Sierra Greeley Project Portfolio

Throughout my projects in Aesthetics in Design, I utilized my current skills and learned new ones. I also learned a lot about aesthetics. In the past I would tend to stick to the one aesthetic that I enjoy most, surrealism. This class taught me that there are other aesthetics that I like and can incorporate into my life and future designs. I think I really met my intended aesthetic for both my Upcycle Project and Main Project. I am very proud of the products that I produced in this class.

Upcycle Project

For my upcycle project, I leaned more towards the aesthetic that I am familiar with, surrealism. I really felt like this aesthetic captured what I envisioned for my project. I upcycled old vinyl records that no longer play music into canvases for surrealism paintings. This way the records don’t end up in the landfills creating more pollution. I am an environmental engineer so environmental health and sustainability are an important part of my life and this project.

I worked with mediums that I am super comfortable with to start. I used acrylic and oil paints for the paintings on the records. Although I stuck mainly to skills I already possessed, I also learned new ones with this project. Before this I had only really used things like stretched canvas and wood for my paintings. Learning to paint on the vinyl canvas material was a new skill for me. It was a different experience to things I have done in the past, but it taught me that working with new materials can be fun and result in great final products. It also taught me that I can branch out to new canvas materials, and how to deal with the challenges that come with that.

Project links:

Upcycle Plan

Upcycle Progress

Upcycle Design Report

 Main Project

For my main project, I chose to focus more on getting out of my comfort zone. I decided to try out a new aesthetic called Bloomcore. I did research on the aesthetic and found it to be quite beautiful. It also fit perfect to what I had planned to achieve for my final product. I made snuffle mats for my pets using fleece, fabric glue, and embroidery floss. I felt that this project was the perfect time to make something my pets enjoy while learning new skills

Before this project, I had never made any sort of pet toy or really worked with fabric. Creating the mats taught me new skills that I would not have taken the time to learn otherwise. I learned what materials to work with in order to make sure that the toy is pet friendly. I learned how to sew by hand and the best techniques for cutting out patterns in fabric. I learned how to manipulate the fabric into doing what I need for it to do, like roll up into these flower shapes. Overall, I learned how to work my way through a new medium. I am proud of the final product and learned that it may be worth it to create toys myself for my animals in the future.

Project links:

Main Plan

Main Aesthetics

Main Design Preview

Main Specifications and Constraints

Main Progress

Main Final Report Pt 1

Main Final Report Pt 2

Overall, I really did enjoy being in this class. I am a super artsy person and this allowed me to combine my love for art with my love for engineering. I really enjoy the final products that I created from each of the two projects. Both the paintings and the snuffle mats will be admired and used for a long time to come. I feel as though I learned valuable skills during this class that I can hopefully utilize in the future.