Ikabana Vase Sketch Models

Just a few of the sketch models I've made in deciding what design to pursue for my final piece. The models are made out of foam core and chip board which is laser cut and then either glued or pinned together.

In these models, the foam core represents the reservoir of the vase and will be made out of Rockite and the chipboard represents stainless steel which will be water jet cut and bent into shape around the Rockite.

Iterations of two designs I'm working with.

The first design is a tall reservoir with a stainless piece of steel straddling the Rockite. I wanted to create a strong, grounded receptacle rising out of a light, kinetic form drawing the eye upward to focus on the flowers using the vase as a way to focus the viewer on the natural beauty of the arrangement. The tab of the stainless steel on the top of the vase would act as a divider between the heavier plant material and the more delicate flowers and would reinforce the upward motion of the vase.

This design will be 8" tall, with a 3" x 2" reservoir.

The only difference between these two iterations is that the model on the left has a shorter piece of chipboard which creates a smaller foot at the bottom with a straighter line as it travels up the Rockite.

This is the other of the two designs I've been working on. This is a much more rectangular, low to the ground vase. I wanted to be able to spread the flowers of the arrangement out horizontally and create some arcs with the plant material. This is a much more static vase, sitting only 1/2" off the table surface and with a horizontal rather than vertical flow of the lines.

The bottom of the two, short feet support the vase and two longer tabs support the base of the Rockite reservoir. This design really focuses the attention of the vase on the stainless steel as it wraps the Rockite almost completely. The Rockite is viewable from two 1/2" strips along the top of the vase and on the small ends of the vase. I wanted the Rockite to simply peak out from the steel.

I prefer the skinnier of the two low vases. It would be only 2 1/2" wide versus 4" wide for the larger version. I felt the increased size of the larger version would create to large and cumbersome of a base for the delicate natural plant material. The final piece will be 8" long x 3" tall x 2 1/2" wide, with a 2" deep reservoir.

I've decided to move forward with the low, horizontal Ikabana vase as I appreciate it's simplicity of form and simplicity of materials in manufacturing. A theme for me in this class has been designing for ease of mass production and I hope to produce these vases on a larger scale if possible after this semester is done. The simpler form and straight lines of this vase lend themselves to reproduction. While there is always value in the one off hand made object, the challenge of reproduction on a large scale interests me as a designer looking to soon move into the work force.

This week I will be milling a mold out of MDF to cast the Rockite in and water jet cutting out my stainless steel piece.

Thanks for reading!

Finished Wall Lamp

Alright, late on an update about past projects again. At least this project wrapped up only a few weeks ago!


I finished up and presented my wall lamp 2 weeks ago now. It went over pretty well, a few concerns about the visibility of the bulb when viewed from a sharp angle from the wall, such as walking down a hallway; a concern of which I agree. Also a problem for some people was the brass grommets I used to attach the tyvek paper to the frame. This was honestly less of an issue for me, but stainless grommets would work just as well. The brass simply dosen't bother me as much as it did some people.


I made a wall lamp because wall lamps save valuable floor space in small apartments and make spaces feel bigger by illuminating the walls. I wanted to create a small shade that would float off the wall, creating an aura of light on the backing wall. Ideally the lamp would be accompanied by multiples along the wall, illuminating an entire wall of the space.

The frame was made of 1/16" and 1/8" steel welding wire which was bent to shape and then the pieces soldered together.

The frame was then sandblasted and spray painted gloss black.

The tyvek paper was folded around the frame and held by brass grommets.

This is the final result.

Overall, I'm honestly quite happy with the lamp. I feel that it would be a design that would be easy to produce in larger quantities and the paper diffuser would be customizable in color and pattern. I'm thinking about making some for gifts for family and friends over this year.


Thanks for reading!