Main Project Plans and Inspirations

My personal aesthetic draws upon two different perspectives. The first would be from my general aesthetic and my current independent study project. I typically enjoy being in simple and effective designs and I tend to gravitate towards designs that have both form and function. Because of this, I think that I resonate the most with the minimalist style of the 20th century with the addition of more color and creativity to my personal aesthetic. I think that this can be seen in the way that I decorate my living space and in the way I dress. I certainly have some influences from my childhood interests and hobbies drawing from biking, ice hockey, and motorsport when selecting some of my clothes and interior decorations. Furthermore, I think that in some ways minimalism goes hand and hand with engineering design in the sense that it accomplishes a simple purpose and doesn’t strive to be over-designed.

Minimalist Aesthetic (1)

I have also enjoyed the technical design and the appearance of intricately designed parts throughout my life and I find a lot of beauty in the way that things can be designed and manufactured. This may be somewhat contradictory to the appearance of the minimalist aesthetic in the way that many engineering materials consist of metals that may not be conducive to a minimalist style. However, I do find some machined parts and products can be very appealing to me and if designed well they can be very simple and minimalistic if they still fulfill their intended purpose. Again, this has largely been influenced by my interest in engineering and seeing some of the designs that are created for bicycles or cars.

On the other hand, my artistic interests and the artwork that I gravitate toward the most can be very different. I mostly enjoy impressionist artwork from the late 19th century and early 20th century. I enjoy the way impressionism can distort reality in an abstract and expressive manner while also depicting life in great detail. My mom has certainly been a main influence for me in this respect. She is an artist herself and primarily focuses on plein air impressionist painting so I have learned a lot from her and her expertise in this area. That being said, I don’t think that my final project aesthetic would really draw upon many influences from this artistic movement.

“Sunlight” by Frank Weston Benson, is one of my favourite impressionist paintings (2)

As for my final project, I have chosen to document the design process of my independent study project for this semester. I have taken on the challenge to create my own custom trials bicycle frame for me to use in the future. I was inspired to make this, because I have never had a dedicated street trials bicycle frame in the past, despite having ridden competition trials bicycles for most of my life. I have taken inspiration from other street trials frames on the market that are made out of steel, and since I have been practicing TIG welding for the last year and a half I want to try and make my own frame. my final project will serve as a platform for documentation of this process, and to share some of the aesthetic decisions that have gone into the project. I think that I am going to choose an industrial aesthetic for this project because I want to leave the frame raw to showcase the natural stool color and the color of the welds. I think that the industrial aesthetic is simple and can coincide with my personal minimalist aesthetics. I think that this will clearly show that the frame is handmade, and it will make it unique.

TMS Silex 24″ steel street trials frame (3)

Initial CAD Design

Sources

1. https://theminimalistvegan.com/curse-minimalist-aesthetic/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight_%28Benson%29
3. https://www.tartybikes.co.uk/24_inch_frames/tms_silex_v4_24_inch/c70p13612.html?pos=396&search_params=YTo4OntzOjg6ImluX3N0b2NrIjtpOjA7czoxMjoiY2F0ZWdvcnlfaWRzIjthOjE6e2k6MDtzOjI6IjcwIjt9czoxNjoiY2F0ZWdvcnlfcmVjdXJzZSI7YjoxO3M6ODoia2V5d29yZHMiO3M6MDoiIjtzOjk6ImJyYW5kX2lkcyI7TjtzOjQ6Im1vZGUiO3M6MzoiYWxsIjtzOjQ6InNvcnQiO3M6OToicHJpY2VfYXNjIjtzOjEwOiJjb3VudHJ5X2lkIjtzOjM6IjIzMSI7fQ%3D%3D#&gid=1&pid=1