Project 6- Luminescence pt. 2

After our research, I came up with my idea after severals days of brainstorming. I decided I was going to create both the sunrise and sunset since I couldn't pick between the two. I was going to use yellow, red and blue acetate or lighting gel for the colors of the sun; the light bulb; a box. This was my first try at my luminaire:

After I had my idea I just needed to refine the making of it. So I used matte board to create a box a little smaller than the shoebox I used for my 'model.' My next issue was how I was going to be able to rotate it since that was the effect I wanted. It took several ideas but I came up with using skewers from my Unity project as my third material and cross them to create handles from which I could manually spin/turn the acetate. I had some issues with the length of the skewers because they kept getting caught on the table. The last issue I had was because the light on the side was too heavy and everytime it was rotated it would either fall out or cave in. As a result I used 4 skewers to keep the light bulb side steady by having two of them outside of the box and then having two on the inside to hold the bulb in place.

Below are pictures of the effect my illuminaire causes:

Below is my 'documentation' of it. For our documentation we had to do a composite drawing on an 18"x24" piece of Canson paper (mine was black). We had to have a plan, an elevation, a section and an expressive rendition of the field of light. My plan, elevation and section are the drawings on the top part done in yellow colored pencil. My rendition is the rest of the drawing (the yellow, red and blue mix) which is my interpretation of my light effect and the colors the sun casts when it rises and sets.

The last thing included is a video I took of my luminaire. I didn't think the pictures did it full justice. The effect is just not the same so I included a video so that it can be experienced the way it was meant to.

Project 6- Luminescence pt.1

This was our last and final project. This project entailed us to design a luminaire using three materials. Two of which were used in previous projects and a new material. Our luminaire "should create a field of light that articulates that surface upon which it is cast." The first part to this was finding an inspiration through design researching. We did this through observations, designers and websites, as well as materials.

I looked at and observed the sun. Every morning when I would walk my dog, I would see the sun rising. I would occasionally see the sun setting. I also had several pictures I had taken of the sun rising and setting in Iraq. I looked at images of the way the sun hit the water and the effects it caused on the sea/ocean floor. Since I was torn between both the water and the sunrise/sunset, I started to think about how to create the effects I wanted. Then my choice was narrowed down when a classmate who sits next to me wanted to work with the effects of water. So sunset/sunrise it was for me!

Below are some of the pictures I had taken in Iraq.

This was during my 1st deployment (in a Humvee):


These two were from my 2nd/last deployment (outside work but inside the base):

Project 5-Dialog

For this project, there were a lot of similarities to the previous one. For example, using 12 rods (skewers) and 12 planes (4"x6" Bristol). Although, in this case we had to "create two distinct spaces that relate to one another in a mutually supportive way." Except there was a catch. We were only allowed one fold per plane. I had difficulty trying to find a dialog so that I could start working. The thing that stuck with me was about dialog were opposites. So I decided to work with that idea. I searched for different type of opposites. From that I narrowed it down to three types of opposites. I came up with a plan to incorporate all three, which were dark & light, heavy & light, and empty & full. I came up with using light & heavy with empty & full together as one. I created bowl-like shapes with my planes and skewers, which used 8 of each in total. That left 4 of each, which I used to 'fill up my bowl.' This is my first model:My idea was to create a balance or scale in black and white (for my dark & light) where my 'full' bowl would be on the lower end and my 'empty' bowl on the higher end. My challenge with this was again the skewers because of their length. How was I going to make a height difference between both bowls if I couldn't change the height of the skewers? At first, as my first model shows, I decided to adjust the placement of the 'heavier' bowl on the skewers. However, for some reason, it just didn't work. I can't remember if it wasn't visually pleasing or if there was a deeper issue. So, I decided to that I would create the base suited for my height obstacle. In the end my idea was to hide the skewers in the base. Because of the height of the skewers on the lower end and wanting dramatic height difference, I ended up with a HUGE base. One end was 7" high and the other was 14" high. Not only where they tall but were big columns. Each column was 6" wide. Once I had built my base I became unsure of it and I asked for some help. It was said that the base was so big that it became the focal point, which was not the intent. My dialog had gotten lost in my base. So I had to change my base. I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to downsize my base but still have my original idea of a scale while hiding the skewers to avoid having extra space. It took me a few tries but I was able to create a base using white and black matte board to make a kind of scale/balance for my 'bowls.'

Project 4- Unity

For this project, we were supposed to "assemble anything [we] want[ed] with 12 rods (skeweres) and 12 planes (4"x6" Bristol Board) on a 12"x12" base. Along with that we had to have a parti or collage on a 12"x12" format.

I definitely had some trouble trying to figure out what to make. So I started to play around with my skewers and used index cards for my planes. As a started to play around with forms and shapes, I came down to two models. One was a picnic table looking shape, except the problem with that was I didn't use up all the materials. That left me with trying to figure out how to incorporate the rest without changing the idea. The other model was of an airplane. It was the type that were constructed back in early 1900s. My inspiration was the Wright Brother's model planes. However, the model I had set my eyes on as my inspiration was not going to work with my materials since I could only manipulate the form/shape of my skewers and paper but I couldn't cut them. So I continued my research and stumbled upon a few other planes. I narrowed it down to a plane made by Jerome S. Zebre.

Image below of Wright Brother plane.

Image below of Zebre Multiwing No. 2.

From my Zebre inspiration, I used my materials to mimic the multiple tiered wings of the plane.

Project 3- Structure

This project was broken into two parts:

1- construct a 4"x4"x4" cube with one open end, using Briston board, articulating the edges to aid assembly and design intent.


2- design an integral structure made from plastic drinking straws that positions the cube four inches above an eight inch square base.



When I tried working with my initial idea, it didn't turn out right because I hadn't cut enough paper. However, from that mistake I came up with the design that I ended up going with. Below are two thumbnail models for that cube. The one of the left is made with regular printing paper and the one of the right is made with Bristol. The one made out of Bristol was to see if the cube design would still work since it is thicker paper.






After the thumbnails, the next step was to do it in full scale. Below is my test cube for the actual size, along with the straws. The tape was just a quick bind to get my idea across, as well as, a way to change it if something wasn't working right without having to use more Bristol. Bristol isn't expensive but it's not cheap either!



Below is my final product. My intent/theme was angles. I decided to go with a trapezoid shape for the sides. Then I used the straws to mirror the trapezoidal shape. I used purple straws because of the straw choices I had (purple, blue, yellow & orange), I was torn between blue and purple. I would have naturally gone with the blue- since it's my favorite color- but I decided against it because I didn't want my blue obsession to take over. So purple it was! For the base, I went with styrofoam because I thought it was the best choice to stick the straws in. After that I needed to design something that would help focus the viewer's eye to the opening and going with my angles theme I carved an angle right below the opening.




Once the creation of our project was done, there was a final step. That was to draw our cube. We had to include a 3-D render, a couple of orthographic drawings (plan & two elevations views), and a detail view of a joint or edge. My first drawing (below) is the 3-D render.




My next drawings include the plan view (left) and 3 detailed views (right), which include an altered drawing, a top joint and a bottom joint.

My last two drawings are the two elevation views. I chose the front view and right view.

Project 2- Intersection pt 2

After the class critique, I went back to the drawing board. I wondered what pictures could be placed in. After a few ideas, I decided to go with a photo album. I thought about how an album is made and reversed or switched how the materials would be used. So, instead of making the album cover with fabric and the "page" with paper, I used the paper (a type of poster paper) as the cover and felt as the "page." I used the thread to bind acetate to the felt so my dad's picture could be protected. I did 63 stitches to represent the age when he died. When we had desk critques- based on suggestion by Tommy- I stitched the cover title with the same thread I used to stitch the felt and acetate. This is what came out.

After the class critique when I showed my final product, I ended up doing some final refined touches . I redid the stitches around the "page," as well as, I re-stitched the cover so that the letters looked bold and the stitching on the back of the cover was neater. This is what is looked like. I can see a difference but I'm not sure if it is that visable to everyone else.

Project 2- Intersection pt 1

The assignment for this project was to: design a container for a special object using paper, fabric and thread of our choice. Above was my first idea. I had picked the picture of my dad as my special object. The idea behind my product was to recreate my camera out of paper and use the thread as the tie between the paper (camera) and fabric (camera strap). However, I wasn't using the theme of intersection properly. The theme was to intersection these materials to create the container and I had created the container with just the paper and then adding on the thread and fabric which wouldn't be missing from the big picture if you didn't know there was a strap.

Project 1- Joinery

This was my first project. I had some difficulty trying to figure out what I wanted to use. I stumbled upon a long branch on campus and broke it in three so I could use the middle part. Later that day I found a stone in the park. After I had both my artifacts I still didn't know how to bind them but it came to me last minute. However, I had originally used a thread with the idea of not having the bind so visible but was advised to make the bing thicker and more visible. So I decided to go with some 550 cord and Viola!