3D Rotation 08/09/14 - 12/09/14

To begin the 3D project we were set with drawing exercises, these ranged from turning your favourite fruit into a rabbit hutch to your house number into a bus stop. Although I found the tasks quite unusual at the beginning as I continued through them I began to understand the purpose of it. It presented how 3D design can be inspired by anything and that my future ideas should be unique and original. I feel this fun task has inspired me not to be to accurate and precise with the start of my ideas because they are only starting

points and will be developed. The next task consisted of designing a structure which would support a large bottle of water. The materials were restricted to one piece of A3 paper and an arms length of masking tape. I began by folding the paper, my aim was to create a strong base, unfortunately this was not successful and created a rip through the middle of my structure. I feel I would improve my technique by planning and drawing my ideas to identify the positive and negative aspects instead of diving straight in. From this I began to

improvise with the methods I used, these included rolling tubes and screwing the paper up to create a stronger structure. Although I did not aim to do this I really enjoy the visual of the screwed up paper because it creates texture and makes my design aesthetically pleasing. Overall I found this task quite difficult because of the minimal planning skills I used, I feel this will improve my skills in the future because I realise that the planning stage is important to the success of my outcome. Even though my outcome did not meet the height target it did not collapse when placing the bottle on it.

Therefore I feel the outcome did not meet my expectation but has taught me to consider my design.
I then went onto creating a structure which would hold my body weight from cardboard and masking tape, this time I planned my design before beginning. I feel planning my design helped me understand the visual of my outcome and gave me an image to aim for. I chose to layer a triangle form on top of each other - my aim was to have four of these triangle stacks which I would place under my feet and tape to my shoes. Unfortunately my management of time was unsuccessful and I did not complete what I intended. To improve my unfinished design I tried to compromise by wrapping the two stack in card board to strengthen then. However, the scale of my forms made it difficult to balance on and once I did get on them they collapsed. I feel I could improve my design by considering the time frame I have to complete it in and instead of being over ambitious realise what I can achieve with a simple but effective design. On the other hand I feel the visual aspect of my design was interesting because the layered shapes created texture.  
Following the structure task I went onto designing paper bridges; this enabled me to create delicate designs which would be difficult in the following task of using card board. My first design idea was based around the visual aspects instead of the practical. I began with a
 simple structure made from a thin, curved form; I then went onto layering this with another curved form. However, this second curve focused on diverging lines which contributed the the texture of the bridge. When placing this under a light interesting and unique shadows were created; I feel this would be successful as a real, large scale structure because the sunlight would increase the intensity of the shadows. I feel I could improve this experiment by considering the access points to the bridge because when using small scale models I realised as a practical design the bridge would be easily accessible.
My next paper bridge structure consisted of creating a ‘fringe’ affect on either side, this contributed to the visual pleasure of the bridge by adding dimension and texture. It also contributed to the practical aspect of the bridge by adding a safe barrier between the users of the bridge and the height of it. Again, the shadows created from this design were intricate and created a visually pleasing outcome. I would improve this design by ensuring the curve of the base was accurate because whilst observing my outcome I noticed it appeared slightly wonky and inconsistent. To do this I would measure the width of the paper I used and cut it precisely. From this task I learnt how simple materials and techniques can be a successful way to start a design and to understand your ideas through a quick observation. It also allows me to understand the positive and negative aspects of the design which I can improve through development.

Continuing with the design of bridges the aim of the next task was to create a bridge from one table to another. However, the design would need to support a remote control car and the height should be able to fit another table underneath. The materials we were allowed to use involved 10 sheets of cardboard, 30 bamboo sticks, brown tape and elastic bands. Before diving straight into the making process my group discussed ideas and draw the one we felt was best suited to the task. The idea involved bamboo sticks under two layers of cardboard with supports at each end baring in mind we could only touch two points on the floor. I feel this design was simple yet effective. However, as each person in the group was directed to a specific job I feel our communication could have been improved because when it came to assembling each piece it became apparent that our original design did not look at all like the one we were creating. Although at this point we still had an image of our predicted outcome we soon turned to improvisation. Even though I do not feel like this was

the most efficient method of working, at the time we were more focussed on completing the task within the given time rather than the design itself. This meant we ended up with a practical outcome but not a visually pleasing one. Looking back at this task I would improve a range of aspects including the planning because I do not feel everyone got to explain and express their ideas, again this involves the communication in the group. I would also improve my contribution to the group because I feel I held back and did not get involved as much as I could of; to do this I will express my ideas and ensure everyone understands them.
To complete my 3D rotation the final aim was to create a structure which would support three plastic balls. The materials available included pasta and a glue gun. Before beginning this task I made a series of drawings to understand my ideas visually. I feel my planning skills are improving and I aim to continue using them in future tasks and designs.  When creating my structure a range of problems occurred, these included the pasta being very delicate and continually breaking. The glue taking a long period of time to dry which meant the pasta did not stay in position - To overcome these problems I focussed on being gentle when handling the pasta, I also held the pasta in position as the glue was drying which helped it stay in place. For the base of my structure I layered the pasta to form a stronger material, this helped my outcome balance and support the weight of the balls. I then continued to build it up until I felt the visual aspect was unique and interesting. I feel my outcome was successful because it met the aim of supporting the balls, it also worked well when using models around it as an architectural building because the scale looked accurate in comparison to the model trees. I feel the form of the structure would make an interesting building and would like to develop this design into a green house. Overall I have really enjoyed learning about 3D design because I have learnt and developed skills including the importance of communicating and planning. I have also realised creating a 3Dimensional structure is harder than I considered because of the strength, balance and scale of the materials used.