Moving Forward

Well, 1st day of the new semester and I'm already 2/3 of the way through my day.

I just wanted to look back at last semester briefly before I move on.I worked my butt off last semester and it really shows with my grades.

More w/ Less, A. Smart Surfaces, A. Furniture, A+.

That puts me on the Deans list for the first time, which was a small goal of mine when I started at Michigan. I'm quite proud.

Looking forward to Winter '10, I've got some interesting work ahead.

First and foremost, Architecture of Objects. I'm really excited about this class.

This course focuses on the design and construction of every day objects including lighting, furniture, and tabletop objects. A strong emphasis is placed on the relationships among the materials used in the designs and the details employed in bringing those materials together to create functional objects. Several specific manufacturing processes will be explored. This is a rigorous course and should only be considered by those truly interested in the opportunity to create resolved, full-scale designs. Work from previous iterations of this course has been featured in Interiors and Metropolis magazines and has been exhibited for a number of years a NEOCON in Chicago.

Then Contemporary Photography. Also excited about this, I really enjoy taking pictures.

A first course for students who have not completed a college level photo course. Students generate their own work in response to class discussions and motion picture viewings, which focus on still photography and the roles of photographers in society. Students must have their own adjustable digital camera, a laptop computer, and Adobe CS3 for photo editing.

Then an architecture course, CAD Fundamentals. This is less exciting but I want to go from intermediate Rhino user to advanced Rhino user.

This introductory course investigates architectural drawing using digital design tools. Lectures and readings focus on digital drawing as a generative and representational device, while exercises and laboratory sessions help students achieve a basic competency with drawing and image manipulation software. Projective and translational drawing exercises are used as a means to explore fundamental concepts shared by many digital software interfaces. Emphasis is placed on exploiting the unique capabilities presented by digital design tools, while developing a critical understanding the inherent biases and limitations of any software.

I'm also taking a history course on the early years and formation of the Eastern Orthodox Christian church. I really enjoy history courses and am trying to learn more of the history behind my religion, beyond what you can find in the Bible.

So, here we go!

Thanks for reading!

Canvas Shoe Design

Ok, so this post has been a long time coming. I've just been to busy to post some projects from the beginning of the semester, but now have some time as I am sitting in front of a laser cutter for a few hours cutting out modules for Smart Surfaces.

Here we have the Canvas Shoes from early on in the semester in More w/ Less. I took the starting project that Jan gave us to create shoes out of paper that could support a persons weight and decided to develop my tubular paper shoes further with canvas. In this second phase of the project, we were specifically designing shoes for one of our class mates.

Enter Mallory.

I interviewed Mallory on her shoe preferences, foot size, likes/dislikes, and found a few main things she wanted in shoes,

-she enjoyed simple flats with a little experimentation to them

-organic, flowing, intertwined shoes drew her curiosity in

-a engaging sole print was a plus

-cooler color for the major color

-comfort

So with that in mind, I did a little research into where flexibility and, more importantly, where rigidity was needed for a correct human gate. I also read up on arch support and designing for comfort and impact resistance.

We would be critiqued on how comfortable the shoes were for the users, how long they lasted, and meeting the users overall needs and desires.

Mallory modeling my shoes for her.

I developed the rolled tube design of my paper shoes because of their incredible strength and the ability to add flexibility and rigidity where it was needed. When the short tubes were glued to the sole they naturally had flexibility against one another, but by simply strategically glueing tubes together, I could create rigid sections to provide support for Mallory's arches and give her a platform to push off of when walking.

I made the tubes out of a canvas often used in awnings and on boats called Sunbrella, I chose it because it was waterproof, highly fade resistant and just as importantly, soft to the touch. The sunbrella was cut into thin strips, rolled, and glued. I then attached each roll to the sole. The sole was made from a combination of layers of Sunbrella fabric and bristol board. The bristol board was used to keep the wearer from feeling the tubes through the fabric.

Assembly.

Rolled Sunbrella Tubes attached to the base of the sole.

The Sunbrella tubes had a nice tendency to compress under walking weight, which enabled me to provide the user (Mallory) with a nice level of comfort when walking.

The tubes that make up the outsole.

I used navy blue Sunbrella because Mallory liked cooler colors on her shoes, but threw in some yellow to appeal to Mallory's desire for a little flair and experimentation. For the color I used a handkerchief with a white and black paisley pattern printed on it and hand sewed it to the footbeds. I used this to add color to both the footbed and to the weave that made up the uppers. I specifically chose to weave the uppers because of Mallory's desire for flowing, interconnected footwear and because of the stretch and flexibility it would offer for Mallory's foot to stay in the footbed comfortably.

The yellow handkerchief sewn onto the footbed.

The weave that made up the uppers of the flats.

To provide arch support I added taller tubes to the sole under the foots arches. These were roughly 1/8th of an inch taller than the rest of the tubes and when the user stood or walked in the shoes, the taller tubes pushed the footbeds up and provide support for the arches. I felt that providing arch support through the soles instead of building up the footbeds was a more material efficient and more effective way of providing support when walking or standing.

Mallory, enjoying the early fall sun in her new flats.

Overall, Mallory was happy with the shoes I designed for her. I was able to provide her with everything she was looking for and was able to do it efficiently materials wise. The pair of shoes used only 2/3rds of a yard of Sunbrella and was still able to provide comfort, support and looks.

Thanks for reading.

Mobile Kitchen Concepts

In More w/ Less we're working on mobile kitchens as groups currently. They have to fit in a 2'x2'x5' space and cook a full meal. In the words of Jan Henrick (our prof), "I have to be able to cook a meal on them or you fail." So no pressure. Oh and we have 2.5 weeks to make a functioning prototype. Meaning a working kitchen in 2.5 weeks. Again, no pressure.

Our group is trying to make a kitchen that is minimal and portable as possible while still being a useable kitchen. It's exciting!

So far, we've filled up a few white boards and large pieces of paper with concepts and sketches.

Below is a few selected images from the concept meetings.

Working out what needs to be in a kitchen.

Drawing kitchen work spaces at full scale to get a stronger idea of scale and usable space.

Thanks for reading!

Paper Shoes

We've started out in More w/ Less making paper shoes that support our own weight. Well paper sandals really. It's all really a prototyping exercise for making real shoes out of recycled materials. I concentrated on making mine out of similar strips of material, partially out of a desire to give myself some constraints and partially out of a desire to be able to mass produce the building blocks of my design! On all of the shoes I concentrated on the structural design of the soles supporting the three main pressure areas from human feet. Our heels (a big point pressure), the ball of your foot, and the big toe (which is used a pushing off point in our strides). I tried to concentrate material around these areas.

I'll show my favorite and strongest of my three shoes first. I built them using 12"x1" strips of sketch book paper and rolling them in to small, medium and large cylinders and gluing the individual cylinders together. It created a very strong and robust platform which was still flexible for the foot to move with. I was very happy with the sole of these shoes and my class and professor seemed to appreciate them as well for their aesthetic value (no one else had anything like mine) and strength.

The second set of shoes, a material heavy explosion of zig zaged bristol board cut into 12"x1/2" strips. They were ok on strength ( the sides were prone to buckling if you stood off center) and just looked cluttered.

The third set of sandals were a direct response to the second pair, where I used lots of material on both of the other sets, I wanted to use less material here. These are 12"x1/2" bristol board strips, folded into layered triangles. I was pretty happy, with these, except for the heel. In a late night and I was tired oversight, the triangles of the heel extend out from under the sole piece and really break up the familiar lines of the shoe. It really hurts the design. I shouldn't have been doing these at the late hour I was though.

The big problem with my sandals was that again because it was late and I was tired, I didn't think of how to attach the straps for your feel to the soles until after the soles were finished. It produced much less than stellar results. I'm not even going to show the pictures. Jan was instructing me to really spend some time looking at my cylinder design and figuring out where to take if from here specifically pertaining to large cylinder, small cylinder layout and integrating straps.

It's interesting to look at the issue with the straps and how I got sucked into viewing only the soles as the major issue to design around in paper shoes and apply that to my design process as a whole. I think I'm really missing a step where partially through each step (say, sketching, sketch models, prototyping etc) I take a step back and see where I'm headed and try to identify problem areas. I'll be working on improving on that this semester.

Thanks for reading!

Back to school kiddies!

Ah, summer went so fast. It was busy, and I'll get you up to speed quickly.

Moved back to my parents house (Grand Rapids, Mi), got married (best part of summer), went to Cozumel, Mexico, moved to Ann Arbor with my new wife (Kara Mia!), worked full time at bike shop, started school today. It was a great, busy summer. I'm not sure if I want it to end!

But either way, it's back to school! Design!

I've had one class so far, More w/ Less. It's a sustainable design course with Jan Hendrick, one of my profs from last semester. I'm quite excited about it.

My courses are

More w/ Less Jan Hendrick-Anderson

This course focuses on developing a sustainable material future; how material use and form are integral to designing objects, and how to design with a keen eye on resources, energy and environmental impact. The visual/physical form language of sustainability is an important component. The focus is hands-on with direct approaches to reducing the carbon footprint of objects by way of planning, fabricating, testing and evaluating functional prototypes. This practical approach is supported by readings and course literature, discussions and demonstrations.

Smart Surfaces (I am super excited / nervous about this course) John Marshall

Smartsurfaces offers a collaborative, project-based learning experience in which artists, designers, architects and engineers come together to build physical systems and structural surfaces that have the capability to adapt to information and environmental conditions. The course operates as a multidisciplinary, hands-on think-tank where participants pool their knowledge and skill sets to work together to produce environmentally sound and socially responsible projects. Public exhibition of these funded projects provides an opportunity for participants to present their work to a wider audience and to review their achievements. Projects make use of the resources available to all participating university units, such as: parametric modeling, digital fabrication, networked sensors, micro-controller programming, and energy harvesting using solar cells and nano-structured materials. This course is a collaborative endeavor led by three professors who will advise and contribute to all team projects. Teams will make use of visiting lecturers, specialists, site visits, and relevant stakeholder organizations.

Making Furniture John Baird

Students carry on the tradition of propping up our skeletons by considering ergonomic, economic, esthetic and engineering aspects of making furniture -- as preparation to designing and building well-crafted chairs, tables, or other furnishings that entice the eye, tease the mind, and cradle the body. Students with skills in 3-D computer modeling may use 3-D models for visualization and for cutting out parts on a computer-controlled 4-axis mill. A refresher on joinery and characteristics of wood provided. Some "sketching" in 3-D materials to aid invention of furniture ideas used. The final project is one or more pieces of furniture that manifest a vigorous conceptual and formal synergy.

ADP 3 Tech/Environment Joe Trumpey

This is the last of the A(rt)D(esign)P(erspectives) courses that I'm required to take. I've heard good and bad about this course, it is either amazing, or a total waste of time. Tales of making friends with trees have reached my ears. We'll see.

Thanks for reading.