Jewellery Project

The aim of the Individualization Project was to be able to design and create a concept for a client that matches and felicitates they're style and way of working. To do this we each had our name put in a hat and then in a line picked a name, and that name is our client. A client in terms of art and design or in general is basically our target market as your designing for them in mind. A client is there to assist and direct the designer or architect in the aspiring direction. With this in mind these terms sum it up. Each person was given a sheet with multiple questions, for example do you prefer Summer to Winter? or Harry Potter to Star wars. These questions were meant to be prompts to help us start our thinking.

setting collaborative project outcomes

• strategic decision-making
• stakeholder consultation
• design brief development 
• budget-setting 
• feasibility studies
• procurement procedures
• appraisals of design proposals

From the sheet she choose: Outdoors, Wood, Summer, Contemporary and Harry Potter. This made me think about using Hot Live acrylic, which is a thick plastic around 10mm thick, and it comes in many colours. The bright colours relates to the summer colours being bright greens and yellows and oranges, and blue for the sea. Contemporary made me decide upon keeping the jewellery modern and young. Harry potter did not really help but the use of creatures in the film made me decide upon using cold blooded animals such as lizards and Geckos, this also linked with the wild outdoors and the environment man shares with animals.  

How  I came up with the Jewellery Project ?

For me just having Ellie in our 3DD group I  could observe what she wears and what style she has as everyone differs in what they feel comfortable wearing. I noticed her Jewellery on her wrists was delicate, wooden and plastic mainly and she wore it on a daily basis, and that's how the decision was made. I spoke to my client and she agreed that from day 1 the use of the Laser Cutter was the route I should take to design and make the jewellery. 

Things that might go Wrong?

1. That my file on the laser cutter wont work
2. not enough client feedback
3. Hard using the illustrator software to design rather than 
4. Time

What will work well?

1. Research into existing Jewellery brands and designs
2. Laser cutting 
3. Initial ideas 

Illustrator Files 

Laser Cutting

On the first day of the project after getting my client, using the laser cutter was the second aim as I needed to get use to machine before cutting my Jewellery.  Instead of jumping right in at the deep end and using plastic I used cardboard and engraved the cardboard with cool funky shapes. This is so useful for a designer as its testing out the files. Testing means one can be sure the shape is correct and looks good before doing it for the final time. I also used Plywood which is thin board and engraved that too, using different materials shows versatility. 

Initial Ideas?

From my mood board I took inspiration for my initial ideas, I created pages of colourful ideas that varied in shape and size, from small rings with gems to large Lizard acrylic necklaces. The main thing I focused on was trying to design really bright attractive bling.  

Instead of doing a simple necklace or ring, the idea of making a necklace out of tiny acrylic lizards came to mind. In a shop window it wouldn't be obvious, it would play with the mind. In life sometimes not obvious things are fat more interesting and require thought. 

I really wanted the necklace to be different and not obvious close up. My idea is to create around 15 mini lizards which will be engraved with a cool design like their scales on their skin. The laser will engrave into transparent acrylic so one can see the pattern from both sides. 

The only concern is how to join them. At the moment im thinking of creating 2 tiny holes each end of the lizard and buying a link to attach them. 

Big necklaces are really in fashion a the moment from shops like Zara to H&M and topshop etc selling them. 

This is the lizard im using for the necklace at the moment, I'm working on Adobe Illustrator too, for the laser to recognize it, the outer line needs to be red, and the inner pattern needs to be blue to engrave. The laser machine works fast and very precisely the lines are of a thickness of .001 so very thin.

Salt and pepper p, Individualization p, and so on Blog

week 2 pepper and salt shakers

The second week involved finalizing ideas and concepts ready to make the prototype models. Throughout my project De Stijl a design era was a running concept and having the pattern upon my salt and pepper was a modern way to keep the product interesting. 

Research was the key to this project, to really know the design eras in depth, 3 design  eras were chosen and looked at more closely. I designed especially for that era.  For example Modernism can be described as simple materials that include concrete, glass.  Modernism in design and architecture emerged in the aftermath if the first world war and the Russian Revolution. Many different styles can be characterized as modernist, but they both shared certain underlying principles: a rejection of history and applied ornament. A preference for abstraction, and a belief that design and technology could transform society. 

Development of The De Stijl pattern?  

I wanted the set to each have the same pattern which would make the set consistent. It would also make it clear as to which pot was made for which set. The pattern is already iconic but it would define my brand.

I experimented with different sizes of shakers to give them distinction and unique presence. The base would be magnetic allowing the shakers stability. The bigger picture shows the final drawing  the salt is the smaller design then the mustard pot then the pepper.

Making the 3D Model 

I used Polymorph  to model my pepper and salt, the plastic comes in pots it ranges from around 7 pounds to 12 pounds off Amazon. The plastic is a thermoplastic meaning it can be molded as many times as one wants. This made life easier for me as modelling the shape was hard to do so I had to reheat the plastic. Heat water to around 180 degrees add the plastic and watch it melt. Then take it out of the water and start molding, the plastic stays hot for around 15 minutes it turns a white silver colour when its fully dried out. 

Analysis 

Why this idea worked?
What I found was that they fitted exactly into the palm of the person using them, again using functionality rather than aesthetics for this project. The pattern was also the same on every object this created a set.

How did I get on with my given tasks?
Actually choosing a design out of all my initial ideas was the hard bit, from then on the development was actually really easy, it was also enjoyable experience. Seeing a product you have designed develop into something totally different is exhilarating.

What have I learnt from the second weeks tasks?
That having loads of initial ideas is ok, and that it allows the designer to play around more with the ideas rather than being secure with too few ideas.

How can you improve your current methods of planning and management of time?
I think by actually sitting down on the Sunday night looking at the brief for the next project and writing a plan and trying to keep with that. Overall my time planning was fine but tend to leave the making till the last week as I can be indecisive about what design I like the most to take forward.

Week 1 Individualization

Aims of the project?

To show independent research into a diverse range of subjects
Utilize design techniques, appropriate to clients
To explore and use appropriate design techniques
To show experimentation of ideas

Trip to the V&A
The trip to the London V&A museum was to aid our research that  took place over the winter holiday.  The research is the key to this project, I researched into these following headings.

• Minimalism
• Modernism
• abstract
• Digital 

Within all these heading went deeper to find out more, for example Minimalism was the use of colour, purity and form, space and materials. An artist I looked at was Donald Judd- I first came across his work at the Tate Modern.

Exploring the versatility of new materials and the possibilities of shapes and function, Kartell marries Italian design with innovation to communicate its values in tangible form. A strong commitment to ‘image development' has brought Kartell worldwide recognition and relationships with Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Antonio Citterio, Michele De Lucchi, Piero Lissoni and Patricia Urquiola and many more have resulted in numerous awards including the Compasso d'Oro for Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost chair and Bubble Club sofa.

 

Digital Manufacture stood out to me as its the future of technology, its still evolving from this day on-wards, and as a young person growing up and seeing a change in technology is fascinating. The process however is lengthy, the designs are made on the computer or transferred from other media, they are scanned into the 3D printer and does it job.  More recent technology allows the three dimension printing of a complete object.

 Memphis was another design style, that challenged the conventional that products had to follow a certain shape, colour, texture, and patterns.


Alessi was founded in 1921 to produce crafted products in metal for eating and drinking.  Alessi target "conscious customers" meaning the general public, anyone who wishes to spend money on expensive goods. Alessi is a kitchen utensil company, they design everyday plastic and stainless steel.  The design features of this style are
plastic, fun, wide price range, easy to use, innovative, classy, lightweight, humorous and innovative.
A really well know quote from Alberto Alessi- " A true work of design must be able to move people, to convey feelings, to trigger memories, to surprise, to go against the grain". the quote does go on so Iv not put all of it.

The science museum
These two pictures were taken in the science museum we also took a look inside, luckily they had a exhibition on 3D printing, all the objects in the right hand side picture were made using this new type of technology. 










Initial ideas

At first I wasn't sure about what to design so I just sat down and started to draw kettles, but to be honest they all look the same. A friend was saying how her salt and pepper are used daily and break because they are used so frequently. This then made me think of how I could redesign the traditional salt and pepper.



Ideas?

• stainless steel
• squeeze
• can imprint fingerprints
• flexible
• stress ball
• fits to palm of the hand

More Initial Ideas 

Customer Profile 
I created this for my client at the time, a customer profile is everything relating to that person. For example their favorite shops, car they drive, books they read.

How this helps the designer?
By doing one of these the designer can get a bigger picture of the client, many car companies will talk to their client about colours and likes dislikes etc.  This helped me because it told me what style to aim for, modern, retro etc.

What went well ? 
I really tried to get to grips with the functionality of the salt and pepper, I have seen lots of designs where functionality is chucked out the window, and aesthetics take over. But to me that seemed a bit extreme as salt and pepper are objects we  use daily I thought keep it classic.

What went not to well ?
At some points because there are so many existing brands and clever designs its hard to find a gap in the market, its just like the music market and audio, the market is so full therefore challenging. It took me a while to decide upon a design, I actually needed to be more picky and choose one.

What I have learnt?
During initial ideas having loads is not necessarily a bad thing, and that really having too many is good because it gives one more options if one goes wrong.