DES100 - Kings & Queens

BRIEF

- Design and 3D print a custom “chess piece” in the aesthetic of a film that has inspired you as a designer

- Create a mood board of images from chosen film/TV show/music video, including 3 words that encapsulate your aesthetic

SPECIFICATIONS - Fit in a maximum print volume of 25mm x 25mm x 60mm (length x width x height) - Have a cylindrical cavity on the centre of it’s base that measures 6mm x 12mm (diameter x height)

MOOD BOARD

ELEMENTAL ORIENTAL DYNAMIC

PROCESS

1. Ideation

I chose Avatar the Last Airbender as my inspiration because I love how their aesthetic incorporates traditional oriental designs. It's one of my favourite cartoons because it's based off Asian culture which made me appreciate my culture more. There's a lot of variety in their designs due to the 4 different elements: water, earth, fire and air. It also allows the character designs to be monochromatic, with their clothing representing their respective elements.

For this assignment, my main focus was on the king piece as it's the tallest to signify hierarchy and is the most powerful chess piece. I referenced to the royal clothing from the Fire Nation because the Fire Lord is the antagonist in the series as he tries to take over the world - the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom and Air Nomads. Another powerful figure is the Avatar, Aang, who's an airbender that masters bending all the elements to save the world. In the design, I incorporated a spherical part at the top to represent Aang being in the Avatar State which is when he's in his strongest and most powerful form. I also experimented with the knight piece by using the Kyoshi Warriors, as they have a strong portrayal like the knight piece does. During the 100 year war in this show, they protected their whole kingdom (Earth Kingdom) and despite not being able to earthbend, they're extremely skilled fighters. I also came up with a few ideas later on that incorporated all the elements into chess piece designs as they're significant to the show.

2. Iteration

REFLECTION

Describe your final design, and comment on your favourite (and least favourite) features.

I really liked how I incorporated the armour and parts of the Fire Nation's clothing because it's significant to their style and it gives the chess piece structure.

What was the most challenging aspect of this assignment, and what would you do differently on your next design brief?

I struggled to learn how to use Rhino so I was unable to create anything on there. I was able to find 123D Design which is a more basic 3D modelling programme but by the time I started to figure out how to use it, I didn't have time left- therefore my 3D model is not complete. It has the basic shape, but not the curves or sharp points that I wanted in my final design and I wasn't sure how to create the fire shape from the line tools that 123D Design has. It was challenging to find inspiration as I wanted to somehow incorporate a TV show that had hierarchy rather than king/queen representation because I wanted my piece to be more unique and not resemble the typical chess pieces. I also found it hard to think of designs that would work with 3D printing because I had to consider whether it would print parts that were slightly detached to the base of my design and if I needed supports for it to print successfully. If I did something differently, I would do research to find a bigger range of bases that I could use in my chess piece and start earlier so that I have time to practise on the 3D modelling programmes.