Intro to Design

Introduction

Why did you sign up for this course?

I have a passion for design and engineering, and even though I took a couple of design classes last year in middle school, I wanted to see what the Upper School offered and become trained here.

If there is one thing that you would really like to be able to MAKE/LEARN in this course.

I learned almost every single machine in the lower-school Fab Lab besides the CNC miller, so I would probably like to learn how to use that machine. I also would like to maybe make a go-kart or continue with my magnetic chessboard.

What else can you share with me that can spark an idea for future connections and opportunities?

Did you MAKE anything recently?
Past design or maker experiences?
Interest or passion for _____ in the arts/engineering/tech/design
College/Career Interest

I have had experience with the laser cutter, woodworking machinery, Fusion 360, and the 3D printer. I have always been interested since Elementary school in being an engineer in the future, so I spent a LOT of time in the Fab Lab in the lower school. Recently, I've been working on a magnetic chessboard, but I couldn't finish it during class time I had last year.

What else should I know about you?

(Your experiences, skills, conflicts, dilemmas)

I can be quite fervent about making these grand ideas, and they do seem plausible, only if I had a bit more time. I just love making stuff, you know, either through handcrafting or machines doing it for me through the set of instructions I gave it. I'm just going to be a little impatient throughout this class because I know how to operate a good amount of machines around the fab lab. I guess it'll be good for me to know more software for 2D and 3D CAD other than CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Tinkercad, Fusion, Bambu Lab, and Prusa Slicer.

Do you have a favorite designer?

Who is it? Why do you like them? Include a link.

There's this engineer from the YouTube channel "Stuff Made Here" that I really like. He makes all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, and I just enjoy the engineering behind his creations.

Here's his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@StuffMadeHere/featured

Sketch Book

These are a couple of my first sketches for the first and second week of Intro to Design Fundamentals. The five pictures show the cover of my sketchbook, basic information about me to tell others who the sketchbook belongs to, a sketch of the Hawken Upper School Fab Lab, the Design Fabrication Process, the definitions for additive and subtractive manufacturing, and an attempted sketch of the Hawken Upper School campus. My favorite sketch was either my cover or the one of the Hawken School Fab Lab because one of them really brought my creative side out, and the other brought my floor planning side out.

Above: Sketchbook Cover

Above: Information on Who Owns the Sketchbook (in this case, me)

Above: Sketch of Hawken Upper School Fab Lab and What's in it

Above: Design Fabrication Process + Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing Definitions

Above: Attempted Sketch of Hawken Upper School Campus

Daily Design - Circles

In this daily design, I created a total of 27 sketchs confined in circles, with 12 in ghost sketches, and 15 in guide boxes. It was a pretty cool lesson because I really had to think about objects and beings that are in a circular shape, but I eventually got all my ideas on paper.

All Circle Sketches

One Revised Circle Sketch Depicting Growing Circles Meeting and Interacting with each Other

16 Types of One Letter Challenge

In this exercise, I made different styles of the letter "J" and transformed them into either real-life objects or fonts. It was really fun having to be able to have freedom with my creativity and just run wild with ideas that remind me of this letter. I never realized how well my art skills were until I started drawing on the guides and began to make curves, lines, and drawings effortlessly. This was so intriguing!

16 Types of the Letter "J" Challenge Sheet

One Revised "J" Sketch Depicting a Science Flask filled with a Mysterious Liquid

Initials Design

In this exercise, we made our logo using our initials. I honestly just enjoyed how I could mess around with my initials and put them in different styles, sizes, positions, and shapes. The "16 Types of One Letter Challenge" really helped bring up ideas.

Brainstorming "JC" Logo Sketches

Three Chosen Initial Logos to Revise

Best Initial Logo In a Modern and Quirky Tone

Logo Sketching

This is the assignment where we had to finally start making our official logo for this class. We first filled out two pages worth of different ideas and brainstorms before choosing three. I chose a cat, combination of my Chinese characters, and a combination of torii gates and Chinese lantern as my three chosen sketches. I ended up going with the one on the right, which is the one where I overlapped the radicals of my first Chinese character. I thought it was cool that I could just be able to use my hobbies and personal interests as sketch ideas. It was rough to try to think of plans of what to draw, though, to be honest.

The Chosen Logo Design I'm Going to Go With

Brainstorming Logo Designs

Two of the Three Chosen Logo Sketches

One of the Three Chosen Logo Sketches

Illustrator Part 2B

This assignment represents my study on looking at how to use Pathfinder to unite, minus, difference, and intersect shapes/objects. I also learned how to manipulate shapes using the Direct Selection tool, and I started the beginnings of how to make the name tag using the Pen tool to outline my first name.

In Adobe Illustrator, I messed around with Pathfinder, manipulating shapes, and outlining my name.

Name Keychain

This assignment shows the first project involving Adobe Illustrator. Using the pen skill of tracing an outline from Assignment 2B, I had to make curves and lines surrounding my name and set the stroke to 0.001 pts, so the machine could identify it as a vector and cut it. I also used the knowledge of being able to manipulate shapes from the last lesson to make my name wobbly and curvy. In this project, I learned that the darker a raster is, the more it will cut into the material, so you can see that my first name is greyer than my last name. I also learned the safety procedure for operating the laser cutter, and I noticed that the process of turning the digital file into a physical object that the laser cutter can print is not far off from how the Middle School taught me.

By importing information on how strong the laser should be to cut through or etch onto certain materials, I could make different kinds of keychains out of wood and acrylic, such as the ones below.

Digital Keychain File in Adobe Illustrator

Wooden Keychain

Red Acrylic Name Keychain with Faint First-Name Raster

Green Transparent Keychain with Fixed Raster

Name Stand

This assignment continued the embark on laser cutting by giving us the challenge of making our name fit perfectly into the stand. Using the same principles from Assignment 2B, I traced my name. Then, I had to create rectangles that united with the tracing and space them away from each other, so that the slots I made in the stand would fit into them. Then, I laser-cut it, put the two parts together with tacky glue, and was done.

Wooden Name Stand

Digital Name Stand File in Adobe Illustrator

Page updated

Report abuse