Kick start Project

Last week we entered the second year of Product and Furniture Design, starting off with a kick start one week project looking at how people misuse products in ways which they are not designed for, and a solution to help people's needs better.

Creative Cleaning Final Design

Creative Cleaning

3 initial design concepts for the Creative Cleaning project:

- re-designed sink and drainage space

- drying rack making use of window sill and overhead space/ self-hanging system

- washing gloves with attached scourer pads

Hollow - Model-making

After the initial blue foam model was made, and that I was pleased with the form (other than the dimensions of the actual model needed working out, the blue foam model was pretty much how I imagined it to be in my mind) I went on to start my real model with a block of jelutong. The square top and rotated bottom were drawn on and I began hacking away in the workshop. I figured coping saw and chisel was the way to go, since the form I wanted is quite irregular I didn't want to risk it on the bandsaw. I must admit - it was extremely tedious slowly sawing away little by little. I was quite pleased that it was done within 3-4 hours though!

ModelMaking - Radio

The radio model-making project from last term. Finally it's been photographed properly!

Hollow - Slip-Casting

The Hollow project requires us to design specifically to the manufacturing process - there are certain forms that will be difficult or even impossible to achieve due to the nature of the making. At first I was interested in challenging the difficulty in the making - flat surfaces (which requires a compensation curve to counter the shrinkage when being fired in the kiln). It led me on to manipulating the form to a twisted cuboid, which retains that minimalist aesthetic of a cuboid, but with a slight twist, which will actually make it structurally more sound. Above is the initial model out of blue foam to help me visualize the curves as the cuboid is twisted. The second image is of the top component of the incense oil burner that i envisioned (well it should be upside-down so that the dome is locked within the hollow cuboid)

Photoshop and Illustrator Sessions

Sketching and Rendering

Some sketches for sketching and rendering class at uni. Pliers, Portable Speakers, Correction Tape and Hole Puncher.

Crochet Monkey

Handmade grey crochet monkey! It took about 4-5 hours (mostly spent on figuring out what the book was trying to say - still prefer Japanese patterns better)

Mini Peter Pan

A mini-Peter Pan doll made of felt, commissioned by MMH.

And obvisouly, I don't own Peter Pan.

Portfolio

Old Sketchbook Drawings

Aoi (the GazettE)

Homemade Crème Brûlée

After exhausting days of packing, it's best to have a lovely homemade Crème brûlée as dessert!

Headcorn

The sky at Headcorn can be a natural oil painting. :D

I.Culture

I, CULTURE is an international art project created in collaboration with fashion designer and artist Monika Jakubiak, aimed at engaging audience participation. 240 volunteers in 12 capital cities across Europe and Asia will apply fashion design and craft techniques to examine the role of craft in contemporary culture through workshops and organised public events.

What is craft? What isn't?
Who creates culture? Am I involved in creating culture?
What is important to me in the experience of creating?

I was looking into my own personal interest and feelings towards craft. In terms of textiles, craft doesn't associate with garments immediately, I usually think of the felt or crochet dolls that I make. Especially the denim teddy that I made a few years ago, from a pair of old denim shorts that I used to wear as a child and it didn't fit me anymore (see previous post). That kind of sentimental value seem to have only existed when I was a child, as now, I won't hesitate to throw away clothes due to emotional reasons, but only that I don't want to waste any materials thinking that they will be of use sooner or later.

I thought about dolls in general. It's been around since the earliest civilization, serving as a plaything for children or used in magic and religious rituals; and recently becoming even more popular as collectibles. It's such an integrated part of a child's upbringing, part of our culture. Even if you can't afford one, parents would make one for their children with old clothes and rags.

So why did we stopped doing that and relied on industrialized products made of plastic?

Dolls are definitely not expensive to make, everyone will have scrap fabric at home from unwanted clothes. All you need is some toy stuffing, some thread, and a few hours of self-satisfying manual labour and you can have your own personal doll. It's all about you-get-what-you-give, if you can deal with having the same doll as all those other people out there then keep at it, or spend a few worthwhile hours making your own lovely doll!