Capstone Blogs Semester 1

Blog 3 - March 1- 14

The last two weeks Spencer and I finished our prototype for out stamps. We also made the quarantined stamp which was a big success. Vedang took care of the shopify for us and made us our own page. Zen took product pictures and sent them to Vedang. Now our custom stamp page is fully operational on shopify. We will get the orders on our trello card so we will have to wait for orders to start coming in. In the mean time we started another project. Stickers for cars. We were thinking of funny stickers like "cool Prius, said no one ever". Mac fixed the laser so the stamps should be even more defined than before. I am glad we are finally making progress

Blog Entry Week 12 | December 1-6

This week I found a really cool design to use as the picture for the soldier project. I think it will look really cool on acrylic or wood. I have already bitmapped it on inkscape so it is ready to laser cut. I'm going to have to rewatch the laser cutter videos because I don't remember everything from sophomore year. I can't go in this week but I am really trying to get off work Monday and Tuesday so I can go into the lab and work on the project. With all the online work it seems like we just have more work because we do classwork on the computer, then we have to do homework on the same computer. It gets really repetitive and tedious especially since I prefer pencil and paper to do my assignments. So I just want to say sorry if there is a lack of products on my part because with college apps and other classes its really mentally draining and I just can't pay attention to the computer for as long as I can in actual class.

Blog Entry Week 11 | November 16-24

This week we had a house talk about our plans for projects going forward. we decided to to the soldier project to get it out of the way. I had a good idea where it will be a trophy where one piece of wood/acrylic with a laser engraved picture of a soldier will be on top of a base. Kind of forming a 90 degree angle. Like I said the picture will go in the part standing up and the words will go on the base of the trophy. Its hard to explain but I was thinking of using acrylic so it has that glow while having the picture to make it stand out. Green or brown acrylic would fit the theme of the trophy. Wood would also look really cool. I was thinking of making the wood worn down a little kind of like it was in the war.

Blog Entry Week 9 | November 3-8

This week I made a sketch for a sticker that I think is pretty neat. I'm going to add more detail to it later but I was thinking of having all the bad things in 2020 on it and have the background on fire. Its something trendy that could be fun to have before 2021. I think a t-shirt would be better because we could use more colors and it would be a bigger picture so it will be easier to see. I was also thinking my house could sell some very subtle things like coasters and book stands. Things that are easy to make and simple that almost everyone has. Maybe not book stands but things like that.

Blog Entry Week 8 | October 19-23

This week we finished our slide deck and pitch. We had a little trouble with the "what we are looking for" part of the slide deck but then I remembered we only need suppliers, and customers/investors. We can really make brush material on our own so we need that part supplied. I also want to say that Spencer nailed the pitch today with his enthusiasm. Our company is looking good but the only problem I see is that we need some kind of way to wash the brush or maybe a chemical to put on the brush that will clean the intended surface like disinfectant while also cleaning itself. I don't know what chemical yet but I will think about it this next week. Or if we use a way to clean the brush it has to come off the handle very easily.

I am very exited to somewhat go back to school. Even if its just this class its better than staying at home all day staring at a screen. I am also really exited that our machines are coming the week we get back from break so we can FINALLY do something physically productive in this class. I hope we can get back to school in all classes too, but that's farther down the road

Blog Entry Week 7 | October 12-18

This week we finished out business product and now we need to figure out our logo and who our suppliers are and all that. Our company name is Salus Inc. so I was thinking of an S logo. I will figure it out soon. I am very exited to get working with the machines we ordered. I feel like our time hasn't been spent very efficiently at home (we can't really do anything about it anyway) so I hope with the machines we can finally start getting on track and makin this year better than we think its going to turn out right now. I also had an idea with a fridge/freezer. A type of fridge where you can put drinks in the freezer and once they are cold they move to the fridge so they don't freeze. They just get colder faster. Or maybe something in a freezer to cool food or drinks instantly. Might be expensive but could be big.

Blog Entry Week 6 | October 6-11

This week I got caught up on my work for most of my classes. Its been hard adjusting to online class and its really demotivating. I'm working on all the assignments I need to turn in for this class and my group and I have a great idea for our business venture project. Its kind of a multi-use cleaning fork that will make cleaning doorknobs and gas station handles easier without the risk of picking up germs from those dirty surfaces. I think its a pretty good idea but we need a way to make it convenient. Like to fit in a purse or maybe even a wallet once we get the full design figured out. I'm in a group with Spencer and Akshay so we work pretty well together. We just need to actually work a little more on it. Overall, I like the direction this class is going but I just wish we were actually in class. I understand if we can't but I really want to go back to school as soon as possible.

Blog Entry Week 4 | September 21-28

This week was kind of a slow week progress wise. We are getting our pictures done on Tuesday so at least its something. ( I got a hair cut for it) We do have a plan though on Trello and we are almost have our logo done/decided. I tried brainstorming but I don't think any are very good. During class I worked on my essay and realized its going to take a little longer than I thought. I think that once the machines come we will really get into the mindset of production. I have a few designs for shirts/stickers already but nothing major. I've also been thinking on how we are going to advertise our products/if we even need to advertise. I'm not really sure how Shopify works but I do know we need some type of message to get out there. All just thoughts though, More to come next week.

Blog Entry Week 3 | September 15-20

This week we were introduced to Trello. I really like how Trello is set up and how easy it is to organize and just have a clear visual on all of our projects and the progress for each one. It will definitely help with time management as well as resource management. Since we got Trello we have added photos, logo, and website to the to do list. We also decided we want to make our own brand that we think will be favored while also taking orders from inside buyers (school, family) whenever the opportunity arises. That way we have options and not just stuck selling to the school. We will also be able to use our skills that we learned in 2D Art to design products to our vision or to what best product for the market is.

Blog Entry Week 2 | September 8-13

This week we decided on what machines our house want. We decided on 2 silk screen and a cricket. We are mostly going to try to focus on t-shirts and stickers. I have some faint ideas for stickers but I'm not sure if its a good idea yet or even if its possible to make with the equipment. I want to make a sticker with multiple colors. I have an idea to use a while sticker and then print on it and then cover it with a plastic cover.

We were also thinking of a new logo we could use. I drew a lot of different "i"s to brainstorm but I might start making entirely new logos and not focus on the I. It needs to be something easy to look at and clearly recognizable.

Blog Entry Week 1 | August 31-September 6

One of the new terms I learned is barriers to entry. I think this is really important because it shows the reality of entrepreneurship. There are a lot of factors to keep in mind while selling your product or even deciding what product you are going to sell. More specifically competition and monopolies are a huge factor in selling a product. How much will it cost compared to the competition? Will it be better quality? Another that directly ties into competition is economies of sale. How much you sell your product depends on the material cost.

I feel the concept that will help my house the most is bootstrapping. In the past we have put a lot of time into house challenges for them to pay off nicely. Especially the marble challenge where we brought outside materials and poured a ton of time to perfect it and we ended up winning. Using the idea of bootstrapping by putting out time and money into a certain goal will most likely benefit our house.