Final Presentation

 This week we submitted our final presentation of our kiosk.  Overall we were pleased with the outcome.  In the final, one thing we learned was that if we would have glued all the components together it would have made for a better presentation.  We added little balls to act as the lighting, which in reality would be hanging candles in glass jars.  We had the lattice serve as the ceiling with veins going everywhere.

The pumpkin wall was suppose to be a longer version of the fence for cohesion.  The cashier stand was trying to mimic barn doors.  All in all it looked great.  One of our critiques was that it was too country and not modern enough.  I think this is a lesson learned in how to apply critiques as we feel that we were swayed in the direction we ultimately chose by the professors.  We thought we going in the path they wanted but there was a little misread.

More Study Models

This week we began to make more 3D models but trying to use more of the materials that actually mimic the real materials to be used.  We used a lot of bass and balsa wood.  We wanted to make some variations in the wood so we white washed some of the pieces as well as stained some a darker brown.  Another one of our ideas was to randomly place pumpkins on different heights on pedestals to show how you have to reach down at a real pumpkin patch and grab the pumpkins.  

To play to all the senses, we would also like to display carved pumpkins for visual appeal and to sell tools to make some of the things displayed.  We would also serve pumpkin treats and sell recipe books for customers to purchase.  After our critique we were told to stick to one simple module.  We decided to put the lattice wall on the ceiling and to make the fence and the pumpkin wall more alike.

Study Models

This week was our first time actually putting our ideas into 3D models.  We decided that our concept would be to bring the outside in and the idea would be the "urban pumpkin patch."  Being that this is a free standing kiosk, we would like to do away with the walls per se.  There will be a wall of pumpkins that will be visible from the inside and the outside of the kiosk, a lattice wall, as well as a picket fence to bring the country/barn aspects in.  The flooring will be an old worn wood floor.  The cashier booth will be approached in the same way, using recycled, used, wood pieces in a simple square module.

Group Project

Myself and my group are in the fruits/vegetable category, as we all were tired of working with our object we decided to collectively pick something new.  We decided on the pumpkin.  It is appropriate for the time of the year and we thought we could have fun with it.  Here are some pictures which I found inspiration.  My assignment was to draft out the floor plan.  Here are some sketches and drafted images of our proposed floor plan.

Display-Final

Here are a few images of my final display model.  I ended up using a 3"=1'-0" scale. Overall I was satisfied with my final submission.  There were a few things I would have liked to work more on, which is always the case.  For the roofing I was pleased with how I got the chipboard to curve.  I was undecided on what material I wanted to use to wrap the chipboard with.  I made the decision to use black contact paper.  It worked extremely well with the smaller scale and with less curvature of the roof.  When I used a larger scale and the curve became more defined I encountered problems.  I went through a whole roll of the contact paper to find that it kind of didn't work.  As a last minute decision I chose to lay the paper over the chipboard without wrapping it as that looked the best of all the other alternatives. 

Above you can see some aerial shots of the roofing.  I made twelve miniature bok choys out of clay.  I used left over pieces of basswood to make little signs to lean against the Pagoda.  The purple and gold one is just a couple of Chinese symbols.  The black and red one has some Chinese symbols as well the word eat in English.  The one at the bottom just says bok choy. All in all I like the display, but every project I think I am progressing and there is always room for further improvement.

More Display Work

I am starting to feel really confident about my display.  I have picked most of my final products and have started with the construction.  I have not glued anything together yet, I am still using tape because I will have to paint or stain the basswood before I can do so.  Above is a picture of my first tier of the Pagoda.  Tomorrow I will have to go get more chipboard to make the roof hangings.  I would like to wrap the chipboard in a colored paper.

Here is a picture of the first and second tier without the roof.  At each corner is where the bok choy will be placed.

This is an aerial view of how all three tiers look together without the roof.

This is an image of what the total construction will look like.  The pieces of foam board are acting at roofs.  Of course the final roofing will be curved as they are in my study models.

Display-Progress

As I began to work on some ideas for my display, I had to figure out where exactly the bok choy will sit on the display.  I first thought to have an opening on the bottom level and insert them in a rectangular cube with circle cut outs for each.  With this idea the bok choy would not really be displayed, so I thought to place them as columns surrounding the house.

I still may have to think of other ways to hold up the bok choy.  I was also thinking maybe to just place them directly up against the walls to really play off of them acting as true columns to the structure.  Another idea was to have the bok choy sitting in planters surrounding the house, as shown in the sketch above.  I also have to figure out what medium I want to use to show the vibrant colors displayed in Chinese architecture.

Display Model

Project 4 is to create a display for my bok choy.  Some of my intial ideas were to create a cylindar with circular inserts for the bok choy. I also thought of using a square shape.  I then began to think of how I could show the Chinese orgin of the vegetable.  I googled pictures of Chinese architecture. I found this building to be very intriguing.

I started to create the house with chipboard. I found the two-ply hard to work.  I also needed to make the model a little bigger.

After building my second model I found that the curved roofing was going to take some more attempts to see exactly how to manipulate the chipboard.  So far I think I have made some progress to coming to my final model.

Project 3 Final

My final presentation of project three was not as successful as I would have liked.  I moved away from the plastic that I was using at first and went with the shrink wrap.  Some of the comments that I received in class were that it was sloppy; I know that it could have been better, but I actually did think it through.  It was just that it needed more work and I needed to make more models.  I was not too familiar with the product I was using which presented the problem.  I used shrink wrap and punched holes in the wrap which sort of disappeared when I heated it.  I make a label and thought that vegetables can be pretty too so I added a bow.  All in all, what I have gained from this project is that more is better, well at least as far as models go. 

Project 3-Progress

Going off of the idea to make a bag for the bok choy with a sort of like insert, the first image is my attempt to do so.  I cut out a square from a plastic shower curtain and made the insert with chipboard for my model.  I punched holes in the chipboard to attach some pipewire to hold the bok choy in place.

The second image is the actual bok choy in the bag.  Once the bok choy was in the bag I decided the bag was too big for the vegetable.  I started to think of ways to make the bag smaller and came up with the idea of using shrink wrap.  The shrink wrap would be easily molded to the shape of the bok choy.  I also had the idea to punch holes in the shrink wrap to act as a drain for water when the bok choy is rinsed in the wrap.



My next dilemma is to create some type of label for the packaging and how exactly I will make the holes.

Project 3

The objective of project 3 is to create packaging for your item. My first thought was to put my bok choy in a box. Then I thought it would be too much for an item which is fairly inexpensive. My next thought was to make some type of bag. My goal is to create a bag that fits the bok choy solely with a zip lock closure. I also would like to make it have holes that would allow the consumer to wash the bok choy while it is in the bag. I will try to create a sleeve to put the bok choy on, which will become a sort of insert for the bag. Some of the materials I will use are chipboard, foam board, and plastic.

Project 2

Advertising was the objective of this project.  We were to take our object and advertise it to someone who normally does not buy this specific item.  Bok choy, which is a type of cabbage originally grown in China, would not be easily advertised in America.  It is a foreign vegetable to many and the objective was for me to point out the reason to buy bok choy opposed to ordinary Napa cabbage.  I played with a lot of ideas.  One of my first ideas was to make a model of the bok choy with cut outs shaped like leaves, but made out of different images of bok choy.  I then tried to show a path of longevity along with that image.  To show that eating bok choy may mean living a longer life.  After my pin up, I was giving great ideas to show a sort of hierarchy between the bok choy and other cabbages.  I also got ideas to show an older couple and child gardening bok choy.  I went with an idea to show the hierarchy but in the shape of a food pyramid.  I cut out images in the shape of each level of the pyramid.  I attempted to scan it in but it did not look so great and I was starting to lose the concept.  I then thought how does eating bok choy make me feel?  Happy!  I found an image of a young girl happily gardening.  I chose this as the background.  In Photoshop, I layered an image of some bok choy and showed to be in the basket the young girl was holding.  I then desaturated the background leaving the bok choy to shine.  I think the final image came out good.  If I could change some things I would change the type of font I choose and would have lowered the text.

Project 1

The objective with this project was to make a postcard that read "bok choy."  The first problem I encountered was the confinement of the 4 X 6 space.  Then I had to determine the best way to read "bok choy" without it being just a showcase of the object itself.  I found this image of the bok choy in its natural state.  I wanted to make sure I showed the lefty greens of the bok choy solely.  Then I thought the vegetable originated in China, so I put in the splashes of red and yellow to symbolize the Chinese flag.  I painted over the bok choy with yellow acrylic paint to add texture similar to the vegetable.  I think the approach was good, but there were other ways to incorporate China.  I also could have taken the image of someone eating, cooking, or planting bok choy opposed to my final image.

Wagonized

This week I had the pleasure of visiting France Belleville's blog at wagonized.typepad.com. The thing I liked the most about this blog was that with each sketch there was a description of why the image was significant and what medium was used to complete the drawing. A lot of the images chosen were everyday people, places, or things most of us can relate to. I especially liked how France blogged about him visiting other blogs and made an attempt to sketch an image which inspired him, from that particular blog. France's artwork is familiar and is presented clearly and neatly. It shows a variety of artist techniques. What makes the artwork stand out is that he takes such simple objects and shows them to have such detail. The image above caught my attention because it showed youthfulness, innocence, and some how it made me think of a time period in the past.