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Research

In this project, I thought back on all the different concepts and lessons I have learned over the past year. I thought of the different design styles and solutions I used to create my own projects and the things I leaned to do better. For this project I wanted to draw out my animation, because I haven’t done that before, I began researching and trying to figure out the different programs I can use to do that.

the first step was to define the word and get to know my mentor. we communicated through iMessage so whatever we talked about was recorded an di could refer back to it when Im brainstorming and making the final piece. we talked about a lot of things and I asked her many questions to get to know her and to understand why she chose industrial design.

Where are you from? Why industrial design? what inspires you? Hobbies? interests? whats the most valuable lesson you’ve learned so far? What are your professional and personal goals? what are your values? did you have any struggles that define the person you are today? what is your favorite meme/gif? and what is the best gift you have ever received?

Exercises/Activities

Exercise 1 – What is the best gift you have ever received?

When I was a senior in high school, I was suffering from depression. At that time I was going through a lot because my parents were getting a divorce and I was dealing with a lot of things on my own. My sister and I grew up being best friends and inseparable. She was in another city attending university and I barely ever saw her, so part of it was me feeling very alone.

On my birthday, a giant box showed up at my door step and the bell rang. Me and my mom gathered at the door trying to figure out what it was and who sent it. Both of us tried hauling it into the house but it was too heavy. We eventually gave up and decided to just open it outside.

As we ripped open the wrapping paper and cut through the tape ,my sister popped out of the box scaring us to death. In her hand was a scrapbook of pictures of our adventures and a small gift.

This is a memory I cherish a lot because her presence was the best gift he could have given me. This taught me that gifts don’t have to be material things, the most significant and thoughtful part of this gift was that it gave me what I needed in that moment, and that was just emotional support and hope.

Exercise 2 – Quotes

” I am not concerned with gifts given in spite or fear, nor those gifts we accept out of servility or obligation; my concern is the gift we long for, the gift that, when it comes, speaks commandingly to the soul and irresistibly moves us.” – Lewis Hyde

“It is what you make of it”- Lewis Hyde

Iterations and Production 

From my conversation with Allison, she told me that she loves gritty (Philadelphia Flyers Mascot) so I started making meme gifs. I wanted to create something funny that would make her laugh because we talked about how we both don’t care about material things but instead, the meaning behind them. The sentimental value of something is a lot more important to both of us.

I really enjoyed using hand tools and making this on the iPad. I cut out and moved the eyeball and wrote a gritty comment about gritty never blinking. In recent months, gritty memes have become a way for people to express their political opinion. So I tried to use motion book to draw out gritty himself using this reference image during this process I was still getting used to drawing out my animation instead of using vectors like in the dynamic pages project. Some of the limitations on Motion-Book are the lack of drawing tools like blending. It was hard to make complex drawings with the limited brushes and pens. my original plan was to make gritty play hockey but I wasn’t able to bring it to life in the way that I wanted. this taught me the importance of functionality within design. This drawing took me a really long time and to make an animation, I would have to redraw the character on each frame.

After making this, I had to take a step back and look back at the assignment brief. A major aspect of the project is focused around this phrase. “Design a “gift” intended to explain or highlight an idea you have come to understand as fundamental about design”. until now I had only been focusing on the actual piece and not the concept behind it or what it means. so I had to go back to the drawing board and rethink my idea. 

I decided to research a powerful quote that would inspire Allison when she graduates. something to help her with her goals and motivate her when she’s feeling down. I started using Adobe Animate to bring this new idea to life.

“Design the life you want to live”- Rachel Roy

I started drawing out a hand to represent the fact that the future is in your hands and what you make of it is up to you. The hand is holding a smily face to reinforce the idea that you control your own emotions and you can do whatever you put your mind to. The background is space because this concept closely resembles the concept of manifestation in Quantum physics. I like this idea a lot better than the meme because it has a deeper meaning and the drawing part came together well.

I wanted to used colors that stand out and are cartoonish so I went with neon ones.

Changed the font:

Concept Statement

 

Research- 

 

We began this project by exploring the different ways to show movement using paper and other materials. Our research included research on lenticular, origami, waterwheel, and kirisomi techniques. We observed different ways of construction and even made our own paper versions of ones we found most interesting and relevant to this project.

 

 

The second technique is the one we chose to go with. The inspiration for this was these two photos.

 

 

This technique relies on the viewer shifting their eye or position, but we want to engage the viewer to interact with the piece. so we adjusted our final to accomplish this goal. We were also inspired but this painting of a rabbit (also relies on the movement of the viewer).

Iterations- 

 

Then we began brainstorming different themes for our project to take form. A problem we ran into was that it was much harder to come up with a solution when we started with the theme. So we stepped back and went back to the drawing board to use principles and elements to lead our design.

 

 

Form was the element that we chose to focus on, from brainstorming, we were able to come up with many more ideas and approaches at this point of the project. Form could be applied in many different ways, and along g with that, we had to use it to show movement. Along with movement in our piece, we decided to also utilize lines within the illustration to highlight the element of movement.

 

Concept Statement- 

In this project, we were tasked with both- creating a project to emphasize the principle of movement, and to work as a team to integrate our own personal styles and ideas to result in s combined product. Alex and I researched, iterated, brainstormed and experimented with several different approaches before settling on one that expressed both of our creative styles. We explored colors, shapes, themes, illustration/animation programs and materials. Our final product took the theme of the “Simulation Theory” – a theory that hypothesizes that all reality could be an artificial simulation based on the scientific and technological advances we see today. We intended to create a contrast between a real and simulated life using color, contrast and especially line (portrayed in the colorful side) in our movement piece. The action of the eye opening is a significant in this piece because it emphasizes the concept further. As humans, we only use a portion of our brain, whereas a computer can process endless configurations at the same time.  Since we are both doing distanced learning, we decided it would be fun and benefits for us to create both a physical piece and an online animation to show the functionality of movement within our final piece. 

Production-

These were made using Blender.

 

With this version, the side bars seemed problematic because they would be easy to break off. So, Alex came up with this other idea where the sidebars fold in with the whole piece.

 

 

 

As for the simulated version, we wanted to use lines to create a social movement effect, this picture was our inspiration. Although in this one, the artist utilizes one point perspective, it effectively shows movement within the piece.

 

 

 

We deiced to make the final product with plywood. Since Alex was the one creating the physical product, he wanted to create something that he could use in the long term. Although we did use paper on paste the illustration on top of the wood.

 

 

Meanwhile I began creating the illustration using illustrator. First I made the outline of the face, then added hair, eye, nose, and mouth. Then I created the contours and used a neutral color palette to highlight the woman features. I experimented with quiet a few different shades before landing on these, darker and lighter tones.

 

 

The toughest part was creating the shadows and getting the contours right and making them look realistic and proportional. Part of the simulation theory is about enlightenment, so I decided to create that version with the girl’s eye open. The lines were created using photoshop, the blur effect and adjusting the hue and saturation of the original.

 

     

 

Alex then took it to photoshop and intensified the effects to create a “matrix” type theme. We wanted to exaggerate colors and lines in this version.

 

Me and Alex are both doing distanced learning so we collaborated in a different way from the rest of our classmates. It was a pleasure working with him and we made a good team utilizing our different talents. See his page for a more detailed view of our process.

Final

Research

First, I stated exploring different narratives. I thought back to the stories I was told as a child, my every day activities and stories from my imagination. An essential part of this project was to compress the story in 4 frames to make it understandable and to make it connect in a cyclical manner. I looked up how others illustrate stories and what makes them interesting. I found that a cartoon style way of storytelling comes out to be interesting yet informative.

 

In my process, I crafted an infinite flipper using printer paper. The first one I made came out faulty and didn’t fold the way I wanted. This showed me the importance of craft and accurate measurements. I found that each frame opened up to the next and thats when I decided i wanted to transition from one frame to the next in a collective and seamless way.

Exercises

One of the worst feelings in the world is when you realize you weren’t paranoid after all.

 

Iterations

 

 

In these first iterations, I thought of stories I could compress. in the first frame, a couple is living a happy life, only to be ripped apart. The girl feels like she has lost her own identity in the process. This is a representation of a person who’s happiness is dependent on others.

In the nest frame, I illustrate the lifecycle of a chicken in a humorous way. What came first? the chicken or the egg? in this story, there was a lack of transition, the frames were all pretty disconnected and therefore didn’t satisfy the requirements of the project.

 

In these next iteration I wanted to show a box, within a box, within a box. The “inception” aspect was meant to confuse the viewer and challenge them to figure out which box is the protagonist of the story.

For the Action scene, these are action moves created in a comic style way. to expand on it, I would have used lines and weight to make the movements more dramatic and visually appealing. but, this also lacked the transition I was going for with this project.

 

 

     

This by far was my favorite idea. In this scene, The character is teleporting through portals. The use of lines helps create movement within the piece as well as create harmony with the physical movement of the piece. This was the bone bare stage of the process.

 

Concept Statement

In this story, an insomniac character finds himself longing for an adventure in the dead of night. In the first scene, he is in the bedroom, where he sees city lights through his window. In the next, he is teleported to the streets of the deserted city. In the third frame, he is in the woods, wondering past a gloomy lake. Finally, in the fourth, he is in a setting far away from his bedroom, only to find himself back there in the cyclical loop. The background is morphed to harmonize with the cartoonish theme. I used tolerance adjustments to create more contrast within the scenes. The character is racing through each setting, I used the blur tool to achieve this.

 

Production

 

Original images –

I found these images that coincide with my narrative. So I began to edit them and morph them to harmonize with my main character. I adjusted tolerance, added shadows, used lines to create a sketchy overlay. I created layers to make the background blurry- this is to show speed and movement in the frames.I also used circles to create the teleportation passage. I used the smudge tool to create a blurry effect.

 

Citations 

https://wallpaperaccess.com/anime-lake

Visionary from wallpapers

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/823595850583038984/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/585608757786867938/

Summary of Juniper Tree 

The juniper tree is a tale about a wealthy couple that prays to have a child. One winter day, the wife begins to cut an apple under a juniper tree. She cuts her finger and the blood begins to drip on the snow. This leads to her wishing for a child “as white as snow and as red as blood”. She leaves to go back to her house. A couple months later, the wife becomes severely ill from eating berries from the juniper tree, so she asks that upon her death, she be buried under the tree. A month later, she dies giving birth to a boy, as white as snow and as red as blood.

Later on, the husband remarries and the couple have a baby girl. As the years pass, the step mother grows to hate the boy with a passion. The boy is abused and cursed at every day and cannot find peace in the house. In efforts to secure the inheritance for her daughter, the stepmother plans to lure the boy into a room with a chest of apples. While reaching for the apple she slams the lid of the chest on his neck, decapitating him. She bandages his head to his body and sits him down on a chair outside with the apple on. his chest. His sister asks him for the apple, and upon the step mothers advice, she boxes his ear- causing his head to roll off his body. The stepmother begins to cook his remains into a “blood soup” to feed the family for lunch. When the husband comes home, the step mother constructs a story of the son leaving to stay with his uncle. He is shocked to find out that his son had left without saying goodbye.

Crying, the sister buries her brothers bones under the juniper tree. following some mist,  a bird emerges from the tree. The bird visits local townspeople to tell them the story in the form of a song. After each visit, he acquires a gold chain, shoes and a millstone and makes its way back to the house. Meanwhile, the stepmother complains about “raging fires within her arteries” which are reveled to be the cause of her hate. she goes outside to get some relief, and is suddenly struck by the millstone. The son emerges from a cloud of smoke and is reveled to be the bird. He is reunited with his family and they head inside for lunch.

 

Journaling and Thought Process

When I first read this story, it came off as very morbid and gruesome. I was especially amused by the beginning of the story, where the woman sacrifices her blood under a tree to make her wish come true. Dark magic, biblical symbolism and fantasy were the themes that were most obvious to me. I felt that the mother was a main character of the story even though her appearance was brief. She was the connection between the series of events leading up to the stepmother’s demise.

I started journaling what comes to mind when I think of these themes.

Research and Source Finding

I began by finding images to represent parts of the story. I tried to find several versions so that I could test out which looked best with the other pictures.

 

Concept Statement

First draft concept –

For my collage, I’m going to be focusing on this paragraph from juniper tree. I’m going to portray time by moving the series of events clockwise around the page. I want to use the elements and principles to portray the emotions felt in this paragraph, intertwining them with the events to show a flow of time and space. I want to portray this part of the story in an extreme way, incorporating elects of darkness and implying black magic with the apple. retro esthetic, associate magic with historical–

As it progressed –

For this collage, I used line and shape and the underlying theme of my piece. The line work helped create dimension and balance to contribute to the overall harmony of the collage. The “glow” changed the value of the triangles to emphasize the mystical aspect of the story. The whole piece focuses on the beginning of the story where the biological mother is alive. Light is used to emphasize that the blood sacrifice and the symbolism of the apple is a crucial aspect of the story. With these Elements and principles combined, the viewer can obviously infer that this is a portal of the calm before the storm. The subtle hints of red color serve to tease the viewer into trying to comprehend what’s to come.

Exercises

This was my first time making something in photoshop so I tried these exercises. For the vase, I changed the color of the leaves using a hue mask. I made these edits using Photoshop on iPad. Later on, I found that I could do a lot more and experiment more on the desktop version of the software.

 

For this Exercise, I had to create a collage using a picture of a: teddy bear, umbrella, goggles and a cell phone. I also created this one on the iPad so the tools I used were limited.

Now that I know how to use more tools, I would have used the blur tool to make the parts look more coherent.

Production

I began by adjusting the hue of my background image.

             

I chose red as the hue color because I wanted to start giving subtle hints to the viewer about whats to come in the story. The red builds anticipation, and the changes so far are so small that its still the calm before the storm.

Then I started extracting parts of the morphed image. I did this by screen shotting images and then importing them into illustrator. Initially, I felt more comfortable using illustrator to do this project. I already knew how to do some of the things I intended to do. As I moved further into the composition, I found that if I had started in photoshop, the layering process would have been a lot easier and more seamless because I would be able to change things as I go with the layers. but because I imported a jpeg into photoshop, I was limited and had to find another way to achieve the overlays that I wanted.

Then I stared overlaying the morphed image onto the original and incorporating triangles into the composition.

Then I started using the lasso tool to select and copy to remove the background from the piece.

I selected the bright areas using  (Select)-(Color Range), then I copied that on to a seperate layer. Then I used the Radial Blur tool to add a light and multiplied the layers to taste.

I added a glow around the triangles to make them stand out more.

I added the dark grey background to make the triangles (cone) stand out more.

In my last steps I added an apple, snow, wings and blood to bring the whole piece together. I had to adjust the opacity of each to make them harmonize.

 

Final Project

 

Image Citations –

https://www.hippostcard.com/listing/utah-juniper-in-desert-canyon-ancient-gnarled-tree-postcard/4210047

https://www.zedge.net/wallpaper/3375cac6-5c7c-3b6f-951e-0e3b27f0394b

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-landscape-trees-silhouette-sunset-vietnamese-709385299

https://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphicthumb/snow_and_trees_196729.jpg

https://images.app.goo.gl/Dkz3cMYnMtnppSaN6

https://picsart.com/i/325544506041211

 

 

 

 

Research 

I began this project by thinking of signs and symbols that represent me. I researched words and synonyms of things relating to exercise, traveling, sports a. I also researched different fonts and letters for the exercises associated with this project.

Exercises 

For the first exercise, I learned to utilize the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. I did this exercise and followed the instructions to accurately outline the different curves and shapes.

 

For the next exercise, I used my initial to reveal negative and positive space to hide an image that represents something about myself. I experimented with several different fonts and words to find the best fit. I began by using symbols of things I like; philosophy, exercise, aerobics and puzzles. I experimented with both white and black backgrounds. This assignment was going to be cut out using a laser printer.

The laser printer cuts at a continuous line so all the parts had to be outlined with a line. I didn’t know that at the time I was constructing my piece so my final ended up missing the smile part of my composition. This was a good learning lesson for the project. After testing several iterations, I chose this one as my final.

This is a picture of me in a cowboy hat, smiling. Im a very happy and positive person so I thought it would be the best representation of my personality. I am from Texas and the cowboy hat accurately represents that. to make the pdf file for the laser cutter, I used the pen tool to outline the composition using the skills I learned in the first exercise.

Iterations 

For the Project, I began by making a list of homonyms (words that have different meanings but sound the same).

Rock, rose, bat, sun/son, see/sea, plane/plain, whole/hole, brake/break, express, Lie, spring, bear, night/knight.

After picking my word, I started brain mapping the different definitions and words that represent those definitions.

 

Initially, I was going to use Instagram symbols to represent the “Live” performance definition of the word. So much of are lives are living in a virtual reality, and that is going to be the future of our society. Nothing escapes the eye of artificial intelligence because everything we say and do is recorded and stored as data without us knowing. Sometimes people neglect living their real life and compromise living in the moment to make their virtual life look appealing.

But I didn’t like the disconnection between the ideas so I decided to take a different approach with the definitions. I stared thinking about what living means to me without the social pressures of social media.

I started extracting parts of a drawing I made on illustrator of a person living their life on a mountain. This representation focuses on living in the moment and experiencing what the world has to offer.

The darker parts of each step represent a new layer. When I got to the construction of this version, it was really hard to cut the small pieces, and they were not lining up like I intended when I first made this idea. I also made it out of printer paper so it was falling apart as I was constructing it.

Then I started to approach it differently and made full layers and used line distance to represent the contours of the mountain.

The reason I decided to go with a person in the distance instead of a person with his arms out and looking like they’re having fun is to give the viewer anticipation about whats to come. The person on the mountain doesn’t look happy because this is all just for show, a live performance that is not yet revealed. The empty space where the sky is also a cause for anticipation, where the viewer doesn’t know why there is nothing in that area.

Concept statement 

This project is an exploration of how a single word can have several definitions. The word “Live” means to be – in a state of existence and to be part of a performance. In my composition, I use form and space to differentiate between the two meanings. I will use the front layers to show the organic version of the meaning as being more dominant in our lives than the recorded. I will portray the actual real time life version struggling to escape the performance- being trapped in the background, only being visible when light is released. Before light is introduced, the living version of the word feels dominant, but the shadows exposed by the light reveal that the live performance is actual dominant theme. the Bristol that I use for this composition and the 1/2 inch space between each helps create shadows. The person on the mountain is emphasized by the shadows, even though he is in the back layer.  As a whole, the composition relates to the metaphoric comparison between a real and virtual life. The relationship and contrast between the two opposites is portrayed in a harmonious way, bringing the two together with light and exposing the truth.

Production 

Since I’m not on campus, I couldn’t use the laser cutter for my assignment. Instead I printed out the illustrator file and cut it out in layers.

Then when I traced it on to the Bristol, I thought about inverting the parts that I cut out to see which one would look the best

I ended up using the positive spaces for my final.

As for the live – I had to decide on something else that is easily identifiable. I was going to use a video play bar. but since the majority of the mountain already uses layers, the bottom of the box wouldn’t be visible behind them. So I went with a youtube play button instead.

Final 

   

My first scheme was the Tetradic Rectangle (first vertical squares).  I chose purple, brown, green and blue. I then adjusted the hue and greyscale to lighten each tone to make it comparable to the black and greys on the first line.

Then I experimented with Complimentary colors and applied the same strategy of adjusting the grey as the tetrad rectangle. This was interesting because I noticed a pattern forming. I noticed that I can combine the shades in any order I want- horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

              

At this point, I still wasn’t satisfied with the combination of colors I had, so I started playing with Analogous combinations, with both the warm and cool sides of the color wheel.

My previous discovery about the different combinations was becoming more and more apparent, the combinations were also looking more appealing.

         

Monochromatic combinations were the most interesting in my opinion because I was able to feel movement and a sense of flow with them. the various combinations intrigued me and I could really use these tones to show intent in various ways.

         

These were Split Complimentary color combinations. I found these really interesting, mostly because they are a combination of 3 different colors, and the colors combine together to make several hues. hoever when I tried them on my mandala, I just wasn’t able to achieve the movement and fade that I was going for.

I chose an analogous colors scheme for this mandala. I decided to use a warm and light combination because I wanted the colors to fade into the background and I was able to achieve that with the yellows and oranges. The line weights worked in my favor, its most apparent in the middle circle where the bottom “feathers” fade away subtly. I had to make some changes to this mandala- adjust line weights, remove the “swiggles” on the feathers and correct some inconsistencies that were causing the mandala to be less coherent. In this version, I made the tip of the pinecone “darker” and made it lighter as it moves inward.

 

This accurately portrays my process when I was creating this scheme. I moved the circle in the directions to create these shades.  In my final mandala, I decided to use the diagonal combination of shades because they were the most diverse and allowed me to intentionally create movement in several different parts of my mandala.

I had to decide if I was going to preserve the style of my initial mandala or if I wanted to fill it in. Since I turned my Analog version into a raster, I had more flexibility in making new decisions when it came to experimenting with different colors. After filing in the lines, I decided that I wasn’t able to truly express my intent with just the lines with this specific scheme.

                   

For this Mandala, I decided to alter my original lined composition. With this decision, I was able to portray my intent a lot more apparently than with the first one. The way the hues of blue move inwards really completed the original composition. I still changed the little inconsistencies and redrew the “feathers” to make them more symmetrical and cohesive. I really enjoyed creating contrast with the dark and light shades. The monochromatic tones worked really well with creating movement the several different parts of the mandala working together to make a cohesive whole. The pinecone successfully acts as a background for the center piece because of the lighter cone and the darker and wider piece.

     

I started by brainstorming my mindset and feelings when I am faced with a problem.

I then started forming shapes that I associate with the feelings.

 

I used a sphere to experiment with different dimensions and directions.

 

I started off my mapping my face using a picture.

I played around with several different photos to get the best angle. I then used a circle and rectangle to get the right proportions.I used Point perspective to draw reference lines and start adding shapes away, towards and in the head. I made the decisions to remove and add some of the shaped I had originally planned on including.

                               

I made the decisions to remove and add some of the shaped I had originally planned on including.

When I was first introduced to this project, I started looking for inspiration from the things around me. I also started looking at traditional mandalas, how they are formed, their purpose and what they can be used for. I observed the different forms and shapes that portrayed different energies and feelings.

Digital Extractions –

Analog Extractions –

I started by researching patterns in everyday items, in nature and in human-made structures. the patterns on leaves, acorns and other flowers caught my. attention the most. I observed lines and extracted subtle and obvious shapes. I had a hard time with this because there are so many different ways to extract the same thing, but they end up with the same general structure so there was a lack of variety. I tried both digital and analog extractions. I was also having trouble extracting with intent. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to portray in my final mandala so I focused on quantity in hopes of finding inspiration.

I saw patterns in dinosaur bones and wanted to incorporate them into my mandala aswell.

Since I had never used adobe illustrator before, I experimented with the tools using my extractions.

Analog Grids –

Digital Grids

I then started creating grids. I used the protractor and experimented with different sized circles with various placements. After that, I connected lines, shifted focus and created different variations of the same basic shape.

I was intrigued by Zentangles and illusion art. so I started experimenting with repetition, and patterns in black and white. However,  I realized that these shapes lacked purpose and intent, so I took a step back and went back to ideating.

I settled on these two grids for my natural and human made mandala –

About the Final

• Digital

This mandala was inspired by highways. While driving, I noticed how the highways create lines and that they cross over each other creating a pattern. This lead me to look into more shapes and patterns found on highways, roads, and construction materials. This mandala consists of a gird that overlaps each other- to magnify this effect, I used darker tones of grey where the circles intersect. I used extractions from; roads, where I found a static shape, bolts, from which I found depth and shapes within shapes, impressions with bolts and nuts, which I surrounded with the initial inspiration of over lapping highways.  I also included powerlines/signal lines. I was very intrigued by these because there are so many variations of them, and while I was experimenting, I found this one to be the most dynamic. I chose not to include the initial grid because I wanted to create implied sections with the different gradients in the middle of the mandala. I left it with 4 distinct radials because I wanted to show “work” the final mandala looks like a turning wheel and completes itself because it emphases the movement of a mechanical instrument.

 

• Analog

I really enjoyed creating this mandala in Analog form. Out of all the experimentation I did, I was taken most by the shapes of a peacock. At first I thought that It was to simple of a thing to focus on for this assignment. However, after combining several different things, I found that it told a story. Looking deeper into the anatomy of a peacock, I realized that the animal creates a natural mandala shape with its body. I experimented with several different extractions during my process and settled on these. I wanted to create an overall obvious shave while still incorporating the other extractions I was intrigued by. In the middle, I used a peacock’s neck bones, then I surrounded them with the feathers and the illusions the wings of a peacock make. I then looked into the habitat of peacocks and that led me to incorporate leaves in the next sections. I finished with a pinecone like structure to make the piece wholesome. I really enjoyed using markers to create depth.

The Perfect Cube

                                  

Out of the eleven different ways to make a cube, I found this one to be the easiest to construct. This is because the last tab is left open, allowing me to reach inside and stick the flaps down more accurately. The biggest challenge was having to lay down the last tab, along with managing the glue. It was easy to forget where I was touching. I also realized that its way harder to take the glue off than to put it on.

Letter F Construction

    

I decided to construct this letter F. I started to notice that the more complex the shape gets, the harder it is to stick down the flaps.

                                                                

This construction made me realize the importance of accuracy. If the measurements are wrong. then the whole structure won’t fit right.

Digital Composition. – Orthographic and Isometric 

         

I found the digital construction a lot easier than analog. It was easy to follow the grid lines on Vectornator.

Analog Composition- Perspective, Isometric and Orthographic 

                                       

The analog process required using a 30 degree angled ruler. I had to pay more attention to creating straight measured lines, where as in the digital version, there were gridlines place to guide this process.

Assignment Iterations 

Squares 

For my first trial, I set out to create this iteration with a break in the lines. I wanted to create an illusive energy to portray the feelings I identified in A2- scale, proportion and the feeling of belonging.

                      

The road  block I hit with this idea was that I couldn’t find a good way to have 2 floating squares without creating more lines and destroying the integrity of the initial concept. I also was not able to reach the complexity I was hoping to achieve with this project. Considering obstacles and limitations with creating this simple form from only Bristol paper, I decided against making it my final composition.

Triangles

I used my 3D model prototype from the previous project to think about ways of portraying the energy of this iteration.

                       

For this I used the net of a triangular pyramid. Since I had already constructed this to visualize for the previous project, I decided not to use this as my final piece.

Circles

                          

I was very curious about creating a 3D sphere. I experimented with several different sizes and nets, using both paper and Bristol to test the flexibility of the materials. I concluded that it would be best to make individual sections and then glue them together at the end. There were two ways I could bend the paper- literally bend it, or make bends to get a geometric “circle”.

               

With this technique, I had to come to terms with the fact that I would be adding more “lines” to my initial composition. I realized that adding the bending lines didn’t compromise the integrity of the circular shape, and in-fact it made it more dynamic and esthetically pleasing. The complexity was working in my favor, so I continued to use the same net for the whole composition. It was really difficult to control the spread of the glue and to figure out where to stick the flaps.

     

Next I had to decide between intruding and extruding the swirls. I experimented with these shapes. I simply used the full sections and lay them out on a circular plane. My intention was to stick the plane on the semicircle and make coverings for the top to create a swirl tunnel. The problem with this arose when I was trying to figure out how to make the coverings, since the swirl’s hight differs at all points, it was virtually impossible for me to make it seamlessly with the limitations of the materials.

                           

At this point I was struggling to imagine an alternative, I tried using smaller squares/triangles/polygons to make smaller coverings but it was not working out in the way I wanted. I decided that it was not the direction I wanted to go because there is a lot of room for error trying to construct a tunnel like twirl with the ups and downs.

So I went back to square one, the BASICS. I looked at my net and experimented with completing the sphere, perhaps I would be able to achieve the impression of lines in a simpler way than I initially intended.

                                   

I wanted to cover up the hole so that the viewer wouldn’t be able to see the tabs, glue marks and pencil marks on the inside of the piece. After trying a cone covering, I realized that it looked out of place and didn’t fit in right with the overall composition. Instead, I created another sphere with the same net used to create the first semi-sphere and placed it inside to create the circular covering impression.

Orthographic and Isometric views

              

I decided to do these drawing digitally. it was very challenging to accurately represent each and every line using straight edges. This is because the overall composition is made of both “curved”.

                                

Reflection

Looking back at my process. If I was given more time to complete the assignment, I would have recreated the whole thing without dark marking on the inside. Even with the covering I could still see the tabs on the inside of the semi-sphere, so I would have created an inside circle or found a different solution to cover those up. I would also be more careful with the glue, maybe even use one that isn’t so messy.

This project really challenged my problem solving skills. I mostly learned to put Design Thinking into action- identifying alternative solutions and strategies that may not have been instantly apparent. This project forced me to follow the design process;  from understanding the purpose of the assignment, defining the problem, ideating different possibilities, prototyping those ideas and to testing the final.

Step By Step Instructions

       

Step 1- Create 8 full sections and 10 half sections, follow the dimensions on the net.

Step 2- Cut the outlines and streak the dotted lines, this is where the net bends. Be careful not to cut them all the way through.

Step 3- By gluing the tabs, glue 5 full sections together to create a semi-sphere.

Step 4- Use 5 half to make the first twirl. Attach each section one after the other. So the second section’s first tab is attached to the first section’s second tab.

Step 5- Then apply the same method to make the second twirl that is attached to the other side of the semi-sphere. They will over lap, one over the other.

Step 6- Using the last 3 full sections, glue them together.

Step 7- Insert that inside, making a spherical shape on the inside.

Step By Step Instruction Revision