#ides1262

Over the past ten weeks, I have learnt a variety of skills that assist in communicating a design idea.

In the first few weeks, we practiced using pen and paper to draw basic shapes and objects to a high degree of accuracy. During this time frame, I also learnt about the usefulness of partial auxiliary views and how to draw in perspective. However, the perspective drawing task in week 4 was definitely one of the hardest tasks in this course. Whilst the other tasks so far simply just took a bit more time to do because of the sheer amount of measurements required, I genuinely struggled quite a bit to grasp the method of drawing in perspective. Though in the end, I managed to pull through after a few attempts and video tutorials.

Starting from week 6, we transitioned into the digital workspace. We learnt how to create digital renders of our design ideas and began trying out 3D modelling software such as 3DS MAX. Learning how to work digitally enabled me to create higher fidelity models and therefore improved my design communication skills. Whilst I am still not very familiar with 3DS MAX, I am able to acknowledge its ability in efficiently refining scanned models as well as creating organic shapes. It was quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to experience the scanning and 3D printing process being an online student, but it is definitely something that I am looking forward to in the future. Being a Mac user, it was quite frustrating to use 3DS MAX via MyAccess; it was fairly laggy and the response times were delayed. However, one cannot deny the usefulness of tools like 3DS MAX. As an alternative to 3DS MAX, I plan to try out Blender as it is available on Mac.

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.

IDES1262 has proved to be very beneficial to me and has created a great learning experience where I have seen myself develop. It has been great working a long a process of different kinds of drawings, to model making, to digital model making, to 3d printing. It is a process that I see as crucial to design which drove me to work harder at learning more about each step which I am happy about working through.

I’m happy to say that I am proud of the work I have created, but more importantly what I have learned from them which I have tried my best to convey in each of my weekly posts. The most important lesson I found from this experience was the growth found through failure. Especially during the last weeks which I found most painful and failure was prevalent, it forced me to research more, learn more, ending with me creating much cooler things than I thought I would.

I really enjoyed the weekly task format of this course. It made each step a lot easier to digest as there was time to make up for any shortcomings before the next class. Also, it was extremely helpful to start each task in class with the teachers present to help guide the process and get things started so I could really start experimenting with ideas later. I think it showed how valuable the in-class experience was during the last weeks, when due to lots of people having technical issues getting things set up, not a lot of time was dedicated to helping people with the work. This for me led to a lot more time being spent struggling, and a lot of extra time spent looking for helpful resources which in the end isn’t all bad.

If I had the opportunity to do things differently with the knowledge I now have, I would want to challenge myself even more. The course is a great introduction to a lot of the steps of the design process, but generally things are kept simple so they can be better understood and absorbed. So I think I would really enjoy further and refining the skills I developed by challenging them more, especially in 3ds Max which I see a lot of potential for making cool stuff in.

I found this week to be very relevant and informative given our upcoming assessment for Studio this term. It provided us with time to think about our models as well as improve our craft through taught techniques regarding the hot wire cutter and finishing with sanding.

I experimented with the hot wire cutter but soon realized a modular approach would be far easier given the stacked nature of my model. as such I used long scrap strips of blue foam and cut them into my desired length.

Next, I learned the hard way that superglue is NOT to be used on foam as it had soon eaten a hole through my bottle. Hence, I started once again but this time using a simple glue stick to stick the layers upon one another.

Finally after making a hole for the atomizer to sit in, the model did in fact resemble a 50mL perfume bottle, which I was happy with. I went on to sand the edges which helped the final appearance of the bottle as it looked more resolved and comfortable in the hand. Lastly, for the sake of it I went on to make a very rudimentary stand. This took multiple attempts believe it or not, as I was experimenting with different joints and many of them didn't work. And of course I could not leave the bottle sitting there with out a cap so I quickly whipped one up in the little time I had left.

(Open the photos for a clearer image resolution.)

Pre-Class: Watching Andrew Simpson's video gave me a better insight into the importance of prototypes and models when creating a product and his mention of using different materials to recreate the size and weight made me realize I never took the weight into account. Although blue foam is a good way to recreate the shape, it is way lighter than the final product which is made up of glass filled up with liquid. As such, it gave me the idea to create my next model out of clay as it is closer in weight and still allows a high level of moldability.

Part 1 - Scanning & Meshing

This week was a fun way to learn how different software programs interact with each other and help produce a model for 3D printing. One main thing I learnt was that using a 2015 MacBook to run Rhino and 3ds Max is an insane choice and possibly an inventive way to cause an explosion.

After many failed attempts to boot both programs, I gave up and decided to complete this exercise at home as I had a stronger WiFi connection and a PC with (way) better specs.

Onto the actual work! After the lovely staff of the MCIC helped me scan my perfume bottle model into a 3D scan saved as an .stl file. [F.1] I got to opening it in Rhino and applying a quad remesh as this allows easier manipulation of the model in 3ds Max. [F.2] As someone who used Rhino previously it was comforting to be using a familiar program and had no issue completing this part.

[F.1] Scanned Perfume Bottle.stl

[F.2] Model Before and After Quad ReMesh

Part 2 - Orientation & Modification

After last week, I dedicated myself to watching tutorial videos on 3ds Max throughout the week so as to get more affiliated with the program which really paid off during this exercise. Once I had the file prepared, I imported it to the program and quickly dealt with the orientation. [F.3]

[F.3] Unmodified Model

The modification got a bit tricky after this though as my model had a few bumps around the surface caused by my nails which is less than ideal. The smoothing tool was a great help when combating this issue and luckily the dents were not too deep. I also used the symmetry tool to ensure my front and back view were identical. However, the mirror tool was really tricky to orientate as it is harder to view and the program was lagging heavily. I will look into better options to combat this issue as the lagging should not have occurred at all. Once the model looked ready to print, I saved and exported the file and moved on to Cura. [F.4]

[F.4] Finished Model

Part 3 - Preparing for 3D Printing

With the file ready to go, once it was uploaded to Cura the rest was quite straightforward. I ensured the scaling of the bottle was right and made sure all the edges were nice and smooth. I then sliced it and my model is ready to print. As I do not have access to the printing services right now, I unfortunately cannot print my model but I could at least preview what it would have looked like. [F.5]

[F.5] Sliced Model Ready to Print

Bonus - Carl Update

Since this exercise did not take too long to complete and I was looking to implement something fun, I remembered how on my previous weekly post I had mentioned that I wished to learn how to 3D print the friend I made, Carl the Capybara. So I decided to do so!

With a quick tutorial, I learnt how to merge together Carl into a singular poly mesh on 3ds Max which meant he was ready for exporting! Once exported, I uploaded him onto Cura and scaled him to a friendly keychain-like size. [F.6]

[F.6] Carl

Once sliced, I realised I should add support beams for the stomach and do an infill to ensure the printing result would be sturdy. Once done, Carl was ready to print! [F.7]

[F.7] Perfection

Building off from last week and the basics of perspective drawing I felt confident coming into this. The first part of the task to draw thumbnail concepts was quite easy and fun. Creativity can flow and its hard to draw a front on view so badly it can't be recognized. My first sheet wasn't very good at all however which lead to a complete redraw of 12 new thumbnails which I think 2 or 3 could be taken further.

Now onto Part 2. The punishment from not taking the time to learn how to draw curves in perspective catches up with me. I found translating what I thought my bottles should look like into 3D drawings to be quite the challenge. They seemed to always come out looking boxy or just like a regular cylinder. I attempted many times to find a way to make the rounded corners of the bottle look somewhat accurate, getting closer and closer every time. Different methods were implemented, I was determined to take some time to figure it out. Adding some shading here, breaking up the perspective box this way or that way. I found drawing oval shapes in perspective to match up all the lines helped a bit. Still after construction lines where erased the bottle went back to looking like a round cylinder. So then shading was experimented with. I thought if I had the basic shape done then what was missing was some faux shadows. This seemed to help a bit but the complex curves I was trying to draw from an idea built in my brain still proved to fail me. I think I got close to what I was after but to me more still needs to be done.

This week's task was a creative change from previous weeks, and I found it useful to highlight the areas where my skills could use a lot of work. To begin with, the amount of time I spent placing the 65*32.5 boxes on an A2 page was absurd, but once I had them I begun sketching the perfume bottles quite quickly as ideas kept coming to mind. I chose pride for the emotion I designed off of, because lord knows I have no idea what 'motivated' means.

I started at the bottom right and worked my way up to the top left, presuming that as I ideated I would have more interesting ideas that I would want to bring attention to first, as opposed to the more basic shapes I had started with.

I ended up creating a good range of shapes which I was halfway pleased with, particularly disliking the top row once I felt I had finished my sketches. I think it's important to also know what you don't like in a design, so I left them as examples of how perhaps too much detail - for example the top right - can detract, and that having more abstract shapes - top left - can make for just ugly shapes. My favourites were the two in the middle row on the right hand side, as well as the more basic tapered prism in the bottom left. I thought these were the most interesting and had the most potential to be expanded upon, so I chose to redraw these in perspective.

I was really quite pleased with how these came out in perspective, especially considering how few straight lines the far left drawing had. I really struggled to get good curves and to accentuate the shape of the bottom of the bottle, but I'm still proud of my progress in perspective drawing. My personal favourite is by far the middle, although I feel like it's not terribly unique in terms of it's design it still conveys pride quite well.

I really struggled adding shading to the drawings, as that's a skill I've always lacked and am still developing, albeit slowly. I don't think it's too bad, and it does help accentuate the shape of the middle one quite well, but I feel it detracts from the far left significantly enough that I think it looked better without.

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.