Mock ups and Models – Chinese Style Jewelry

Sketchings and Renderings of Design

some updates…in the mist of my messy schedule trying to balance school, FYP, job applications, exams and relationships :((((

sketching for swan ring–for imperial noble consort

sketching for spectacle chain-cuckoo birds—for Dame

my next step is finish CAD all designs and make them 3D printable…

Choker, Bracelet, rings-Part 2

Previously, I had my choker mockup done from wire:

incomplete choker. the phoenix front part. I have altered the bird neck and head to lower position so not to hurt the neck.

After which I proceed to drawing them out in computer, 2D. The form was further simplified.

I drew them in group-from top down, 3 in a group. The first of the three is the first layer, second is the second layer, third is the layering of 1st and 2nd layers, to explore the possibility of layering.

I also drew the variations of design, some has cut out, some have holes for tassels or dangling details. Some have wings more angled than the rest.

Following the 2D design, I drew the choker in 3D rhino.

female model image source: http://www.janigamds.com/blog/best-skin-care-products/

As you can see from the image on the left, this choker is ergonomically not feasible. Our neck is not a standard cylinder but rather a cone shape. As this choker is pretty wide, it should be designed with a slight angle. If not, it can only be wore at a very high position on neck(right image) and would be really uncomfortable to wear. In addition, the pointed edges and spikes can be dangerous for people to wear on neck.

female model image source: http://alpineskin.com/collections/laser-hair-removal-for-women/neck

side profile of the product . In addition, the bulky design needs a lot of printing materials, at the same time, reducing the flexibility of the choker.

After slight adjustment of the angle of the wings, the choker sits better on the neck. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t solve the problem of safety. AND after all it doesn’t look so appealing aesthetically.

I started to review my design and think of other possibilities. As we have learnt in Studies in Forms module in year 3, depicting an animal does not necessarily depicting the entire feature. It can be just representation of certain traits. Take phoenix for example, to me, the most symbolic part pf phoenix is the flamboyant tails and the proud even arrogant gestures. Starting from there, I simplify my design into something more representative.

tail-choker-render — The form of the choker mimicking the flying gesture of a phoenix

I personally like this idea a lot although I wouldn’t say it is perfect. It is physically and visually much lighter, more versatile and modern.

Based on similar design I drew out a wrist cuff.

Product doesn't come with the woman though. female model image source: http://banleong.com/sg/estore/fitbit-flex-teal/ — Product doesn’t come with the woman though.
female model image source: http://banleong.com/sg/estore/fitbit-flex-teal/

previously I have done my ring mock ups like these

After last presentation, I did CAD models and 3D printed them out.

special thanks to Ava Pham who helped me printed this out during holiday for free

The printing quality isn’t good. The ring sizes are reasonable and fits me well. As rings are very particular in sizes the products will come in S M L sizes which is US 6 7 8, the most common female ring size.

Then I CAD out the matching ring design with previous choker and cuff.

And alternative design with a lotus. A such the series will not seem boring with wings wings and wings.

Lotus is an element I consider to add into other pieces such as glass chain, earrings, necklace pendant.

handmade jewelries, sketching practices, CNY jewelries-Part 1

I bought some DIY jewelry parts and practice to assemble them into wearable pieces. The problems I found out during the process are

1, The details of the jewelry, i.e. links, thickness of the chain, size of the lobster claps, affect the overall look as well as the comfort of the user much more than I expected

2, The design is limited and boring as all the parts are readymades.

3, When I am considering the customizing parts of my design, be it replaceable/changeable beads, pendants, how they can be linked onto the jewelry piece without disrupting the overall look.

4, If I want to combine 3D printed parts with readymades, such as wire, how can they be combined together(glue?claps?) and the what colors should it be.

Bought some metal sheets and planned to use it to explore choker and cuffs. However, the metal is much stronger than I expected and I could neither cut it nor bend it... — Bought some metal sheets and planned to use it to explore choker and cuffs. However, the metal is much stronger than I expected and I could neither cut it nor bend it…

necklace 1 practice. The necklace would look much nicer if the metal plates and the chain can be finer. However, if it gets smaller, I found it extremely hard to handcraft the details with my tools and fingers. For example, the metal ring would be too small for me to hold and bend.

Necklace 2. I tried to use the gradual change of the size as an exploration for my design, as I wanted to add thsi elements to some of my final products. However, upon close examination, the links of chain and balls are not well done in this piece. The separation between the balls are also not drastic enough to show the gradient. After finishing. Nevertheless, I would still try it out on my printed products, may be earrings, necklace or headpieces.

source: kavantcharat official instagram Kavantcharat has a lot of amazing designs that maximize the beauty of curves, geometry shapes and lines. — source: kavantcharat official instagram
Kavantcharat has a lot of amazing designs that maximize the beauty of curves, geometry shapes and lines.

I came across this piece of jewelry on instagram and it reminds me of the lightness of feather, the movement of phoenix tails. So I did some wiring to try out the possible looks. However, there is a big issue regarding 3D printing the design, which I will elaborate in my next part 2 post.

wanted to make a spiral effect but obviously didn't come out well — wanted to make a spiral effect but obviously didn’t come out well

Added a wing onto the piece and changed the angle of the wire. But the wing is so out of position at first

Adjusted the wire and the wing but nothing noticeable from the photo. As u can see, the end of the wire is poking directly onto my neck, which is pretty spiky and uncomfortable.

Adjusted the wire again but it was still poking me

I bent the wire more so it will not discomfort me. The wing has also been adjusted to be closer to my ear. But I am not very satisfied with this look although it is comfortable to wear now. The curves doesn't flow well visually — I bent the wire more so it will not discomfort me. The wing has also been adjusted to be closer to my ear. But I am not very satisfied with this look although it is comfortable to wear now. The curves doesn’t flow well visually

More sketchings of my designs of earrings and chokers will be in next part 2 post as well.

Also, I took some photos of the CNY and Chritmas editions in shops.

They look festive but cliche to me. They are very straightforward in representing “Chinese””Auspicious””China””Happiness”, and they look cute, but also boring to me because there is nothing new about them.

Here is a random practices I did to get a felling of how jewelry designers sketches dine jewelries.

Sketching practices following youtube videos

In part 2 there will be some 3D printing experimentation failures, sketches of chokers and new ideas. Basically I feel that, like what we learnt from Product Design year 2, to represents a animal doesn’t need to draw the entire feature out. I refined my designs into a simpler direction. For example, my previous idea of the phoenix choker can be further simplified to the gesture of the phoenix wings or tails, It is not a MUST to add a bird head onto the piece to tell people this is a phoenix or this is a bird.

The choker can also be designed in a way that can be worn two-way, i.e. there isn’t strict front and back, each side has its own beauty.

to be continued hmm…

UPDATE from 3rd presentation

My main feedback of third presentation:

1, Need to find stronger connection between the culture, story and the jewelry. Making people easier to see the story from the jewelry.

2, More original design is needed. For example, the auspicious motifs are directly taken from existing designs, there is little I did to make it MY design.

3. More mock-ups and test models for next presentation

Although more presentations going on and I receive feedback from more people, I still believe that design is a very subjective thing. While I can learn from what others tell me, it is impossible to make every single person happy because we just have different way of seeing things and issues. I hope that I can make designs that I like and I can justify, even at the end of the course I will receive both approval and doubts from other people.

also, I had laser cut the auspicious characters. I made them in different sizes.

SO WHAT I AM GOING TO DO NEXT

-Print my stl files and draw more for 3D printing

-sketch sketch sketch. I start to watch Youtube tutorials on how to make jewelry sketchings as I found myself very inexperienced in such drawings. I would start from imitating and make some practices. Then maybe I will start my own sketching.

New Test Mock-ups, UPDATE

For this week, I start my modeling in rhino as well as some other 3D paper mock-ups.

image source: https://world.taobao.com/item/43062526116.htm?fromSite=main reference of the motifs for auspicious Chinese characters. top left: wealth(salary) top right: longevity bottom left: happiness bottom right: wealth middle: luck/good vibes — image source: https://world.taobao.com/item/43062526116.htm?fromSite=main last access 1st Nov 2016
reference of the motifs for auspicious Chinese characters.
top left: wealth(salary)
top right: longevity
bottom left: happiness
bottom right: wealth
middle: luck/good vibes

drawing the 2D image of auspicious motifs. The pattern is a combination of "wealth" and "happiness", — drawing the 2D image of auspicious motifs. The pattern is a combination of “happiness” and “wealth”,

This is how it looks when I stick 4 pieces of them together to create a cross shape 3D pendant. it appear as “happiness” in one angle and “wealth” from another.

However, my paper cutting is not refined as my scissors is too big for the pattern. So I am going to laser cut the pattern with acrylic board and then stick them together.