Design Process 2 for Product Design

In the first two terms, the Industrial Design Foundations (or IDF) program at Art Center pools people who will eventually become product designers, transportation designers and entertainment designers. The courses I’ve described so far were shared between these three majors and allowed us to gain an essential grasp on fundamental techniques such as sketching and model-building.

Though all of us have gotten quite close, we were excited to split off for the first time, each following a particular Design Process 2 class aimed at teaching us a process specific to our discipline. This was also exciting because it was our first chance to truly test the skills we had been learning.

The project for us product designers was defined early in the term: to design seating made from a single sheet of 4’ by 8’ material, which should be assembled without the use of glue, screws or other fasteners.

We started the project with a few weeks of research to help us understand different methods of joinery, materials as well as general research on chairs. From there we decided to each investigate three themes. One of my themes was insects. The full process (with bigger nicer images) can be viewed in the PDF version of my process book (20.6MB). In the interest of keeping this reasonably short, though, I will describe how my final concept evolved.

The process started with a huge collection of insects which I found all over the web for inspiration. I found that Wikipedia has a great number of interesting pictures.

From these images I tried to come up with a variety of furniture.

After some ideation on paper, some fifth-scale mock-ups were made. These included some ideas from my other themes which you can discover in the process book linked above.

Some of the more interesting concepts were developed and pursued.

I returned to mocking-up the best ideas, this time at half-scale. These were made from corrugated cardboard which I laminated.

From these mock-ups we found that the ant-inspired bench was an interesting concept to pursue. Initially, the idea was to make an outdoor furniture piece which could be used either as a bench or a picnic table. Going back to my collection of insects I picked out the ants and gave them a closer look.

The structure of the bench evolved to gain more volume and better structure.

In this second half-scale mock-up I found that cross-shaped legs were far more stable and also added a more natural element.

I went back to my sketchbook to see how the concept could be refined. We also began to think about how an additional item could help better use the leftover material.

My first full-scale mock-up was made using the same laminated cardboard technique. Though it isn’t apparent in the pictures, this was a HUGE model. It had to be reduced in size, which also helped to cut down on material usage. Antennae and mandibles were added, functioning as bookends and a cup holder. Finally, the rear legs were made longer so as to better balance the weight of the bench.

The first full-scale mock-up had a problematic rear section (the abdomen). As a cantilevered platform it just wasn’t sturdy enough. I added two more legs, thereby quenching the complaint that ants have six legs.

The following week I sent my design to be cut out on a CNC router. This first plywood mock-up helped understand the tolerances required by the material and also gave us a chance to test the strength of the chair. The two new legs were also lengthened as they didn’t seem quite fitting in their first iteration.

Some scenario images of how this bench could be used were created. The “ant bench” became more of a family product which can be used both indoor and outdoor.

The design was finalized, adding a small aphid-like stool to better use the material.

This layout shows how the material is used. The CNC router requires some amount of spacing between the parts. Grooves were also milled out of the seats to strengthen the interlocking of the parts.

The final model was made from maple Europly which was then finished and dyed a dark brown.

Branding was added to the underside of the seats using the laser cutter.

The finalized graphic elements as well as the product shots were put together on a large poster which you can download in PDF format (2.2MB).

Viscom 2 - Part 2

Following my end-of-the-term recap, here’s the second half of Viscom 2. As I described in my first post, the aim of Viscom 2 was to teach us basic shading techniques starting with simple geometric shapes and evolving into more complex panels and forms.

Having completed the basic geometric forms we moved on to simple panels, and attempted different lighting scenarios.

Paying attention to reflected light was one of the challenges of the course.

The following week we worked with compound panels, which bend in two directions. We also tried adding form changes.

A variety of media was used including marker, Prismacolor pencil and chalk.

The next two weeks were dedicated to working with side views and trying to sculpt these semi-recognizable objects with light.

The second round of side views was done entirely in chalk and black Verithin pencil. Most of them were done on Canson 335 paper as a practice for our final rendering.

The final rendering was done on a large sheet of 18 by 24 inch Canson 335. You can see a larger view here.

3D Fundamentals 2 - Part 2

My second term/semester at Art Center has come to a close. While the first term pushed our limits in raw volume of work and number of projects, our second term was a more focused effort, which nonetheless ended intensely.

During the first half of 3D Fundamentals 2 we continued to learn different tools and techniques in the workshop, following the work we had done in 3D Fundamentals 1. The second half of this term was closer to Study Models in its approach.

The basic premise of the course is to learn the clay modeling techniques used in automotive design and in the process understand the development of industrial lines and surfaces by creating a so-called “speed form”.

We began with several pages of sketches delineating concepts for an abstracted form inspired by air, land or sea.

Once the direction was selected orthographic views were created.

From these, a basic armature was constructed from MDF and masonite.

Using Chavant Y2 Klay, we packed the basic form.

The templates allow us to roughly determine the section views of our model.

A variety of tools allows us to shave the clay.

Crossing the strokes creates a far more even surface.

Design adjustments were made, such as the addition of this outer ridge.

Using splines to check the quality of our lines.

Finding section lines allows us to balance the design over to the other side.

Using a height gauge to check the symmetry.

Tape lines allow a better read of the surfaces and where they need to be balanced.

Using blue steel scrapers we shaved a final thin layer of clay to make the surfaces perfectly sharp.

The final steeled model.

Spray shellac was applied to protect the clay and provide a surface for the primer to bond.

First coat of catalyzed primer.

The primer was sanded down in order to further smooth the high and low spots in the clay.

Metal Glaze was used to fill in low spots and other imperfections.

Yours truly, spraying a second coat of primer.

A guide coat of Krylon was applied to better differentiate the high and low spots.

One last coat of primer was applied and wet sanded smooth.

Applying the automotive paint.

Once the color was dry, a glossy clear coat was applied.

I was quite happy with the final result!

Viscom 2 - Part 1

Continuing my midterm recap, these are some of the results from Viscom 2. The aim of this class is to learn how to properly shade objects from simple geometric forms to complex curved surfaces. We also learn how to use various media such as pencil, markers and chalk. The principles we learned in Viscom 1 are the basis for our constructions but instead of using lines to describe form we use value.

Our instructors have created a great online resource called SketchWiki which is growing each week and describes the techniques for shadow construction and value assignments that form the basis of this course and of Viscom 1.

I’ve mentioned Scott Robertson’s DVD series as an excellent place to start for perspective drawing but he also has a set that describes shading and rendering. The series How to Render Matte Surfaces is broken down into Planar Surfaces, Geometric Surfaces and Complex Curved Surfaces, and are essentially a condensed version of our lectures this term. They’re an excellent resource which I’m still using every week to aid in me with these assignments.

As you’ll see from this sampling we have gone through the basic shapes and will be starting to create more complex objects as the term goes on. Unfortunately the scanner isn’t particularly flattering on some media and the subjects remain basic but I hope that by the end of the term I’ll have some cool stuff to show.

We started with simple boxes in this case drawn with black Prismacolor Verithin pencil.

Increasing the complexity of the construction, here is a drawing made with Polychromos and Verithin. These pencils are preferred over graphite because they can create a darker black.

We then started to tackle shapes with more facets, and new materials such as chalk (Prismacolor Nupastel) and marker (in this case toner-gray Copic).

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working mostly with chalk. Though it is easy to mess up, it is also a fast and fun medium to work with.

Each week we are asked to try a number of lighting scenarios, varying the angle, the softness of the light and whether the source is the sun or a local light.

3D Fundamentals 2 - Part 1

Second term is going well here at Art Center and we’ve just passed the midterm point. The past few weeks have been intense but the rhythm has slowed down and we’ll soon be gearing up again for finals. With the midterms we ended the first portion of 3D Fundamentals 2, a direct continuation of 3D Fundamentals 1 which I had mentioned last term.

The second part of 3D Fundamentals 2 will be a continuation of Study Models. We will be working on creating a dynamic-looking form out of automotive clay.

As expected, we continued to learn new tools and techniques and practice our skills with the ones that are now familiar. The class started with a refresher on the table saw. The aim of this project was to build a tool box to specific dimensions, with a sliding cover. It will be used to store our clay modeling tools in the second half of the course.

I used the laser cutter to engrave my name, adding a personal touch to the project.

Along with the tool box, we created “modeling angles” out of plywood and masonite, which will help us in sculpting our clay model. These had to be perfectly square.

The wood was cut on the table saw, then sanded to clean up the grain. Two triangular shapes were cut out of a rectangular piece of wood and stacked together so they could be made to the same shape. I then drilled holes to create the handle which was cleaned on the router and then sanded.

The parts were then glued together and finished with wax. A layer of masonite was finally added to make the angles more durable.

A new skill we learned was working with fiberglass. We started by creating a simple shape out of polyurethane foam, which was then vacuum-formed to create a mold.

Once sprayed with gel coat, we applied layers of glass fiber and resin to the mold.

After letting the resin cure we extracted the part, cleaned up the edges and finally sprayed it with gray primer. The final result is a sturdy reproducible fiberglass part.

Our biggest project was probably the so-called “geoforms” project, a set of the four basic shapes (cube, cylinder, cone and sphere) that are used for reference in our rendering class (Viscom 2). We also had to build a base and acrylic case to store these in.

The cylinder, cone and sphere all started with a rectangular block of wood which was mounted on the lathe.

From the block of wood we created a cylinder with an even diameter all the way across, which is the base for three of the shapes.

For the cone, we simply carved down the cylinder making sure to keep the proper angle and height.

The sphere was far more difficult and starts with flat angular guidelines.

We smooth these down and use a laser-cut template to check the accuracy of the surface, slowly chipping away at the high spots.

Eventually the shapes were sanded down to the exact measurements, the grain was patched with wood filler and the shapes were primed and painted.

Building the acrylic case was a rather frustrating and arduous process, but in the end the result was a rather nice set of reference material.