Specs: Large/Heavy-Lift, Rigid, Stable in Flight, Minimalist but Interesting, Unthreatening but Visible Constraints: TIME, man all those materials were expensive, Shop Availability, Sewing Ability, Headspace? One of the biggest goals of this design is to be large! This comes from both its ultimate purpose – being a kite that lifts things – and from my…

In-progress CAD of my design. My final project concept, as you may have gathered from the title, is a big kite! Since I wanted a large kite for potentially lifting things in the future, I went for a rigid, box design, very similar to the inventor Lawrence Hargrave’s initial designs. After roughing out the ratios…

My current plan for my project’s aesthetic is very much modernist. Being a rigid, geometrically defined kite certainly lends itself to that, having large, flat planes and exposed spars. I do not have any plans of adorning it such as adding twirling tails or a wide color palette. I’ve even thought about coloring the main…

Overall My upcycle project, HOME., is a vector image designed to look like star charts of 19th century science graphics with my own touches added here and there. I made it using Inkscape, an open-source vector graphics software (which I would recommend within my limited experience with both graphic design and Inkscape itself). The final…

My upcycling project, as you may have guessed from my previous post, will be that of 19th century science graphics; in specific, a constellation / star chart. Star charts and atlases of that era are a particular favorite of mine within the larger aesthetic, and I’ve had the idea for this project in the back…

I’ve always been struck by the appearance of vintage science posters and charts – their combination of Victorian era printing practices, not quite realistic images, and underlying geometry is hard to find in anything else. For me, they spur a feeling of nostalgia for when I was learning the basics in grade school, as well…