Author: maxwellchen111

          For the product family project, I have developed a container system that has a curvy profile and twirling form. The material of the products is a thin layer of plastic, allowing light to penetrate through the product. The series of products are designed specifically for the dining program, including candlesticks, candle holder, pendant light, vase, and container for various purposes. The twisting, curving forms set a fun mood with elegance.

          The product begins with a simple octagon. The geometry is offset and weaved to create the starry shape. The geometry is copied 6 times with even distances and lofted to create a volume. The profile is set by a list of numbers, acting as factors to control the profile of a selected product. When the radius or the height changes, the profile factors are scaled to accommodate different sizes and height. Each layer of geometry is then rotated by a certain degree so, when lofted, the form appears to be twisting. The bottom geometry is capped and combined with the loft surface to create a mesh. The meshes are welded and triangulated to produce a more accurate form. Inconsistencies in meshes are also fixed for a more desired, printable mesh. The thickness of mesh is 0.6 mm at this scale of objects to allow light to penetrate through. The input of each design driver: top radius, height, fold, and fin are determined by the range of dimensions in the uses of the products. In the dining setting, everything is smaller and more delicate although the evolution of the products is still evident with different input.

          The process of this project requires numerous testing and 3D printings of the product. It allows a better understanding of the forms of objects and how they look and feel in reality. It helped me re-think and re-design certain aspects of the project and produce a satisfiable outcome. One of the biggest challenges was to design a profile, give it a character, and make it twist in the desired way. The profile needs to correspond with various uses, such as bowls, containers, candlesticks, etc. When the products are in different sizes, the profile did not work for all of them. Therefore, I scaled the profile according to different radiuses and heights. The shape of the profile was first scaled differently between each layer. Later, I have adopted sine curves and finally moved to carefully selected scaled factors to produce the profile. I have also come to understand better of how fixing meshes can produce different qualities of prints. This project allowed me to practice setting up different drivers of design and how they work together to form a product.

 

1. Radius

2. Folds (offset)

3. Fins

4. Profile factors changed by Radius and Height

5. Skeleton View in action (different folds and radius)

6. Twisting

100 Matrix:

Link to High Res: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1105T3SrIiaJm7TKeFT3uk1jQ2J3adz1I

 

GIF of 100 Products

Printed Products

Design Explorer Link: https://goo.gl/Ehd7sD

 

To be sent to print:

 

Process model:

 

Redesigning Profile:

Design Explorer:

https://goo.gl/DxXKbd

Ran into an issue: the top point does not follow the rotating direction.

 

Selection 1: Candle Cover

 

Selection 2: Candleholder

 

Selection 3: Vase

 

Selection 4: Fruit Bowl

 

Selection 5: Suspended Lamp

https://goo.gl/fXP7zW

https://goo.gl/iuTCfZ

For this 2D interior project, I have developed a wall system that interacts with daylight and the interior space. The wall system is intended to be a screen that let light penetrates through to create patterns of light and shadow. The different angled faces of the wall would also subtly create different shades. The wall has seemingly random and rectangular apertures that brings some lives into space. It is made of made of modular sizes of blocks, which compensated the randomness of the apertures and sets a uniform frame to the system.

To design the wall system, I first created a rectangular grid. I united the whole grid as a surface and provide input for setting its surface centers. The input is the attraction points that are one of the determinants of the general sizes of apertures. I then set up a domain and remapped the numbers from the center of each rectangle to provide input values for the specific sizes of apertures. Since I wanted the apertures to be more vertical, I constructed another domain so that the value runs from negative to positive, making the aperture expanding both sides from the center. I also added a jitter function to shuffle the sizes of apertures a bit to create a more organic look. The second rectangles in the grids are combined with the grid to create surfaces with openings. I repeated this process and created another panel of surfaces with uniform apertures. At last, I pull the lists of individual edges, matching them accordingly, to loft the surfaces between the two panels to create volume and angled faces between apertures.

Throughout the process of making, I have better understood the logic of visual programming and how objects are formed. They also have information to be extracted and used towards other functions. The project allowed me to comprehend visually of how each component is a tool for creating, retrieving or changing parameters. I would like to further work on the ideas behind inputs so that objects respond to specific ideas or issues.

Design Explorer Link

http://tt-acm.github.io/DesignExplorer/

Get Data:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-DlgY7NxcMrqW7lTdOYmVgbHlR92KZMC