The 3r's week 2

My Aims:
To design and create something new and exiting out of the Green action figures I got given on the first day of project. 

The start of the second week started by trying to come up new and inventive ideas that could be made in the future. Each of us were given a specific object/objects or materials to work with and using them seeing their capabilities. For instance myself, was given the plastic figures/army men, they came in one shade of green a dark green which made them automatically a eye catching colour. To test the product melting was an easy option, melting three soldiers didn't make much of a difference but it did the trick. 
The product/ornamental piece I was going to attempt to make was called the "Tree Of Life", which is ultimately a paradox as war is death and suffering not life.  The product I hoped would have a deeper meaning.  
Ornamental pieces are what you make of them, one doesn't go any buy a Grayson Perry pot for no reason, the pot must attractive and be interesting.  The product I made is exactly the same. 

Research into MAD and clever artists- These included Sue Webster and Tim Noble who take ordinary things including rubbish, to make assemblages and then point light to create projected shadows which show a great likeness to something identifiable including self-portraits. The art of projection is emblematic of transformative art. From this I learnt that my product doesn't have to be perfect but reaches new levels of wit and humor. The picture on the left is a copy of a drawing these artists produced, its simply funny to look at.


 Research- 
Another aspect for research is trying to come up with new patterns and ideas in my sketchbook, Geoff came over during Monday and scribbled like this on the left. He was implying not all art is perfect accurate lines but scribbles.  Secondly he was hinting to me that i should take my product apart and stick it back together. In a sense I did this, as I had to take the little green figures apart to stick them. Doing this is a vital process using scribbles is a great way of finding new shapes that might trigger an idea.

History of the Toy Soldier Research 

• A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier.
•  The term applies to depictions to uniformed military personell. 
• They were used during the war during the 17th, 18th and 19th century to aid with military strategies.

In the modern day:

• People use them and play with them 
• dolls/ soldiers are used and collected 
• can be made to look like celebs or famous people.

Existing Products

Also a important factor for research, for products made of toy soldiers, research came up with Bowls, plates, mugs. These were made via getting a heat proof bowl and putting the little figures inside and heating them to 200 

degrees. 

How I came up with the Tree Idea

I have a Bonzai Tree at home and likes the small frame and just decided the colours of the men and tree were very similar so making the product would be ideal. Covent Garden in London was another inspiration as during Christmas a giant Christmas tree is put up in the yard.

A1 pages
These A1 pages cover my product they showcase how I came up with the Idea of making this Tree. 

If you look from a distance the tree looks normal, but up close realize its made from tiny little green action figures. 
I have really enjoyed this last 2 weeks as it was a challenge to design and make something out of a fairly tricky material. It made me dig in and really research whats on the market already and whats not. Ornamental pieces are made for a reason because one bought the user puts their own meaning to them. It represents them and I think this does with me. 

What I found hard? The start of the week as soon as the product was given I initially was a bit freaked out I had to make something from them as they're really easy to brake and quite delicate.  But overall im pleased with the result. Its witty and funny.

Week 1 The 3r's Project

The 3 R's  Project

·         Aims- to analyse and collate ideas from a variety of research techniques.

·         To develop a coherent design problem with a given brief

·         And to experiment with drawing media.

The 3r’s relate to Record, Respond and Remake. Record means putting what you see hear and feel onto paper as ideas. Respond means acting upon a stimuli. And respond means changing or altering. 

To start the week we each were given an object by Geoff that he had found in pound shops near Stratford, these were things like pack of cards, mini army men, tissues etc.  Once given the new object we sat and simply just looked. Looking at an object is sometimes the best way to develop and remake a product. Initial ideas were the next step, drawing what’s already in front of you and what could be.  

 For my product which was 100 green army figurines I initially thought of how to join them. I knew plastic could be easily melted but this is a dangerous process as plastic gives off bad chemicals in the air.   The little green men create nice shadows under the light when taking photographs this is another aspect I like about the product.

Initial ideas involve:

·         A lamp made from the green men

·         A bowl

·         Christmas decorations

·         A necklace

·         A mirror frame

·         Plastic bin

·         Table mat

The bowl idea was generated when melting the plastic down it seemed to join the figurines together; to make this one would need a hot oven and a mould bowl shaped. The little figurines would be layered around the bowl and left to melt. The cooling process is 1 hour outside then a couple of hours in the freezer.  Jewellery is also a possible solution- joining the soldiers with hot glue is an easy way to make a necklace.

2nd week of 3D

Aims:

To use and evaluate research and sampling techniques of joining, and to explore creative possibilities in both functional and aesthetic ways. 

Following on from from last week and making products that are both functional and aesthetic i have come up with two different products that my model can come under. And these are:  a light that is made of polypropylene it hangs from the ceiling, and an outdoor park seat, that can be used in all weathers due to its versatile roof. Like many ski lifts they have pull over roofs that protect the user, like this I am taking that and putting it into my product. The whole project these past two weeks is trying to be creative with joining the made product.

 Monday and Tuesday : The park seat or bench ideas was formulated when walking around Hyde park they had lots of seating but it was indoor, I want to take the experience outside. Lots of people bird watch or people watch so designing this hide out I thought would fit the brief. Outdoor recreation is also highly underrated and there should be more well designed seating.
The seat would have to be on a plinth of some sort to its a bit higher off the ground and that's what the triangular models represent.

The seat would be curvy and this is shown by the paper cut to shape the model.. above left.

 A model I made earlier this week shows the seat with the roof made out of yellow polypropylene for the model. If I were to make this again for real i would change the roof to a transparent material so the rain can be seen.
The only trouble I had making was joining the polypropylene to the base, using wooden BBQ it managed to support the roof.

 Sketchbook work- The project is about fixtures and fittings so not only am I making a product that is intricate and uses fixing to hold it together, but I have selected some products from my home. This two page spread shows my work.
The first product I chose was my Poly Pro lamp as Polypropylene is material i have been interested in using. I joined it using tiny screws i had to mark out then get the laser to cut out.
A common plastic chair is one most people have in their home and i analysed the product down to what hold the structure together.

 A drying rack and my Oak box are also good examples of products that are made and use special joining techniques. The drying rack needs to be able to move up and down to the needed height, to make it easier for the person. A oak box was joined using Mitre Joints which is when the box is glued put in a vice, then tiny slits of wood slotted through the glue in the corners left to dry. Then once dry the edges of the wood mitre joints are filed off.
These joins might seem a bit fiddly, but they actually increase the strength of the joint, as your not only sealing the joint but your adding more wood into the seal.

The other page here is existing products. When designing a product on needs to research into the products already on the market. I did this for my chair. A mood board is a great way to do this. What I found was there is not a large market for outdoor chairs or large scale seating, and this is why I choose to go down this pathway. The pictures are quick sketches of some products I personally think are eye catching.

Before any start to a project Inspiration is also a very handy thing to have in mind, so this could be:
artists
places
people

The following page shows what the product might look like, this drawing is a very quick sketch.

3D day 3

DAY 3 
As soon as I got to college I got out the laser cut cardboard pieces and tried slotting them together, the laser cut pieces were meant to make a structure, just like the models we have been making alongside.

If i was to do the task again i would create loads of circles then slot them together. It would make the model bigger plus it would look more like a building that could possibly be designed further.   

I took a series of photographs some inside under a lamp, a few outside.
By placing the model on the floor this gives it some perspective and really helps someone who is looking at your photos.

What i really liked about the product was it had no real structure meaning the pieces intertwined to create a crazy looking piece.

I actually held it on my palm - this was a picture that shows how small the model is that i can balance it.

Sketchbook

I have put the completed work into my sketchbook, below are some of the ideas.

Here I have traced using tracing paper my original idea that i made using paper, I have only traced half of the picture as i thought this part showed off the main credentials of the could be light. There are two layers to this design, the bottom layer is the green colour and the top is the black outlines layer. So when you put them together they look like one. I think its hard to distinguish this is two different pictures layered  up.

What I really find interesting about this design is that it really focuses on the aesthetics of the light, and not the function. The green adds a youthful, fun and light exterior.  I am going to call it the Lime Light as the green plastic will give off a really warm green glow.  If I were to improve it it would actually stand by itself the light would be attached on the ceiling of the product.


This is a drawing of one of the insides of the models I made earlier this week, this is traced using tracing paper again, there are also two layers to the picture, the top layer is the colour and the bottom is the plane pencil drawing. What I really liked about this model was the way the light shined through the cut gaps this created great shadows. This again could make a great lamp but would need development.

The flower idea, this was the same drawing earlier of the Lime Light but done 3 times and overlapping.

The drawing on the right is also the same one but is the whole drawing. Its also been done on tracing paper, it has 2 layers.

This is me showing the two different layers, having the tracing paper to work with is a great way to add bits to  your idea. I had the under layer coloured red and yellow, then the top layer was just the outline. Some lamps actually do have 2 layers one will have cut out shapes the other is a wrap around. Ikea I know sell these types of lamps.

A page from earlier showing the Laser cut pieces slotted together.

Day 2

Day 2 

Was really the same as day 1 at the start, we were given more time to complete our models that we started making yesterday, and here are a few that i made on the second day. The way i look at my work is that they are very beautifully simple and made of nice materials. I like my work to look modern and i think i have achieved this.

From yesterday we produces a Illustrator file with loads of different shapes, we were told to cut them out using the laser machine, and this exited me as i used it regularly back in school.
This is the lase at work on my file.

 

 The laser cutter recognizes the work as its outlined in red on the illustrator file, the red colour means cut out. There are different colours the laser uses to do different actions. for example it can

• cut out
• edge
• score

 The shapes I  choose varied as I had stars as they interlock easily, my name i had laser cut. and also abstract pieces with no real shape to them. I tired to make my piece as fun and as creative as possible.
But what i did realize when the laser cut them out how small the pieces were and this makes it harder to join. 

When the laser finished cutting out the pieces i took several photos of that the board looked like and these are above, the finish on the pieces is very accurate, and this is why using the laser is a great and easy way of cutting something out. 

3D day 1

Day 1 
Task 1

As soon as all of us arrived we immediately set the task of making a giant list of as many products or places as we can in a set time limit, I choose products as that's what im going to study at university. Products such as chairs, tables, scooter, stilts, and radio, are all possible. I put mine into categories because it made it easier to think about.   This is the final picture below, as one can see putting it into sections really helped me think about what products we as humans use. Another good method for this is walking round your house and writing down what you see.  I thought of some really silly stuff which made the task quite funny to do, such as stair-lifts, which wouldn't naturally be thought about as a young person. But stair-lifts are obviously popular among the older generations.


Task 2
To make and design  something out of these material, the products at this point did not have to have any resemblance or function, we simply just made abstract objects out of the materials given. 

These are a few of what i manages to make on the first day and second day, what i was going for with the top left was to really use Polypropylene's flexibility to make several curved pieces.  I did a red and yellow one, both had many splits cut into them using a Stanley knife, that process was fairly lengthy, as its not a easy material to cut.  For the yellow one i folded it and attached it at one end, this really let the light in as to when i took the pictures.

 The picture on the bottom right was a piece i made using just plane paper, and sellotape, my inspiration for this was those amazing Polypropylene lamps you can buy at Habitat stores. It would be a hanging light. Having the strips of paper meant the light had a nice glow.





Illustrator file 
Anna helped us through this stage, she took half a group at a time as there are not enough computers, the aim was to fill a page on Illustrator with shapes, that could be squares, circles, triangles etc.  I managed to print screen the process of me adding shapes to my page. The final outcome would be all these pieces joined together some way to create a structure. 

The first file is actually the finished product, my page was fully pact so i was a little apprehensive and exited to see it cut out on the laser machine on day 2.