Basic Formgiving Skills: Explorative Materialisations and Form Studies

Transcription

1 Basic Formgiving Skills: Explorative Materialisations and Form Studies

2 Noortman, R. R. Eindhoven University of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Design Laplace 32 Eindhoven, The Netherlands Abstract This pictorial report describes the assignments and insights from the elective called Basic Formgiving Skills, lectured by J. W. Frens and B. J. Hengeveld at Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Industrial Design in February-April 2017 [1]. Through various sketching and formgiving techniques, diverging materialisations and models were made considering form abstraction, form integration and form families. Author Keywords Aesthetics; Formgiving; Form abstraction; Form integration; Form families; Material study; Materialisations; Product copy. ACM Classification Keywords Design; Experimentation. Introduction Form, shape and material are crucial elements of a design. Not only do they decide whether a design is pleasant or unpleasant to look at, they define the communication of the design with its user. The wrong shape could lead to non-intuitive interaction whereas the right shape could indicate how to use an object without requiring further verbal assistance. The study of form is therefore an essential asset for any interaction designer. Learning How To Look The main focus of the first assignment was looking at the world around you and recognising its normal

3 everyday shapes. From memory, we drew various objects in and around the university buildings such as a dustbin and a lamppost. This proved to be more difficult than anticipated, as it is easy for functional objects to go by unnoticed. Important elements to remember objects by were listed: the silhouette, aesthetic details of the object, interaction with the object, the proportions and dimensions and how it might have been manufactured. My sketches (figure 1) did not all turn out very similar to the actual objects, indicating that I would have to learn to pay a closer look to my surroundings during the course of the elective. Form Abstraction The second assignment asked us to pay close attention to our direct daily environment, sketching everyday objects at different levels of abstraction. For this, the objects needed to be abstracted to their most basic form. I decided to take three objects, increasing the difficulty with each object. I started with a simple symmetrical plant holder (figure 3). The plant holder was built up of several beams that were already very abstract which made the abstraction simple and accurate but rather boring. The second object was a cylindrical teapot (figure 4), which was more challenging and increasingly so because of my Figure 1. Sketches Learning How To Look assignment Figure 2. Objects used for form abstraction Figure 3. Form abstraction plant holder

4 as it had a lot of curves and hard-to-define shapes (figure 5). The feedback on the sketches was that the approach was very two-dimensional with a lot of focus on the buttons while the general shape was still hard to understand. This was also the difficulty that I encountered while making the sketches as the shape was hard to bring back to basic forms. Figure 4. Form abstraction teapot Figure 6. Wall-socket to be copied Figure 5. Form abstraction Xbox 360 controller neglected sketching skills. Contradictory to the first, the third object, an Xbox 360 controller, was too complex Product Copy To become more aware of the details of designed artefacts, the goal of the third assignment was to make an exact copy of a specific wall-socket (figure 6), except for the functionality. For this, I used thin layers of MDF to be able to replicate the inside of the socket as accurately as possible (figure 7). The most challenging element was the paint job, especially as this requires a lot of drying time. For me, this backfired as the last coat of paint was damaged while wet,

5 making it dry up shrivelled. In the end, the measurements were quite accurate and the socket could fit a regular Dutch plug. However, because the finishing still required some attention the overall object did not look like a good replica of the real socket (figure 7). This taught me that the finishing is equally or even more important than the measurements. I kept this in the back of my head for the succeeding assignments. Figure 7a. Wall-socket end result Figure 6. Wall-socket in progress

6 different materials, this taught me how a different material can influence the look and feel of an object greatly. Figure 7b. Wall-socket details Materialisations After working with MDF, the materialisations assignment encouraged me to explore different materials. This was done by making the same model out of soapstone, oak, modelling clay and epoxy resin (figure 8). Next to valuable insights in how to process Figure 8a. Models of various materials (f.l.t.r. soapstone, oak, modelling clay, epoxy resin and epoxy resin with colouring)

7 Figure 9. Additional epoxy resin models made to experiment with colour various iterations and clay mock-ups I came to a final design that wrapped the beam around the cone by means of subtraction (figure 11). I decided to use soapstone and brass for the object as I liked working with soapstone in the previous assignment and thought that the brass would nicely complement the stone. Both the integration that I thought of and the materials that I wanted to use turned out to be a tough challenge. Figure 10. Clay mock-ups for form integration Figure 8b. Top: models of various materials Bottom: soapstone model, silicon cast and epoxy resin models that were made in the silicon cast Form Integration For the assignment on form integration we were asked to combine an angular and a rounded shape into one form. I chose to combine a cone with a beam. Through Figure 11. Sketches for form integration

8 Because the brass was not as flexible as I had hoped, it was harder to get it into the right shape which meant that the shape was not as distinguished as I had intended. The integration of the beam was too subtle in the end, teaching me that sometimes exaggerating the form can increase the conceptual clarity. Figure 12. Foam mock-up and stone for final model Figure 13. Final model for form integration Form Family For the final assignment we designed a power strip with whichever materials and shapes we desired. The only restriction being to consider the lessons we learned from the previous assignments. For this assignment I drew inspiration from the design book by Bernhard E. Bürdek [2].

9 Figure 14. Top: Stackable ashtrays by Walter Zeischegg (Source: privateartclub.tumblr.com. Image by Unknown) Bottom: Concept design for a stackable power strip inspired by stackable ashtrays Figure 15. Top: Carrés de Jardin by Séverine Szymanski (Source: via.fr. Image by Fillioux & Fillioux) Bottom: Concept design for a power strip combined with a planter based on Carrés de Jardin

10 I started off by making a lot of conceptual sketches in diverging directions. I took my inspiration from various famous designers and design movements. I based a stackable design on the stackable ashtrays by Walter Zeischegg (figure 14) and another on Carrés de Jardin designed by Séverine Szymanski (figure 15). In the end I decided to work out an idea that was based on the Tubular steel desk by Marcel Breuer (figure 17) and the Bauhaus movement in general. I made the final model out of aluminum tubes combined with hardwood, partly oiled and partly coated with epoxy resin. To highlight the form family between the sockets, plug and switch, I used the same materials and form integration. In hindsight, I could have highlighted this more by making a similar integration of the power cord in the block with sockets as I did for the plug. Apart from making the form integration even more clear, this would also have made the block with sockets more interesting. The end result turned out well with good conceptual clarity and subtle details emphasising the form family. In the final design the resemblance with the Breuer desk was a bit far-fetched which made the link feel superfluous. Figure 16. Design directions for the power strip Figure 17. Top: Tubular Steel Desk by Marcel Breuer. (Source: zeitlosberlin.com. Image by Zeitlos Berlin) Bottom: Design for a Bauhaus power strip, inspired by the Tubular Steel Desk

11 Figure 18. Further design sketches to work out the details of the design

12 Figure 19. Final design power strip

13 Reflection Over the course of this elective I learnt exactly what I hoped to learn when signing up for it. My main reason to choose this elective was to learn more about working with different materials than the overused MDF and perspex that I often see lying around at the faculty. I wanted to get a feel for how to work with different and especially raw materials and to know which materials are best used under which circumstances. Next to that, I wanted to trigger my creativity by looking into form and formgiving in a way that was different from what I was used to. At the beginning of the elective I found that my sketching skills had become a bit rusty and were therefore limiting me in my creative freedom. I simply could not get what was in my head onto the paper. I was trying so hard to get every line right that I forgot to think about perspectives and side views. While my earlier sketches were weak, I feel that near the end of the elective my sketching skills got some new energy, which meant that I could use them in an explorative way without feeling the pressure to make each sketch perfect. As for working with different materials, I started with barely any prior knowledge. This meant that before the elective when making prototypes, I would reason from wood and design my prototypes such that they could be made from wood. Now that I have knowledge of stone, metal and resin I can also use these materials with their own unique properties in my design process. During the elective I took some risky decisions, such as using brass for the form integration and using metal once again in the final assignment even though my experience with the brass was a pain. Taking these risky decisions made me see the limitations of certain materials. Knowing these limitations is very practical when shaping objects. Experimenting with the different materials taught me to explore the possibilities and limitations of materials before working with them for real. I am certain that from now on my formgiving process will receive more time and attention than it would have before. In the past, I would think of a shape in my head, sketch it once and then make it. With the knowledge from this elective I will lengthen the sketching process and consider different materials. I will also likely make a mock-up model before making the final prototype in the future. This elective helped me to push myself to go the extra mile with the detailing and to be realistic in making choices. While I am always critical of my own work, I tend to be satisfied with a shape quite easily. During this course I learnt that there is always an extra iteration to be made. Apart from learning that this iteration can be made, I also learnt how to make it by structuring my thought process and asking myself the right (visual) questions. Acknowledgements As a result of this elective I will forever hear Joep and Bart whispering inside my head: But what if you would add a curve here and then copy that in this edge? Can t you make this more interesting?. I would like to thank them for making me even more critical towards myself and for sharing their uncensored opinions at all times.

14 An extra cheer goes out to my fellow students for sharing their work with me and inspiring me. References 1. Frens, J. W. & Hengeveld, B. J. (2017). Basic Formgiving Skills [Syllabus]. Eindhoven, the Netherlands: Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology. 2. Bürdek, B. E. (2005). Design: History, theory and practice of product design. Basel, Switzerland: Publishers for Architecture.