by Danny | Dec 1, 2018 | Design
Pictures Symbol and Icon
Sign
Brief
Form a team of three.
Research and create a signage intervention in DJCAD.
Make and install physical signage and /or objects that will affect the behaviour of people in a chosen space.
install it in DJCAD on Tuesday 20th November. It should be in place for 1-2 hours and must leave no trace of when you remove it.
Discreetly observe and document people’s reactions, interactions and behaviour around the signage.
Document your design process and observations in a blog entry.
Above is what I have found out about the common colours used in signage. each colour have their own corresponding meaning to it, therefore it would be easy for people to identify what do mean in the least period amount of time.
Here are some examples of signage with these colour.
The first idea is that we could have a simple sign on the wall, that says look down, or to have red and blue flashing lights to symbolize police, this way it may catch peoples attention more. Also, there is a “Dead body” in the pit to give the people the sense that they are looking at a crime scene. Another option was elevated from a wall in DJCAD. It’s just a simple sign saying “look down”. We didn’t do any fancy font or a nice frame, this was because we can see what people’s reaction would be purely based on how and where the sign is positioned.
So we made a cardboard stand and just glued on two pieces of paper on each side so that people walking from both directions can see them.
The idea is built on the fact the people are not used to having things out a place, especially down something like a liner corridor. Therefore, the slightest change would catch people’s attention. Just like if you are walking down a street and you see a pub sign sticking out from the wall.
The second idea is build up on the first. We thought that by introducing a line on the floor that would get people to follow the line naturally then we can have one end that split off over the ledge, therefore making people look over.
This was inspired by a image of the london victoria station where the line on the floor allow people to follow.
The third and Final idea was to have a simple command like a road sign “STOP”.
So we thought that maybe a simple command could get someone’s attention and get them to carry out the command. this way we can see how and witch command is most effective.
We collected the data by sitting at a distance away and record the amount of people walk pass the sign and also record how many people reacted to the sign. We recorded the data by using a tally chart, this way we can calculate the percentage of people that have reacted to the sign, therefore, we don’t have to worry about the population of people walking pass a specific spot. Here are the results:
For improvement, we decided to add in stick men and concentrated on making a sign into a road sign with a specific font. The font we decided is Margret Calvert. That is the common font that is used in all road signs across the world. The letters and the border on the road signs are in white and the rest are in blue. The point of doing so is that we are trying to catch peoples attention, and road sign has proven to be very effective.
We also wanted to add in stick men so that the signs have a bit of character and hopefully that can be passed on to the people that are walking past. Furthermore, we added a stick man under the original sign to say lookup, One is to make the people who reacted to look down to look up, two is to make people who are walking underneath look up.
The making of the sign
To make the sign was fairly easy. We used scrap wood that had a slot already cut. this way we could just cut the wood in length and make the frame. We then found a scrap poll, so we sanded the side down and attached the frame to the poll. The method we used to attach the parts together was to used wood screws and metal L-shaped brackets.
For the sign itself, we used paper and masking tape. we worked out the proportions of the font that we are using and drawn out the letters, we then put masking table over the text so that when we spray paint the background the text remains white. We did that for both sides. In the end, all we needed to do was to slot in the Sign that we made.
We also made the stickmen that will hang off the sign as well as the stick man that’s going to hold up the sign at the bottom. We cut them out of cardboard and hot glued the stick on to the bottom and the
Final observation and results
For our Final testing and data collecting, our main aim is to see if the improvement we have made to the sign has an overall effect on the percentage of people reacting to the sign. We then stationed our selves close to the sign so we can observe peoples behaviour, we also had one member of our group stationed downstairs with another sign saying look up. We then sat and collected data for 1 and half hour to gain reliable data.
The result shows an increase in people reacting to the signs. People walk past and look down then looks up expecting to find something.
by Danny | Nov 23, 2018 | Design
Pictures Symble & Icon
Recreating a vinyl album cover
In this module we need to pich a song and recreat the album cover it had.
We had a selection of music that we can choose from, all the way from reggae to ambient.
I chose a jazz song by Miles Davis: So What. The choice was made by the fact I like jazz, I am familiar with the song and I know that the music by him has no word, therefore it’s the purest form of music.
First, I started by looking at the varieties of different covers that Miles Davis had and specifically focused on the covers that had the song “So What?” in them.
The first thing I realised was that all of them have one thing in common, and that is they all have Miles Davis playing the trumpet.
This was because Miles Davis was such an iconic character back then, everyone knew him, who he looked like and the music he produced. Furthermore, every single of them Miles had his eyes closed while playing, that just goes to show how passionate he is about playing the trumpet.
Then I looked at some of the different styles of albums cover. Then I came across “Big Fun” and ” Bitches Brew”, they are done in very different styles.
“Big fun” was designed in a way that instantly you get the “fun” part of the album. the characters at the back of the album dancing protrade that the music in the album is fun to listen to.
“Bitvhes Brew” cover was designed by the artist called Mati Klarwein. He was specialised in Mischtechnik, it’s a techniquewhere the artists would layer different colour onto the painting. furthermore, Mati Klarwein used Egg Tempura to paint his painting where egg yolk is used as a binder and colour pigments are added to make the colour then painted on. the effect of doing so is that the painting would appear to be quite flat, and each line is distinctive.
My Design
My starting point was to focus on the music itself. How do I feel about it? What does the music make me think of? And what idea is the artist trying to get across.
What dose the music make me feel?
Feeling the Bass
The song has a very strong bass from the beginning. The bass it self isn’t loud, you can just hear it. But you can feel the bass in your chest.
Joyful
The music started off with the sound’s pitch going up and down, I can sense that the musician (Miles Davis) is enjoying playing the piece.
Repetitive?
For the first part of the intro, it’s very repetitive, and the same part is also played at the end of the piece. However, you don’t get bored, the notes may be the same but the dynamic of the music is different each time.
Dynamic
The dynamic of the song swings from loud to quiet all the time, and with that, you can feel the emotion of the music.
Pitch
The pitch of the music starts off low with the bass the at one point suddenly grow to a very high pitch. that adds excitement to the music it self.
With Pause
The music is played in sections, in between each section, you can clearly hear that the trumpet stops and there are the bass and the gentle tapping of the snare drum.
Soft
Although there are parts of the song there is sudden high pitch sound, but it was played at such a way that it doesn’t come across as offensive. much softer than you’d expect.
Free
As soon as the trumpet starts to play, you can hear that the trumpet player is almost playing whatever he wants, the notes glide though out the piece. It is true freedom.
Model Jazz is a sub-genre of Jazz where the piece is consist of only two or three cords, and the cord change is very slow so the artiest can have a longer period of time to improvise so that the audience don’t get borad.
Mood board
I created a mood board for some inspirations, this would help me to come up with some initial ideas. I found images that relate and may inspire me to an idea.
I first started to think how I can express the music through the album cover. Because of Model Jazz, the artist is free to express and improvise what they want to play, therefore I want to show the freedom in jazz through its album cover.
Jackson Pollock was my first choice. the artwork that he produces has no definitive structure. Different colours mixed in with different emotions and freely spread across the canvas.
Then I thought from my research, every album cover had a trumpet on it. So I thought of maybe incorporate all of the instrument that was used in the song, this way when you look at the album cover, you instantly know what kind of music you are going to be listing to. Furthermore, I thought by using the rule of thirds, I can create a simple but effective album cover, by having the trumpet body in the lower third of the page and the keys in the middle, you can clearly tell that it’s a trumpet, and knowing it’s a Miles Davis album, you know what to expect.
I also explored the title of the song. The title is sassy and it gives a sense of “I don’t care” vibe. So I went with on idea where the font of the title is messy, where normally you’d expect the font to be nice and professional looking.
First I wanted to incorporate Jackson Pollock’s painting, but I didn’t want to cover the entire album cover in it. so I thought of using the rule of thirds, where I’ll only use the one-third of the available space for the Jackson Pollock painting. I decided the bottom third as that will give me the album cover more weight.
I chose three colour in the Jackson Pollock painting. First was blue, that’s because blue is the style of the music and the famous album for the song “So What” to be in was called all kind of blue. Second colour I used was yellow, this was because the trumpet is a yellow brass colour, and so is most of the instrument used for the song. And finally, the last colour was white, I put white on is because white mean purity, where it’s not been affected by any elements, and to me, that’s the spirit of the song, where the artist can explore the uncharted water of jazz, paint on the white canvas.
The second element I have is the trumpet in the middle of the page. This was done to more follow the tradition with other Miles Davis’s albums, where is a trumpet on the album cover. I image of the trumpet was of a trumpet bell if you were to look at it head on, also it represents the record itself as it’s in a circle.
Finally, it was the name. I thought I’d name the album cover so that it’s distinguished as the “So What” album.i thought that the font I could use could be something rough and messy. This way it would express as “Free”. But under further thought, I decided that the writing would look better if it was written in gold, as gold matches the colour skem of the rest of my album, and it makes the golden age of jazz.
by Danny | Nov 5, 2018 | Design
In this project, we discover different ways of seeing things from a different perspective.
For the first week, we practised on how to draw portrait without looking at the paper. This task was challenging as it required us to have a very good hand and eye coordination. We were put into groups of twos so that we could draw each other; then we moved around to other tables to draw other people. We also drew the same person three times, each time using a different colour pen, this shows us if our drawing got better from our first drawing to our last. At first, it was challenging to find where I was on the paper, so I tend to lose track of where I was drawing. Therefore the drawings were out of proportion and sometimes even at out of the page. However, as I did more, I found that drawing in a continues line really helps with the location of the drawing as I am constantly keeping in track with where I was drawing. We started off with drawing on an A4 size page, then we moved onto A3 where is a bigger area to work with. You’d think that would be easier, but it made it harder for me. This was due to the fact I didn’t use to drawing on A3 so there were no concepts of how big the drawing needs to be and where the paper is. But subsequently, after doing three people’s portrait three times, I was able to understand the overall facial feature a lot better.
Later during the week, we went on to drawing a portrait while the other person asks you questions, this way, by drawing a portrait we would get to know how the person looks like through drawing and therefore be more familiar to that person, and by asking questions about the person we get to know that person’s personality. For this task we were allowed to look at the paper as we drew, therefore the drawing was a lot better. At the end of the week, we were tasked to draw a portrait and use the conductive ink to integrate a LED into the drawing. The conductive ink was really cool, as it allows electricity to flow through the ink and light up an LED. However, in reality, the ink had a very high resistance, so by the time the current got to the LED, the light was so dim, you can’t tell it was turned on. So, in the end, I resolved to use just wires.
For my second week we were on the reading week, and our task was to draw a map of what I had done that day along with a drawing of the most memorable thing you did or an object to remind you of the day.
For Monday I mostly just stayed in my room playing games. It was difficult to make a map as I didn’t go anywhere. Then I thought that even though I as a person didn’t go anywhere, I went to a lot of places online. So, I came up with the idea of drawing pipes to show where I “went” that day. I started with getting out of my bed in the morning, I went on to YOUTUBE watched a couple of videos, then I played a bit of Battlefield 4, after that I had lunch. In the afternoon I played more Battlefield 4 and, in the evening, I played Player Unknow Battle ground with friends, then I went to bed. The most memorable drawing of Monday was inspired by the YouTube video “ASDF Movies”. This expresses the things you can do on the internet and for me that day was playing games online.
On Tuesday I went to DJCAD to get some art equipment and went by the enquiry centre and the cash office to double check my balance for university fee. I then went to nether Inn for lunch and Oshibori for dinner. For the map, I did a map the area I lived in Dundee, and I marked it out with a red pen where I went. The most memorable thing was Skint in the union that day. The drawing was of my friend passed out drunk on a trolley being carried home after had Vodka, Sourz and Jager Bomb.
For Wednesday, I did a London tube map for the map of my day. This was inspired by the logo for Oshibori. The logo for Oshibori looks awfully similar to the London tube logo. So that day I went to DJCAD, cash office, Oshibori, Enquiry centre, Nether Inn and played on Battlefield 4 and PUBG. I made each of the things I did and went to a station. The memorable drawing, I did for that day was my job interview in Oshibori. In the evening I went for my trial shift.
For Thursday, I stayed at home for most of the day but I went to Oshibori for my first shift in the evening. I did the map in a topographic map style, as I did a lot of hiking through CCF, D of E and ten Tors. So, for each of the peek it was a point where I stopped on the way to work. The most memorable thing that day was the Ramen that was served in the restaurant. It looked amazing, I was trying not to just steal the food.
Friday, I went and played pool and got pizza so for my drawing I did a drawing of a slice of pizza, it was inspired by the light refracting off a glass prism, so it would express the favours that I taste in my mouth. And my map for the day was the track of the balls on the pool table. I went to Tesco and head to Tesco to play pool.
On Saturday, I went to the Dundee science centre to help with the AroDundee. The map was inspired by Harry Potter, in the movie, there is a map where you can see everyone’s footstep. And the drawing I drew was the jet that I spent a whole day flying on the simulator, as I was in the Dundee science centre teaching kids how to play it.
During that week, we were also tasked with drawing a portfolio of another person, and we should be able to see the personality of the person through our portrait.
I drew Mariana, one of my friend. I did an interview of her and found out that she likes Jazz and frank Sinatra was her favourite artist. She plays the flute and the ukulele and her favourite food is fish. She is from Portugal and she works in a Chinese buffet as well as Dominos. She likes the environment and that was why she came to Dundee.
So, I did a pop art style portrait of her face in the middle with the globe around her that has greenery and classic Portuguese building and Chinese writing of Chinese restaurant and paper cut out collage of her favourite thing.
For the third week, we had to draw a visual CV, it would need to show our life up until the present, and also, we needed to show what we wanted to do in the future.
My initial thought was to just have a simple timeline and having split off a path that how my life could end up like. I also had the idea of having the great wall of China, where I will have the far distance wall as my past and the closer part as my present. Another idea of mine is the yellow rive in China where I can put the source of the river as my past and the opening part to sea as my present and the sea as my future. And the last idea was the spiral path, where the spiral off in the distance will be my past and it will spiral off into the distance to show my past.
I decided to test my spiral idea. However, I ran into couple of issues. The segments for each ear can’t be evening split down and I ended up running out of space. And there was a lot of wasted space on the outside.
Therefore, in the end I went with the Great Wall of China idea. I did the drawing in Chinese ink and brush. Then at certain areas I went over with green colouring pencil, it shows the greenery of the mountains. And at each checkpoint on the drawing, I have an important point in life where a decision was made that ultimately guided me to the present day.
Fourth week. We needed to make a paper-engineered Adriano character. The idea is so that we can write the code for the RGB LEDs and make a pop-up character as the casing for the RGB LEDs with a story board to go along side.
My ideas consist of Firefly, police man and a light bulb. For the Firefly I can make the light just light up and go dim again. And the police men I was planing to have a red and blue light to be flashing alternatively. And the light bulb is when I press a button then I would light up. I chose the firefly idea as the making of the paper model will be easier. And my idea was to have the paper firefly in the middle and you fold it in two pieces of paper.
I spray painted the background in matt black, and used white paint and bush to flick some spot on to the paper to make it look like night sky. I then cut out all of my fireflies’ part then put them together. I also did two origami firefly to correspond to the back story.
Codeing for the firefly
const int rPin = 11; const int gPin = 10; const int bPin = 9; const int bgHigh = 200; const int bgLow = 0; int bgNow; int rising; void setup() ( // put your setup code here, to run once: bgNow = bgLow; rising = 1; pinMode(gPin, OUTPUT); pinMode(bPin, OUTPUT); ) void loop() ( //put your main code here, to run repeatedly: if (bgNow == bgHigh) (rising = 0;) if (bgNow == bhLow) (rising = 1;) if (rising == 1) (bgNow = bgNow + 1;) if (rising == 0) (bgNow = bgNow – 1;) analogeWrite(bPin, bgNow); analogeWrite(gPin, bgNow); delay (10) )
by Danny | Oct 5, 2018 | Design
During this two week project we worked in pairs to design a new experience for users to playfully navigate an area.
Thinking about your first experience in Dundee and finding things for the first time. think about how by changing our routs we can find and discover new things in the city. Also, think about how different data can influence how we see the city and the experience of visiting the place.
We should consider what our user would enjoy in a navigation experience, and design and model a new concept that allows the user to navigate playfully.
- The ring– This idea has three variations in the initial stage of the design. The ring consists of three lights, one red in the middle and two blue on each side. This allows the indication of left, right, stop and go. The ring will vibrate when the user need-to change a direction and that alert the user to look at the ring.
2. Shoelaces– This idea incorporates optical fibre so that light can be transferred through the lace and display a different colour. This way the user can tell which direction they need to take by colour coding the colour they wanted to a certain direction.
3. Bag strap– This idea was inspired by the secondary command system that the tankers have in place which the Commander kicks the drivers left and right shoulder to tell them where to go. This idea is a case like an object that can be put on the shoulder strap of the bad and by applying pressure on each shoulder the user can navigate hand free.
4. Sound– The sound idea is to use the users surround sound headphones to guild them to their destination. By orientering to the direction with the loudest music the user can find their way through the city. This can be fun as the user is constantly exploring with the sourse of the sound.
The ring was an easy build as it was just a roll of card paper, but you can see the point. It’s simple but elegant. The shoelace model was made, so the colour on the string simulates the different colour indication. Followed by the model of the bag strap clip that can be open and closed so the product can just be clipped on to the bag shoulder straps.
After some discussion, we came to realise that there is a new kind of shoelace on the market called the “Hickies“. It’s a clip on shoelace that can be stretched so it allows the user to slip on and off their shoes. By incorporating both ideas, the product can be customised to each “Hickies” shoelace to represent a different function. for example, one can be an indication of a left or right turn and another could be a step count.
I did some
development on my sound idea. First I thought about the logo of the app I would use, so I drafted some logo design. I felt that as the point of the App is to allow the sound to get louder and louder as the user gets closer to their destination, so I thought that with the crescendo symbol in music I could design a logo based on it. However, in the end, both my partner and I decided that the music note with an arrow on it is the best. As for the name of the App, we went for CrescenGo. This is because it was inspired by the catchiness and the success of Pokemon Go. I have also designed a page for the App after the user has made their decision of where they want to go. The page tells the user when they get lost and indicate where the sound is coming from.
After that, I developed my commands for the bag strap. To decide that my partner and I did some experimentation by blindfolding each other; We have one person blindfolded, and the other person will put their hands on each side of person whos blindfolded. We tried to guide each other around a room with obstacles and tested the viability of the concept. The results of the testing were that to turn left is press and left and to turn right press on the right, both hands pressing down is stop and then let go of the shoulder was go.
The idea of a third person view camera suddenly popped into our mind as we were going through with our development. It is a third person VR navigation device. It’s a VR display of the user themself in third person as if they are playing a game.
I did some modeling of the mounting mechnism and had a play around with the extention arm designas well. I found that none of the mounting system and extension arm would work well as with all the weight of the package it will be heavy and hard to balance.
Another spontaneous idea we had is to develop a hand held guilding system that dosen’t tell you what the destination is. You repesent one of the light on the panal and you can chose one of the three diffrent color button that surrond “you”, then the user can pick which direction they would like to go by pressing one of the button. then the device will turn into a compuse that will guide the user to thier unknow destination
Further to the development of my bag strap idea, I thought that with the initial design being very rigid and the design does not allow the device to be put on any other bags. I can up with six different design ideas that would allow more compatibility across a range of bags.
First is one which has a curved surface for better ergonomics, the second idea was to have the device mounted on via hooks and loops, this way the device can wrap around any size of bag strap. another idea is to have a whole bag strap cover, will you will have to detach the bag strap and put the strap through the cover. As the cover is a stretchy material the device should fit around bag strap perfectly. Then I thought that a buckle clip would be easy to use as you would just clip the device on to the strap and just fasten the clip. Next idea I had was that the mounting system would be a zip but there are elastic bands on each side so the device can accommodate different size strap. Lastly, the device is mounted on by two elastic bands that are held in by two plastic tab, so the tension of the elastic would hold the device in place.
PressNav
The Final design idea is a combination of the hooks and loops idea and the zip idea. The final design has the elastic material on the side as well as gooks and loop to secure the device on the bag itself. There is two inflatable capsule under the device.
The device can be mounted to any double strap bag pack for travelling. the device has a built-in GPS that allows your smart device to track your location more accurately. The PressNav links to any smart device via blue tooth and uses google maps to direct and indicate. The user can use the PressNav in both urban areas or they can used when hicking. The PressNav will give the user an accurate bearing on which direction they will need to take to reach their destination. On the top of the PressNav there is also molle attachment system so that the user can attach any accessory they would like, for examples such as light, compass or a pocket knife.
by Danny | Sep 21, 2018 | Design
Design Brief
In this mini-project, we needed to produce a new urban public space individually with the concept of a connected society. As a class, we will build and exhibit a future ‘social’ city by adding each individual model. By either thinking about getting people ‘active’ or ‘calm’ where people can stop, reflect and contemplate.
We needed to research the trends of the urban area for the change in the landscape, so from there we can then explore the side of social connectivity, community connectivity and digital connectivity. we need to think about the people who I am designing for and where my product will be located in the city of Dundee.
The scale model will be located on a plank of 105mm x150mm.
Research
For research, as a group when to a multi-story parking facility located in the centre of Dundee. The place was very worn down, as you can see from the images on the right, the facility is relatively old. The parking lot used a circular spiral ramp for the cars to go up. Most of the floors were quite empty, so the area was quiet, there were also empty spaces around the car park that are just not being used.
To consider that in a city with the population up to 148,000 people but only filled the first floor of the parking space, and it’s in the centre of the city, that’s quite extraordinary. I guess it’s good that not many cars being parked here mean that the traffic count is low, that implies there is no traffic jam, and as a city the CO2 emission is low. However, the sheer waste of space is a waste of resources, maintenance and money.
Initial thoughts and Ideas
The first idea I had in mind while I was at the car park was that since the top floor wasn’t used, could it be used for a rooftop fair or have a rooftop bar? Same could apply to the centre area for the parking ramp and space next to the parking lot. Set up things where the whole community can participate in and make use of the lonely run down areas. My other thought was what if the parking lines on the floor was interactive, would that make parking fun for many that dread it?
Initial Drawing
On the left, I have my initial drawing of some of the ideas. My theme is revolved around nature, I want to create a peaceful place that you can be surrounded by nature and calm down from the business of a city. My first thought was a birds nest, also i thought it would be nice to have a spider web-like hammock so people can go and lay down. People can go in and become nestlings, where you can feel safe and protected from the world. My second idea is a dome that is made out of trees, the same basic idea as the nest but the dome is fully enclosed and the branches of the dome make a bench that people can sit around. My third idea was a giant basket again made from living tree branch but wived in the shaped of a basket. Furthermore, I designed egg-shaped capsules for people to sit and relax in, there is also a version of it where it’s a bed.
Tree Shaping
I did some research on tree shaping where there are three main ways of tree shaping. Framing, Grafting and Pruning. Framing is where you put a frame as a jig for the tree to grow in and eventually grow into the shape of the jig. Grafting is when you cut a brunch off the plant and attach a piece of another plant to the cut surface. Finally, there is pruning, which means by cutting at the leaf nodes you can direct and control the direction of the growth.
For the following ideas, I think framing may be the best idea as it’s much simpler and relatively less maintenance.
First development
My first development was the dome idea where I thought that being a dome enclosed entirely with tree branch will be very dark inside, so I thought by creating some opening on all around the dome will be more suitable as that would let some natural lighting in, and on the inside, there will be the egg-shaped beds in a nest so it will add more atmosphere to be in the bed. Furthermore, I have also put a plant pot inside the dome so there will be additional greenery to improve the internal aesthetics. I made a model of the design showing the part of the model shows the tree being covering the dome the other side you have the skeleton of the dome where the tree can grow around.
(Gallery on the right contains sketch and model)
Second Development
This is my second development idea. The idea is that instead of a dome there is a high bush where people can’t see inside and when you get in you are cut off from the world. So my first development for this idea is for mainly the Dundee flower and food festival. You walk into the garden and you will find your self in a flower exhibition. There is a guided path for the visitors but at a certain point they have the freedom to choose where they go but ultimately the path will guild them out. The flower beds are at different hight so the exhibition will seem more dynamic. My second thought was to put a spider web structure on top and the gaps are covered by the glass, so the exhibition can be a greenhouse during other seasons. The last image shows a model I made to represent the spider web idea.
Third Development
This is my third idea; it was inspired by the ‘High Way’ path in New York City. I thought that in the busy city centre there could be a sight of nature. My audiences are those who are always busy working and don’t have the time to appreciate nature. The design is that there is a grass path down the middle of the high street where there are plant pots down the two sides of the road. Furthermore, there are some array of LED lights sitting under pressure plates will light up when people step on it, so the calmness of the greenery and the interactive of the LED lights.
My final idea is similer to my second development idea. it will be a garden that’s sitting in the middle of the city. First, I chose the garden shape to be in a shape of a thistle, so I looked up some design of it. I combind the one in the left coner and the one to the right of that one.
I started by cutting the shape out on paper so I have a reference image, I then stuck it on to the 150mm x 150mm plank. By doing this I now know where I can stick my grass and rocks. First by applying PVA glue then just spinkal the grass and the rock on I manage to make the thistle shape.
(see gallery)
I then proceeded to make the ring of the garden bt cutting out the inner ring with a jigsaw and sanded it down with a bobbing sander cut out the out shape by using the band saw.
(see gallery)
The Final outcome was very satisfying with the cale fiuger of people really helped with showing the scale size of the model.
by Danny | Sep 14, 2018 | Design
The Group project
We started with a group project. Our brief was to de-construct the shape of the lamp and make a 1:1 scale model of the lamp from the material supplied.
The lamp we were given was a Tizio lamp designed by Richard Sapper.
Tizio lamp
As a team, we took on roles, and each of us was making a different component of the Tizio lamp, we also did some rough measurements, then we drew a 1:1 scale drawing. W
e also did some calculation as some of the components were harder to measure than others. And by making each induvial 
part of that lamp we each slowly getting the idea and the technicality of the lamp. Our model of the Tizio lamp needs to be balanced where it’s not going to fall or collapse. The outcome was to our satisfaction as the joints did not slip, and the lamp head was balanced on the weights.
Individual Task
After we finished making the model of the lamp we moved on to our individual projects. The aim was to use one aspect of the Tizio lamp to create a product that can still be a lamp or something entirely different.
I started by thinking about a problem around me, and I just started sketching. First, I thought about the fact when I go out for road trips, the rubbish always gets out of hands really quickly. So thought about a collapsible travel bin that twist and collapses. The part that inspired me was the joint, the zigzag design on the Tizio lamp. 
My second idea was to have a collapsible bedside table. This was due to the fact I have minimal space in my student accommodation, and I don’t have a bedside table, but I would like the table to be easily stored away when needed. I again adopted the zigzag idea from the Tizio lamp for the extension mechanism of the table, and it almost resembles the design of a scissor lift, it would go up and down to collapse down for easy storage. My third idea came after I had done some basic research about the Tizio lamp. From my research, I found that the idea of the Tizio lamp. In the world of clutter out came something simple but effective the Tizio lamp, furthermore, Richard Sapper didn’t like the fact a normal lamp has a small coverage of the working space, he wanted to create a lamp that covers a large area but at the same time without taking a large footprint. So I thought about making a lamp that takes a small amount of space, that is balanced by weight system and a light source that’s not concentrated.
Website used for research:
http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/design/articles/2016/june/06/how-clutter-inspired-richard-sapper-s-design-classic/
First idea
Drawing on travel bin idea
The model for travel bin
My first idea was the travel bin. With my initial idea being the bin twists and fold down flat for easy storage. However, after some failed sketching and brainstorm I came up with a new mechanism that would work better. If I had zigzag bars that can rotate at each end where it’s attached, make them the same all four side, you could pull them up to extend the bin and put a small bin bag in it. On the right is a card model that I have made which represent my idea. Then I thought I could make the end of the extension bar round so that the sharp edges would not cut anyone. Furthermore, I thought that I could add a cap that will clip on to the top of the bin that would hold the bin bag in place. 
Second idea
Drawing on the bedside table
The second idea is design based on a problem of having a small space for the bedroom. It’s a bedside table that can be compressed and stored away to save space when needed. I improved the design from my initial design.
The new design features:
– Open space when expanded for books or other things that user would like to use it for.
– A paper wall that folds in a zigzag form so it can be collapsed.
– A tabletop that’s just laid on top so that the user can put alarm clocks or a cup of tea etc.
The table top can be removed for easy access from the top as well as from the front of the table.
I tried to make the scissor lift mechanism. However, I realised quickly that as the mechanism move, the width of the side gets narrower, the table’s frame is fixed so that would cause a problem.
experiment model on scissor life mechanism
Third idea
ideas for the lampshade
My third idea is also a lamp. The idea is to make the lamp as simple as possible, and my main focus is how to make the light source of the lamp not concentrated but more spread out so it can cover more surface area. So I made some different lampshade model.
Lampshade idea modelling
- The first lampshade idea is not so ideal this is because the light would bounce and reflect in the cone and come out very concentrated and bright.
- the second one is slightly better as I removed the back end to let some light escape, therefore, less light being reflected within the cone so ultimately more dispersed light.
- The third idea is better as light can escape from both directions of the tube but still quite focused.
- The fourth one is effectively a box where the light would come out from the bottom, so the light would be very focused as well.
In the end, I chose lampshade 3 as the one I will use. As to how to disperse the light even more, the material I will use for the lampshade will be a half opaque material that lets most of the light through but reflects some light so the whole of the head shines and light up the room.
Final idea drawing
So then I sketched up an idea how the lamp will look like, it will have a round base that can rotate and a weight system at the back to keep the lamp balanced.
I started by making the base of the lamp. I used foam board to wrap around disks of cardboard, the extra weight will create a more stable base for the model. I added an extra disk at the bottom which is attached via a dowel, so the base can rotate freely. Then I moved to make the rest of the lamp out of foam boards. The joints work as it should and the weights create a perfect balance.
What I could’ve done better
After playing around with the finished model I had the following thoughts that may improve the product:
- The weight could move up and down the beam to create more movement options.
- The main beam can be extended so the light can cover more area.
Also for the modelling of the lampshade, next time I would use a different kind of material for it as the foam board do not show the light diffusing property of the real material I want to use.
