Currently I am planning to do my final project with a simplistic and earthy aesthetic. i plan to create an infinity style box with a terrarium inside of it. That is the current plan as of now. I also tried to sketch this concept but with different concepts. The first concept i tried was brutalism architecture. If i decide to go with this aesthetic I would try to create a city showing brutalism but also try to incorporate some graffiti onto the buildings to try…

The structure I’m creating for my final design isn’t necessarily greatly affected by a shift in aesthetic. For reference, I’m creating a hanging screen installation for visuals I create.  The aesthetic I’ve chosen is minimalism and I plan to continue with that design choice despite this week’s exploration exercise.  That being said, I’ve really enjoyed re-designing my project in two new styles. The aesthetics I settled on exploring were art deco and industrialism. I felt that both these choices could create a unique design and…

Below are a list of sculpture artists that primarily work in Found Objects. This is great to look into for inspiration for your upcycling project. Marcel Duchamp Fountain 1917, Bicycle Wheel 1913. He is considered one of the fathers of found object. Decontextualizes the item itself and redefines it’s purpose. Joseph Beuys I Like America and America Likes Me 1974, 7000 Oaks 1982. Firm believer that anyone can become an artist. Focus on site/off-site specific art and the geopolitical influence behind sculpture. Theo Jansen Strandbeest 1990-current. An evolution of…

For my project, I designed and 3D printed a guitar capo. A capo is a clamp made of plastic that uses a spring force to press onto the strings of a guitar and raise its tuning. I have been practicing guitar on and off for a few years, and I’ve wanted to get one for a while. This project was the perfect opportunity to build one myself, and make it unique for my instrument.  Figure 1 Figure 2 When I set about designing the capo…

I enjoy indulging in YouTube in my free time, where I came across several puzzle box videos. I took an interest mainly in Japanese puzzle boxes, because I enjoyed the overshadowed precision behind every box. As I delved deeper into the history of the puzzle box, I noticed that form the very first puzzle boxes that originated from japan in the early 1800’s; to protect tools for the everyday worker, to the appearances in England Victoria in the 19th century; mainly for entertainment purposes, that…

For my final project, I decided to create something that I would keep for a long time. Since I play and stream for the Call of Duty Esports team here at CU, I decided to make a neon sign of my username so that I could use it as decoration in my room.  On the CU Esports Call of Duty team my user is “Bugz” so that is what I wanted my sign to say. Source: https://twitter.com/BoulderEsports/status/1356704747080675328?s=20 An example of a neon sign that drew…

If you’ve been following along with my posts, you will know by now that I wanted to create bikepacking bags for my final project. If you are unfamiliar, bikepacking bags are bags that attach to your bike frame so that you can go camping and riding for days at a time, completely unsupported. That means that I needed to find a way to attach my tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, food and water, and extra clothes/supplies all to my bike. Ultimately, I found that making…

For my project, I built a ‘tensegrity’ base for a coffee table. A ‘tensegrity’ design is a tension-based structure that creates a sort of floating illusion. These designs operate on the principle of opposing tension to create stability. A lot of the designs that I have seen out there seem to be very wobbly and/or crudely but together. To a certain extent this wobble helps to sell the illusion of the floating top, and for the purposes of this project, this is what makes the…

Presentation: https://youtu.be/MZqY-Pv0UXo To recap, my project is inspired by a high school physics project. I wanted to apply the skills I’ve acquired as an engineering student to build a better mousetrap car than the one I made in high school and see how much longer my new mousetrap car can go. So to briefly explain the science behind this project. A set mousetrap is full of potential energy which, when released, is converted to kinetic energy. And with some clever designing, we can transfer this…

PART 1: WHAT Inspirations For this project I really wanted to create something that I would use long term as opposed to making something just for this class. I thought of creating a chess board since it is a hobby that I picked up at the start of quarantine to pass the time and yet I still don’t own my own board and pieces. A couple of my friends have made projects using LEDs in the past, so I thought incorporating LEDs into this project…

  WHAT? The inspirations for this project was two fold: the center console in my current car was butts, and my dad has already made new center consoles for the old Jeeps that he has made, plus I saw ammo crates in a store one time and they were pretty neat so I had to cop. I don’t know if I stole or adapted any designs seeing as how a center console is just a box inside a car, but I guess I can credit…

For my final project, I decided to design and construct an air intake system for my car that consists of an intake tube and air filter enclosure. I am aiming to develop a design that simplifies the engine bay while also conforming to the minimalist aesthetic. However, I want to add features that are reminiscent of the other components in the engine bay like the fuse box and the valve cover on the engine. With these constraints in mind, I will create a simple elegant…

Design and Aesthetic Inspiration The structures that I would like to incorporate design elements from are my parents house, a national forest trail map sign, and a kayak rack I found online. For the roofing I would like to keep steel roofing technique seen on the balcony of my parents house. I would like to paint the rack to incorporate the white and black contrast of the siding. For the structure of the rack I plan on doing a two post and a roof design…

The What: With remote work not going anywhere anytime soon, people are making the most of their home spaces to create a space that allows for work to be done while also creating a relaxing space. I want to create two office spaces in a spare room that will still be able to function as a home library/hangout space. Overall how we expect to use this room is as a workspace and somewhere where you can watch movies or read a book. This would be…

Part 1:  What I Made With this project, my intention was to apply the futuristic aesthetic that I have been exploring throughout the semester with my personal aesthetic. [  The Futuristic Aesthetic  ] The futuristic aesthetic is something that I made up in a sense and is very subjective as to what it actually means or looks like. I see it drawing from minimalism but also adding some elements just to make it look cool, such as incorporated lighting, heavy use of white/black, incorporation of…

I am a big fan of Marvel movies and wanted to make something that is from the movies. One of the more prominent characters in the recent films is the infamous villain, Thanos. He wears a gauntlet in which he can carry Infinity stones to which he can use to wipe out mass populations. This Gauntlet is shown throughout the final two films and is something I wanted to attempt making. Below is a visual representation of Thanos’ Gauntlet. My vision for this project was…

What: The chair mural is a functional piece of art. When folded flat, it can be laid against the wall as a decorative mural. When folded into its chair form, It can be used as a piece of furniture. To start I’ll describe my inspirations. I needed a folding chair that folded as flat as possible, so I did some research, and come up with the three designs above. They all function as chairs, but also fold completely flat. The design that I chose to…

Introduction In this final blog post, I’ll be discussing what my final project was, what I was inspired by, and how I created it. One of my biggest regrets regarding this project is that although I gathered all the materials needed, I was unable to build the final product. This was largely due to the fact that the extruder motor on my 3D printer broke when I was first attempting to prototype parts for my piston design. With that being said, I was able to…

The what: A paludarium is the combination between an aquarium and a terrestrial terrarium.  I have been in the aquarium hobby for over 12 years now and paludariums have always caught my eye.  Growing up I only ever owned aquariums that were created with false plants, plastic hides, and beginner fish.  Starting sophomore year of college I started to see the aquarium as more of an art piece rather than a simple home for the livestock.  This meant that I started experimenting with driftwood, natural…

Organic Desk Fountain (Sculpture) Final I want to make a Water Fountain that can sit on my desk. These systems are often battery or USB powered with a small pump to bring the water upward. I have seen these in offices acting as a calming visual and auditory element. An example of a Desktop Water Fountain is shown below:   Figure. 1 Desktop Water Fountain The flowing water in these fountains will act as the dynamic aspect of my project. Although I would still like…

Part 1: What Aesthetics/Inspirations: For my project, I decided on making a t-shirt quilt out of my sister’s Iowa State University t-shirts. This falls into two aesthetics that I have explored in the past. The first being the aesthetic I used for my Upcycle Project: Old School Athletics. The second is my personal aesthetic: comfy coze. Since the shirts are 4 to 8 years old and are worn, they’ve got that old school university feel. Plus the Iowa State school colors are red and yellow,…

For my final project I wanted to create a modern/futuristic style lamp that was portable and was able to articulate into any position that I may need. I am constantly finding myself needing more light when working on various projects and wanted to make something that would look “cool” on my desk. I think that this modern/futuristic aesthetic is also minimalistic and does not have a lot of shapes or curves in the design and this will give the lamp a sleek look that is both…

For my final project, I decided to create a topographical map of Copper Mountain. Copper Mountain is a ski resort that holds a lot of meaning for me, because it is a place where I have a lot of memories from my childhood, and also continue to go to for fun. Currently I have a few ideas of how to express the aesthetic that I am going for with this project. I chose to use laser cutting to create a three dimensional map of Copper.…

For my final project, I had been struggling to find a concept that I would really enjoy exploring as well as something that I could use or look at daily! I was struggling between two very different aesthetics that both in their own way, spoke to me. The first aesthetic I explored was the aesthetic of trees, more importantly, trees that refuse to give up as can be seen in the photo below. This tree is shown growing out of a rock! It is inspiring…

Introduction For my final project, I created a hidden blade like the ones featured in the videogame Assassin’s Creed. In this report, I will describe the design selection process, the planned manufacturing steps, and the testing protocols. The aesthetic of the hidden blade has varied in each Assassin’s Creed game, featuring the common styles of the era the game is based in. Some of the ornamentation consists of the hidden blade cover and the majority is shown in the bracers that hold the blade cover…

Presentation Video: https://vimeo.com/541321416 As another semester comes to a close, I am delighted to say that my final Aesthetics in Design project is complete! I had several functional goals going into this project. I wanted to create some sort of wall decoration that would help fill wall space in my dining room, which is the least decorated area of my home. I also wanted to leverage off of my Upcycle project and create something that would go well with the table I created earlier this semester;…

For my final project I created a rotating sculpture that highlights lighting and depth effects. The aesthetics that I was trying to highlight are matte black and a neon LED look. In order to achive my matte black look I am used a specialized paint that is supposed to be extremely dark. I was hoping that it would absorb a large amount of light and create an intriguing depth effect while the sculpture is rotating. The second main aesthetic I incorporated into my project was…

Constraints: 1. Be within $100: I would prefer for the design to take up less of a budget if possible because it would be more monetarily efficient and a very expensive design would be unnecessary. I will look for affordable equipment as well as materials, as very expensive paper or LEDs would result in a design that is not worth the amount of money put into it. Although it is true that you get what you pay for, there is a point where anything more…

Inspired by rockets and the space industry, the design and aesthetic I’m pursuing for this is focused on a rocket launching from a launch pad. Exhaust plumes will frame the focal point of the image, the rocket. To create the paper-cut light box, some materials are needed. Paper is obviously one of the main components of the design, and must be thick enough to be structurally sturdy but also thin enough for the light from the LED’s to shine through. I’ll need to get a…

As planned my end product for the final project which is a Lightboard is completely fabricated as of today. The design and fabrication were fun and a little bit challenging but I am happy with how the end product turned out. I utilized the Lulzbot printer for fabricating the LED strip holding fixture at the 4 corners of the board. I ordered other parts required to assemble the holding fixture from McMaster. With reference to my last post, I decided to go with an acrylic…

My design project was difficult for me to determine at first. I had trouble finding something I wanted to build that I would want to keep when the class was over. I decided to do something with cars as I really enjoy working on them and being creative with them. I choose to design and construct an airbox and intake system for my car, as it would both improve the aesthetics of my engine bay and improve the performance of the vehicle. It was also…

As a little kid I constantly found myself wanting to take apart objects or find a way to lock mechanisms that could be used for storage. For example, I had a special piggy bank for my allowance that had a key locking mechanism which must be inserted a certain way to unlock the piggy bank. These simplistic objects and toys were my childhood and have always served a purpose in my life. Lately, I have been wanting to build my own locking mechanism and utilize…

Inspired by rocket launches, I am looking to create a design that shows a space aesthetic using a paper-cut light box. It will have shapes that are both organic and geometric. In terms of style, the rocket and tower will be simplified but will still reflect the shapes and designs that are seen in actual rocket launch pads. The rocket will be most reminiscent of the ULA Delta IV rocket or event the SpaceX Falcon Heavy with one central engine and two to the side.…

THE WHAT:  My father has been asking for a digital picture frame for christmas or his birthday for years now. For some reason each year we neglect his request and get him something else. Why? I have no idea. But delay no more, for my final project in Aesthetics of Design I produced him a beautiful digital picture frame. There are many designs out there on the internet for creation of a digital picture frame, and in parsing through them I couldn’t find one that…

Timothy Donald Cook aka Tim Cook is a creative genius whom I follow and admire. He may not be a conventional designer of products but as a visionary in technology and an operation and manufacturing problem solver, a “Designer” tag on him can be justified. As per the biography of Tim cook: The genius who took  Apple to the next level by Leander Kanhey, Tim has used his industrial Engineering and MBA knowledge to design operation and assembly line strategies that have taken Apple to…

My goals for this project are to create a neon sign with my Gamertag to put up as a decoration. I would like to be able to control the lighting with an Arduino to manipulate which neon light is turned on. The aesthetic I aim for is glow wave as my sign will have a dark background and pink and light blue neon lighting. However, the biggest challenge I face is with the Arduino.   I have looked at many tutorials online on how to…

Zaha Hadid was a British Iraqi designer. She was best known for her work in architecture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She was born in Baghdad and originally studied math in college and then later enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Some of here major design influences were Suprematism and the Russian avant-garde. Hadid was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize and was the first woman to be individually awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal…

Space has been called the final frontier. For my final project, I am looking for inspiration from one of the places where I have found much of it in the past. Space travel. When I was in my last year of high school, I went on a trip with my physics class to Cape Canaveral. Space had interested me before, at least in terms of fiction like Star Wars and Star Trek, but I hadn’t truly considered it as something I would involve myself in…

For my project, I am making/remaking a clock while customizing it to graphic art I am interested in. In my process of building it I have come up with a set of goals and constraints which I am likely to come across. Specifications: Functionality as a Clock: I need to make sure my final product actually works as a clock mechanically as well as in terms of design and readability. I need to make sure that the hands and numbers and anything else someone might…

  After fleshing out my design and the beginning of the fabrication/building, I am starting to hone in on what I think I can realistically achieve by the end of this project and some possible constraints that have popped up along the way. 5 Specifications Museum Aesthetic – Luckily to achieve this I can take the easy route of copying what has been done thousands of times before me. I’ve looked in different museum displays and found some common themes between them. They often use…

I don’t think I could nail down my personal aesthetic in a few words even if I tried. In fact, I know I couldn’t, otherwise I would have by now. Over the years, I believe my aesthetic has taken aspects from different hobbies and interests I have, including video games, anime, cars, Japanese designs, rock/metal music, and more. I think each of these different aesthetics show up in my personal aesthetic in different ways. For example, my desk is large and has 3 monitors on…

Initial Ideas & Inspiration Stained glass spinning sun catcher. Since the only requirement in this project is to have some sort of dynamic component and the cost should be a maximum of $150.00, my intention was to create home décor or a functional item. Originally, I was inspired by sun catchers/stained glass like the sun catcher I found on BrightSparkeDesigns Etsy shop, but I had to consider making that dynamic. One idea was to make a mobile and attempt to make balanced forces. Another idea…

For my T-Shirt Quilt Final Project, I have several specifications and constraints for the final product. I have chosen my top five constrains and specifications below: Top 5 Specifications (no specific order): Comfortable/Meet Comfy Coze Aesthetic A blanket should be comfortable. It should be soft with a good amount of weight that anyone who finds themselves under it would find immediate comfort and relaxation. My comfy coze aesthetic, as described in my personal aesthetic post, includes articles such as blankets to help provide this aesthetic.…

For my final project, I’m planning on making a small-scale wind turbine with a base. I will incorporate a minimalist aesthetic similar to any other wind turbine. I believe a minimalist aesthetic will have a clean/refined finish. This will be accomplished by using one primary color(white) to coat the entire structure. The blades for the turbine will probably be purchased if I am able to find any blades online that fit an induction motor really well. If this cannot be accomplished, my next plan of…

Top 5 Specifications: 1. Table adjusts from ~19” to 29” One of the more unique aspects of this piece is that it is adjustable in order for the table to function as both a coffee table and a game/dining table. Therefore, I think that one of the most important specifications is the adjustability. This function also covers the dynamic component of my design, so it is also important that I prioritize this specification.  2. Resin tabletop aesthetic Another one of the most important components of…

As I move forward towards procurement of parts for my Light Board project, I see constraints and specifications that are worth highlighting. I have designed and ordered every part and sub-assembly that will be later assembled to the final product. The holding fixture has been designed and will be assembled when all parts are received from ITLL and McMaster. Top 5 specifications: The Holding Fixture should be strong enough to withstand constant load of 10 lbf due to the two springs attached to it. The…

For this blog post, I will be outlining some of my top project constraints and specifications. Due to the open-endedness of this project, much of these constraints and specifications are open to change as I see fit. Below is an image of the front view of the design for reference if you haven’t read my previous posts. The parts for the associated labels above are as follows: Spark plug switch Light bulb Piston Overall lamp base Cam attached to the motor The connecting point between…

Similar to a lot of other students in this class, I haven’t ever really thought about what my personal aesthetic is, but as I look around my room, my predominant aesthetic changes based on the season. For example, for winter clothes, I have mainly hoodies/jackets and sweatpants, and for the summer, the main aesthetic seems to be short-sleeved shirts and basketball shorts. I think my aesthetic revolves around what things I like to do in each season. The hoodies/jackets and sweats have always been necessary…

For those of you who don’t know, I am currently building this swivel bar stool that will be attached to my bar. Specifications: Strong – ability to hold 200lb human beings this means the welds have to be sufficient enough. Ability to swivel without squeaking, thinking bushings. Fit underneath the bar so we can use the pool table, thinking total hight will be around 20 inches. No sharp edges – take a grinding wheel and clean everything up Durable pain coating so it wont rub…

Rendering of final design At this point I have finalized my design and all of the dimensions, and now I am starting the process of cutting out my metal pieces. It is important at this stage to make sure I have some key constraints and specifications outlined so that I end up with a functional and aesthetically pleasing product. These are my top 10 constraints and specifications for this project :   Top 5 Specifications : Overall dimensions (for just the base without the top)…

My ideas for this project have mostly focused on making something to use for a very specific activity. Up until I had to stop and think about it, that was really the only constraint. That constraint, however, can be broken down into smaller bits. In order to be appropriate for bikepacking, the bags need several features that are outlined below.  Constraints: Waterproof – In order to be appropriate for holding all of my clothes and camp setup, the bags/containers need to be waterproof. They will…

The main goal of my project is to make a mousetrap car that can run over a long distance (hopefully about 200 feet), so most of the the specs below are set based on this goal. Specifications: Functionality: the car must be able to achieve a distance of at least 100 feet. Friction: in order to achieve my long distance goal, the friction between the wheels and the ground, and between the axles and the body must be minimized (powdered graphite lubricant can be helpful here).…

Just gonna dive right into it I guess CONSTRAINTS 1. Cost – I am worried that this project is going to end up costing me a lot more than I had originally intended. I’m trying to stick to a budget of $150 and I have already spent about $80 just on the wood materials. I still need to pay to have the wood cut as well as buy all the electronic components that I’m going to be using. 2. Size – Since I wanted to be…

Top 5 Specifications The device shall conceal a 7” blade within a container. The blade will need to be long enough to protrude outside of the container while also having enough blade inside the container to retain the blade in position. The blade tip shall move at least 3.5” from the edge of the container when the system is engaged. This amount of protrusion from the container will make the device comparable to those in the Assassins Creed videogames The mechanism shall withstand a point…

For my project, I have several specifications and constraints that I want to emphasize for the final product. In this page, I have chosen my top five constrains and specifications (in no specific order) to talk about. For my specifications, I want: 1. Gentle Lighting This was an important part of my project. I wanted to create something that was associated with emotions like comfort, safety, and calm. Something similar to a nightlight, rather than a club or concert. I want this piece to be…

Top 5 Specs: Must hold water: The tank must hold water in order to be successful.  This is fairly obvious but surprisingly difficult to accomplish. Durability: The tank has to be able to hold up long-term.  I plan on having this tank setup for many years and therefore the glass and all other aspects of the tank need to be durable enough to work over long periods of time. Have to make everything look natural: In order to pull off a successful tank, all of…

For my airbox project, I had a lot of specifications and constraints to work around. After the vehicle was in an accident, I didn’t really have a functional air enclosure at all, it was just a filter. Because of this, my primary specification was to separate the hot air around the engine from the cool air that should be entering it. Without this, the airbox design would not be effective at all. It should also be capable of flowing the same amount or more air…

As I have progressed through the process of building my digital picture frame, I have been guided by the following 5  specifications and have been challenged as well by the following five constraints. Specifications: Repairability: The picture frame must be easily repairable should any component break. By virtue of using a platform such as the raspberry pi, this specification has very much been met. I am also using non permanent adhesives like velcro to secure some components together such that they can be changed out.…

  Specifications:  The board needs to be functional / rideable. A huge part of the whole design is for it to be a real (rideable) longboard, not just something that you hang on the wall.  It needs to be durable enough to not crack when riding it. This may seem obvious and go hand-in-hand with the previous specification, but I don’t want to only ride it once and then have it break. It needs to be durable enough that I can trust it to not break in…

ALRIGHT, it is Wednesday (my dudes), and you know what that means, time for another obligatory post. This post is gonna behave like a Goosebumps choose your scare book, so if you want to just read the Constraints and Specifications succinctly summarized read the next paragraph, if you want all the details of these Specs and Constraints read the second paragraph, if you want to read none of the Constraints or Specs read the third paragraph to learn a little about amazon river dolphins (they’re…

The Mural chair (adapted from the Robert Van Embriqs chair) has some key features that need to be applied in order for it to properly function. I also have my own constraints witch will make it more difficult to produce these specifications. See below for my top five specifications and top five constraints with the mural chair project:   Specifications: Comfortable form for one person to sit: This has been taken care of with my design already. Hopefully the physical piece will be comfortable. If not…

The current specifications have been both been set by dad and the aesthetics of the project. Specifications: The goal is to match the general construction aesthetics of Georgian homes. The patio of my parents house has matte black steel roofing mounted at a low angle. I plan on using the same roofing as the house, and match the angle of the patio. My parents are unsure if they will stay in there current home for an extended period of time so the plan is to…

During the construction of this project I have found constraints as well as specifications that are hard to overcome and keep. I did not realize a lot of these constraints in the design of the CAD but only once I started building. The top 5 constraints are as follows: Tolerances: The tolerances of all my pieces are very important as they are what allow the pieces of the lamp to stop moving once in the desired position. The joints have been the most difficult in toleranceing…