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Research

Empathizing with the client (me)

I’ve always wanted to have my own personal sketchbook that was perfect and unique to me so when I heard we were doing this project I already had a general idea of what I wanted to do for it. I absolutely love butterflies and so I knew I had to incorporate them into my design. I also knew that I didn’t want to simply make a basic rectangle sketchbook with some random design on it. So I decided to create a butterfly sketchbook that would open up and reveal a whole butterfly.

I listed out things that I found annoying in sketchbooks and focused on ways to avoid them or fix them. For example, I hate it when I’m trying to use a sketchbook to draw or write on and it wont lay flat. So I decided it would be best to use the spirals that were provided to us. I also wanted the pages to be very close to each other when I opened the sketchbook so that it would feel like it was one big butterfly page. So I measured the diameter of the spiral binding and made sure to position the holes around the same measurement as the radius from the edge of the page so that when you open the pages they would sit right next to each other.

Next, I thought about what I would using this sketchbook for primarily. Since I have a small business where I sell crochet items I would most likely use this sketchbook as a place to draw out my ideas and write patterns. So I decided that I would make one side of the pages lined and the other blank. I used drawing paper for all the pages and etched the lines for the pages using the laser cutter.

The first bits of research I did consisted of looking up different types of butterflies and to figure out what design I wanted to use for my sketchbook. However, none of these were what I was looking for, I wanted to make my sketchbook personal to me. I also thought that they look too cartoonish for my tastes and I wanted to find something classier and professional. Then I thought about looking up some butterfly tattoos since they are usually very well done since they’re meant to last forever.

While I was scrolling through images of butterfly tattoos I still wasn’t seeing any specific designs that were perfect for me and then I remembered that I had a specific butterfly tattoo that I have been wanting to get for years. I have been wanting to get a tattoo for the longest time and the design I’ve been saving for a while has been this specific butterfly with a flower behind it. I thought that it was so beautiful and simple and so I saved this design in my camera roll and it has been there for years now. So I decided to use this butterfly design as my reference for my sketchbook.

I was trying to think of a creative surprise element that I could include in my project, and instead of just thinking about something I could hide in my sketchbook I wanted to try to think of the bigger picture. I brainstormed on things that could continue the theme of a butterfly and I decided to create a chrysalis shoulder bag and to make the wings of the butterfly translucent and iridescent. I bought some green cotton fabric from amazon and a black shoulder strap for the bag on amazon as well. The black strap is accurate to the actual chrysalises and when you wear the bag it makes it look like there is a chrysalis hanging from your shoulder.

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Exercises

An exercise I did for this project was creating tiny sketchbooks. We used this exercise to work on creating sketchbooks and adding things inside of it. Using the sketchbook is important and we used this exercise to understand that while it’s nice to have a pristine sketchbook there is no reason for it to be perfect. It helped me realize that I didn’t need to be scared to create something ugly or not perfect and to just use the sketchbook how I want to rather than how I think other people will want to see me use it.

We also created a mind map inside the sketchbook to help show how things connect and to brainstorm ideas. Another exercise we did was collecting an item to put inside our sketchbook to make it more personal and fun. I chose to include a piece of fabric from the inner lining of a crochet sunflower bag I was making. It helped me remember the project is as working on at the time and adding something beautiful and soft in my book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Iteration

I started off by sketching the butterfly wing onto some printer paper because I was planning on making my sketchbook about 11 x 8.5” and it was easier for me to iterate it by drawing it physically on paper. I sketched in my current sketchbook first and I wrote down lots of notes on certain elements I wanted to include in my notebook along with smaller sketches to see what I wanted the book to look like when it was open. I was initially concerned about the size of the pages being too small or irregular for me to draw or write on but after sketching the page out and cutting it I felt that it was a good size.

After I figured out the wing design that I wanted I started planning out where I would place the holes for the spiral binding. I found it a bit difficult to put a ruler up to the spiral binding since it would constantly move so to get an accurate measurement I applied some of my eyeliner onto the spiral and then rolled it on paper. Then I used the imprint of the lines and measured the distance in between each line to calculate around how far apart the holes needed to be. Next, I used the ruler to measure the diameter of the spiral so I could figure out how far from the edge of the paper I wanted the holes to be  This part was very important to me because I knew that I wanted the pages to lay very close together so I used the radius of the spiral as the measurement for how far I would place the holes from the edge of the pages.

I sketched these holes onto the sketch I drew on printer paper and poked the holes out with a pencil and my darning needle. Then I put the spiral binding through the holes to simply get a feel for how the paper would sit in it. I did this process twice and then I used what I learned to transfer this design to Adobe Illustrator.

Another binding option I was looking into was disk binding where I would simply use disks to hold the pages together and each page would have a slit on the holes to put the disks in. I thought this option was very interesting because it would allow me to add and remove pages as I please. However I ultimately decided not to use this method because I prefer the feel of a solid sketchbook that wouldn’t be as fragile as the disk-binding method. I also enjoy the accomplished feeling of a finished sketchbook and I don’t think I would ever want to remove any pages or throw them out so that option was irrelevant to me.

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Production

For my production I started off by taking one of my finalized sketched for the butterfly wing cover and scanned it into Adobe Illustrator and used that as a reference and created it in Illustrator. After I had the design exactly how I wanted I got rid of the filled color and changed it to just the stroke. To make it compatible with the laser cutter I changed the stroke width to 0.072 pt. Then I took the design and edited it to create the page shape, I made the pages a big smaller than the cover so that when you closed the sketchbook there would be no doubt on whether the pages would poke out or not. Then I created the back cover by flipping the design horizontally and removing a few holes so I could engrave my name, course, and year.

I wanted to add in more personalization so I decided to incorporate my logo into the design of my sketchbook. I added it onto the cover and I also put the design in a small square to the right of my design. I wanted to use this as a test so I could figure out what power and speed I should use to raster and vector my specific material. I was very happy to see that my material allows for etching to show up very clearly because it’s just some chipboard with black fabric on top so when the laser cutter etches into it it simply removes the fabric and reveals a nice white logo.

The power I had used for the laser cutter was a bit too weak to cut through my material fully so I just used my exacto knife to cut the back a bit and get the remaining pieces out cleanly. Then I started working on making and sewing on the button clasp, I needed to attach these parts first so that I could cover the back of them with the iridescent plastic I planned to use for the wings. The design that I cut out is simply meant to be a basic frame for the wings and I would add iridescent plastic behind it so that there can be varying levels of depth and so you could feel the cover pop out a bit.

I embroidered the pink heart onto the strap for the button clasp and then sewed the strap onto the frame of the butterfly wing. After I had attached everything needed for the button clasp I started attaching the iridescent plastic to the frame. I used Loctite 406 which is an instant adhesive for plastics and elastomeric materials. Initially I tried to use hot glue because I was hoping the heat would be enough to melt the plastic and bond it to the frame however, the plastic simply peeled away from the frame very easily. After I glued the frame onto a piece of the plastic I trimmed the excess plastic off the edges of the frame.

After I finished attacking the backing I decided I wanted the three dots at the top of the wing to be a different material so I used some holographic material to fill those. First I trimmed the plastics over the holes off and then I glued the holographic material to the place behind the holes.

Next, I have included three videos to help showcase the beauty and reflectiveness of the butterfly wings.

 

Now that the front and back covers of the sketchbook were complete I started working on the pages of the sketchbook. I designed the page designs in Adobe Illustrator, I created a front page design and then I created the lined pages. I used the laser cutter to etch them first and then to cut the pages out. I used Bristol for the first page so it could be stronger and more solid, and then I used drawing paper for the rest of the pages. In total I have 31 pages in my sketchbook, I only etched lines on one side of the pages so that I could have a layout where I could draw a design on one side and then write the pattern on the other. My first test with the page was a good power for etching the lines however the power used to cut was too strong so I turned it down and then proceeded to cut out the rest of the pages using the same settings.

I will include some videos of me using the laser cutter to cut out the butterfly leaflets. Watching the machine work is so therapeutic and calming, since it is able to cut the pages with exact precision.

After I had cut out all of my pages I began constructing the final sketchbook. I put the spiral binding in and then I used a hairdryer to bend the very edges of the binding so that it wouldn’t come undone easily.

Here are some closer shots of the front page etching.

Once I finished making the sketchbook I started working on making the surprise element, a chrysalis shoulder bag. I started off by using my sketchbook as a reference for the size of the shoulder bag, I used it to draw out the pattern on my fabric then I cut the pieces out. I used my sewing machine to sew the pieces together and then I turned it inside out. I attached the shoulder strap and then I started working on adding the details to the shoulder bag’s design. I wanted to show some consistency between the shoulder bag and the sketchbook’s design with the strong black line and the yarn embroidery. So I used black yarn to embroider the design of a chrysalis on the bag. I used French knots and then I used a backstitch to outline the rest of the lines. I wanted to use French knots for one line specifically because that part of a chrysalis is spiny and more defined than other parts so I used the French knots to add more texture.

Final Composition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Link to my Portfolio Page

Sketchbook