DES100 - CCC

BRIEF

Design and produce a laser cutting file for...

Option 1 A keyring with a logo on it

Option 2 A 2D or 3D everyday object that would fit in your bag (eg. Hair comb, ruler, pencil case, cord organiser, etc)

SPECIFICATIONS

- Your laser-cut file must fit on a 150mm x 300mm size sheet of material

- You must specify one of the following materials/ size limitations:

• MDF/ 150 x 300 x 3mm

• Acrylic/ 125 x 250 x 2.8mm

• Card/ 600 x 300 x 1.1mm

PROCESS

1. Ideation

• The first design is a tracing board made from acrylic that has numbers and the alphabet for my nephew to practise on as he is a toddler. I really like this idea because it allows him to keep using it by just rubbing the marker off, which saves a lot of paper and he won't have to buy books to practise writing. When lasercutting, I would have to do everything backwards so that when he writes on it, he will flip it over so the writing will go on the smooth side, not on top of the engravings. I'm leaning towards this idea since we can only choose 1 material and I think this is the one that would look the best with only one. It would also not require assembling like some of the others.

• The bottom left design is a storage idea for the red packets (hong bau) that me and my sister collect every Chinese New Year, as we're wanting to reuse them instead of buying new ones for the future.

• At the moment, I don't have a designated area for my jewellery so an earring organiser or jewellery stand would be useful.

• With most of these designs, they would look best using both MDF and acrylic, as well as different coloured acrylics. Different coloured acrylics would suit the storage organiser because it makes it easier to separate and see the jewellery on both shelves.

• The cup coaster would be handy to use in the house as my grandparents always use old lids from jars or plastic containers.

2. Iteration

REFLECTION

This is my final design, with the second image flipped for laser cutting. I'm glad I changed my design for it to be just shapes, because at his age, he wouldn't be able to draw a straight line by himself so letters and numbers would be quite difficult. Next time I would like to add to this design by making it more interactive. I could do this by not only allowing him to draw the shapes and his name, but also to create a block puzzle for the shapes so it's more fun for him.

I've learnt to consider the usability of the object more. I initially wanted to create something for the aesthetics but I had to make sure I also took into account the benefits of each idea and how the laser cut version would compare to a normal version. I decided to choose this drawing board to laser cut as it's usability was different. It was more sustainable as acrylic, whereas other drawing books are made from paper and rewriting/drawing would require the buying of more paper. The other ideas didn't have a major benefit from being laser cut.

I'll continue to use this lesson in the future when I'm creating products as it will help me evaluate the importance of my products and allow me to differentiate mine from existing products through usability.