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Form: Entry 14

Project 3: Final Project

Rules:

  • Multiple 3D printed parts
  • Laser cutting
  • Modular
  • Functional

Inspiration:

Name: Erste Walpurgisnacht

Tagline: Von Goethe bis du.

Artist Statement: I was inspired to create this piece as it was around Halloween and I had recently read part of Goethe’s epic Faust. In Faust, the titular character is taken to Walpurgisnacht by Mephistopheles, aka the Devil. Walpurgisnacht is an ancient Germanic legend about the nights around Halloween when the witches, goblins, and fae come out to cavort with the Devil.

I wanted to create a lamp that would project a forest silhouette into the room along the clouds and devils. I ditched the devils and clouds as PLA would not print thin enough to give the ghostly feel of the clouds.

I created the silhouette first and then ported it to Blender and wrapped it around the shape of the cage. The skull was sculpted in Blender and then parts were removed to accommodate the light.

My initial sizing was too large and would have taken in the range of two days. I halved the size and was able to get the print time down to 10 hours. Unfortunately, the 3D printers are awfully maintained and the print looks terrible.

Untitled-1-01

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Form: Entry 13

Project 3: Sketches and Moodboard

Rules:

  • Multiple 3D printed parts
  • Laser cutting
  • Modular
  • Functional

Inspiration:

I took inspiration for this project from German pencils cases that I would use back in elementary school. I wanted to create something functional after my last paperweight project.

The case will be small as I only use a few good drawing utensils. I have not finalized the engraving on the front but, I was thinking about a draw scale portrait of Bob Ross. or an Albrecht Durer woodcut.

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Form: Entry 12

Project 2: Final

Rules:

  • Laser Cut or
  • 3D Print

Inspiration:

Name: Portable Satan Head

Tagline: For the modern Satanist in you.

Artist Statement: Are you feeling overwhelmed by Bible thumpers on campus? Have you lost touch with the Father of Lies? With this Portable Satan Head, you can once again be reminded that God isn’t real and that eternal damnation was a lie to keep people from having fun.

I decided to create this Portable Satan Head to see how well my technical skills with Blender and Illustrator were. I also wanted something to match the theme of Satanism that has been in most of my projects.

I created an initial sculpt of my trophy head in Blender. Then, I created the slices that I would print using a combination of Boolean modifiers and solidify ones. After a few failed attempts at creating a usable template, I was finally able to export one to Illustrator that would work. I traced it in Illustrator and added a few details and minor changes so that the construction would go smoother. Next, it was on to laser cutting.

Unfortunately, I was unable to use wood for my print and was forced to use the more expensive acrylic. I downsized my model and was able to get a successful cut on my first try.

Model:

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Form: Entry 11

Assignment 3: Final

Rules:

  • A typography laser cutting
  • Functional

Inspiration:

I continued with my original idea of corruptions of popular culture and created a set of wooden, engraved coasters with fitness quotes that sound terrible when applied to drinking. I also added a few that were reminiscent of other pop icons like Nike, and Alice in Wonderland.

Design:

I created my typography using stereotypically Western fonts to go with the wood material and eventual beer stains. There are nine designs: 4 fitness/drinking quotes, 1 Nike slogan, 1 Alice in Wonderland, 2 drug references and the Pirate Bay X Louis Vuitton from my original sketches.

Unfortunately, I was unable to laser cut out the wood I bought despite being what I had previously been told. So I used a jigsaw and a power sander to create them as circular as possible.

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Form: Entry 10

Project 2: Moodboard & Sketches

Rules:

  • Laser Cut or
  • 3D printed

Inspiration:

I was inspired to create a wooden trophy head like the ones you see in hipster coffee shops. A while ago I helped move an old-fashioned Safari hunter who had decorated his entire living room with 300 guns and the head of thirty odd animals. While I am not a vegan, I am also not wealthy enough to have real animal heads on my walls and will have to settle for wooden ones. I was thinking about either making a satanic goats head complete with the pentagram and Alchemical cross on his forehead. I also considered doing a Dr. Seuss style head; however, I am not sure how well the strange necks and odd tufts of fur will translate into woodcut silhouettes. I believe that I will be able to combine both my skills in Illustrator and Blender to create a feasible schematic. I will create a sculpted model in Blender and then take cross sections of it and export it to Illustrator for final touches and the joinery cuts.

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Form: Entry 9

Practice

Rules:

  • Form to be laser cut

Inspiration:

I am not sure where I ever got the idea for the style of graffiti I like to draw, probably some book, somewhere. One of the items I have drawn a number of times has been a Yin-Yang. It would be a nice design to have on a set of coasters.

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Form: Entry 8

Assignment 3: Sketches & Moodboards

Rules:

  • A typography laser cutting
  • functional

Inspiration:

I’m an anticapitalist Boulderite and have always liked rude corruptions of brands well-crafted logos. I was inspired by the Supreme x Louis Vuitton series of merchandise and the general lack of novelty it had while somehow becoming so profitable. I wanted to create something that was functional but easy to make as to just plaster the unoriginal design of Supreme x Louis Vuitton on it. Being as that is copyright infringement, I added The Pirate Bay’s logo to it as a nod to the stupidity of paying large amounts of money for normal clothes.

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Form: Entry 7

Project 1: Final

Rules:

  • Anything
  • Functional

Inspiration:

Artist Statement:

Name: Proto-Ocarina

Tagline: The First of Many

Artist’s Statement: We were inspired by the Ocarina from the Legend of Zelda game, Ocarina of Time. The one we made has twelve holes instead of the game’s one which has 8. We also tried to make the object look like it was sculpted in a 3D Program and left it with a geometric outer form. The geometric outer form provides a more exact shape for 3D printers to use and is a variation on the classic form.
We split the model into two in order to print the Ocarina more easily, due to the fact that 3D printers cannot easily print at a 90-degree angle.
We liked the idea of creating a usable object instead of an artistic sculpture. The Proto-Ocarina will hopefully be playable; however, it will likely sound like a kazoo because of its construction material and the inaccuracy of the modeling program. The 12-hole ocarinas are designed to work on a pentatonic scale and would sound good no matter what notes are played. Unfortunately, the Proto-Ocarina will likely be off-key.

Model:

The model was based on a twelve holed Ocarina from Legend of Zelda. The subdivisions were added before the boolean which caused them to be rough on the edges. I tried to add a second smoothing modifier but it caused my computer to tank.

Presentation Sheet:

For the presentation sheet, we took the styles from the Zelda website and attempted our hand at tacky 90’s web posters. (No .gifs or dancing babies included.)

Untitled-1-01

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Form: Entry 6


Response to ‘Power of Good Design’ & ‘The Demise of Form follows Function‘

Form follows function. Most modernist designs live by this rule. Famed designer, Dieter Rams proposes that good design should follow a few rules: be user-friendly, be environmentally friendly, be well produced, be timeless, and be modern while still allowing users room for self-expression. Considering that most modernist pieces have kept their timelessness, I think that Rams’ rules are very accurate. The New York Times, however, has proposed that such rules of design are no longer necessary as more of an item’s function can be fit into smaller and smaller spaces. Their case in point was the 2009 iPod Shuffles that were, in form, clips but, in function, trumped the computing capacity of all of NASA’s early systems.

Good design should be more than just surface level. The New York Times ignores that fact that Apple’s design team ignored some fundamental rules when they created these and thus have created a product that is unlikely to see the resurgence years later. On the other hand, the modernist chairs that people like Rams have created will continue to make resurgences as people rediscover the quality, design, and durable creation that make things timeless. Rams’ rules are not to be taken as needed but as a sum whole. Users will not like a product if it is not durable and unobtrusive. Products will not be timeless if people don’t like them and they are stuck in a single time period.

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Form: Entry 5

Assignment 2

Rules:

  • a Monopolyesque game piece
  • 1.5″x1.5″x2

Inspiration:

Monopoly pieces are the vaguest concept of a thing. Beginning with the original zinc alloy set, Monopoly pieces have ranged from howitzers to houses, from terriers to tanks. The only common denominator has been their size at about 2’x2’x1.5′.

I wanted something I could use. There were few things that are usable that are that size except for trinkets that I could put on my key ring. I had watched a disturbing music video involving black and white footage from the Telly Tubbies and one of them – Po – had a ring on his head that I could use for the key ring. I was also  against direct plagiarism so I looked in the artist Ron English who makes dark recreations of pop culture icons. I also looked at some of the pieces Kid Robot had done involving perversion of the same.

I settled on Po’s head on a chopping block in a World of Warcraft/League of Legends  style of exaggeration.

Clockwise from left: Ron English’s ‘Telegrinne’; overposted image, author unknown; Po from the original British series; Black & White Image from ‘Christopher G. Brown’s Teletubbies Joy Division Edit’

Model:

The model was fairly simple I started with a sculpt and then retopologized it so it looked better. I tried to create the crossed out eyes I had in my sketches but my model’s eye sockets were too deep and the crosses didn’t look right. Instead, I opted the cross of St.Peter, often mistaken for the Satanic Cross, on his forehead a la Deicide. I thought about changing the headpiece to a proper satanic cross but there is no loop to attach it with.