Nicholas' Drawings

[nicholas5401499]

Week 10

Course reflections

During the course of Communications 2 I have continued my progression in communicating ideas and designs through visual and three dimensional means. I think I have gained a greater understanding of the different mediums of communication, and when and where to deploy the right one to get your thoughts across. It will be important to progress my understanding and competence in all of them as they are all crucial across the design process.

My background in engineering came through when attempting the technical drawings, and I probably found this the easiest part of the course. I really enjoy the boundaries that angles and measurements give you when putting pen to paper. With this in mind, I found the skills from technical drawing to be really useful when trying to create perspective views and maintain accuracy.

I found transferring perspective views into computer drawing software probably the most fun part of the course. Continually adding detail to my drawings has been a great learning, as this adds more depth, detail and life into your renders. I have found the Procreate software on my iPad a really great tool to do this in, very easily adding layers, gradients and textures to my images which are difficult to get using traditional, paper mediums. Additionally, I found myself entering a flow state seeking greater fidelity in the drawings and time passing by.

The most troublesome part of the course for me was learning the 3dsMax software. This was probably due to a little impatience from me, other time pressures at the time, and software which I thought may not be particularly useful to me at the time. One of my current goals is to remodel my perfume bottle over the term break in Fusion 360 to give me greater confidence in my CAD skills going forward.

I think the greatest learning over the term has been the pursuit of different ideas and approaches to design and development that drive the best outcomes. Reflecting on my own design work and making prior to coming to UNSW, whilst I felt I was learning valuable skills as a craftsman, my work was quite derivative. I wasn’t particularly good at sketching, and didn’t have any model making skills, so didn’t iterate my designs in an interesting or meaningful way before executing them. The idea that I started with was what I ended with. I’m really excited to implement this way of designing and iterating in my own work to push myself to create things that are exciting and interesting aesthetically and functionally.

3D printing

For the exercises this week I was keen to try and 3D print my model and make a realistic reproduction of my bottle with the colour scheme from my final renders. On Friday I prepared and sent my files to be printed, which was estimated to take 5 hours, and would be ready to collect on Monday. It cost $16.50 to get it printed, which wasn’t expensive, but it’s definitely not at cheap as blue foam if you needed to make a few production models.

I picked up my bottle and cap from the DFL. It’s a lot rougher than I thought it would be and required some sanding. I thought I could sand it on the disc sander and get it done really quickly, but the plastic melted really easily! Not surprising in hindsight but a bit of a learning curve. I hand sanded the rest and got a decent finish. However, I was chatting to a third year who was explaining that I could use bog filler on top and sand that back to easily get a really clean finish.

I primed the plastic and spray painted my bottle. I tried to get a gradient effect to match my render idea and I think I got pretty close!

The bottle felt good to hold in my hand, and unsurprisingly was the exact proportions of my foam model. Really cool. I’m looking forward to using the 3D print facilities for a small few Knick knacks which could perform a few functions for me, such as a binding feeder for my sewing machine.

[nicholas5401499]

Week 9 - prototyping

Pre class activities

This week we had a video about prototyping with Andrew Simpson. The way he describes the process of prototyping testing different dimensions and interactions with a product was very familiar to my process of designing my perfume bottle. Once I had identified the basic design, I went about making a number of iterations to alter the design to find a form which was appealing and ergonomic. Using this process I was able to identify a design with a tapered side to a smaller base made for a better ergonomic design.

Exercises

I learnt more this week about the power of the computer assisted world of prototyping and how it can assist you with your designs. The presentation at the MCIC about 3D scanning was really impressive — it’s amazing how for computing power and algorithms have come, even in the 6 years since I was at uni last. Seeing how accurately and quickly designs that have been quickly modelled by hand can be brought into the digital world without needing to use CAD software was surprising. When I visited the MCIC to scan my bottle, I did see the limitations in the process. My design had a few undercuts and “hidden areas” which made it difficult for the computer to scan, making it a delicate process. Even then there were a few artefact errors which make the mesh difficult to work with.

I didn’t have access to my scanned bottle until later in the week, so I used this week’s exercises as a chance to learn about the mesh modelling with the bottle scan provided on Moodle.

Importing and running the quad remesh in Rhino was very straightforward.

Once it was in 3dsMax the past few weeks of working with the software meant that I was very comfortable adjusting the object and altering the pivot point.

The FFD modifier was the most useful tool in this stage of the process (in my opinion). Making small adjustments to the proportions of the model will be really handy.

I used a couple of taper and symmetry commands and the repaint tool to fix a weld seam around the symmetry point, and touch up a couple of scan issues pointed out by Rob in class.

The end design was a taller and slightly prouder design than the original, but only required minor adjustments.

Reflections

The 3D scanning tool was very quick, however imperfections can take a long time to fix up.

With uncomplicated objects, 3D scanning is probably not the quickest or best way to work with your design in CAD software. However, I can see it used as a guide for simple shapes to draw computer models.

The tools in 3dsMax and other CAD software would allow the design process to create dozens of iterations on a design such as this, making slight adjustments in form in order to gauge the right aesthetic and functional balance with the use of 3D printing.

[nicholas5401499]

Week 8 - digital model making

Pre class activity

This week we had access to a video of Andrew Simpson on model making. This video really highlights the importance of taking your early concepts and quickly moving to the 3D object. Through this process we are able to gain really valuable information on how objects interact with people, hands, other objects etc.. We can quickly make adjustments to angles, thicknesses, lengths in order to find the balance between an appealing form and practical function.

Andrew talks about the fidelity in model making in terms of the amount of detail used. For example you might make a low fidelity model to quickly assess the different dimensions and feel of the model, before progressing to a high fidelity model to test more details such as connection points to the razor head.

I really enjoyed the detail placed on getting the weight of he product right, in combination with material choice, perceived value, and the ability to test different models under scenarios such as usability when wet.

Weekly exercise

This week was one of my first times using a digital model making tool. It took me a long time to get going with this as my computer is currently out of action, so I was down in the DFL using their computers to access 3dsMax.

This was by far the biggest learning curve of the course for me! I’m feeling more and more comfortable with the physical model making and prototyping techniques but the digital environment is very intimidating. I think this is because I feel like I have control over the outcomes in physical making, but the large number of menus and controls hides what is possible in the digital world.

I tried overcoming a lot of these barriers by watching videos on YouTube of other users. A couple I found useful were

- these introductions to 3dsMax (1 and 2)

- this guide on making a chair

Reflections

It’s interesting reflecting back on my very first attempts at woodworking a few years ago, or even most recently crafting with blue foam. Last term I avoided working with blue foam because I didn’t know how to use the hot wire cutters properly (make sure there’s tension in the wire!) or how to get a nice finish (sandpaper is your friend), but now I feel a lot more comfortable. It’s all about using the right tool for the job. The same can be said for 3D modelling where you have to know the right tool in the program to achieve your outcome. This is why following guides is so useful where I can learn about the different tools and see how they are applied.

At first I really disliked the interface of 3dsMax because it felt clunky to navigate and move around your work. Turns out I was using a computer with a mouse that had a very sticky middle button that didn’t really work! Once I moved to a different computer it was a lot easier. The best command I learnt early on was (Z) which returns your view to the model you are working on as I found it really easy to get lost.

I was able to make my first initial shapes without too much difficulty, and learnt a couple more useful commands

- scale (R)

- move (W)

- rotate (E)

With these commands I was had a go at making a very simple chair using a variety of shapes

After a few days I was able to come back to the program and have a go at making a slightly more complex chair using more sophisticated commands. This utilised moving segment points, shift copying, chamfering, and using the bridge command to connect two objects.

I also used a number of the modifier commands to make an abstract shape (twist, squeeze, edit poly etc)

[nicholas5401499]

Week 7 — Model making

This week’s class was all about model making and the importance of translating 2D work into 3D forms and shapes. Our models were to be taken from our exploration of a perfume bottle based off an emotional prompt. My emotional prompt is “motivate,” with the direction I have taken stemming from pursuit of the future. My sketches have been exploring a futuristic aesthetic with soft curves.

This is a bit of a departure from the sketches I was playing around with last week. I hadn’t yet settled on a creative direction for my bottle then, and was just making it up. I learnt a lot about the sketching process, and was able to take this across to my work this week.

My next step was to take these rough elevation view sketches and create some sketch models for my perfume bottle. This means that I am aiming to convey approximate shape, size and dimensions of the product to ascertain how it will work as a finished bottle. This process isn’t meant to be perfectly finished, but inform the design and process to get to a finished model. In doing this, I am trying to help answer a number of questions such as

How does the bottle feel in the hand?

How easy is the assembly to craft?

Would this work as a perfume bottle I.e. store liquid and spray

Is the chosen shape appealing, and does it meet the brief?

Initially I was trying to cut out shapes and guides out of card to help guide my crafting. However, I quickly abandoned this approach after realising that I am not yet trying to achieve a perfect shape. This process for me is about moulding the foam in a more organic way, quickly iterating the shapes I am creating to identify what looks right and moving on.

To make my models I used a number of techniques available to me in the workshop. I prefer using the bandsaw to create straight cuts and portioning out my pieces of foam. From there, I used the hot wire cutter to make rounded shapes, and a combination of sanding and rasping to further refine these shapes into what I desired.

My first model was a bit of a failure. I started too small, and realised that my approach of carving out of one block wasn’t going to give me the definition or curves that I was after.

Next I decided to work “in pieces” constructing a bottle out of a sum of parts. I found that this was able to give me definition that I was looking for. I was able to take my initial shape, and make it out of a few pieces of foam. I held it together with toothpicks, and ended up adding some PVA glue to hold it together.

I then made a couple more sketch models building off this shape, and iterating my design method. From here I tried to add a bit more motion and direction into the design to bring it closer to “motivate.”

The next set was the last I made in this round, and my favourite of what I designed. I think it combines the curved shapes, with a sense of imbalance that is the foundation of motivate — how can you move forward if you’re perfectly balanced? However, after sitting on it for a few days I have thought of more directions I can take my perfume bottle and provide more options for my final form.

The process was a really interesting break from sketching on paper. Initially I started off trying to make the concepts I had drawn, but through the process of making and shaping in 3D, new shapes and forms started to come to mind. The importance of still working with the ideas in the model making stage really stood out to me.

I have also been thinking about how I can use these techniques in my final model making, and thinking that a combination of cutting multiple pieces, using guides, and finer sanding will create a more finished look. Any ideas for ways I can make it better?

[nicholas5401499]

Weeks 5 + 6

Wow, I find sketching so hard! I think this is one of the main things I want to improve on during my time at UNSW — I can really see its value and importance. I just find it very difficult!

This week’s class was a bit more creative than the previous weeks of technical drawing. I find this a lot harder than the precise line and measurement work required for technical drawing. We got into the swing of things by loosening our drawing muscles and developing the fine motor skills for sketching by drawing long straight lines, circles and spheres, ellipses, and some perspective boxes. As you can see I still have a bit of a ways to go, but I have found myself a lot more cognoscente of drawing from my shoulder and elbow during the later exercises and my other sketching which I have found really useful.

Next we looked at the form of a perfume bottle and developing some quick thumbnail sketches of potential shapes and forms. Initially I was really interested in angular shapes, but as I came back to it throughout the week I wanted the shapes to have more curves and depth in them. This can be seen from the initial sketch outlines to the addition of colour and form. I got into the groove of being creative with the different shapes and trying to get shade and practice the copic markers — they’re hard!

After the initial brainstorming I set up three perspective cubes on my page to further render a few ideas.

Rendering further on the computer I decided to use my iPad and the procreate app. I haven’t used it a lot yet, so I feel there is still a lot to learn. But this exercise got me watching a number of videos to understand how to create different masks, create textures and shadows. I think procreate is a really good tool for doing these sort of sketches, and will be useful to keep pursuing these skills throughout my designs.

My observations this week have been that sketching is not yet something I am comfortable with. Nor do I have a good judgement surrounding light and reflection on objects, and how to add shade. To try and improve I have been looking at reference images of perfume bottles and trying to render them again with pre-defined shapes, light sources and shadows. I think practice and familiarity will be key.

[nicholas5401499]

Week four: perspective sketches

This week our learning was about perspective sketching. This helps visualise a concept for how it would look in real life, projected onto a 2D page. There are a number of different types of perspective sketching such as one, two, and three point perspective, as well as isometric perspective drawing. Each have their uses and purposes, however the scale of objects that industrial designers focus on lends itself to using a 2 point perspective drawing.

Our first exercise was to translate a view of a chamfered box to a perspective view. This involved gathering measurement distances from where we viewed the box in real life in relation to our eyes. My view point was about 150 mm down and 300 mm away from my eyes. These measurements were used to set the distance from the ground line to the horizon line, and the picture plane to the station point. Once these lines were established I went about constructing my drawing.

I realised that my first go didn’t look quite right, and I established that I had not referenced my vanishing points correctly. I had not properly followed the angle to the top of the PP line, then directly down to the HL (I had just gone straight from the ground line to the HL). This meant that my vanishing points were too close to the object to give the right perspective. I redrew my guides with the proper angles and vanishing point positions I fixed this my sketch came together.

I still don’t feel particularly confident in my understanding of all the different planes (HL, PP etc.) their names and different uses. However the more I construct accurate sketches the more I will become familiar with their functionality and usefulness.

Adding boxes in the next exercise initially looked quite complicated — how do you establish the measurement points? I found using the centrepoint method to be a very neat and straightforward way of extending shapes in the desired direction. This is done by establishing the midpoint of the edge you wish to extend pass, and drawing an X extending from the corners below, through the midpoint, until they hit the vertical bounds of your box. This then gives the other corners with which you can establish a perspective box.

When it came to establishing ellipses on the faces of the cube, I found it difficult to draw nice curved lines. The end result was quite sketch like, and I’m wondering if anyone has a good technique to share to get a nicer drawing?

From this week’s exercises I feel a lot more comfortable establishing perspective sketches. I think adding a 30 degree rotation is an especially useful way of representing products and drawings. I think this will be useful for further sketching when representing other products to be able to set a global boundary, and hand sketch the designs within that.

I feel very confident drawing straight lines and angles to a high degree of accuracy, but my drawing of freehand curves still needs practice and improvement.

[nicholas5401499]

Week 3 — section and auxiliary views

This week’s class focused on showing detail that might be slightly obscured by traditional orthographic projection. This could include detail that is internal to the piece, or in the case of this week’s tutorial exercise, offset on a non-right angle.

I had previously encountered section views to represent a ‘cut’ of an object, but was not familiar with the auxiliary projection. Initially I struggled with understanding exactly what would be represented on the auxiliary section (I wanted to include the whole width of the object). However after explaining that it was to just represent the irregular taped shape, this made it quite simple.

Initially I started with a quick sketch to help create my layout and sizing. I decided to use a 1:2 ratio to make the drawing more compact and neat on my page. This also helped provide room for my title block.

I thought my sketch started to come together quite well. As you can see in the image above, I have added in the first of the hidden lines in the top view. I think this helps increase readability for manufacture as the slight differences in measurements may not be immediately apparent.

Overall I’m really happy with my technical drawing. I think the 1:2 ratio fills the page really nicely. Things that I can improve for next time include not having such a large title block, and improving the way I indicate measurements, which should be a lot closer to the drawing.

[nicholas5401499]

Week Two - Orthogonal Projection & AS1100 Standards

Hi everyone. This week's class covered orthogonal projects, how you can represent 3D objects in a set of 2D drawings in a unified way; and conventions for dimensions and layouts.

We needed to draw a simple-object, and I brought in a Bluetooth-FM transmitter (with charging ports). A necessity in the "dumbcar" era for listening to anything that's not a radio station or CD. Whilst my CD collection is actually not bad, the transmitter gets a lot of use in my 2005 Ford Falcon wagon.

The first step was to create a box out of paper to cover our object, with peep-holes on the top, left and right sides. The exercise was useful in getting the global dimensions with which to draw our object, and an intro for the third angle orthographic view system. However, it was probably a bit lengthy and unnecessary (in my opinion it's easy enough just to look at the object side on, from the top etc.).

The next step was to create these angles as an orthographic drawing. I decided to do a rough freehand sketch to indicate what would be in each view, and the detail that I wanted to include. I found this really helpful later on when I was bogged down in detailed drawing to quickly refer to which angle I was working on, and the features that needed to be included.

The next step was to draw the to scale orthographic projection. This was a very consuming processes, with lots of measuring, translating and ruling. I really found construction lines come into their own here! I started on the front view, and whilst it took a while to complete accurately, I found the construction lines from this view meant that 75% of the other views were already constructed.

The next step was to add dimensions, which this drawing had a lot of. I needed to think about where there were overlapping dimensions between views, and where there were functional dimensions.

I enjoyed the exercise overall but found a lot of the work quite tedious, and wished I had a template. Especially at the end when I was marking out borders, grid references, and the document information block.

For next time I think I need to improve on my marking out and reference to centrelines, as these are important reference points for placement of detail throughout the drawing.

[nicholas5401499]

Week 1

For this week’s class, we had a number of circular and triangular shapes to create. This isn’t my first foray into technical drawing, but it has been years and years since I last used a protractor!

I thought that the drawing went pretty well. There was definitely an adjustment to be made in my thinking around how to approach the dimensions and construction of the geometry. My background in engineering meant that I am very used to approaching triangles with a set of equations to find out all their exact lengths and heights. After calculating a few heights and realising that it didn’t actually help me draw anything I was able to “lean in” to the process of letting the geometry and straight lines of my drawing tools guide me. Construction was then really easy from there!

It’s my first time using a tee square to reference the paper and rulers off of, but it was amazing to be able to reference a horizontal line to construct perpendicular and angled lines off of. I also hadn’t used a protractor that was able to provide so much fixed accuracy before.

A couple of areas to improve upon include being able to re-reference my lines when going over in pen. In particular with the protractor, and the set circles. The circles were difficult to gauge exactly where the tangent would continue, especially when flipping the guide to avoid pen bleed.

For the tessellating triangles exercise, I decided to use thicker card (rather than bond paper) to be able to join the pieces more firmly. I used markers to colour them for a more visually appealing result, and to show different arrangements clearly.

[nicholas5401499]

Hi Communications 2 folk! Most of you will know me by now, but for those of you who don’t, nice to meet you.

Looking forward to this class and getting better at my technical drawing skills with the help of you all.

A bit about me — as well as studying industrial design, I work part time for the Australian Government working on fuel security policy. Ask me about diesel exhaust fluid some time!

When I’m not at work or studying, I spend a lot of my time pursuing various hobbies. Here’s a photo of one of my recent sourdough bread bakes! My starter is getting nice and mature, I think it’s almost 5 years old.