Research
The final assignment for the Fundamentals class was to design a gift for a mentor you chose based on his/her discipline and interests outside of design. I looked up the available mentors who had the same discipline I wanted to get in (Industrial Design) and chose a guy named “Chuck.” There were many other mentors available, but I chose him because we shared similar hobbies: On the sheet, it said his interests are basketball, spending time with friends, and watching sports, so are my interests. I usually make friends by playing or talking about sports and believe if I showed a shared interest, we could easily be friends in a short amount of time, which could lead my outcome to be successful.
Exercise 1
The first exercise for this project was to demonstrate the best gift I have ever received in my life. I said the best gift I received was a pack of clothes and the birthday cake I received when it was my birthday. On that day, I visited my friend’s dorm to receive stuff he borrowed from me. He told me to come to the standard room, and when I opened the door, my close friends started singing the birthday song and gave me a bunch of clothes. The reason I chose these as the best gifts was not because of the price or the amount, and it was because they were surprises and my close friends gave them to me. This exercise reminded me that the gift should not be expensive or fancy to be the best. Instead, it is about how memorable and meaningful it is to that person.
Exercise 2
The second exercise was to make a container/packaging. We were asked to pick a random given object and create a container. I worked as a team with Ava, and we chose a bee that looked like a toy. We decided to make a yellow hexagon box and a black top for the box. The bee was attached to the top with a string and went inside the box when you closed the box with the top. When grabbing the top and opening the box, the bee would look like flying. This exercise made me realize that the packaging can affect the quality and significance of a gift.
Iterations
Selecting a quote or inspiration from artists was the first step I needed to take. I looked up some famous quotes from designers about design and came up with three favorite quotes.
“Make it simple. but significant.” – Don Draper
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“Art is anything you can get away with.” – Marshal McLuhan
The first two quotes fascinated me because they accorded to my gift principles. I thought making a gift for the mentor did not have to be super crafted complicatedly, and it just needed to be something that impressive and touched one’s heart. I was going to select one of these two quotes until I found my favorite quote by Marshal McLuhan. “Art is anything you can get away with.” Art might be stressful for a few people, but people usually find art relaxing and gives a sense of calmness, especially students who chose their major to be related to art like Chuck. Designing a gift for him and enjoying the gift is also part of the art process, and it is beneficial to both of us since we are design (art) students. Therefore, I decided to move on with this quote because it accorded with my principle and related to the definition of a gift.
To begin with designing, I asked my mentor some sets of questions in order to get to know him. However, I introduced myself and what the assignment was about to the mentor so he could have a clear idea of what the project was and be prepared to answer the questions. The questions I asked him were
- What is your hobby?
- If you get to live on a deserted island forever, what are the three items you will bring for entertainment?
- If you were a food, what would it be?
These questions are meant to be fun and make the responder feel comfortable. My mentor answered:
- Some of my hobbies are playing sports, watching OSU/Cleveland sports, and going to new places with friends.
- If I lived on a desert island and had only three things, I’d probably bring a basketball, my Nintendo switch, and a deck of cards.
- If I were a food, I’d be Chicago deep-dish pizza.
After receiving these answers, I also answered these questions to start a good conversation and make him feel comfortable. After gathering information about him, I decided to design a gift that is related to basketball since he is a basketball lover.
I started thinking about the possible gifts based on basketball.
- Basketball hoop on door
- Trash can under a basketball hoop
- A necklace with his name on it
- A both-sided metal with his name on it and a picture of himself playing basketball
- A basketball board game
I really wanted to move on with either of the first two options (basketball hoop) since every basketball lover loves this item, but it seemed challenging for crafting because there were so many other works I needed to do besides laser cutting. The third and fourth options also caught my mind, but I wanted something he could enjoy himself and with his friends. Therefore, I set my mind to craft a basketball board game. There were three reasons I chose this option to be the gift. The first reason is that Chuck loves basketball, and I believe he could enjoy playing this board game so much. The second reason is Chuck also loves playing games, as he mentioned he likes playing Nintendo Switch. The last reason is that Chuck loves hanging out with his friends, and I firmly believe he and his friends could enjoy this game together.
Production
I decided the board game to be shooting the ball to hoops using a technique of a catapult. I gained this inspiration from arcade basketball shooting which is enjoyed by people who love basketball. I planned to make this arcade game a smaller and portable version that he could enjoy anywhere he wanted.
I wanted to ball to come back after shooting, so I decided to make it tilted. After shooting, the balls would come back to the shooting area through small passage balls can go.
Then I made three same-sized hoops that would be located at different heights to make the game more fun. I used grid paper instead of a net and a red pencil instead of a rim to make it look like a real hoop.
I also made a back panel where one of the hoops will be hung.
The next step was to build a catapult that could change the directions (left-right and right-left), so he could aim at different hoops. I used to make catapults back in my high school days and was able to build one that shoots pretty far. I attached all the stuff I made and successfully built a portable basketball arcade game with three hoops.
The final step was to build a container. I wanted the container to have a handle so he could carry this easily and play whenever and wherever he wanted. I also attached a small piece of paper on both sides of the opening section of the container to let him know he could put his index finger and thumb, grab the box, and open the container.
I put the green paper on the box container as a package design and give a sense of a board game using a standout color.
