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jessica smith
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Table of Contents 4
Inspiration & Ideation
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Prototyping & Rendering
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Presentation & Progress
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Inspiration
What inspired this design? This design was inspired by the rolling faces and geological striations of a canyon wall. It was also partly inspired by the 3D printing technology that Gantri uses. As someone from an environmental science background who is new to 3D printing, the first time I saw the texture it creates I immediately thought of sedimentary rock and the layered effect caused by sediment deposition. I wanted to create a design that really leaned into the medium of 3D printing and turned the natural texture into a desirable quality.
ANTELOPE CANYON, AZ
LEARNING CURVE Luckily, Gantri provided ample resources via Solidworks for 3D modeling references for their technical parts. That said, I still needed to learn the basics of CAD modeling and 3D printing in order to execute a working prototype for the presentation. In the course of the project, I learned the basics of working with Maya, Solidworks, KeyShot, and Magics.
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PROTOTYPING How does the form relate to the purpose, user, and environment? The form is directly inspired by the surface of a canyon and is intended to bring that memory and nostalgia to mind when the user experiences it. Beyond the emotional connection, the lamp should be beautiful when in use and produce enough light to be useful as an area light. I wanted to make the form more oval in shape than circular to create the impression that it is stout and sturdy, like a rock.
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The highly textured and variable surface of a canyon wall. The final version of the Canyon lamp would ideally have a similar profile view.
GEOMETRIC
ORGANIC
COMPOSITE 10
Form Explorations When choosing a form for the Canyon lamp, I explored a ranged of underlying shapes that the corrugated canyon texture would enhance. I spanned the range from an abstract geometric hemisphere to a highly organic form. In the end, the organic form offers the most potential to be enhanced by the 3D printed texture.
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WHY THE DESIGN PIVOT? When trying to execute the original design of variable wall thicknesses, the first step was to create a viable CAD model to be 3D printed. I was advised to use Maya and pursue a realistic texture via displacement map, but given technical difficulties and the short timeframe for R&D, ended up pivoting for the working prototype to a simpler organic form using Solidworks.
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When learning how to use a displacement map in Maya, the canyon surface texture seen in the image on the right was used to create the surface distortions.
Technical Issues The final blow to proceeding forward with the design in Maya was the size and complexity of the mesh required to execute the design. The decision to switch to Solidworks was made after the computer crashed repeatedly in the act of trying to slide the top and bottom faces to ensure the print would come out even.
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RENDERINGS
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The organic form of the Canyon lamp was created by creating a lofted base comprised of various ovals and hexagons in Solidworks.
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WORKING PROTOTYPE: NIGHTTIME
What is the purpose of this design?
The purpose of this design is to create a beautiful and functional area light that users feel an emotional and nostalgic connection with. It is to create a quality of light that feels unique and special to 3D printing, an effect that distinguishes it from regular lighting methods. Once on, the glow of the Canyon lamp should also ignite user's memories of the beauty of a setting sun against a rock face. It should remind them of the warmth of that rock against their skin, a respite from the chilly desert air that descends once the sun has set. I see the Canyon lamp as a connection between the user's life outdoors and his/her life back at home. I would also hope that by inspiring fond memories of the outdoors, the Canyon lamp might serve as a reminder of the responsibility we have as individuals to take care of our natural environment. To that end, it might serve as a good opportunity for Gantri to highlight their plant-based plastics.
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WORKING PROTOTYPE: DAYTIME
Who is the intended user?
When I envision the type of user who is purchasing and using the Canyon lamp, I imagine that he/she is an active, natureloving person. Whether an individual, couple, or a family, the user(s) value being outdoors and are invested in protecting the environment. Specifically, I could envision a young mother of an active family using this light in the living room when reading or drawing with her child. The back wall of the living room is largely windows with some scenic backdrop, likely a western landscape like a mountain range or desert. They've just gotten home from a hike and are taking a well-deserved break after a healthy dinner.
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high-fidelity render of the Canyon lamp
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CONTEXT
What is the intended environment of this design?
I envision this lamp in a living room or on a book shelf as part of an assembly of collect objects. The users taste isn’t minimalist, but is highly curated. Objects aren’t purchased and consumed just for the sake of it; each has an emotional attachment or memory associated with it. I specifically imagine the Canyon lamp on a shelf or bookcase surrounded by other collected items: a cairn made from river rocks, a succulent or fern, a collection of polaroids from a road trip. Even more poetic might be a scene of the lamp juxtaposed with climbing gear and a snapshot of a climbing trip out through the canyons.
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FINAL PRESENTATION The working lamp prototypes were presented to Gantri representatives on Pratt Institutes campus on the evening of April 25, 2018.
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24" x 36" vertical poster for the April 25th Gantri presentation
CANYON AREA LIGHT
01. CONCEPT The Canyon light grew out of a collaboration between the ID Tech course at Pratt Institute and Gantri, a lighting company that uses 3D printing technology. It is inspired by the rolling curves and undulating walls of Antelope Canyon, Arizona. Rather than shy away from the striated texture caused by 3D printing, the Canyon light leans into the texture to mimic the sedimentary layers of a canyon wall.
02. IDEATION During the ideation phase, a range of forms ranging from very geometric to very organic were investigated. In the end, the most organic form best resembled the curves of a canyon.
03. PROTOTYPE The working prototype for the canyon lamp is a form study to determine the best shape of the lamp. The wider base and shorter height are meant to resemble the formations that arise from canyon erosion around a river. Moving forward, the ideal final prototype would also use variable wall thicknesses from 2.4-2.6mm to create a corrugated texture, mimicking the outline of a canyon wall and creating a pattern as the light shines through it.
CROSS- SECTION OF WALL OUTLINE
DESIGNER: JESSICA SMITH
“The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms.� ~ Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire