“The Illusionist” Locket

  Final Locket with chain Thirty-Thousand Foot View: For my final project, I wanted to do an intricate wooded locket from the movie The Illusionist. In this movie, the locket twists from an oval or “pill” shape to a heart shape, then it swings open to reveal an opening for a picture. Project Presentation: Once Upon A Time… The Inspiration to it all ~ 2/25/2016 ~ (Or just a bit earlier) The Project Proposal ~ 3/2/2016 ~ (She said yes!!!) The Constraints ~ 3/11/2016 ~ (What is trying to hold you…

Building a Barn Door

  I set out to create a rustic sliding door that would be utilized to divide the bathroom from the laundry area.  While the aesthetic was originally intended to be closer to shabby chic, the end result is something a bit more out of the ordinary.   Table of Contents: Barn Door Inspirations Preliminary Design Review Barn Door Update 1 Barn Door Update 2 Barn Door Update 3 Barn Door Report – Part 1 Barn Door Report – Part 2 In Class Presentation:

Fiberoptic Jellyfish Links

Brittany Warly-Project Inspirations Fiber Optic Chandelier Design Review FiberOptic Chandelier- Five Project Constraints Brittany Warly project update Fiber-Optic Jellyfish Update Fiber Optic Jellyfish Update April 6 Update April 13th-Fiber Optic Jellyfish Final Report Main Project-Fiber Optic Jellyfish Fiber Optic Chandelier Final Post Reflections

Borderlands Inspired Information Display

Design The Borderlands Information Display is an attempt at pursuing a different, hands-on manufacturing method based on the aesthetic of the popular video game Borderlands. The aesthetic is focused on a futuristic but industrial visual where design features involve sharp, geometrical shapes in addition to the dirt and wear in an industrial setting. Table of Contents Design Review Top 5 Constraints Design and Fabrication Timeline WIP Part 1: Cutting and Assembly WIP Part 2: Electronics and Refinement WIP Part 3: Issues Final Report Part 1:…

Bladeless Fan Timeline

<strong>Description</strong> This project is part of an aesthetics of design course which required the final product to be dynamic in some sort of way. My inspirations for this design is from the Dyson bladeless fans. I was fascinated by the technology and wanted to implement it in my own project. The product was to be relatively small compared to the normal Dyson fans so that it could be portable. One design criteria was that the head piece had to be interchangeable, this is to allow…

Backlit Panorama

Project Description The backlit panorama takes what would normally be a static piece of artwork, and turns it into something subtly dynamic. The foreground of the panorama depicts the Flatirons in Boulder, CO etched in wood, while the background represents the sky behind the Flatirons, changing color through the sunrise, daytime, and sunset cycles. Presentation Video (COMING SOON!) This is a video of my final presentation (https://youtu.be/RFl–4Yyvso):   Project Timelines with All Blog Posts February 24, 2016 – Inspirations – https://www.aesdes.org/2016/02/24/roshans-main-project-inspirations/ March 1, 2016 –…

A Living Room 3D Printer

3D printing has recently exploded as both an engineering technology and commercially-accessible tool, and I wanted to explore how I could make a custom-built 3D printer part of my home. Unfortunately, many DIY printers and kits tend to be messy collections of wires, motors, and metal, which would look out-of-place in many people’s homes (especially for folks without a dedicated workshop area). My challenge: build a 3D printer (from scratch) and implement modern home aesthetics to create an attractive and functional printer that would fit into a living room as…

Cruiser Bikes!

After the successful commercialization of the automobile, bicycles became recreational vehicles. These were expensive and occupied a comparable market to the modern road bike. During the depression, demand for an inexpensive and practical bike came into view. This evolved into the cruiser bike, a single speed bike with large tires, stylized after the motorcycle. During their peak, cruisers were valued for their simplicity and utility. Eventually, they evolved and were largely superseded by mountain bikes and BMX bikes. Cruisers have made a comeback however, and ironically…

Rock Stacking

As a Mechanical Engineer, I have found the aesthetics and physics of  rock stacking to be interesting. For people that do not know of this art, rock stacking is when you take rocks and stack them on top of each other to produce a structure. Rocks tend to(but not always) have minimal flat edges, are stacked vertically and only 1 rock tends to be used as a base. This art requires the creator to find the center of mass of each rock and place it perfectly…

Aesthetics of Suburbia in TV Commercials

Suburban communities, also known as suburbia, is an ideal epitome of the American Dream. This ideal way to live started in the 20th century, and was particularly helped by the end of World War II because military personnel were drawn to the aspects of a comfortable community built for families and safety [1]. Suburbia is well known for its pleasing homes which are well maintained and well ordered away from city centers. A big aspect of these communities is the idea that your house needs…

An Architect’s Aesthetic

An architect has their own aesthetics, not just their buildings. These aesthetics generally reflect an architect’s attitude and desire to stand out from everyone else. The idea of an architect’s style of clothing probably originated sometime around Le Corbusier (1930’s) who is seen wearing the iconic black, round-framed “Harry Potter” glasses. He was known as “the raven” because he dressed in all black. This was more for function than anything else, because he could work all day and get his clothes dirty, but go to a…

The Beautifully Deadly Box Jellyfish

Nature consists of some of the most amazing aesthetics not just in the visual design, but in the functional design as well.  I wanted to look specifically at the strongest and weakest animal on earth, the box jellyfish. http://www.planetdeadly.com/animals/dangerous-jellyfish https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjVppSfqLLKAhVQ2mMKHekYCGwQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Ftagged%2FBox%2Bjellyfish&psig=AFQjCNE4opDMSWYP-6NoRmmxsu9hcTv9UA&ust=1453170044800788 The box jellyfish is a beautifully delicate and extremely lethal animal.  This carnivorous jellyfish located off the coast of Australia has an extremely fragile body and lives less than a year.  To overcome its anatomical flaws, this jellyfish developed the most deadly venom that stings…

Strandbeest

Animaris Umerus, Scheveningen beach, The Netherlands (2009). Courtesy of Theo Jansen. Photo by Loek van der Klis As a future engineer taking Aesthetic of Design class, one of the first things that came in mind was the Giant Beest, better known as StrandBeest. Strandbeests are the work of artist and physicist Theo Jansen. He started building them in 1090 and today he is one of the most recognized artists for his work. Giant Beesta are truly giant standing as big as 6m in length, 5 m in width, 4.7 m in height…

The Chinese Lion Dance

This aesthetic dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). The lion dance is one of the most vibrant performance arts that the Chinese history passed along. It was so popular that other Asian countries like Japan, Tibet, Korea and Vietnam adopted it and to this day have their own versions of the lion and performance. The lion dance is usually performed on the Chinese New Year accompanied with musical instruments consisting of gongs, drums and cymbals. The beating music helps the performers synchronize the Lion’s…

“Retro” architecture

In modern architecture, the retro-style appears when brand new buildings are built with the same features (brick facades, roof materials, etc.) as the older buildings that surround them. The time difference between the new and old buildings is often nearly a century. This aesthetic instills a sense of oneness/homogeneity and nostalgia to the region in which it is applied. Modern baseball stadiums (since the early 90’s) have heavily used retro-style architecture. Here are some examples: Left to right: Coors Field (1995), Mine & Smelter Supply Warehouse (1909), Zang Building (late 1800s) Left to…

The Art of Running and the Kenyan Lifestyle

My aesthetic of choice would have to be Kenyan Runners as a whole. Though many people would not consider athletes to be aesthetics, I believe that the form they run with is a work of art. Everything they do has purpose and intent. The Kalenjin runners, in particular, are known to be some of the strongest distance runners in the world. This tribe of runners come from the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. “Kalenjin have particularly thin ankles and calves” (MacDougall). This serves as a…

Shabby Chic

image: pintrest.com, courtesy of “Here’s Earl.” As we prepare for our warm-up project in Upcycling, the aesthetic that first comes to mind is “Shabby Chic”. The popularity of Shabby Chic is evident by the vast number of articles and images featuring it. It’s also a mainstay in artisan marketplaces like Etsy.com, where creative hopefuls go to try their hand in e-commerce. So what is Shabby Chic? And why is it so popular? You know it when you see it. That telltale sign of an old…