LOOK!DG624

MANUEL SUAREZ KIM SAUVÉ

2

CONTENTS

3 MOODBOARD

10 SKETCHES

20 MODELS

36 FINAL PRODUCT

39 INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS

3

MOODBOARDFor the first deliverable, we had to do an individual mood board representing ONE word, we both had to represent

SUFFICIENT.

4

For the individual mood board I got the word ‘sufficient’ to express. At first I didn’t understand this word so I made a mind map to make it more clear for myself. After that I started searching images of all the factors that could please people (such as wealth, beauty and nature) and put

them together in what I thought was a mood board.FEEDBACKWhat the assignor liked about my mood board was the well presenta-tion of it. Though,I used way too much pictures, which made the other students think the

mood board was expressing exces-siveness. Other remarks were to be careful with metaphors and to view the mood board from a distance to look at it as a whole. After discussing the mood boards in the group session I realized my misunderstanding of the meaning of the word sufficient.

KIM SAUVÉ

5

I had to make a mood board representing SUFFICIENT. The work was very enjoyable. Looking back at old maga-zines was a very nice feeling and what I found most dif-ficult was choosing the right composition for the mood board after having chosen a lot of pictures.My mood board was a little bit metaphoric, not as much as some other mood boards, but still needed some work

in that aspect. Also the colours I used where not the most suitable for the word which it was supposed to be representing. I learned that also was very important the shape and outline of the mood board as a whole. Know-ing that there is a big range of improvement is something that motivates me a lot for the future mood boards.

MANUEL SUAREZ

6

After the individual mood board, the assignor divided us into groups of two and gave every group four words to be expressed in a mood board. The four words the assignor gave us where: “slow”, “fast”, “repulsive”, and “ appro-priate”. The mood board making was not bad. As a group of two, we have very differ-ent ways of thinking so it was not easy to come up with a mood board that was approved by both of us. Each one of us brought several images from our own magazines and mixed them together.

FEEDBACK The assignor’s feedback was that we had to make it a lot simpler. More than half of the pictures had to be removed in order to have a more clear composition. On the other hand, there were some aspects that he liked.

The excessive amount of information did not transmit a clear message. We had in-dividual pictures representing the words, but as a whole they did not give the right feeling. We were a bit more metaphoric in terms of choosing the images.

7

When making the mood board for W3 we had in mind the assignor´s feedback. Firstly, we removed all the pic-tures and started placing them again in a less excessive way. Secondly, we tried to highlight the words that previ-ously where not very well expressed in a more intuitive way.

FEEDBACKThe assignor had a couple of remarks. The first remark was that we had some flaws in representing the “ap-propriate” word: the alignment of the images was not as

good as expected. Another important remark was that there was something missing in the “repulsive” part of the mood board. The last remark was that the connec-tion between the words was not there yet.

The more we advance in the mood board, the more specific feedback we get. This makes us think that we are doing the things in the right direction and each week we are approaching a little bit more to what the assignor expects from us.

8

The third version of the mood board had to be edited digitally. This gave us a much better range of edition and unlimited possibilities. Having in mind the feedback from the previous version, we placed the images with a per-fect alignment and spacing between each other. We also worked on making a better balance between the four words.

FEEDBACKFirst of all we would like to remark that we did not expect that much negative feedback on the composition. We did not realise the mismatch between the top half and the bottom half of the composition. They found that the top part was a bit disturbing and did not belong to the whole. After this feedback session, we felt like we had to go one step further in order to feel that we have accomplished the goal of making a proper mood board.

9

This is the end result of the mood board, which we are proud of. We think that the composition expresses the four

words in a balanced way.

10

SKETCHESThe sketches during the first week we had to sketch

a piece of cutlery representing the word SUFFICIENT. This work was individual.

11

At first, I only used the mood board as an inspira-tion for my sketches, but then I remembered what the assignor had told us. He said that you could use movements to express your ideas. So I started to explore movements that could represent the word sufficient and drew them after that. In the sketch

below you can see the ideas that came from the gesture for having enough, or for being satisfied. This way of idea generating is not something what I am used to, but being able to move helped me to gain a more intuitive view on the subject.

KIM SAUVÉ

12

In these sketches, I thought of a normal piece of cutlery. The word I had to represent was “sufficient”. I divided the sketches by parts. Firstly, I started with the part in contact with the food. Secondly, I

explored with the long part of the cutlery, and to finish up I explored the small details.

MANUEL SUAREZ

13

SCRAP MODELS

14

At first I did not know how to start with this task, but once I started it kept going better and better. I really enjoyed this way of idea generating. The biggest challenge for me was, to leave the desire of making good looking prototypes. Once I left that

thought I was able to come up with much more scrap models then before.

KIM SAUVÉ

15

KIM SAUVÉ

For these sketches I used my scrap models as an inspiration. Every time I started with drawing from a model, after which I could start to refine my ideas coming from that model. When I was done with this I selected some ideas to experiment with the marker technique. Using the markers, I experienced that I got way more focused on making nice drawings instead of idea generating.

16

For the creation of the scrap models, we made a lot each one. I was very surprised on the scrap modelling design process. At first instance, I could not imagine making some models made out of trash. I collected a lot of rubbish and placing eve-

rything on the table I started to glue and put to-gether with tape. That experience felt very good, mainly because I did not expect getting something useful out of that. I got a lot of shapes and a lot of unexpected ways of eating.

MANUEL SUAREZ

17

My sketches went very well, I still stick too much with a piece of cutlery as such. I played a little bit more with shapes because of the variety of

form with the scrap models. I focused on a knife, changing a little bit the shape trying to make it

look fast.

MANUEL SUAREZ

18

Looking for the shape of the final piece of cutlery, we de-cided to compromise our dif-ferent views in terms of shapes and applications. One of us thought of a piece of cutlery in a more classic shape and the other one was playing more with irregular shapes. We had some communication difficul-ties when expressing our ideas. After a while, we decided to

literally mix our ideas regard-ing the shapes. After deciding a common shape, we made a quick prototype with plain piece of paper looking for the 3D perception. When cutting this piece of paper, the result was not what as planned but the outcome was the shape that expressed what we where look-ing for.

19

With this, we got the final shape.

20

MODELSFIMO

WOODBRONZE

21

FIMOAfter several sketches, we decided to transform our sketches into fimo. To get to these models, we had to discuss the shapes and spend a lot of time until we agreed on how to do it. The assignor liked the shape and found it interesting. The shape expressed three words well, but there

was one missing: repulsive.

22

After the first fimo models, we found a way to add the missing repulsiveness to the next model. A week after the first fimo models, we made another model,

but his time we pressed salt crystals in the bottom of the fimo model before the baking. After the fimo was baked, we removed the crystals by putting the model

in water. This way, the texture gave us a repulsive feeling.

23

WOODAfter discussing the shapes with the assignor, we decided that the final pieces of cutlery would be made of bronze. For this, we needed a model with the final shapes for the bronze casting.

We decided that balsa wood was the best material for these models.

We started by sawing two blocks of this wood and drew the shapes of the models on them.

24

After that we sawed out the outline shape of the models.

We defined the basic shape of the cutlery.

25

With a grinder we could scoop out the shapes more.

The models were still very rough so we started grinding and smoothing with different machines and sandpapers.

26

Once the final shapes were made we started to thin them out and the models were done.

27

BRONZE

The casting started with an introduction to the materials we were going to use and with dividing us in groups depending on the size of the models. After that the instructor told us

how to place the models in the frame.

28

We made a foundation of oiled sand in this frame in which we could stick our models. The chemical sand

needed to come on top of that, but before we could put this sand in the frame we needed to make it ourselves. We divided the different tasks such as mixing the chem-icals and spreading the sand in the frames to be able to work fast enough before the sand became too hard. Af-ter the harden of the sand we could remove the frames

and the result was a massive and two colored tablet:

We started to smooth the top layer with doctors so that the mold would be easier to handle. Once that was

done the oiled sand needed to be removed.

29

The instructor started to carve the vent-holes so the imprint would also be visible on the other half of the mold. After that we mixed the chemicals again and put a next layer of the chemical sand in the frames. Once the sand was hardened we opened the mold

and started to drill the vent-holes

To make the molds fireproof we needed to spray a varnish on them. The instructor set our molds on fire so that the alcohol in the

varnish would condense.

30

31

32

Once the bronze was hardened they pulled the shaped out of the molds and let them

down in water. After the cooling down of the bronze we were able to clean it.

33

After the casting, we had to wait a couple of days to polish the final prototype. The bronze had a burned layer, so that is why everything was black. Firs of all, we had to separate the model from the rest of the bronze piece, which would be reused for future castings. Now with the prototype on hand, we had to take all the black layer out of the model. We kept that black layer in the bottom part of the cutlery piece because of the texture we were aiming for.

After deleting that thin layer, we had to sand the material until the texture was as smooth as possible. We wanted it to look really shiny and smooth because we wanted a high contrast be-tween the bottom part and the top part.The sanding part took a long time, because there were some areas really difficult to sand because of the tools. They did not reach very well the inner part of the curved area. Although we man-aged to polish the model in the way we wanted

34

After the polishing and sanding was made, the last step was to give a more repul-sive look to the bottom part. For that, we decided to give a special treatment to

the bronze. We heated up the piece and once it reached a certain temperature, we poured Cupric Sulfate (CuSO4). This acid in high temperatures leaves a green colour

on the bronze making it look old and repulsive

35

36

FINAL PRODUCT

37

In order to make the final product, we had to ex-press four words in two pieces of cutlery. These words are: slow, fast, appropriate, and repulsive. Now we are going explain how we implemented these words into the final product.

SLOW AND FAST: the shape mainly expresses these two words. On one hand, fast is expressed by a thin-ner and dynamic shape supported by some sharp edges. On the other hand, slow is visible by a thicker shape with a smoother outline.

APPROPRIATE: the appropriateness is shown by a curved and polished top surface allowing the user to eat the food in an appropriate way.

REPULSIVE: The repulsive experience comes when the user holds the cutlery. The bottom part has an unexpected texture: it is and unpleasant feeling. Also visually it has a strong repulsive appearance.

38

39

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS

40

KIM SAUVÉ

At the start of this assignment I did not really know what to expect. I assumed to gain some more experi-ence in the competencies Form & Senses and Ideas & Concepts, but I could not imagine in which way this would be going to happen. The most outstanding learning pro-cess of this assignment was for me how it changed my way of thinking. I went from a metaphoric state of mind into a more intuitive state. I experienced a lot of new ways of translating my ideas to someone else. Making the mood board helped me to think more abstract, but also gave me the chance to practice how I could get these ideas out of my head so other people could understand them as well.This assignment pushed me more to take action instead of having a pas-sive way of idea generating behind my desk. Searching for rubbish in and around my house was not my typical view of tinkering for example. I read once that you implement in-formation better if you include both

your body and mind in the activity you are doing (brain gym). I thought it was an interesting view, but now I experienced it myself I really do believe that it can be an enrichment for your idea generating. I involved myself more in what I was doing by acting out, which was not only an advantage for the ideas that came out, but caused also enjoyable expe-riences.An example of an experience was the casting. I was really looking forward to this, because I would be able to make something that came nearby a final product. It was a little shock for me when I heard that we needed to do everything by ourselves. At first I felt a bit insecure about getting such a big responsibility, but altogether we managed to come up with nice bronze models. This teamwork was a nice unforeseen circumstance. Eve-ryone worked on all the molds, not just on their own one.Also Manuel and I worked well as a team. Every mood board evolved from discussions we had and the

final shape we came up with was re-ally a compromise between our two different views. It was sometimes hard to meet because we had both a full agenda, but we made it till a good end result.Looking back on this assignment now, I think it gave me much more than I was expecting in the begin-ning. It was a lot of work every week again, but if you work hard you will come far. At the end I can really see the difference in my approach be-tween now and the start of this as-signment. The biggest challenge for now will be, how to implement all I learned in my project. It is not that I do not want to act out, it is that I sometimes do not dare to. I need to come out of my comfort zone and use my imagination as an advantage in my projects.

41

MANUEL SUAREZ

Before starting the assignment I was very interested. It took my attention the as-signment description. It looked very fun to learn and very useful as well. The con-ceptual part of design is something I do not feel very familiar with, so I decided to go for this assignment mainly because of that.

During the assignment, what made it so interesting were the different types of activities we had to do each week. First of all, taking pictures on the street made me realise the huge amount of possibilities of inspiration there are. Making the mood board and also de pieces of cutlery helped me to improve my teamwork and com-munication. For example, in the project we are 4 people and is easier to make any types of agreements, when there are 2

people is just a battle head to head. In this way I have to say that the results where much better than expected and the team-work was more enjoyable also.

Discussing the feedback with the assignor and with the fellow students was also something to highlight. I learned a lot just by watching the others work and hearing the feedback the assignor was giving to them.

This assignment will definitively help me not just for my project this semester, but also with any future design process. It helped me to see the things with a little bit more perspective and knowing what expresses subconsciously.