Contents Inspiration Stage Choosing an Inspiration
3
Information & Characteristics
4
Sketches
5
2D Stage Abstractions
6
Refinements
8
Tesselations
9
Product Stage Product Ideas
10
Sketches & Iterations
11
Thermocol Explorations
13
Final Model
18
Renders
19 Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
2
Choosing an Inspiration
Amongst my 2 other options, was an Orca or a killer whale. They are extremely smart animals and are very graceful water mammals.
The first step was to choose an inspiration from nature. It could be an animal or a plant, a fish or an insect. I chose an animal called a Moose or Elk (in Europe). The main features that attracted me were its beautiful antlers and majestic size.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
My third option was a dandelion. Its transformation from a flower to a seed dispersing organism fascinated me.
3
Information & Characteristics
After choosing our inspiration, we had to find out all the possible information about it from books and the web. In the posters we wrote about things like size, weight, habitat, distribution, food habits, behaviour, mating rituals, striking and unique features, predators and other threats, etc. Posters dealing with scientific classification of its species’, world-wide distribution, habitat, diet, digestive system, adaptation to seasons, mating, and the peculiar characteristics of antler growth, shedding and size of moose bulls.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
4
Sketches
In order to understand the structure and form of the animal well, I sketched my inspiration from numerous angles while referrring to photographs. I studied the most striking features of the animal like its antlers, drooping nose, bell and disproportionate legs and tried to sketch these from different angles.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
5
Abstractions
After making so many sketches, I started abstracting the form of the animal. I simplified the form, tried to reduce the number of lines, gave the sketch the character of the animal and used various techniques to attain the desired effects. I employed a number of methods to make a simple sketch of a moose look different and have more character. I tried to use Gestalt laws, various illustration techniques and even borrowed from calligraphy tehniques. I used different pens and experimented with lineweights.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Refinements Gestalt laws of Proximity and Closure have been used to depict the ends of the antlers, without showing them completely.
Although the rest of the contour lines are straight and edgy, the bell retains its curvy lines in order to retain the grace and beauty of this majestic animal.
Above is the final abstraction of the moose. This has been done by superimposing the form of the majestic antlers over the mass of the moose’s body. There is a strong sense of positive and negative space. Also the ends of the antlers have been depicted using the Gestalt laws of proximity and closure. The overall effect of the abstraction is that of a majestic and strong animal, while the most beautiful features, its antlers are highlighted. The straight contour lines give it a robust feel, while the bell retains its curvy lines. These were refinements that I added throughout the whole process of abstraction.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
The shoulders and other contour lines are depicted using straight, jagged lines with sharp corners in order to show the strength and power of the moose. It also depicts the agression of the animal.
8
Tesselations
After finalising on an abstract form of our inspiration, we were asked to do tesselations using that one element. By doing so I understood how this form reacted as an entity and also how it looked in combination with many others of its kind. Above is the final tesselation that I froze on. There is a strong sense of positve and negative space, and due to the proximity of the elements, they seem to form new forms. The original identity of the abstraction is broken and there is an interesting flow that is created.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
9
Product Ideas
With keywords like macho, grand, majestic and powerful, my product was very much male oriented. My user profile was a man with a job of a CEO or such. Someone who is very strong, and exudes manliness. After a discussion in class, we came up with a few products that fit this profile and also suited the profile of a Moose well. Heres a moodboard.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
10
Sketches & Iterations
The product that I decided to design was a bicycle helmet for men. I found out that there are various types, depending on the terrain and I chose to design a bicycle helmet for city cycling. I did a small market study and looked at the kind of designs already available. I understood the fundamentals of helmet design and started making my own sketches and iterations, all the while keeping my inspiration in mind. Many of the following sketches are refinements and resketches of the same design.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Thermocol Explorations Exploration 2
Exploration 3 Exploration 1
After making a number of sketches and explorations on paper, I wanted to convert my ideas into solid 3D models. I started making explorations of the form, shape and size in thermocol. I started off with a complete 3D helmet, but then realised that in order to make it faster and simpler, it was possible to only make half the helmet and keep it infront of a mirror to see what the holistic effect would be like. This ensured that I could concentrate on the form of the helmet rather than making the 2 halves symmetrical.
Exploration 4
In all I made 4 explorations out of thermocol. In each new model, I have made variations in form and outer contours.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Exploration 1
In this first exploration, I started by making a complete helmet. This helped me understand the volume and size of my product. I tried to explore past my 2D paper sketches. The success of a helmet is partly determined by the number of ventilation cavities. Thus I tried to incorporate as many cavities as possible without compromising on the stabilty of the structure. I tried to incorporate the edgy nose and front of my 2D abstraction into the form of the helmet. Thus the front of my helmet is edgy and flat and not pointed as in most helmets. The waves that emit from the front and flow towards the back represent the antlers of the moose. Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Exploration 2
After the first exploration, I realised that it would be easier to make half a helmet and then place it infront of a mirror, much like car modellers do. This helped me to concentrate on the form better. In this exploration, I tried working with a number of wavy contours and where they intersected, I removed material. Here the depressions are actually through-and-through cutouts. However, I found this form too cubic and blocky and so I decided to make another exploration.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Exploration 3
I wasnt completely convinced with the look of the second exploration and thus decided to make another model. Here I my concept was that 2 antlers, one coming from the front and another one from the back, meet on the side of the helmet to form a pattern and represent the clashing of two bull moose. I addition to this I carved out antler forms on the back too and longish horn-like forms on the front. I also worked on the lower contour of the helmet where I tapered it towards the end so that the helmet blends with the users head. I liked this concept and I took it forward in further explorations too.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Exploration 4
I wasn’t conviced with the way the side of the helmet turned out in the third exploration and thus I was trying to figure out what to do. This is visible through a few of my iterations too. I made slight modification in terms of proportion and size to the elements in front and in the back. I more or less froze on most of the elements in this model. However when I placed the model in front of the mirror I did not like the way the front looked. In order to resolve this form, I turned back to sketching and exploring on paper.
Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
17
Final Model
After making the fourth exploration, I started working on the design for the final model. Until then I had not made any of my models to scale. So I figured out the anthropometric dimensions of a head and adapted my helmet design to that. I refined my design by re-tracing earlier sketches. I extended the curves that were coming from the back towards the front. The front of the helmet was another major issue that I had to solve. I finally went with two antlers coming out and spreading towards the back. Because I couldnt make them completely hollow, I made only the contours hollow and left the center solid. Due to the weight of the putty, the thermocol started to collapse and thus I had to add two small blocks to support them. These are not part of the final design. Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
18
Renders
Although I was initially planning to get my final model painted, after the thermocol collapsed I decided not to as two layers of paint would have been additional weight. Thus I decided to do a Wacom render of my helmet. A friend helped me with this. In order to enhance the cavities, I wanted them to be another colour than the helmet. Thus my colour concept for the helmet is to have a neutral colour like a dark grey on the exterior and to have the cavities painted in a bright colour like blue or green in order to make them pop! Final product materials will be a foam interior with a hard plastic shell with foam spacers in between the cavities to support the weight and make the helmet robust. Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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Vanessa Horig FID Semester 6
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