Blog Entry 3
HI TO THE LIKE 1 PERSON READING THIS I'M BACK! For this blog entry, I'll be going over both the practical 2 which we did a few weeks ago, as well as our lesson on the drawing of a coffee maker. I'll also be sharing about our group's drawing of our product, and the photo frame we made together! 😁
PRACTICAL 2: Cardboard Joinery
For practical 2, my group did some pre-experiment preparation before going to the lab, which involved writing a literature review after studying the composition of cardboard and the different types of cardboard from a website provided to us, followed by writing a short 150 word summary of what we had learnt. This experience taught me how cardboard was made, as well as explaining what the different components of the cardboard which gave it its strength were, with the most important one being the corrugations in between the cardboard pieces. I actually already knew that the corrugations were in place in the cardboard as I had messed around with cardboard in my youth, but learning more about the cardboard fascinated me, as I didn't know that the corrugations actually made the cardboard stronger and more sturdy.
However, the pre-experiment was less important, and honestly, less interesting than the actual experiment we were meant to do in the lab. For the actual experiment, we were required to assemble a cardboard model of any object our group desired, as long as it made use of at least 6 cardboard joineries, such as flanges, tabs, slots and skewers.
Going into the experiment, our group had not created any plan to follow, and we did not have any pre-made sketch, as we didn't even have any idea what to do during the experiment. I was quite worried going into the experiment, as I feared that we would argue or disagree over what to make, and how to make it. However, the exact opposite happened.
Before we started the experiment, we had a look at the models that were on display done by other classes, and one cardboard model in particular caught our attention, being a model of a boat. It was meant to be the famous Titanic, and even had a small cardboard Jack and Rose doing their iconic pose at the front of the boat. It looked pretty funny, but I didn't manage to take a picture of it 😩. Our group was quite inspired by the model, and one of my groupmates suggested that instead of trying to come up with a new idea, we could simply improve on the cardboard boat that was made before us, while making use of all the cardboard joinery that was required for the practical.
Our first idea was not in the boat itself, but it was instead attaching waterwheels to each side of the boat, such as those on old-fashioned steam boats. We first made two circles out of cardboard, before attaching a bunch of smaller cardboard rectangles in between the two circles, to make sort of a water wheel, as seen in the image below.
After creating two of the water wheels shown above, we decided to actually start work on the main body, as well as a small room on the boat, which was meant to be the captain's quarters.
Windows (inside view)
Finally, after creating the small captain's quarters, we made one more cardboard attachment using a flange, which would be the chimney of the boat, as well as attaching passengers onto the boat itself, and after that, we were done!
The finished model steam boat 😍
I really enjoyed myself during this practical, and it couldn't be done without the help of my excellent groupmates, who were always willing to help each other out, as well as constantly providing ideas for us to implement in our final design. Overall, I also learnt how important creating cardboard models would be in the future, as we would be required to do so when designing models for ideas in other modules. Cardboard is a really versatile material with many functions, and I'm definitely looking forward to using it more in the future!
My very handsome teammates with our final model 😩
Drawing and Sketching Lesson
For this lesson, we were required to draw, and frankly speaking, I was absolutely horrified. I came to a CLS course to escape my past failings at anything related to drawing, and so when our teacher passed us a stack of blank papers and told us to start practising drawing lines and shapes, I was shaken to my core. I had failed art every single time I took it in secondary school, as well as doing very badly in primary school, only creating decent artworks whenever I asked for help from my sister.
When we were doing the actual drawings, I expected my sketches to come out crooked at best, and absolutely unrecognisable and nonsensical at worst, and just as I expected, my drawings were more similar to the signature of drunkards than what I actually intended to draw. We started off with simple line drawings and circle drawings, which I found simple enough.
Free-handed straight lines, as well as free-handed circles and ovals
The second segment of the lesson was where things went from bad to worse. We learnt how to draw simple objects using both one vanishing point, as well as using two vanishing points. I simply could not understand how the drawing was supposed to look like drawing using this method, and I only managed to draw the milk carton by "referring" to my friends who are much more artistic than me.
A milk carton drawn first without vanishing points, and then later with one vanishing point
Finally, we were tasked with drawing the coffee maker that we reverse engineered in the first practical, and this is where my artistic ability truly shone, as I managed to make a drawing that had no resemblance to any worldly or unworldly object.
A "coffee maker"
Finally, we were tasked with creating a group drawing of our eventual product after going through the COWS matrix. As can be surmised from my sketches, I was not the one who drew up the final group drawing for my group. Instead, I provided advice, as well as moral support for the one drawing the sketch, as I knew that any person who would be drawing the sketch would be forever scarred by the experience 😨
My group's group drawing for the bottle for our insect repelling deodorant product
Fusion 360 Photo Frame
https://ichat3585.autodesk360.com/shares/public/SH35dfcQT936092f0e439c98a38689296ade?mode=embed
Above is the link to my individual part of my group's Fusion 360 photo frame. Honestly, first learning how to use the application was like re-learning how to walk after getting in a car accident, but eventually I got the hang of it, and now i am definitely more comfortable with using the app to create sketches and designs.
https://ichat3570.autodesk360.com/shares/public/SH9285eQTcf875d3c539398f410b8b32d716?mode=embed
Above is the link to our group's Fusion 360 photo frame. We first learnt how to use the application through creating a simple keychain with the help of our lecturer, but creating the different parts of the photo frame without any guide or instructions was difficult, especially considering it was our first real project using Fusion 360. However, after discussing with my groupmates, and after consulting the almighty internet, we managed to pull through. After going through this experience, I am definitely looking forward to making use of this app in both future practicals, as well as future modules!
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