Number of words used. Blog 2.

Number of words used.

Lines of Enquiry: Toil and Enjoy

Lines of Enquiry: Toil and Enjoy

It was very interesting working in a team because everybody is good at different making processes and having different ideas. Working together allows developing team work skills and this has shown me that by working together creates faster solutions than just working on your own. The theme that the team have come up with is Toil and Joy. The Toil is the hard working miner’s digging underground for coal and Enjoy represents the houses and people within the industry.      

I have learned through this process how to carry out basic electric wiring in order for the bulb to function. I have also learned how to earth a pick axe and this was achieved by net working with other people in different places, for example asking people in shops such as Wilko and B&Q. I have learned how to problem solve and discuss in a team in order to get the best possible out-come. The start of the process I came up with a range of ideas but an un-expected development happened when I visited a vintage shop in Leeds. I found an old rusty pick axe without the handle and bought it for £6. This instigated new ideas and I concluded the axe could be used to make a light stand. I cleaned the rust off the pick axe and covered it with Clear Super Gloss Sealer to stop it from rusting further. I researched the use of the pick axe and then came up with the idea of a light because the miners needed light in order to dig for coal and the pick axe is the tool used by the miners and the coal is used to generate light and the two items seemed to complete the circle of what the miners needed to assist their work and what they ultimately produced.

 

I have used a series of drawings of the same pick axe object but with different shapes that represent the mining history. The drawing process assists creativity taking one idea and evolving it into different options which helps develops new ideas which can when be subtracted or added to the design.     

The additional research I had to do was finding an interesting and detailed light bulb which would complement the axe. This primary research resulted in a visit to a shop called RE in Corbridge, Newcastle. The shop sells Transformable/Reclaimed products and this is where I found the industrial light bulb and Lead. During my stay in Newcastle I visited an Art Gallery called The Biscuit Factory and by chance there was an exhibition by an artist called Alistair Brookes who specialised in sculptures of miners which helped me understand that the Pick Axe was one of the main tools used and the conditions down the mine.

   

In order to complete this functional product I will need to make a base that is going to be made out of wood as the handle of the pick axe would originally have been wood. If I use plaster to support the light fitting and paint it with Black Acrylic to change the white toned plaster to black/grey then it can represent coal in the mines. The next step would be ensure the light bulb is connected and works correctly before securing it in the plaster, which will also attach the base to the pick axe. An important consideration is the pick axe needs to sit central on the base to give aesthetically a good effect. The base is also used to pick up and transport the light stand.

 

This product will be completed within two days and will be fully functional.

 



Tour Of Manchester’s History And Future. TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS 511.

Tour Of Manchester’s History And Future.

During the initial stage of the project I began sketching the interior of Manchester School of Art. The depth, line and tone of the perspective drawing created a sense of a realistic mood. I developed this by a two point perspective drawing which is where I had two vanishing points on the horizontal eye line. Drawing the two point perspective drawing represents the corner of the building of the room which showed 3 dimensional structure and space.

 

As a group we then sketched parts of the city with the theme of old and modern building joined together which was very interesting because it showed the modern building was protecting the old building by the attachment of each other. It is very easy to know which part of the building is the modern one and which one is the old by looking at the materials which have been used and normally an old building would have a dated period of brick.

 The cotton industry in the area of Ancoats, Manchester showed the beginning of a bright future for old mills, which were being developed into flats and office spaces instead of being demolished. The old brick walls were magnificent and the structures of the arches of brick work showed so much detail and history.  

 

Discovering Bradford Pit was something new as I had no knowledge of it existing in Manchester.  Walking around the Manchester City Stadium showed a new modernised building which will remain for decades to come and beneath it is the history of the Manchester, which many people will not know about. Inside the stadium where the Chairman sits the ceiling had the old mapping to show respect.

The Science Museum displaying Coal, Fossils and Minerals was interesting to me, as I have a lot of knowledge of Geology. The Minerals and Fossils are exciting and unique as every signal one is different.  The structure of each fossil takes millions of years to be formed. Coal is formed by vegetation decaying in layers of soil which form over time becoming fossilized and turning into coal.

 

 

When we visited the MOSI collection of historical industrial objects I observed tins which the miners carried their food in, the old gas lamps and the dynamite used to clear tunnels, which was fantastic, creating a vivid picture of how hard life must have been many years ago.

 

 

The ideas which I have gathered to date during the last 3 weeks is that this project theme could be about memories and the history of what was once lost and is now found and preserved. The idea could be showed by a lithograph print and turning the print into a 3 dimensional product or sculpture which expresses the past. The second idea is taking a tool from the mine and transforming that object into a new functional working product but it would still carry its original identity, for example a hammer becomes a light. Third idea was is to craft pieces of coal into miners.  

TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS 511.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Word Count For Food For Thought Project.

 

Food For Thought Project.

 

Food For Thought Project.

(Glass Holder & Cheese Board Serving Board Theme)

This project was an interesting process as I began with a wide range of ideas of Tableware meanings.  The first thing I researched was the meaning of table, time period of tableware, different cultures serving settings, why we use tableware and compiled a list of products to do with tableware before narrowing it down to one or two products. I responded to the project by researching target audience, type of product functions. I then produced a mind map of first thoughts and ideas, themes, functions and shapes.

 

After one of the morning lectures I discovered a product designer called Normal Copenhagen which I found extremely inspiring. The glasses he designed showed innovation as the balance, function and shape were magnificent and the way the liquid was held in the glass helped me to explode ideas of shapes of glasses onto the paper. I looked for Secondary Research via Instagram and found some amazing ridged heavy organic products from Jeff Mack Designs which showed the simplicity of the design and the Hard Woods defined all the detail with the grain rather than designing the detail for the product. For my Primary Research I went to Red Brick Mills which is in Batley and found a number of tableware products, for example the most functional useable product was the Wine Bottle Holder as it showed space saver as the structure of the shape was fantastic and showed the function instantly. It was produced from a metal material spray painted red and it could hold x9 wine bottles.


 

 http://www.normann-copenhagen.com/

Wine Bottle Holders From Scrap Wood from Other Products. 

 

 

 

 

I researched the audience 1% rich and this created an idea of a serving board product and I found on Instagram some serving board designs by Contemporary Eco Wood, for example the Wine Glass Serving Board, Cheese Serving Boards in different hardwoods showing different ways of serving. This research re-expanded my ideas into a broad way of thinking. I then had an induction on the Router Tool in the Wood Work Shop and this created a whole new set of drawings and ideas around the serving boards including glasses and different functions, for example cheese is eaten with wine. I had taken one of my ideas from the drawing page which was the Coiled Cheese Board added different dimensions including making a model out of cardboard. I then drew perspectives drawings and wrote notes before entering the Wood Work Shop and making the product out of Hard Wood such as Re-Claimed Pitch Pine Wood as it is helping the environment as I am re-using material. The feedback during the tutorials was not all positive as one person said the Champagne Glass Holder for serving at events “won’t the glasses just slide out and fall?” The solution to this was to drill a 30mm hole for the glasses to sit in with a 10mm grove for the glass to slide out. After testing it was proved the glass would not fall out as the movement action requires lifting and sliding. A second person said “why is the wood going to be so thick?” It made me realise the product needs to be light and easy to carry so I changed the thickness to 12mm rather than keeping it at 35-40mm.

I had chosen the Wood Work Shop as the ideas and drawings were more suited to a traditional material rather than any other materials such as man-made glass or plastic and at the start of the project I researched what type of materials tableware is normally made out.  The second choice was metal because I thought metal and wood would complement each other in a design as it would show different textures and tones. A problem was that the induction did not have anything to do with tableware as it was about making jewellery and wasn’t showing any type of techniques or processes to help in making tableware.
 

During the project I had to carry out a more extensive research on finishing for wood as some oils, waxes and vanishes where poisonous towards food and my product was a Glass Holder and Cheese Serving Board theme. I came to the conclusion of Beewax was best for my product as it is food safe unlike Teak Oil. As the project processed my developments between each prototype became a small change and all the designs started to link and flow together as each product showed a development of different ways of serving glasses, for example the un-sharp rectangular serving boards that sit on the table.


 

 

During the project I looked at the glasses dimensions and sketched designs which then brought me to the stand-up serving board for events. I drew all different perspective angles of glass serving boards followed by multi-functional cheese boards and glass holders for my final 3 dimensional functional product. The developments were carried throughout the project as different types of wood were used such as Walnut and Re-Claimed Pitch Pine Wood and finally showing natural rough and finished wood together. Thick and thin wood was layered together to show stability and structure and together creating depth and giving a different perspective. I looked at all different types of glasses like champagne, cocktail and wine Glasses. Maquettes helped me to understand the sizes of the product I was going to make and also the design was expanded and new ideas were added as I then made other models out of different materials, for example MDF and Plywood which showed a small change between each other, for example the Wine Glass Cheese Board design gave a masculine effect until adding the curves into the design making it a much more feminine smooth design idea.

 

I am very happy with the project I had chosen as it was within my interest, skills and I enjoy working with wood. I believe I achieved everything in this project as my sketch book flows and had a theme of Glasses and Cheese Serving Boards.

One of my key successes was the Event Champagne Glass Holder as it functions to perfection and is a simple design which could be mass produced in the future. I could have looked at more Primary Research by visiting shops which sell serving boards and feel I could have organised my time better during the whole length of the project. I have advanced my knowledge on finishes for woods. I have learned that sketching ideas on a piece of paper is very important as it allows to explain what you are thinking and shows how you have developed your ideas from an initial thought into a potential final functional product. The most important lesson I have learned is to not jump head first into an idea and just make it, think design, problem solve and develop!   

 

 

 

 

                                              By Samuel Ellis

 

 

 

Food For Thought (Cafes)

Food For Thought (Cafes).

It was an exciting process working in a group as different ideas where put forward on the mind map as we all have different experiences of cafes. The group worked very well together and we were all focused on the task. The communication between each other was fantastic as everybody had a point to share and nobody was left behind. The group team work made it a successful presentation as the power point flowed. 

We started with a very broad idea of cafés and narrowed it back down to the two most important/interesting ones, which were History & Origins of Cafes and What Happens in Cafes? The lecture on curious was showing that primary research was very important so we went out as a team to cafes around Manchester to discover the experience and also created sketches of the furniture and looked at what people bought or talked about.  

I have learned that you cannot just find one piece of information from one source while doing the secondary research. I needed to look at news paper articles and many different sources on google to find the correct pieces of information.  

The groups most exciting/interesting discovery was to find cafes are promoting at different target markets for example Starbucks are trying to aim for a younger audience than Café Nero as Starbucks are introducing kids to coffee and café Nero is aimed at an much older and mature audience.

I thought Breakfast was interesting as there is no short cut like the breakfast biscuit which contains 20% of sugar and is 16% digest biscuit. If we skip breakfast we are more likely to eat sugary items in the afternoon, for example 40% more chocolate and 40% less vegetables. During the 1940s toast, cereal, hot apple and Milk were the favourites, as today’s solution is to make time for breakfast rather than skipping it all together.   

It seems like it is going to be a new and interesting process throughout the course and this will help me to develop my skills in the workshop. The idea of start small like the food for thought seems to mean something that you can hold in your hand. I would first like to start by making a mind map of all my ideas on the brief design and make a piece of functional table ware. Looking at Primary and secondary research to develop my ideas.