Marcus MAC Lab Sign

Initially, I planned to have a sign that lit up with a toggle switch on the top; the box would contain Christmas lights and the front would have red stickers on white acrylic. The end result was actually very similar to my initial plans - I just used tape lights instead of Christmas lights, and instead of a toggle switch, I used a pull chain. Along the way, I learned how to operate several machines inside the Fab Lab (primarily the laser cutter and the vinyl cutter), and I also learned of the importance of planning every design out ahead of time (instead of going straight to the final product). Additionally, I've gotten better with using software programs like Inkscape and CorelDRAW. I have to give a lot of credit to Mr. DiGiorgio (of course) for guiding my designs along the way, and for teaching me how to set up the lights and the chain. At the beginning of the course, I wish that I would have gone a little faster with my cutting/printing so that I could make 3 more of them for the 2 other studios and the green screen room. Fortunately, I still have another semester left at Hawken, so I still have time to finish them then. Overall, I'm most proud of being able to successfully finish my project (and have it work properly and look nice at the same time).

The Goal: Create an "On Air" sign for the various rooms inside Hawken's M.A.C. Lab.

Design #1:

Design #1.5:

• It will have a wood base/box/framing

  • The front will have a white/clear acrylic piece

    • The front will have red vinyl cut letters ("On Air")

Future challenges with this project:

• Making sure the lights are bright enough for others to notice

  • Spacing the lights out so that it doesn't just light up a fraction of the sign

Card-Stock Model:

Yep, 50 pounds of work alright. In all seriousness, this was made to see if the dimensions looked alright, which they do. However, I plan on changing the depth from 2.5in to 3in so that the lights won't be pressed up against the acrylic.

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Digital Fabrication:

Design #1.0:

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Design #2.0:

Hooray - CorelDRAW Document attached at the bottom of this page (so that more can be made in the future). I'm finally ready to make a cardboard model.

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Cardboard Model:

Beautiful. This can work. Time to put the lights in.

• Flaws

  • I should have realized that little pieces within the "On Air" text (on the side) won't be magically suspended in air.

Test Lighting & Acrylic Cutting:

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Good news - the acrylic was cut the right way and these lights work.

Bad news - the lights aren't very bright.

Wood Model:

It's happening. Just like the cardboard model, all of the pieces fit and they look pretty nice too.

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Installing New Lights:

Instead of using the Christmas lights, I'll be using the "Tape Light Ruban Lumineux" lights ($14.99). They're positioned evenly across the sign, so that should look good. Additionally, I placed aluminum foil tape on all the sides (facing inside, of course) to further illuminate the box.

Installing Pull Chain:

I cut a hole into the bottom side of the box and attached a pull chain to turn the lights on and off. Additionally, Mr. DiGiorgio taught me how to connect the chain to the lights, so that when the chain is pulled the lights turn on and off.

Final Presentation:

Drum-roll please?

And they said it couldn't be done.

Well, no one ever actually said that, but if someone did they would be wrong.

Takeaways:

While this project may not seem like much, I learned a lot from this process:

I learned how to operate the equipment within the Fab Lab (mainly the Laser Cutter and the Vinyl Cutter), and I now feel like I can go ahead and make more projects without needing help every time I go to print/cut something. When I first signed up for the class, I expected to be given a lot of small assignments with a set of specific rules for each one. Initially, I worried that I wouldn't be able to give each assignment my own creative twist. Fortunately, this was not the case - of course, we had assignments that helped us learn to use all of the materials in the Fab Lab, but there was plenty of room for each assignment to make the projects unique. Additionally, I was happy to find out that we would get one big final project, where we could do essentially anything we wanted. Since the start of this course, I have learned the importance of making card-stock and cardboard models for designs to test out any flaws in the design that might have been previously overlooked. In terms of design, I learned that in order to make a quality product, one should share their design with others to get feedback and suggestions on parts that could use some improvements. Overall, I'm most proud of being able to make my project exactly like I had imagined it - the letters are clear and centered, the lights are bright, the sides aren't falling apart, and the switch works perfectly. As a senior at Hawken (Class of 2018), I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to take this course and to experience all of the tools that the Fab Lab has to offer. The Fab Lab at Hawken is only 2 years old (as of 2017), and the upcoming freshman will have a multitude of opportunities to use the lab for good. In the future, perhaps they can even improve my sign or make more of them.