyrene balls bouncing around rapidly around inside the frosted plastic bubble. It may even bring to one's mind a thought of lotto balls rushing around a clear plastic barrel - maybe todays your lucky day? One realisation I had about myself in relation to designing is that I find it extraordinarily difficult to draw anything at all unless I have a very clear picture in my mind first.

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3 #hand in

Construction Drawing - 1:1 scale

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #Project 3 #hand in

W.I.P.

I discovered that I don't need the metal pins to keep the bottom half attached - it's possible to make the fit just snug enough to make the plastic grip on with friction alone.

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

Mold ready for casting. (I went ahead and did a casting before remembering to take a picture, so you can see the bits of plaster on it already)

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

Plaster mold 3D model - ready for printing up at the Engineering School. Bringing my experience from project 2 with me, this took virtually no time at all to whip up. I realised that having all the little external bubbles in the one casting mold would make removing the mold very difficult once the plaster is set, so I made a separate mold for them - it's tucked away between the two big pieces - and will attach them individually. Not sure exactly how I'm going to attach them just yet. I could try casting them with small screws sticking out, and carefully screw them in to place. Or maybe just some strong epoxy adhesive.

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

I've worked out a form for the bottom half. Bubble is the magic word for this project, so the base is one big bubble with three little bubble feet. Doesn't it look cute? ^_^ Doesn't it make you feel happy just looking at it? ;-D

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

I've settled on plaster and plastic, and using 3D printing to create the plaster mold - just like I did in project 2. This way I can take everything I learnt in that project and apply it to this one. Also, while the form is completely different, the basic design is very similar to what I created in project 2. So I'm essentially continuing the work I did there but with a whole new set of requirements and constraints.

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

Initial ideas. I couldn't decide between joy and sadness, so I rolled a die to decide for me. At first I was completely blank for ideas, but then I realised - what could be more joyous that bubbles? =D

#DSDN 141 #design #experimenting with materials #project 3

michaeljonesdsdn141-blog

Final Iteration

Throughout this design process I have learnt that creating a finely crafted, hand-made object is incredibly difficult. No matter how clear your vision of the design is, or how thoroughly you plan every step of the crafting process, things never go exactly as you plan, or turn out exactly as you envisioned. Hand crafting is as much about reacting (to mistakes or unexpected results) as it is about planning the processes yet to be applied.

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2 #hand in

The mold is complete!

There is a 3D printer at the School of Science and Engineering on Kelburn campus, and they were kind enough to print this for me =)

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2

3D representation of how the object will look (roughly) when complete. Colour scheme is not final, I may experiment with different dies in the plaster and different coloured acrylics, but I do like idea of the elegantly contrasting matte white plaster against glossy black acrylic.

At this point, since I'm using opaque acrylic rather than clear (and it therefore doesn't matter if I have a completely spherical cavity), I think for the join I'll experiment with the jigsaw puzzle edge idea - casting the plaster around a jigsaw-edged acrylic semisphere. If it works, it would be one of the simplest and strongest solutions, and would also be quite beautiful (I think).

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2

A sketch showing roughly how the 3D printed mold should look. * EDIT: And the actual 3D model, ready for printing! ** EDIT: The first 3D model had too much material which would have made the printing cost too much and take too long. The third and fourth images show the final printing model.

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2

After discussing with the tutor, I think the egg-shape idea is a little bit plain (and apparently it's not particularly original either...). I've replaced the narrow half of the egg with a golden ratio spiral. As inspired by a 3D model I made when I was playing around in solidworks the other day. I've settled on plaster and acrylic as my 2 materials. I wrote "Clear Acrylic" as a note on the sketch, but I think I'll actually make it a coloured acrylic and put a die in the plaster to make it a contrasting colour. I plan to make the plaster mold in solidworks then have it 3D printed to ensure accuracy.

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2

Initial Ideas

I like the idea of a simple but elegant egg-shape for my object. Not sure how / in what proportions the 2 materials would be seperated, or whether there would be a hollow cavity inside or a straight track for the ball to roll along.

#design #DSDN 141 #experimenting with materials #project 2

↑ Project 2 ↑

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Experimenting with Materials