Research:
In our beginning research, we talked a lot about how the ‘container’ or ‘wrapping’ of a gift is just as important as the thing inside. We also discussed different mechanisms that intrigue the recipient to actually open the gift.
- When giving a gift to someone it is important to know some key aspects of that person to truly know what things they are interested in and what gifts would be beneficial for them. There is nothing worse than giving someone a gift and them not liking it, you want to give something that has meaning and purpose.
- I interviewed my mentor as a way to get to know her and what things make her who she is today. The notes below show the information I gathered during our discussion.
- Once I did some information gathering from my mentor, I began mind mapping what I wanted her gift to represent/what function did I want it to have? Her personality really shined through during the interview so I wanted to reciprocate that through the gift.
Exercise 1: Best Gift I’ve Received
Exercise 2: Creating A Container
Iterations:
Concept Statement:
My mentor, Mollie, is a unique individual that has a sweet, rustic eye for interior design with a focus on cozy spaces that warm the body. Through my communications and information gathering with her, it seemed that every topic we discussed led back to her relationship with her boyfriend who is a United States Marine. She shared with me that their relationship started just a couple weeks before he got deployed for training. While he was deployed they would write letters back and forth to each other, she explained that the foundation of their relationship truly was made within each and every letter they shared. Unfortunately those letters have been stored away in a shoebox and haven’t seen the light of day since she opened them during his deployment. Once I was given that information, I knew right then that I needed to make something that gave those letters their own special space. I decided to use color and scale to bring emphasis to the feeling those special letters gave to Mollie whenever she would open and read them. Whether she was missing him or simply came home after a stressful day, I wanted the letters to be seen at all times in order to bring that warm, comforting feeling back to her heart. This gift is a perfect symbol of the design quote I chose for this project which was, “Every good design starts with an even better story”. Their love story was used as the basis of this entire project and was a constant reminder as to why I made it the way that I did. The viewing of these letters tells the story from within which makes the design complete.
Production:
In order to glue the pieces of acrylic together, I had to use a special mixture of glue and chemicals that are used together to actually weld the acrylic to itself. The glue would melt the acrylic just enough to where it melted together, making it impossible to detach.
I taped all of the pieces together to get an idea of how they would all stand up and be connected. By doing this, I was able to hold the pieces together while doing the gluing process.
I would drip just a couple drops of the glue in the seams of where the acrylic touched. This glue spreads rapidly as it searches for any open pockets to fill. This is why the pieces were extremely sturdy and had no room to move or break.
I had to tape the walls as shown in the picture so that the glue did not grab onto the tape compared to the previous photo above.
I learned this through the gluing process as the first time I began gluing, the tape began to stick to the acrylic as the glue had found the tape during its spreading process.
I knew the walls were completely square because they were sitting in the groove in the bottom sheet of acrylic that I had made in illustrator before cutting it out with the laser cutter.
Final Product:
Reflection:
I absolutely loved this project and everything I was able to create throughout the process. I am definitely the most proud of this project because I think it shows just how far I’ve come from the beginning of the year. I had no idea I could make something like this but I’m so happy I tried. I’ve never used acrylic before so it was a little intimidating to think that it might not work the way I want it to but I still attempted the challenge with my best effort and it truly shows. I loved the story behind this design from the very start and it flourishes in its spot at my mentor’s home which is exactly what my intention of the whole design was. In the process, I really pushed myself to sketch out my ideas more and understand more deeply how things were going to functionally work. This was the best decision I’ve made and I wish I would’ve started doing this earlier in my design foundations year but I know now what I didn’t know then and I think that is huge progress in itself. I know my abilities and I’m only more excited to learn/grow even more past this project.
Portfolio Project Link: Gifting Design