Exploring the Possibilities: Wildly Different Aesthetics for a Magical Heartbeat Tree

Although my original intention was to make a tree that was influenced by a wonderful fantasy world, I also came up with two alternate styles that I think would be as alluring. Steampunk AestheticFuturistic AestheticSteampunk AestheticA design with steampunk influences is the first aesthetic I investigated. I imagined the tree’s branches, wires, and pipes to…

Aesthetic Explorations 2019: Dieselpunk

The steampunk aesthetic is to steam as the dieselpunk aesthetic is to diesel. It is important to understand both aesthetics as they are considered to be close cousins. The steampunk aesthetic deals with industrial steam power found in the Victorian era mixed with attributes of Tesla and sustainable energy. Dieselpunk draws from the interwar period…

Upcycle Final Report: Steampunk Jellyfish

Inspired by the giant, steampunk octopus of Burning Man, “El Pulpo Mechanico”, and a favorite video game character of mine, Fallout 4‘s “Codsworth”, I decided to use steampunk as the aesthetic of my Upcycle project and build a much smaller-scale jellyfish. My initial plans for materials included (but were not limited to) light bulbs, guitar strings, scrap…

Design Loop: Cardboard laptop case

Idea change! My last post was about the creation of a cardboard lamp. Since then, I saw that a few other students had started their projects in the same topic, and I’m not that interested in it anymore, so I’ve decided to go in a new direction. This new idea was actually the first one…

Design Loop: Steampunk Jellyfish

I find that I like to plan things out in a very succinct, organized way, which I can probably attribute to the engineering background provided to me over the last few years. However, I also find that I become very nit-picky when something doesn’t go the way I imagine it to, which results in multiple, somewhat…