Saturday, December 17, 2016
Lego Toy Miniature Display Set
We're down to our final assignment woots and it's the grandest one yet. After seeing our seniors' works, we're pumped to make something epic so we're determined to do our best.
We're given a new client each - and apparently our lecturers gave us our characters based on our personalities. Seeing that I seem capable and strong (in terms of first impression only alright) I am assigned to create a toy display set for the world's favourite Justice League's heroin - Wonder Woman.
This is the research I've conducted on my client - her origins, weakness and strength, and her ultimate story behind her creation. Then I translate her characteristics into design elements and principles, which will be my future references for my final design.
We're given a new client each - and apparently our lecturers gave us our characters based on our personalities. Seeing that I seem capable and strong (in terms of first impression only alright) I am assigned to create a toy display set for the world's favourite Justice League's heroin - Wonder Woman.
Design Process Journal of Wonder Woman from Carmen Chan
And here's me attempting at my cube manipulation of the toy display set.
The final design and mockups
And here's me attempting at my cube manipulation of the toy display set.
The final design and mockups
And these are my creations, finally brought to life!
The process was quite challenging, because you need to really make sure that your cube reflects your Lego character. And also to draw your model requires a skill too (i cursed myself for making my model a bit too random so my drawing kinda suffered) but from here we learned that orthographic drawings has so many ways that can be done and the emphasis of line weight, depending on how you want to communicate your design.
Making your model is one thing. But doing your presentation boards is another. It's as important. It's a way others can understand your design better like its explanations and background stories in the form of visuals. So dear future you, please not forget that.
Cube Manipulation
Dang dang dang it's what everyone dreading in the design module - the cube manipulation project. Where there is hardly an achievement grade of A is recorded in this assignment - ever.
However, let's take up the challenge - maybe our batch can come up with something different.
So off to the continuous intense tutorial sessions, cutting up countless modelling boards and learning techniques of manipulating our six faced clients like face-to-face, intersecting, sliced and removed and rotation of grids. Not to mention, we are also required to apply the characteristics of the lyrics from our Meghan Trainor number - Me Too. Our keyword is emerge.
Here's our reference video
However, let's take up the challenge - maybe our batch can come up with something different.
So off to the continuous intense tutorial sessions, cutting up countless modelling boards and learning techniques of manipulating our six faced clients like face-to-face, intersecting, sliced and removed and rotation of grids. Not to mention, we are also required to apply the characteristics of the lyrics from our Meghan Trainor number - Me Too. Our keyword is emerge.
And after a tiring 4-5 weeks, tadaaa we made it! So proud. Can you believe we have about 260 cubes in this room in total.
This is ours. And our final outcome is The Cocoon, inspired by a time-lapse of an emerging butterfly. We didn't manage to complete though but we're satisfied with the results.
During our post presentation feedback session, our lecturers advised us to design not only based on applying our techniques, but we need to refer to inspiring aspects in our surroundings, in our case, it's biomimicry as we referred to the emergence of a butterfly from the cocoon. Besides, from the feedback I found out that we can actually refer to abstract artworks as they are the inspiration to most great architectures.
So future you, don't ever look down on abstract stuff because they are strongly related to architecture, after all.
Facade Artwork
Now that we've done the theory part, it's time to apply it for real - and what's more interesting is, we have a client. Meghan Trainor huhu.
Our task is to create a pattern that reflects the characteristics Meghan Trainor's famous song - Me Too. And by characteristics I mean the rhythm, beat, tempo, whatever your music teacher has taught you.
So in the beginning to understand the song we need to understand music components. It's pretty surprising to find out that music has design elements and principles too like the texture and emphasis and rhythm and repetition.
We decided to focus on the distortion transition in the song and for our first tutorial we learned how to translate how we feel about that part of the song into this.
As you can see we have a common pattern in our translation, we have more of edges and bright contrasting colours. And's that we're going to use for our pattern - facade artwork.
Our task is to create a pattern that reflects the characteristics Meghan Trainor's famous song - Me Too. And by characteristics I mean the rhythm, beat, tempo, whatever your music teacher has taught you.
So in the beginning to understand the song we need to understand music components. It's pretty surprising to find out that music has design elements and principles too like the texture and emphasis and rhythm and repetition.
We decided to focus on the distortion transition in the song and for our first tutorial we learned how to translate how we feel about that part of the song into this.
As you can see we have a common pattern in our translation, we have more of edges and bright contrasting colours. And's that we're going to use for our pattern - facade artwork.
Our first design idea - different thickness of lines to express emphasis
Drawing
Testing out our final design idea
Our final product
We got an average B for this project but the progress was worth it (so tiring I was fighting off sleep to complete the boards cry). The thing we lacked was our workmanship of our facades and the way we did our titles on the boards.
We should arrange our time though because we were dying literally finishing this project. Also the reason why we did pretty last minute was the change of ideas at the end. This really tested our time management and it's a huge wake up call that we should plan according to our resources sometimes.
Understanding Design
Our first project aims to help us get exposed to the foundation of design. The basic components that make up design rules like the elements, principles, composition and pattern.
We are to do research based on those components and compile our study in the form of a booklet.
In this little assignment, studying the theory part of design can seem boring. But it's actually not. Because we got to show examples to show how each component of design is like - through taking pictures, sketching of our understanding and ideas and applying it in designing a motive which reflects your character, which will then be turned into a pattern.
Overall, I enjoyed this assignment because after classes, I would be having mini photoshoots with my friends, jumping around in front of a blank wall in campus just to find the right composition, and train rides around the city to capture design elements and principles in the surroundings.
Being grounded in the basics of design, understanding how design is is essential because you need to apply them everywhere. Each element, principle and composition of design brings out a meaning to your future creations so it is important to know how to apply according to your client's or aim's requirements.
Also, searching the definitions and writing it down is just not enough. You need to explore the theory yourself too by noticing them in your surroundings and sketching them down right away. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect :)
Here are the features of my study booklet.
We are to do research based on those components and compile our study in the form of a booklet.
In this little assignment, studying the theory part of design can seem boring. But it's actually not. Because we got to show examples to show how each component of design is like - through taking pictures, sketching of our understanding and ideas and applying it in designing a motive which reflects your character, which will then be turned into a pattern.
Overall, I enjoyed this assignment because after classes, I would be having mini photoshoots with my friends, jumping around in front of a blank wall in campus just to find the right composition, and train rides around the city to capture design elements and principles in the surroundings.
Being grounded in the basics of design, understanding how design is is essential because you need to apply them everywhere. Each element, principle and composition of design brings out a meaning to your future creations so it is important to know how to apply according to your client's or aim's requirements.
Also, searching the definitions and writing it down is just not enough. You need to explore the theory yourself too by noticing them in your surroundings and sketching them down right away. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect :)
Here are the features of my study booklet.
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