3/1/19 – Conclusion

Today marked the end of Design class. I was able to bring my shelf back and I immediately filled it up with food to see how it worked. I actually like the scaled version. I think it could be a little bigger, and now I think that my original, nonscaled version may be too big for my liking. But I’ll never know until I actually create it. I stocked my shelf with a couple of foods and a drink. My supply is a bit low as it is finals week and I want to get rid of any opened foods and extras that I have as spring break is approaching. I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I appreciated learning a new program, Rhino, and enjoyed creating my own ideas from scratch and then be able to make it into a real thing.

2/25/19 – Finished Final Project

Today, I managed to finish my design for my shelf. I had to work overtime a bit, coming in on my free period on Saturday and working on it after class for over an hour as well. The finished, scaled shelf worked and fit perfectly. Once it dried, it looked like a fully functioning shelf. I may be able to use and actually use this scaled version in my room.

2/23/19 – Overtime

During my free D period and after lunch on Saturday, I came in to work on assembling my shelf. I had wanted a prototype of my shelf, so I had decided to scale it in order to use the material available. I found the scale factor, scaled it properly, emailed the Rhino file to Mr. Brodie, and got it printed. Once printed, I started to assemble it dry. No glue was used, and the finger joints were enough to hold it well enough in place (which they should). Then, I ran into trouble with the two outside panels. Somewhere in making the outlines for the panels, I messed the dimensions up. I misaligned the holes where the shelves would join to the side panels. The long edge that held the sliding panel in place was also a bit too long. Mistakes were expected, as this was a complicated project with many intersections and joints, but I had still hoped everything would fit together first-try. I quickly fixed the errors and had the three pieces reprinted. Those fit perfectly, and I could now start assembling it for real. I sanded each panel down and glued them together in an order Mr. Brodie and I developed to make sure all the pieces could fit. Looking back, these errors could have been prevented had I made a 3D model in Rhino before I printed to make sure these errors did not exist.

2/22/19 – A Scaled Prototype

Having finished my 2D models, I was a bit bored and didn’t want to make a 3D model in Rhino, I wanted to create a physical prototype. Knowing the thickness of the material I would use, and the thickness that Mr. Brodie had in class, I knew I couldn’t make a 1:1 model of my shelf. I didn’t want to either. Making a shelf a couple feet across and some high would be too big and take too long to make. I decided that I would have to scale my model down so that I could use the material in class. In order for the scaled version to fit, I had to change my 0.5 in offsets and finger joints to .22 in offsets to ensure the finger joints would fit. I couldn’t find the proper scale factor in class, so I had to find the magical number and figure a way to scale my entire project down.

I change the measurements of Rhino to inches to make scaling them easier. Instead of going from feet in inches, I could just go from inches to smaller inches.

2/1919 – Finishing the Rhino

I continued to work on my Rhino models. I added more finger joints and adjusted the pieces so they could fit.

2/18/19 – Revised Plan and Attempt at Final Project

After talking with Mr. Brodie, he suggested that I add in more finger joints for more support. The amount that I had would not be enough. I then made more detailed plans and organized out the different pieces and in what order I would make them in. I also forgot to mention the thickness of the material I would use which led me to use incorrect Offsets in Rhino that was making me confused. Now with the Offset and thickness out of the way, the rest of the project should be fairly simple in terms of concepts and how it all fits. Now, it’s a matter of creating all the pieces and making them fit.

2/11/19 – Start of 2D modeling of Final Project on Rhino

I started to draw out 2D models for the different parts of the shelf. I included a rough sketch in Rhino of my shelf from a forward perspective to help me visualize what piece I was making and where it would go.

2/11/19 – Finishing my Luminary

I was now able to glue my luminary together after waiting for the glue to dry.

2/11/19 – More Detailed Concept Sketches

In order to correctly create my shelf in Rhino, I needed to identify the individual pieces so I could make them on Rhino by copying my drawings from my improved concept sketch. This allowed creating different parts more easily and faster. However, I still needed to adjust some panels since I would not have enough support in some places and needed to account for the thickness of the panels in some places. The private shelf is not part of the improved design because I am focusing on the main part of the shelf for now.

2/8/19 – Reprinting a Panel and Starting a Candle Holder

I had to reprint a panel as it had a hole in the bottom that would show, so I sand and glued that piece as well and added it to my final pieces. I had to wait for the glue to dry so I couldn’t start gluing the pieces all together yet. In the meantime, I started to work on my stand.  Mr. Brodie said that the best and easiest way to secure the candle holder inside my luminary was through pressure fitting, where the holder should be able to squeeze in between the four panels and be strong enough to not fall. The candle also needed to be pressure fit, so I made the hole just smaller than the widest part of the candle. I noticed that the candle was not a perfect cylinder and that it widened out at the bottom, and used this to create a pressure fit. I measure the top of the candle, the skinniest part, and set that as my diameter for the candle holder. This would allow the top part of the candle to fit through, but be too small for the larger base to fit through. I then pushed it a little bit until it became a pressure fit. This design allowed me to access the bottom of the candle and also allowed for easy access if I were to ever replace it.

 

2/4/19 – Sanding and Gluing Luminary Panels

After my panels were printed, I started to sand the burned surface away until only the clean wood showed. I then proceeded to glue the film onto the panels, which took some time to make sure there would be no excess glue that would overflow onto the film or wood.

2/1/19 – Concept Sketches for Final Project

1/25/19 – Final Project: Empathizing, Defining,  and Ideating

Problem – How do I effectively store my food and other items in my room in an organized manner? I already have a shelf, but it’s not very strong and is starting to cave under the weight of the items on the shelf. So the next question is how would I create a strong and sturdy shelf that is capable of withstanding the weight of future items? Another thing I want to consider is that somebody has been stealing some food and drinks from me so I will need to design a way to prevent that from happening.

Solution – I will create a new shelf with similar length but different height, allowing for more space to store my food and drinks. To make my items more organized, I can create different size squares or cubbies for specific types of food, or I could make dividers that are adjustable. To prevent stealing, I can hide the food that is most often stolen behind a shelf that is extruded out more than usual, allowing for a space hidden from sight to hide my food.

Constraints – The material I will be using will need to be able to withstand the weight of my food. It can be made of wood, but if I am using the same wood as the luminary, it will need to be multiple layers thick. Another constraint is what I have on my shelf currently. It is also my storage for some junk, such as boxes that I use for packing and traveling, and some leftover hooks from the beginning of the year. This means I will have to dedicate one level of my shelf to these miscellaneous items. The last constraint is practicality. I need to be sure that my design will actually function in real life and will not break or be impossible to make.

1/22/19 – Paper Model of Luminary

1/11/19 – 1/15/19: 3D Prototype for Luminary in Rhino

During the creation of the prototype, I came into a couple of changes. I got the hang of the program rather quickly and managed to complete my four sides at a decent pace. I used the classic finger joint style, but with a twist as I wanted to make room for my feet at the bottom of the luminary. While working on my design, I had to change a few shapes and add and subtract some in order to fulfill the requirements of continuity between sides. I added small lines to my luminary as well to give it more detail.

I ran into a couple of problems in the beginning, but they were easily dealt with. My sketches were not perfectly to scale, so I had to adjust my designs to make sure everything would fit. I also found some mistakes with the continuity of my designs. Panels 1 and 4 did not have connections, so I added some lines so they would flow together. I made sure every panel had something to connect it to the next. The circles and curves gave me a little bit of trouble, as I wanted everything to be perfectly center with everything, so I had to find ways to make them the same size and have my lines the same width.

After making my 2D, it was time to extrude. Here, I ran into a giant problem, as all of them turned out to be cookie cutters. With help, I was introduced to the “Join” command and was able to successfully extrude my 2D panels to create a 3D model on Rhino.

1/15/19: 3D Model of Luminary

1/15/19: 2D Model of Luminary on Rhino

1/8/19: Concept Sketches for Luminary

1/8/19: Ideating the Luminary

As I started the next project, I had to look for inspirations and looked towards Frank Lloyd Wright’s stained glasses. Looking at his unique window panes, I noted his interesting use of lines, and how some intersected to form rectangles or squares at various positions and sizes. Some of these shapes were rather obvious, such as an American flag, while others were more unique and abstract.

I based my Luminary’s design through this but added some circles as well to give it a more dynamic look. I figured that the lines and rectangles would be too boring. I tried experimenting with symbolic designs, such as the 6 lines representing my family and the odd rectangular objects as California and New Jersey, with the Lawrenceville logo at the bottom, but I decided against it as it was both too busy for my tastes and rather strange.\

I then conceptualized four other panels that would turn into the final draft of my luminary. I used Frank Lloyd Wright’s style of lines, but used circles and curves instead of rectangles and squares. I also kept in mind the constraints of the project, such as making sure that each panel had some similarities to the next so that the design would seem to “flow” through the luminary.

11/30/18: Concept Sketch for Phone Stand

11/27/18: Define

After Empathize mode, I determined the constraints of the project, such as time, materials, and weight of the phone. The phone stand will incorporate all of Devin’s requirements and will be able to be used as Devin intends. The phone stand is meant to be used on a desk, as per Devin’s request, and holds the phone at a comfortable angle for viewing Netflix. The phone stand will also include some sort of Off-White design or logo, which Devin wanted.

11/27/18: Empathize

I asked Devin for a brief background about who he is, such as his age, where he is from, and what phone he has. Then, I started asking specific questions regarding what he did with his phone, such as what he used it for and where he used it. With these responses, I determined what Devin uses his phone for, and what I should keep in mind when designing my phone stand.

11/27/18: Picture of me