Object Design by Isabelle

 THE DESK MINIS This week I got to print desk sized miniatures. This was so fun to do and then play with afterwards. I also learned how to load and unload filament into the Prusa minis, adding to my toolbox. I purchased these filaments from https://canadianfilaments.ca/ which is located in Edmonton. The filament's worked great, were very affordable and they promote as little waste as possible with carboard packaging.     Here you can see how the orientation of the cubbies completely changes the display possibilities  Mock-ups From these photos you can see how these cubbies could be used with other objects.  After considering each of them I decided my original choice was still the lead. This design is the most spacious for larger objects and its convertibility is very attractive to me, you can see this in the first set of photos in this post.  as far as modifications go for this design I am going to revert to the original version which still had fi...

 So while I started working in Rhino last week I still wanted to continue pushing my iteration and really employ my design process. playing with many kinds of shape language I really just messed around with shapes and considering how they can transform into an aesthetically pleasing utilitarian object. considering shapes that lock into each other like puzzle pieces. Looking back at my favorite cubbies design I tried playing with the shapes so that they could make a pattern but it was getting too complicated   play play play A consideration for the print is if the walls of the cubbies will be textured or not. I think a ribbed pattern would be attractive. A printer with a large extrusion would also be very attractive During this exploration I realized I want the shape language to be rounded and soft for the most part. I want the object to add a calmness to its environment.  I'm really into the cloud-like designs in these last two images. The arches and rounded edges ar...

  As I moved forward to complete the final step of resin printing The Born Witch we kept running into issues.  The first issue we had was supports failure. The stump that the figure stands on is one of the largest pieces that has been printed on these machines. Because of the weight the medium supports were not enough to complete the print so we tried again with heavy supports. For the Heavy supports print we ran into a problem of running out of resin. After this failed print our tech hooked up the feeder to the machine to replenish the resin as it was used which led to the final successful print of the stump.  Reflecting on this I think I could have hollowed out the under side of the stump to make it lighter and require less materials which in turn may have solved both of these issues. That is my advice for the next person who is printing such a substantial item. At this point I believed I had all the pieces printed properly but upon closer inspection I realized the legs...

The construction of these cubbies in rhino is very simple. I draw the surface design and then extrude the shapes, Boolean difference and fillet the front edges.   This design I'm particularly fond of because of its ability to transform into new shapes.   I'm looking at filaments for this project so I tried matching colors to one stores website listings and played around   Unfortunately most of the colors listed are out of stalk so there's a limited selection. I thought these were nice but I'm undecided.  I want to continue exploring different cubby designs with a clear understanding of what they will be meant to hold, like mugs, vinyl or perhaps something very small. I also want to push the modularity of the design. I will consider how I can make a series of cubbies or perhaps a continuous pattern of modular shapes. Then I will prototype my favorite deigns, small with perhaps 2-4mm walls, and try staging them to help me decide which design is working best....

To start this project I did some online searching for items that peaked my interest and could be mass produced. I found that I'm most interested in items that have a function and that I'm even more interested if they have a relationship with another object.  After looking at hundreds of items I began narrowing my interests. For this project I am interested in designing a product that is well designed yet simple and streamlined. If the product is 3D printed then I would like to design something that requires no post print clean up, so ideally, no supports.  If the item object is made with the laser cutter I may create something layered that requires light gluing at the end.  For a mass produced object I think the more complete the object from machine intervention the better. This would be more time and cost affective. Inspired by this design, the first path of interest is to make a funky 3D printed cubby/side table.   https://www.pinterest.com/pin/628181848059471...