Research
The research of this assignment was watching a video titled “Doodlers, unite!” by Sunni Brown, where she talked about positive aspects of doodling. From this talk, I learned that doodling:
- is spontaneous marks to help people think
- protects them from losing focus.
- is highly related to creative problem-solving and deep information processing.
Another thing before starting iterations was reading books titled “The Pleasure in Drawing” and “Sketching as Design Thinking.” I did not have access to these books and was able to read part of the books. They examine the medium of drawing in the context of the production of form, as a formative force, and as a birth to form. The main idea was that drawing opens more toward a finality without end and the infinite recurrence of ends, toward lines of sense marked by tracings, suspensions, and permanent interruptions, than it does toward its achievement, intention, and success.
Exercise
The exercise was mainly focused on designing and constructing a mini sketchbook. I first gathered a material, which was just a piece of paper, and made a mini sketchbook by following the instructor’s instructions. The making process was all about cutting and folding, and easy to create one. My first one did not come out neat and clean. I used this to write down some answers to the instructor’s prompt questions, such as “what animal would you be?” and “what kind of help do people ask for you?” Then I made a better mini sketchbook for the second attempt where I drew a mindmap with the topic of “What is the best season?” For the next part, my tablemates and I drew a mind map on a large piece of paper with the same topic. We all had less experience in mind-mapping, so ours was not perfectly composed but still had good subtopics and related ideas. After making and reviewing the mindmap, our group concluded that fall is the best season.
Iterations
For the first step of making a sketchbook, I created a wishlist where I wrote down some basics and features I wanted to include in my sketchbook. My primary focus was to secure the sketchbook and the pages inside. I have used many different kinds of sketchbooks before, but most of them were damaged very quickly since the covers were made out of fragile materials. Therefore, the first thing I decided was to use a hard/ solid cover that would prevent any damages. Wood board, a material that is solid and unusual for any crease, was the best option for me. I also decided to use a paperboard for the back cover, which is a typical material for most sketchbooks. The cover design was the next thing I began to consider. At first, I wanted to put my favorite painting, The Starry Night by Van Gogh, to give some aesthetic value. However, when I talked about this with the instructor, I realized that it was not going to be an easy process to put a picture on the cover using a laser cutter and would require a lot of testing. I decided not to process this. The purpose/ use of my sketchbook is primarily for drawing. I love traveling and have been to many countries before, and I wanted to use mine for drawing landscapes whenever visiting other countries. I determined to put a contour world map and the word “sketchbook” above since I must include text. I used one of my favorite fonts for the word so that I get a little more excited and gain some motivation before drawing.
The size was the next thing I began to consider. I wanted to use the sketchbook for drawing purposes and make it easy to carry. I was initially going to make it 7″ x 9″ or 6″ x 9″ but later decided to 5.5″ x 8.5″, which was A5 size. The reason for this decision was because I believed it would make the process faster because all I had to do was get A5 papers and combine them with the covers together; I did not have to use the laser cutter to cut the papers out for my desired size. Also, I usually draw on A4 papers but often find them a little large and thought A5 would be a perfect size. I believed a spiral-bound would combine the covers and the pages together stable and firmly and determined to go with it. I also decided to get a sketchbook cover made out of cloth fabric that would further protect my sketchbook. It not only secures the pages but also has a pen holder and some pockets inside, and I believe this material will make the drawing process more comfortable.
Production
To begin hand-crafting, I began to collect the materials I needed.
- Cloth fabric cover: It can only be bought online. Due to snow, I knew it would arrive later than expected, so I ordered the same material on three different websites.
- Wood board and paperboard: I was able to get these materials for free from the Art Department.
- Spiral-bound: It was provided to students who needed one.
- Cutting method: I had access to laser cutters on the campus.
After getting and planning to get all the materials, I started working on an Illustrator file for my front cover. The first thing I did was make the file 5.5″ x 8.5″. I chose my favorite font for the word sketchbook and used tools to make it look more aesthetic. I added two round squares around the world to give a sense of the title. Beneath the squares, I drew a contour of the world map; I simply searched the image on Google and traced the outline. Then I wrote my signature on the bottom right of the page to indicate it belonged to me. (At that time, I did not notice that I must include your name, course, and year on the back of the book, which was one reason I put my signature on the front.) Based on the length and number of spirals of the spiral-bound, I decided to make 24 holes where the bound goes in. I put 24 circles with a size of 0.01 inches on the left side of the page. This process was not a challenging task for me since I have used Illustrator lots of times. However, cutting using a laser cutter was the part I kind of struggled with the most.
The first thing I needed to do was to reserve the time for access to the cutting machine. There was a class period time when we could use the cutter without reservations, but since I worked in my file during that time. The only way for me to use the machine was through the reservation. I reserved the time and visited Hopkins Hall for the laser cutter. I thought I would take less than an hour because I had all my files ready; I vectorized the file and made the stroke black and 0.072 pt. When I put the wood board in the machine and started the process, the cutter did not completely cut the board as it was thick. I raised the power of the cutter, but it still did not cut it completely. I repeated this process three more times, and the machine finally cut it out. Then it was time for the paper that went between the two covers. I already had the A5-sized paper, and the only thing I had to do was make 24 circular holes on the left side of the paper using the laser cutter. I set the speed 70 and power 15 for cutting four pages and repeated this process ten times for other papers. It took plenty of time for completion, but the reason I did this because:
- I knew the laser cutter would not cut 40 pages at one time.
- There would be some burn marks around the circular holes if I tried to cut all the pages at high speed.
For the back cover, I copied the same process as the papers but increased power to 80 instead since it was thicker than them. I had to clean up the cut material with wet tissues because of ashes resulted from the cutting process.
I got all the materials cut, and the final step was to make the spiral go in the circular holes. I aligned the front cover, papers, and back cover together and made the spiral go through each hole. I wrote down my name, course, and year in the back with a pen and fitted the sketchbook in the cloth fabric cover. I was able to complete the project on time, and the outcome was what I expected it to be.
