Category Archives: Foundation 3D 1 – G2 (2017)

Project 4: MA’s Obscure City of Voids – Group B

Our group’s individual mood box posts may be viewed accordingly:

Dion’s | Fizah’s | Teri’s

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Sound files A and B: The initial sound compositions for our group’s mood boxes
G02_B_GolgonBGM: Soundtrack for our group’s city of voids

 

Please click HERE to view the full PDF of our group’s City of Voids.
We tried to upload the page images here but OSS crashes every time the post is opened cry

Project 4: MA’s Obscure City of Voids (Individual Mood Box)

Below is my individual mood box for Group B’s sound composition.

We had come up with two sound compositions:

My mood box has been based on sound file A.

The full PDF of the model’s analysis may be viewed here (highly recommended!!!).


It was later decided as a group that the banana shaker would be the dominant instead, as it is the only sound that lasts throughout the entire sound file.

Project 2 Ikebana: FINAL (Winter)

In this post you will find:

  • Ikebana Research
  • Taste/Food Research
  • 3D Sketch Models/ 2D Sketch Analysis
  • Season Mind Map
  • Final Model

IKEBANA RESEARCH

As my 3D sketch models were made before I knew about Ikebana, I hope to be able to find inspiration from arrangements that could possibly work well with my model. In this research, I would like to observe the dynamics of the different arrangements, noting what I like about them and may possibly explore myself.

Here, I like the use of voids to indicate the presence of a sphere, or even a cylinder for that matter. It seems as though there is one object (cone in the first, branch in the second) that has a strong, positive volume with obvious direction, in contrast with the negative void that interrupts the sense of direction as it is circular.

 

Here, I like the minimalism of the arrangement. The cone and leaves are neat and simple positive volumes, in contrast with the huge branch, with many branches creating voids, shooting out towards the right. The lack of excessive leaves/flowers makes the arrangement look very calm and peaceful, something I would like to achieve in my final model (as you would see in the mind map later on).

I like how the cone has a strong, obvious direction of pointing upwards, while the leaves give a slight hint of what’s to come – the ginormous branch that is going to go RIGHT just like the leaves. As the cone is on the ‘ground’, it seems fine that the branch comes from above. However, should the cone be high up in another arrangement while pointing upwards, the branch could instead start from below.

For this, I really like the contrast between the small little volume of white flowers in contrast to the huge branch going up towards the left. This also feels minimalistic like the previous one, and overall I really prefer the minimalistic feel as compared to arrangements with a lot going on.

Similarly, I like the use of very contrasting colours, all while keeping things simple. There is also a very contrasting split of direction, where the bigger, more dramatic, go to the left, while the eye-catching flowers go to the right. This I’m not sure if I’m a fan of, although it is something I will consider for my model.

Overall, I realise that what I seem to appreciate more are arrangements with obvious direction, minimalistic objects and colours with maybe just one outstanding one. I came across many more Ikebanas that gave me some ideas, but if I were to put them all here this post would go on forever…

 

TASTE/ FOOD RESEARCH

Molecular Gastronomy!

If you like kids, I highly suggest you watch this video of kids trying molecular gastronomy. I literally watched it just a few days before it was mentioned in class!

Here, I can note that instead of using one full positive volume, I can make volumes up with other things, like the sphere that has a void inside, as well as the cone that seems to be a pile of… something (I’m not so sure).

Wedging can also be used, as long as the shape of the object remains obvious. Also, while the direction is only going straight upwards in this example, I would like to explore how my volumes can give very obvious directions while stacked up on one another.

Imagining that this is food mixed with Ikebana, replacing the pipette with a branch can be a way of arranging my final model, similar to the Ikebana with the small volume of white flowers and the huge branch. Alternatively, the pipette can also kind of be a cylinder… hmmm. The half-filledness of it with a different colour could create an interesting aesthetic to the model.

Seasonal food can be found in my mind map below when I mention the season that I got

 

3D SKETCH MODELS/ 2D SKETCH ANALYSIS

Model 1

D – Cone
SD – Cylinder
SO – Sphere

Model 2

D – Sphere
SD – Cylinder
SO – Cone

(P.S. Do imagine that the cone is smaller than it is. I broke 5 small cones while making this and had to do with a slightly bigger one…)

 

SEASON MIND MAP

So, my lucky season is… WINTER!

After researching on Japanese winter food, I decided to go with the theme of… NABE!!!!!

What else is better than drinking hot soup in the cold, gloomy weather???? Nothing!!!
Except, maybe purposefully eating an ice cream cone just to make things exciting.

You see, even Olaf enjoys the heat of the nabe.

 

FINAL MODEL

Finally… We have come to this point… My FINAL MODEL!!!

I decided to use all-white nabe ingredients, to go with the theme of a white Christmas, as well as to keep things minimalThe food items that I chose are: a white radish, enoki mushrooms (that turned yellow overnight), a fishball, and a carrot.

 

White Radish:
Due to the composition of my model, the white radish would have been way too heavy to balance on the enoki mushrooms and the fishball. As an alternative, I skinned the white radish, cut and pasted it around a white foam cone in a way that the radish can also represent a white Christmas tree. However, due to the radish being more wet than I expected it to be (it’s more wet than a carrot?!), the details of how I cut the skin turned out to be not-so-obvious, more so after leaving it for a night where they all stuck together.

How it’s supposed to be:

 

Enoki mushrooms/ Fishball:

Instead of just using a cylinder, I decided to use a bunch of enoki mushrooms to make up the shape of a cylinder, as inspired by research. However, to help lengthen the life of my model before collapsing or rotting, I wrapped enoki mushrooms around a foam cylinder and tied it with twine hence representing a hay bale, along with its yellow-ish colour. I also used a white foam ball to represent a fishball. (P.S. I did not know mushrooms were that wet. Just like radishes. frown)

 

“Something else”:
Inspired by Olaf enjoying his nabe sauna, I decided to put a little carrot cone, as a second subordinate, on my dominant cone to represent a snowman. As the carrot is orange, there is a stark contrast of colour amongst all the whites, hence giving the model a ‘kick’.

It is tilted downwards to show how it’s slowly melting away in the heat of the nabe, despite the snow. While the direction of the cone could distract viewers from the entire direction of the model, I feel that the dominance of the huge cone (radish) definitely still overpowers the small carrot, hence the direction of the whole model is still obvious.

 

Base:
Originally, I wanted to use a wooden plank/sushi board to match the Japanese theme. I then wanted to use a black/metal bowl to match the nabe theme. Finally, I decided to use a big piece of bark from a tree’s trunk that was spray painted white (it was already white, then I made it more white), to match the overall white-Christmas-nature look with the use of a branch, a ‘haybale’, a Christmas tree, a snowman, and snow.

 

Branch:

Originally, I wanted the branch to be black-brown, since trees in Winter tend to have very dark branches. However, I decided to spray paint it white to give the effect of it being covered by snow.

The branch was a result of many failed attempts of what I really wanted to do, as well as breaking my branch 500 times in the process while trying to curve it. These are some of the ideas I tried to achieve:

Inspired from research, since my model has an obvious direction of going upwards, I wanted a long branch to come from below instead, shooting out into the opposite direction.

When I failed to achieve the first idea, I then experimented with the idea of creating a circular negative void with the branch, also inspired by research. The circular void then suggests an implied dominant cylinder. I then wanted to create a swirl around the tip of the cone so as to give dimension to the whole thing. Trying to swirl the branch was where my branch broke about 9487219312 times…. leaving me with no choice but to arrange my model as it is in my final showcase. However, I moved the structure to lean against the branch instead for more support.

As for the final layout, I could have instead shifted the entire model towards one side of the base. By doing so, the carrot and the branch will cohesively give a distinct sense of direction as seen below.

Finally, I ‘sprinkled’ baby powder (couldn’t get icing sugar from hall/school) over my entire model to represent snow, for a white Christmas! I quite like how the ‘snow’ gave more dimension to the model and made it more interesting that it was on its own. The ‘snow’ also helped to cover up the yellowness of the enoki mushrooms, as well as the pungent smell that the model was starting to give off after a night…

 

Project 1 Pandora: Final “Mirror”

Sticking my hand into the mystical pandora box, the magical (or not so…) word I received was mirror. My struggles through this project (i.e. the process) may be viewed here. After several weeks of struggling as slave to the foam, I tried to come up with a model that could include everything in one – be intricate in design, be a mix of other words from the pandora box, be able to be seen from all angles, all while using rectilinear volumes of different forms YET still have everything be symmetrical/centred due to the nature of my word. However, after about 398712 attempts at creating models and realising that it is impossible to achieve all of the above due to the restrictions of my word, I decided to go simple with the final look of the model, but have it actually achieve more than it seems to.

The main objective that I wanted to achieve through ‘mirror’ was to have the model be symmetrical from all its sides, since mirror indicates a reflection of the other.

Here are the pictures of my final model. I named it TARS, as it resembles the last standing robot from the movie Interstellar whom I grew quite attached to by the end of the 3-hour-long movie. Just like how attached I am to my model after finally completing it upon weeks of experimenting.

The real TARS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3D SKETCH MODEL

*Photos may not be 100% accurate to life
*Provided are the lines of symmetry to avoid overlap in the 2D sketch analysis

   

 

2D SKETCH ANALYSIS

 

As mentioned, my main focus was to have the model be symmetrical from all its sides, or rather from as most sides as possible. As seen, with the use of the squared SD and the rotating D, the model is not only symmetrical from the front, back, left and right, but also from diagonal angles. That makes it already symmetrical from 8 sides with all blocks being visible.

When viewed from the top or bottom, I still focused on the property that the model remains symmetrical despite the SO being hidden from sight.

Possible improvements:

To enhance the idea of levitation by the SO, I could have used acrylic rods instead of chopsticks so that the transparency will allow a sense of floating of the dominant.

 

 

FUTURE APPLICATIONS

  1. A literal mirror 

Given the word, I thought it would only be fitting if the final product turned out to be a literal mirror as well. A mirror that is mirrored from all views. Mirror-ception.

I decided to cover the rotatable dominant in reflective mirror paper to represent a real mirror and use wood for the subdominant base so that the model would be able to be stable and balance well. The wood also serves as an aesthetic design, hence the use of wooden chopsticks to match the aesthetic.

  • Vanity Mirror

As such, the final model represents a rotatable mirror that can be placed on one’s vanity.
Here’s where things get more exciting with the mirror:

  • Life-size Circus Mirror Installation

If magnified to life size, the model can also serve as a life-size art installation with circus mirrors, just for people’s entertainment.

i.e. Replacing the normal reflective surface with these mirrors:

 

  • Mirror-ception Installation

If two installations are placed opposite each other, they reflect each other thus creating a mirror-ception installation, much like the mirror scene from Inception. This could be placed in an art exhibition.

Four of these installations can also be placed in the shape of a box so that it becomes a room that people can possibly enter in an art museum. It would be even better if every mirror had a different type of circus mirror, so the reflections reflect different reflections!

Here’s my tacky attempt at trying to photoshop it into a life size exhibition, I hope you get the idea:

To apply the rotating functionality, a full MAZE can be made with these life size models where people will have to rotate the mirrors to find their way out.

 

2. Futuristic Waiter

Inspired by space robot TARS who assisted the NASA team in their journey to outer-space, I figured that my model could become a futuristic robot waiter/waitress at food places when turned upside down.

The wooden block could act as the head, while the reflective surface here represents a digital screen where customers can see the menu and make their orders on.

Since it’s the future, the robot could be levitating around the place without the need for wheels. Furthermore, if the wooden chopsticks are replaced with a transparent material, the head could be levitating as well and would fit the futuristic aspect of this idea. Or… maybe the head will actually be able to levitate in the future.

 

3) Fondue Fountain

When upside down, the rotating function could also help serve the model as a rotating fondue fountain. I imagine that the falling chocolate will be aesthetically swirling in rounds due to the flat surface of the rotating dominant.

 

Project 1 Pandora: The Process “Mirror”

The final model/post for this project can be viewed here.

PANDORA BOX:
THE PROCESS (i.e. failures before the success)

Sticking my hand into the pandora box, the magical word that I received was…

MIRROR

So here are my attempts at creating 3D sketch models out of boxes of different shapes and sizes to showcase the word, as well as my 2D sketch analyses on them.
*Measurements may not be accurate due to photo angles

ATTEMPT #1:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea that I had was just to make the entire model be symmetrical while it has some interesting design to it. Hence, everything was made centralised, and even the negative voids are mirrored. Although it’s not the point, I also took into consideration the general colours of the boxes (white/orange), and made them mirror as well. Hence, all the whites mirror the whites, and the two orange sides mirror each other as well.

I intended for the lowest block to be the dominant, the middle to be the subordinate and the top to be the subdominant. However, after taking a closer look at the model… I guess my plan didn’t work out so well.

The supposed dominant and subdominant are too similar in height, so when the model is viewed from the side, it is unclear as to which box is actually the dominant. Seeing this, I replaced the supposed subordinate with a longer, thin strip of foam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the model is also only symmetrical from 4 sides (as pictures provided), but should the model be toppled over, it is no longer symmetrical. If viewed from the bottom, only the biggest box would be able to be seen and if viewed from the top, the smallest box in the centre cannot be seen.

From this, I would like to keep in mind that I can work towards making a model that will showcase the word ‘Mirror’ from all sides, although that would be very difficult as I am trying to make things symmetrical and interesting at the same time (i.e. not just putting everything in the centre on top of one another) with boxes of different shapes and sizes…).

Furthermore, although the blue strip of foam is actually two thirds of the top box when taken apart, they look too similar in length when put together. Hence, I took the model apart again to make one with an obvious subordinate.

 

 

 

This was the final model I had, saved as a back-up plan should I be unable to come up with something more interesting. I was planning to use a clear box for the dominant box so that the model will be fully visible from the bottom as well.

 

ATTEMPT #2:

After cracking my brain for hours on hours, trying to think of a different way to represent ‘mirror’ other than the use of symmetry, I decided to google for other meanings of mirror. I then got the idea of ‘parallel’ and ‘reflection’.

In this model, I intended for the big black box to be the dominant and the base (not a very smart idea, but my brain was really dry on fuel), the blue tissue box to be the subdominant, and the two little boxes on the sides to be subordinates.

The idea was that the 3 boxes standing on the base are all parallel to one another hence mirrored, and the two subordinates are also reflections of each other across the subdominant.

When flipped to the side, one side also mirrors the other side due to the presence of two subordinates mirroring each other. If there was only one subordinate, one side would only be able to see the black box and the tissue box. Furthermore, the subdominant box also acts as a larger reflection of the subordinate.

(P.S. something I found quite funny was the fact that the lady on the raisin box looks like she’s looking into a mirror, which is the shape that is formed by the tissue box hole. *note that the lady exists on both sides of the box*)

I scrapped this idea because it was just too un-interesting.

 

ATTEMPT #3:

For this attempt, I focused on having the model be symmetrical from most angles WHILE looking intricate and not just have boxes stacked on top of one another. Hence, I played around with wedging and piercing.

However, as easily observed, there is NO subordinate present in this model because the thinnest rectilinear volume was also the longest. While the design is more intricate with the use of mirroring negative voids (that are not just shaped in rectangles), the intricacy gave no added value to the model in relation to the word ‘mirror’. Hence, this model was instantly a failure.

Through all these attempts, I noted down what I wanted to achieve for my final model:

  • Have obvious D, SD and SO from all angles
  • Placement of blocks/creations of negative voids should have reasoning
  • Don’t need to have a super complicated design

An Interesting 3D Object

What I chose as my interesting object for class was a transparent, tear-drop-shaped… thing (I’m not really sure what it is). Initially, why I chose it as a 3D object that interests me is because I felt that it is an object that changes in every perspective.

To explain…
When upright: Tear drop
Upside down: Hot air balloon?
Bottom: Possibly a flat, 2D circle surface or a ball (Plane)
Top: A point
Side: A bird’s head

Red line – Line of symmetry (Not 100% accurate due to photo angles)

                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another reason why this object caught my attention is also because it is symmetrical in almost all directions as seen in the rotational gif (only when divided by 90 degrees and not between the thin top and round bottom part)

2D SKETCH ANALYSIS

(The entire thing is the dominant, and there is no subordinate as the little negative space at the tip is too small to be considered relevant. If it was maybe three times its size, it could become the subordinate of the object.)

It was interesting to learn how to look at the object again in the eyes of a 3D artist, seeing how different elements like negative voids, positive mass, rule of thirds, similar volumes, contrasting volumes, dominant, subordinate etc. come into play. Now, there’s so many more reasons to why I find the object intriguing.

For instance, previously, I would not have said yes if I was asked if the object was designed using the rule of thirds in any way. I would have only seen it as half-half. However, now I realise that the object does actually (kind of) practice the rule, seeing that the two negative voids and the positive mass are of the same size.

Now I realise, there is more to 3D design than the aesthetics. I mean of course I’ve always known this… but now I actually know what the ‘more’ part is.

A post of my 3D sketch models for the magical pandora box word will be coming soon!