Design for Students

DESIGN PORTFOLIO GUIDE- To get accepted into an I.D. University degree

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:55:00 +0000

Universities/ Colleges often require you to submit a portfolio in order to be accepted into the degree. Many of you will have no idea what exactly should be in it- this guide will help. This information was originally sent to someone who asked me for help on this subject, and I thought you guys could benefit from this as well.

I will give you information that I know is correct for studying in Australia, so please consider any differences there may be between your country of study and mine (if there are any).

I recommend spending some time to learn drawing in the universal industrial design style. If you do not draw in an industrial design style they may not be as willing to accept you into the course/ degree.

Also include any drawings / paintings you have previously made (even if abstract or using an unusual medium) as it helps to show your unique style and level of ability using other mediums.

In the following links you can see some great examples and tutorials of how to draw in this industrial design style...

- This is done on a graphics tablet but can be done the exact same way using markers/ pens,

http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/easy-steps-to-make-drawings-look.html

- Similar to above link but using markers,

http://www.idsketching.com/toolbox/toolbox-basic-marker-cube/

- I highly recommend reading this article and take the advice they give. This one article has lots of great into on most aspects of sketching,

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/basic-guidelines-to-product-sketching/

- For a good article on rendering your sketches, see this site,

http://www.idsketching.com/toolbox/marker-sketch-tutorial-luggage/

- Or if you do want to use digital program, this article,

http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/easiest-way-to-draw-incredible-drawings.html

I am not sure if the University requires you to know anything about model making, but if they do, I suggest you start by using foam to make some models as it is cheap, easy and requires not many tools.

- See the below link on model making,

https://davidneat.wordpress.com/materials/shaping/styrofoam/

- Here are some examples of models you could copy and make yourself,

https://www.pinterest.com/jerrodbw/foam-modeling/

- If you are feeling adventurous, try the technique in this article,

http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/prototypes-how-to-make-high-quality.html

I M P O R T A N T N O T E S

Make sure to take care of your drawings- put them in a nice folder. Try to use nice large paper to draw on and NOT small scrappy bits of paper. Presentation is key.

Annotate your drawings- briefly explain what you drew, how the thing you drew would work, features of its design, etc.

Make sure you take good photographs of your models or art so that you can easily show people or add it to your portfolio.

- I recommend you do the following...

Come up with a product concept by drawing and annotating (this article will help you come up with a good design idea). Work out the details of the product- make it simple to make and simple in design yet well resolved and well thought out. Then make a foam model based of the concept you drew. Spend time making it look nice and well finished (about 4-6 hours drawing and 6 hours on the foam model). Take photos of the model. Now make a an A2 sized poster. On the poster have pictures of your concept sketches, and pictures of the model and a title block and text explaining the inspiration and process for making the drawings and model.

Don’t be afraid to put pictures, articles, etc. of other peoples work- JUST MAKE SURE YOU REFERENCE THE ORIGINAL PRODUCER OF THE WORK. Make sure you briefly write about what you like about the work, why you think it is creative, innovative etc, what improvements or next steps could be taken.

It is hard for me to tell you exactly how much work you should put into the folio, its really up to your dedication, time you have and how much you are required by the university to do.

Thanks for reading, remember to share and like on Facebook or do the thing that makes Google+ share stuff or click the Tumblr button for cool picture stuff or click the YouTube button for cool video stuff.

QUICK RENDERING TECHNIQUE - Great for vivid concept drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 12:59:00 +0000

In this drawing tutorial I will show you one of the quickest and easiest ways to render your concepts. This is ideal for when you want basic renders that effectively communicate your concept ideas. It only uses two simple brushes and can all be done on one layer.

Firstly I start with my rough sketch so that I have a reference to do my line work from. I won't get into much detail about line work here as I have already made a tutorial on this (click here to see it).

Now I will use a basic brush to apply colour. This is a brush that does not have any pressure sensitivity- no mater how hard or softly I push on the pen, the brush will put down a full, constant colour. (Go to "Edit brush settings" and un-tick the pen sensitivity option). However, I will have the opacity of this brush set at 35%.

Use the magic wand tool to select a surface and apply colour. In this case, I am portraying the surface as being high gloss, so I will have some basic white highlights along the top facing surfaces.

Use the same brush (and same settings...) to apply colour to all surfaces that are not facing up. You will notice that because the brush has 35% opacity, adding a second coating of colour to the surface will make it darker.

Do the same thing again, adding a third coating of colour to darken areas as required.

Using a basic airbrush tool with an opacity of 25%, apply a dark streak of colour down the side of the surface. Make sure that the streak of colour follows the contour of your shape. I use the airbrush again, this time applying a red gradient to the surfaces that face upwards (This helps to make the surface look high gloss. If the surface was medium/ low gloss then avoid this step).

Use the same steps to apply colour to all of the individual faces. You may want to add a basic drop shadow and some background gradients like I have done below.

Remember to see my other articles on drawing. Like this one for people who have never drawn in an industrial design style before OR this one for people looking for some more advanced techniques OR this one for people who want complex and realistic drawings using layering techniques. Thank you for reading.

I WANT YOU TO WRITE FOR DESIGN FOR STUDENTS

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 04:02:00 +0000

When I first decided to start this site, I had one single goal. To create something that has not been done- A community where anybody can write about life as a design student. I have written articles, set up social media accounts, developed this website, tried to make the site take life. Its missing one thing. Something I can not do myself. I need to make this site a community. For designers, for students, for people who want to share their knowledge and to learn from what others have to share. I need the people who want to create and inspire creation. I need to build a community- I need you to help.

If you want to write about design, experiences at Uni / College, share photos and videos- whatever you want to share and learn. I want this site to become the place you can do that.

Email your article ideas, stories, projects and work to dazzmanfish@gmail.com OR write in the comments section OR message me through the Design for Students Google+ page.

USING LAYERS IN DIGITAL PAINTINGS - How to improve artwork with layers

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 16:16:00 +0000

The defining feature that makes digital painting superior over physical painting is layering. This article will show you how using layers will efficiently and easily improve your artwork, taking you through it step by step and layer by layer.

This tutorial will give you tips on layers, brushes, sketching and drawing techniques using a particular drawing style (see above picture). If you want to learn how to draw with a product / industrial design style then see this tutorial.

Canvas & Sketch layer - The very bottom layer is simply a white fill. This ensures the artwork will not have any transparency which could be a problem when saving it as a JPEG.
It is very important that all of your layers have a transparent background. Otherwise with a coloured background it would cover all of the layers below it- we don't want to do this!

I then made a new layer and sketched out the basic design of my robot. It is best to work out all of the details and parts of your robot now so that you have a reference when adding colour. Make sure to determine your perspective and light sources. Click here to see a tutorial if you don't know how to do this.

Robot skeleton layer - I roughly shaded in some base colour for the skeleton of the robot. This layer is below the layer that I will draw the robot's outer shell on. Think of the robot in a physical sense- the skeleton would be below the outer shell, so make your layers in the same order.

Outer shell layer - Still using the sketch for reference, I coloured in the outer shell of the robot. I added some basic shading and highlighting to the outer shell...
Because I have the skeleton and outer shell on different layers, I can use the eraser tool to clean up the edges of the outer shell without erasing the skeleton.

Shading and highlights layer - I then made a layer above the outer shell layer (and hid the sketch layer as I don't need it anymore). This layer is for adding shading and highlights to the sketch. I thought the shading and highlights were weak and did not 'pop' enough. To solve this issue I simply duplicated the layer which in turn doubles the strength of the layer, thus giving it darker shading/ lighter highlights.

Shadows layer - The shadows layer goes below all layers of the robot and is only above the canvas and background layers. An easy way to make shadows is to select a silhouette of the robot and fill it in grey. Then skew and rotate the silhouette so that it follows the line of perspective.

Skeleton details layer - I made a layer just above the robot skeleton layer to add in detail to the skeleton. I used this layer to add details, highlights and shadows to the skeleton.

Light source highlights layer - I decided to add a strong highlight of colour to suggest that there is a coloured light source shining onto the robot. This will add another dynamic to the artwork and help unify everything. Remember that the brush can go past the edges of the robot- just use the eraser tool to erase the unwanted brush strokes back to the edges.

A great thing about using layers is that I can change the opacity, colour, brush mode etc. for each individual part of my robot. For example, the red light source highlight was too intense so I dulled it down to a nice pink colour by removing the blue and green colour channels. Have a play with each layer. Tweak them until they look how you want them to.

Background layer - I added a background layer just above the canvas layer.
I used a textured brush to make the desert ground, applying a brown textured brush first and then white textured bush on top. Then I drew some basic blocks to form a city-scape on the horizon. Then an airbrush was used to apply white and grey smoke in the distance, helping to give the illusion that the city / horizon is far away. Then I added some pink highlights to the sky to match the pink highlights on the robot.

Final adjustments - Lastly, I saved the artwork as a JPEG (to reduce file size and flatten the layers). I then adjusted the brightness / contrast ratio until it looked nice. I also did not like the colour scheme so I changed the hue and shadow / highlight colours to ones I liked. These settings are under 'filter' -> 'adjust'.

Thanks for reading, I hope this article helps. If it did, why not help me by liking or sharing it to your friends. Thanks.

HOW TO DRAW - PRODUCT DESIGN STYLE - Incredible drawings using simple techniques

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:42:00 +0000

These steps will show you how to draw anything from scratch and in a way that looks flawless. The best part is that anybody with any drawing ability can follow these steps. This tutorial will show you how to draw in an industrial / product design style which is different and more effective than other ways I have seen. Even more advanced drawers will probably learn something. This tutorial focuses on drawing with a graphics tablet but also applies to pen and paper drawing.

I will be drawing a camera, but these techniques will be the same for drawing practically anything...

Start off by sketching out your basic design. Don't worry about making the lines perfect- just quickly sketch out where things will be using as many lines as you need. I start by sketching the largest part of the thing I'm drawing, so in this case the main body of the camera. Then I will have a reference to add the details such as buttons or the camera lens.

Click here to see a tutorial on how to set up perspective, line thicknesses and how to draw basic shapes if you are unsure of how to do it. I recommend this for people who are still beginners...

Now you can start drawing good quality, smooth lines- all the while using the rough sketch lines as reference. DO NOT draw the lines slowly or in small increments- they WILL look wobbly and inconsistent if you do. Instead, draw the line in one quick 'flick' like motion of the pen. Make the line a lot longer than it needs to be and then trim the line back, keeping the section that you need. This will result in a consistent and straight line. It will take a few tries to get each line at the perfect angle, just hit 'ctrl + z' and try again.

Over-drawing and trimming back the line will also work well for curves- draw them in one quick motion. Practice drawing the line until it looks right. With more practice you will get to the stage where it only takes one or two attempts to get the line right (I'm sure not there yet!). Just keep practicing and it will quickly get easier as you go.

I changed and went for a chamfer as it suited the design better.

I used an ellipse tool to draw the camera lens as it is impossible to draw perfect ellipses by hand. With enough practice, it is possible to draw smooth ellipses. I recommend drawing a bunch of different angled ellipses on a sheet of paper at least once a week to get good at it.

Erase any unnecessary overlapping lines. Only keep the lines that you will see once colour is applied. I recommend having a physical sample (not photo) of what you are drawing to refer to if you are unsure of how the lines go. Remember to check out my other tutorial (click here), which includes a step by step video, if you are unsure on how to draw lines and what thickness they should be.

Using the path tool, trace over the ellipse where necessary to make your thicker lines (remember- any edge that has only one visible face is a thick line. Any edge where two or more faces are visible will be a thin line). I then rotated the ellipses so that they follow the perspective. A good rule of thumb for giving an ellipse correct perspective is to draw a vertical line through the center of the ellipse. Then rotate the ellipse so that the line is at a right angle to the perspective lines.

Once you have all of your lines, we can start adding colour. Use the magic wand tool to select each face that you will be adding colour to. For example, in the above screenshot I selected the four parallel faces of the buttons. As you can see above, I went ahead and used a 'airbrush' brush to apply a solid blue colour. Then I used a 'textured airbrush' brush to apply black shading.

Keep adding colour to the drawing. If you are unsure of where the colour and shading goes, look at the object in real life. Study it- look for the highlights and shading and colour. Generally though, you will want to add darker shading to all faces that are facing the left of the screen and lighter shading to all faces facing the right. Add very light shading to any face facing up. Add highlights (strips of very light colour) to any corner or curved face.

Here is a good tutorial on adding shadows to your drawings. Do not underestimate or skip on shadows. They are subtle yet give a great sense of realism to drawings. See the diagram below...

This diagram pretty much sums up how to draw shadows.

With practice, the final result should be quite impressive and not take a lot of time to do. Drawing will become fluid and require no 'guesswork' once you learn to draw using these techniques.

Have a question? Post it in the comments section and I will be sure to get back to you in less than one day.

Thanks for reading.

MECHALAMP lighting up a room

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:23:00 +0000

Finally I have taken some photos of the MECHALAMP lighting up a room. The clear lamp shade directs most of the light whilst also filling the room with a unique deep blue ambiance. It offers an unprecedented lighting experience.

MECHALAMP lighting up a room

Want to see more information on this lamp including functionality, materials used and more? Click here.

Do you enjoy reading the article on this blog? If yes, then share, comment and like to show your support! Thanks.

HOW FIREWORKS WORK - Innovations of ridiculous fireworks displays

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 14:48:00 +0000

Like a moth to a patterned explosive flame, everyone likes watching fireworks. How are they made and what crazy innovations are used to make these perfectly timed color-splosions work? DfS investigates...

Basic over the counter fireworks are fun to explode things with (minus your hand) but not that interesting to read about. Its the dangerous, complicated and expensive firework rigs that you want to read about. So lets start with figuring out how to get the firework off the ground and into the sky so that they can explode in time to Katy Perry's conveniently named 'Firework' song...

Traditional firework launching systems rely on a series of tubes and a control box. The tubes contain an explosive charge which, when detonated, shoots the firework into the sky. The control box determines when and what explosive charge is detonated. This allows the pyrotechnicians to launch specific fireworks at specific times. Most control boxes are dependant on a series of manually activated switches which send an electrical charge to the fireworks. It can be more practical to use a remotely detonated charge system such as when detonating fireworks at sea/ river on a floating barge. This allows the control box to be safely operated from a boat or land.

A typical detonation control box.

Tubes loaded and ready.

When you want your fireworks to explode in time with a song, a computer controlled detonation system is used. Pyrotechnitians will pre-program certain sized/ shaped fireworks to explode in time with the musics beat. Fancy. Its worth noting that the most prestigious firework displays, such as that of the NYE Sydney Harbor Bridge costs in excess of seven million dollars.

A recent firework launching innovation substitutes a detonating charge for compressed air, essentially using the same gun-like principles as the explosive charge technique (expanding gasses propelling the firework out of the tubes). This launch technique results in less smoke during the display, and we're guessing there will be less chance of catastrophic firework failures...

NOTE: the objective is to not explode everything at once in a ball of white pyrotechnic failure.

Once the firework is up in the night sky. Were going to want to see a vast array of colours, shapes, sizes and noises. Firework colour is determined by what type of colourant is mixed with the explosive. Different chemical compounds will produce specific light when set on fire, for example lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) burns red and thus will be used in red fireworks.

Making fireworks explode in specific shapes (see: smiley face) is actually quite simple. If you were to cut open a firework which explodes to form a smiley face, you would find a bunch of 'stars' (stars are what pyrotechnics call the individual explosive balls) that are literally in the shape of a smiley face. A black powder charge in the center of the firework propels the stars outward and then simultaneously explodes them. All this is contained in a spherical outer shell.

This firework half-cut shows the smiley face pattern with a central black powder detonating charge. Almost too easy.

That is everything you need to know about how fireworks work. Did you enjoy reading about fireworks? If so, then like, comment or share this article to support DfS. It takes time and effort to run this blog, so any support is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

TAKING PHONE ACCESSORIES TO THE EXTREME - Introducing Mobiscanner

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:17:00 +0000

Integrating their way into our pockets and every day lives, you may find yourself asking, "What exactly can and should we be using our mobile phones for?". This article introduces a simple yet unusual phone accessory- but is it going too far?

Text too small? Click on the first page to enlarge article pages.

I greatly appreciate it when readers share, like or comment on this blog. It only takes you a few seconds yet means a lot and helps this site grow, thank you.

HARSH TRUTHS OF UNIVERSITY - why you need to learn them for yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:31:00 +0000

What your universe looks like.

What is the circumference of the universe? How long does it take for a swarm of ants to eat a cow? All very important questions. None of which I will address in this article. I will, however, address just as important questions like 'Should I even be at university?' and 'When will I know what I want to do in life?'. The answer may not be what you want to hear.

1. I still have no idea what real life will be like.

Any movie franchise with a plot molded around life in college suggests you will be in for a crazy sex-party-drinking-shenanigans filled experience. Universities were fantasized as being a conglomerate of fun, far away from home with your own dorm and a huge... Wait, WHAT? University isn't like this? You mean the movies were lying? After two years at University (In Australia, at least...) I wonder if someone who believed that would even be accepted into Uni. I'm still living at home, studying, not partying, not drinking- my vices are blogging and Breaking Bad (watching it- I'm not actually breaking bad)...

Note: try to keep at lest a 1/3 ratio between this place and your university.

What I'm saying is that I had no real idea what University would be like. Of course I had a general idea, but even so, it wasn't what I expected. I have an idea as to what real life will be like, and a full time job in my field, and living away from home, etc. Until I experience it first hand, I still don't really know. If the misdiagnosed preconceptions of Uni are anything to go by, then my preconceptions of real life are going to be misdiagnosed too.

2. Don't expect your degree to get you a job - expect hard work to.

Harsh truth- If you are not committed to your degree then there is a good chance you are wasting your time / money with it. On average 22 percent of 2013 university graduates were still unintentionally unemployed and looking for a job five months after graduating. 'Just scraping through' your degree and only doing the bare minimum to pass will reflect very badly when it comes to getting employed. I suspect a large amount of this 22 percent of people didn't try as absolutely hard as they could have. If you didn't want to try very hard, then that's fine. Its okay if you don't want to carry on through to the end of your degree. However- If you have the opportunity to go to university then you are a very privileged person (I am talking in a purely economical sense, I am NOT saying people who go to university are in any way better people than those who do not go to university). Don't squander that gift with 'I can't be bothered trying hard enough' excuses.

Sorry, but this is true. The sooner you realize it, the sooner you can start being something.

Don't sleep some nights, push harder than you want to, do anything you can to achieve the best results for your degree. I know its hard but it WILL be worth it. Not for the high GPA. For an outstanding portfolio of work, for an advanced understanding of your degree's teachings. That's what employers are looking for. That's how you make university worth it.

3. You wont know if university is the right choice until it is too late.

Some people won't know that their particular university degree was the wrong choice for them until it is too late. Often half way through the degree too late. Not everyone is lucky enough to find what they want to do in life on the first go. Second year was when I started to realize my degree is something I want to fully commit myself to and carry on with until completion. Still being young, I figure that I am quite naive in relation to what my future will become. Hence I elude back to point 1 of the article...

My experiences iterated within the 1st point of this article suggest my degree is going to be different to any job resultant of the degree. Working as an Industrial Designer may be nothing like what I would expect of it. I have talked to industrial designers, read the articles, watched the movies and for all I know, the only thing I will learn from these four years of education is, "I don't want to be an industrial designer"...

So why do you need to figure this all out for yourself?

Everyone is different and can't rely on other people's accounts to truly know what they want. The underlying harsh truth throughout this article is that nobody knows anything until they try it for themselves. You can research all you want. Hey, you might even find a career that is exactly what you would love to do your whole life. But remember- although things may look good on paper that doesn't mean you will like to do it in real life. The way other people perceive and describe their experiences will be completely different to the way you perceive them. This article would be considerably less significant If I was reading it before going to university as I did not know any of these 'harsh truths' beforehand.

I do not want this article to discourage you from going to university if you are 'on the fence' about it. More so, If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity of attending a university then go for it! If you don't like it then that's OK, now you know for sure.

What is your opinion on all this? Let me know in the comments section below if you agree or think I am absolutely wrong. Or just give the article a share / like on your favorite social network. Thanks!

P.S. The circumference of the universe is 456,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles (at this point in time).

PROTOTYPES- how to make high quality models for university

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:22:00 +0000

How I make high quality prototype models for my university projects. The first and second model may look similar, but one is ridiculously easy to make and requires almost no tools (seriously).

Don't have access to a workshop but still want to make high quality models with almost no tools? Then read PROCESS 2.

PROCESS 1 - Using power tools and wood working machines

The phone here is made form a wood known as Jelutong. Jelutong has a low density and is easy to work with. This type of wood is great for prototypes as it is easy to cut and sand, it is still strong and picks up fine details quite well.

I start with a flat piece of jelutong and use a band saw to cut out the basic shape desired. I sanded the edges with a disk sander to make them consistent and smooth. It is important to plan/ think out the shapes you wish to create and how you can create them. For example- the phone base/ holder consists of three pieces of jelutong stuck together to form an overall shape. It would be very hard to make the base/ holder from a single piece of jelutong- yet I could easily cut out and glue together individual pieces to form a larger piece. I used a milling machine to form the speaker vents. I used a router machine to form the rounded edges.

Once cut, shaped and sanded, the phone was sealed with shellac. Shellac is vital as it seals the wood and stops the paint form being absorbed. Keep applying and sanding back the shellac until there is a smooth and consistent layer covering ALL of the wood parts.

A high gloss finished is achieved by spray painting and polishing. First a spray putty is applied to show up any minor scratches and imperfections. Sand back the imperfections that appear, applying more layers of spray putty if needed. I then use an automotive grade acrylic spray paint can to apply a final layer of paint.
Make sure you read the can's instructions and pay attention to recommended drying times and safety precautions.

The key pad started as a solid rectangle of PVC composite (it could be made from jelutong also, but PVC gives a better finish when milled). I milled out the keypad to form the protruding buttons. A lathe was used to machine a solid piece of aluminium into the round button seen above the keypad.

PROCESS 2 - THE SKELETON PROCESS... make ANY prototype, with a laser cutter and bog!

With a rapid increase in laser cutting, it makes sense to use it to make models. Laser cutting is prolific in almost all cities worldwide. You can even have your laser cut part mailed to your address if you don't live near a laser cutting facility. Laser cutting offers high precision and virtually any shape, better yet, you only need a sanding block and some bog to make awesome prototypes!

A series of laser cut components interlock to form a 3D shape.

NOTE - It may bee a hassle to download and learn these programs at first, but once you do, it will be the easiest and quickest way to make your prototypes.

First off you will need to make a 3D computer model of your prototype. Sketchup is a free 3D modeling program. It is intuitive to use and allows you to easily make a 3D model- visit their website for tutorials if needed.

123D Make screenshot.

Sketchup screenshot.

Save your model as a '.dxf' file. This free software (called 123DMake) easily converts the '.dxf' file into a 'skeleton' (AKA a series of inter-locking pieces). The software will then give you a 2D layout of all the pieces which you can then laser cut from a sheet of plastic or MDF. Each part will fit together, it should look just like the above image.

Left image: part has been bogged and is ready to

sand.

Above image: part has been sanded back,

imperfections have been re-bogged.

The skeleton can then be filled with car panel bog, a cheaper alternative is builder's bog. It can then be hand sanded into shape. I recommend buying an orbital sander (only about $30 - $50 AUS) as it will speed up the sanding process immensely- you can do this by hand if you have a spare few days and several tonnes of patience... but the orbital sander is worth the money, trust me.

NOTE- the picture below of the bogged and sanded model is not ready to be pained. All of the chips / imperfections in the model will need to be re-bogged and re-sanded if you want a respectable model. NEVER think you will be able to 'hide' any imperfections through the painting process. Paint will only reveal the imperfections even more.

Painting of the model was the same as the above phone- spray putty to remove any scratches and 2 to 3 coats in your spray paint of choice. The laser cutting cost me $30 and bog cost $20. It took about 1 hour to apply bog and 6 hours to sand back.

I greatly appreciate it when readers (this means YOU) share, like or comment on this blog. It only takes you a few seconds yet means lots and helps this site grow, thank you.

THE MECHALAMP - a custom designed and built lamp

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 08:24:00 +0000

A one-of lamp manufactured from laser cut aluminium and cast resin.

This lamp was part of a second year industrial design university project. It is made from 4mm thick laser cut aluminium and solid clear casting resin, held together by custom machined fasteners. It is fully adjustable and operational (more in-context and lighting pictures coming soon!). Click here to see my other blog which shows the processes involved in making this lamp.

MECHALAMP has the ability to rotate a full 360 degrees in both directions. Parallel articulating arms allow the lamp to move up-down and in-out. As well as adding to the 'mechanical' dynamic, the gears introduce friction to the arms. This allows the lamp to maintain it's position and not fall down.

The shade and base of the lamp are made from clear cast resin; a particularly laborious job as it involved making a 3D printed mock-up lamp shade, using this to cast a female and male mould and then casting resin into those. Click here to see my other blog which shows the processes involved in making this lamp.

The result is definitely worth all of the late nights spent in the shed though, as this lamp is truly one of a kind.

Don't forget to support Design for Students- whether it is by leaving a comment, asking a question, sharing the page on Facebook/ Google+ or any means you know how. Even if it is only one comment/ share it really means a lot to me. Thanks.

THE SECRETS TO AMAZING RENDERS- 3D CAD rendering that looks like real life.

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 13:48:00 +0000

Think of rendering like playing Jenga- one slightly wrong move and it all comes crashing down into a pile of failure. So how do you get your renders looking just the way you want them to?

This is advice that will be applicable across all rendering software as I will be showing you how and what gives realism to a render, so you can apply it to all of your models in any scenario and any rendering software...

I have actually made this lamp in real life and it LOOKS AWESOME! Stay tuned as I will be uploading pictures and explaining how it was made very soon!

Simply, if you use the standard settings in your CAD rendering software, it won't result in something realistic. Often changing just one setting can have drastic implications on the renders realism.

Inexperienced render-ers will often go for a 'high-gloss' look (even the generic settings of most rendering software is a little high-gloss trigger happy). This may seem to look awesome, but won't necessarily look realistic.
Turn down the reflectivity of your parts and give them textures. If you want to render a cast aluminium part, simply imagine what it would look like in real life. There would be very dispersed and faded reflections and shading, along with a 'sandblasted' texture. Changing the settings that control these variables would give the best representation of the cast aluminium part...

Adjusting the textures and reflectivity will help

portray the exact surface you are representing.

Here I dulled down the reflectivity, blurred the

shading / reflections and gave a texture that

represents a sand blasted finish...

Lighting can have a strong effect on your renders just like surfaces do. I find that the lighting is almost always too much when using the generic / standard settings. I often only have one main light at half of the standard brightness setting. Then I will add a second point light that only omits a small amount of light. Also, If there is a 'shadow softness' setting then adjust it to the point where the shadows it casts are soft and not sharp. This setting plays a bigger part in realism than you might think... And that's all- no more lights are needed. You will find these settings also result in nicer floor / surface shadows.

It may be beneficial to reduce or remove floor reflections as almost no photo shoot / studio floor is highly reflective- so why would you want to render it that way? As mentioned before, think of exactly what surface you want to portray with your render. How would it look in real life? What makes it look that way?

If your software uses them, add a camera to the render (Solidworks' 'Photoview 360' have them as a separate option while 'Keyshot' has cameras built in). Then adjust the camera angle / perspective. Usually a 75mm to 125mm angle lens will work well for desk lamp sized objects. You may want to add a focal point / field of view. This will allow the camera to focus on a specific area and blur the foreground / background.

Before investing truck loads of time into a high resolution render, do a low resolution render (don't change any settings though- as that would change to outcome of the render... only resolution) to make sure everything is looking how you want it to. Once you are satisfied with the result, then go for an all-in high resolution render.

Sometimes a render can take a very long time; culprits that cause long render times are glass objects or using the 'direct caustics' and 'bloom' options. Also, changing from glass as the material to clear plastic will greatly speed up renders, and it will still look like a glass-like object. For a tutorial on using SolidWorks to make a fully rendered animation, click here.

A contrast between the high gloss middle band and low gloss / textured top and
bottom parts gives the render a new dynamic and adds to the realism.

HOW TO DEAL WITH MANUFACTURERS FOR YOUR PROJECTS- A vital 5 minute guide

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:35:00 +0000

Don't know how to? Read on to find out...

Your projects will involve dealing with manufacturers- whether the process is laser cutting metal, CNC machining, printing or anything else not manufactured within the compounds of your schools facilities. It makes sense to know how to efficiently deal with such processes.

You know the feeling when your mum says she wants to copy a CD and you have to tell her that your not actually going to set the CD on fire because that's not what 'Burning a CD' means. They don't know any better when it comes to technology, so why should you know any better when it comes to using manufacturers for projects?

Well, one day it will be part of your job to know, that's why.

The first step is to actually know what process you will need. Although some processes will work, they still might not be the right ones to use. If you want a flat shape made from 4mm aluminium, you could have it CNC machined... However this process would be way more expensive and inefficient compared to having it laser cut instead.

Talk to your lecturers and do research. What your project requires you to make will determine what process to use, so you'll want to have some basic designs locked in.

Finding someone to manufacture your designs is the next step, and probably the most important. Once you know the process to use and have your designs finalised, you will want to send an enquiry/ request a quote. Prices and job times will change dramatically depending on who you use, so you will want a wide variety of quotes. Even on line manufacturers like Ponoko can be a good option...

Make an email template (see below) and send it out to as many places as you can.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. If a manufacturer is worth dealing with, then they will be happy to help you out. Attach any files- usually a DXF for vector based cutting processes. The recipients of this email will also see that you have sent a quote to their competition businesses, maybe this will mean they give you a competitive price? Hopefully yes.

Just to prove to you that it is worth getting multiple quotes- For the above job one company offered $165.00 with a maximum six day turnaround, while another said it will cost $300.00 with a ten day turnaround... so its worth the research.

Choose the company that best suits your circumstances, maybe you need it done asap and are willing to pay extra for a quick turnaround. But you should read this article on project management to make sure that never happens.

But wait! Its not over yet!

If you want things to get done, you're going to have to make sure they get done. I find myself having to ring all of my manufacturers just to get them to reply to my email quote. So once you send out your email quote call or contact to confirm, once they agree to manufacture your parts call or contact to see how it is going. Call a couple of days before they say it will be finished to make sure they actually have remembered that they need to manufacture your parts. Don't be rude, but be assertive. Don't make their or your job any harder than it needs to be.

Follow these steps and dealing with manufacturers will be easier and less daunting. Not only will you have a kick ass model/ project to show for it, but you will demonstrate competency and willingness to go above and beyond- something teachers will always give you good marks for!

Top image courtesy of http://industrybusinesslog.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/laser_cutting.jpeg

MAKE A PROFESSIONAL INTRO VIDEO FOR YOUR SITE / YOUTUBE CHANNEL

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:29:00 +0000

This tutorial shows you how to use SolidWorks to create a stunning and hyper realistic video intro to accommodate and compliment your YouTube videos, website or blog. Using this tutorial, you could have any text, video length, shapes or colours you want. The possibilities are endless!

Watch on YouTube if the annotations don't work, they explain how this was made,
Don't forget to watch in HD for clarity...

This video intro is the only tutorial on solidworks so far, more are to come in the future! Most CAD programs will be similar so if you don't have solidworks, this CAD tutorial will still be useful.

Please comment, subscribe and like if you appreciate the effort. Remember it takes a lot of time to make tutorials, so all support is appreciated.

This is the first solidworks tutorial produced by Design for Students. DfS is an industrial design community made for students. More videos on everything industrial design are constantly being uploaded.

Don't forget to to share, like and subscribe to help build this community. The more the community builds, the more content we will be able to publish.

DRAWING THE BADASS KOENIGSEGG- How to draw with graphics tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:48:00 +0000

In this graphics tablet tutorial I show you how to draw a Koenigsegg Agera. Leave a comment of what you would like to be sketched next or if you have any questions!

If you haven't seen my first tutorial on the basics of design sketching, check it out here.

Firstly, I sketch/ trace out the basic shape of the car. I normally trace over an actual photo of what I am sketching if I do not know how to draw it myself. When you trace over a picture, its not 'cheating' but instead programming your brain to draw correctly (as eye-openingly explained in this article).

Then I add some shadows and highlights using an air brush tool. These shadows/ highlights will help define the overall shape of the car. Don't worry about accuracy just yet.
Take note of the almost white highlight running along the top of the side of the car's panels- When you look at a photo of a car you will see a crisp, swooping highlight that always runs along the same area at the top of the car's panels. This is because professionally photographed cars will all have similar lighting setups that best bring out the car's shape and represent a glossy paint finish. You will want to replicate this lighting setup in your drawings for the same reasons.

I add a white highlight to any parts where there would be a sharp curve in the panel. This is usually along the edges of the panels, such as the door edge or wheel arches.
One rule- The less sharp the curve, the less sharp the highlight. On gentle curves I blend and transition the highlights/ shadows into each other gradually. Example- the lower part of the door panel has a very gradual curve, so I add very gradual highlights/ shadows.

For me car rims are tricky and I am still learning to sketch them well. When first learning to sketch rims, make them as simple as possible- Well drawn simple rims will look better than poorly drawn complex rims.

Any areas of the car that would be seen behind glass (eg, the car's interior through the wind shield) will only have basic shapes to represent the seats/ interior dash etc. I then use an airbrush tool to run some highlights across the glass- as to represent light reflecting off of the glass. Alternatively, you could have tinted windows. This is done by applying black to the window area and adding a gradually fading white highlight across one half of the window.

Lastly, I rotate and adjust colour levels (contrast, highlights, hue etc) to help accentuate highlights/ shadows and unify everything together. I decided to include the initial sketch as it strengthens the character of the car and invokes movement.
Remember- Drawing is about visually representing emotion, style and character. That is what individualizes and defines the designs we create. It is the sole purpose of this art form. The essence of designers.

Want another drawing tutorial showing a completely different technique to efficiently draw in a design style? Read this article.

Don't forget to to share, like and subscribe to help build this community. The more the community builds, the more content we will be able to publish.

WORST MISTAKE MADE BY DESIGN STUDENTS- and how to correct it

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:08:00 +0000

One thing my teachers said when starting my first classes in product innovation is that your ideas need to be innovative. This would seem to figure, considering in is a degree in product innovation, but I believe otherwise. When learning the basics of product development and design, you should not be too innovative, and here is why.

http://motorinfo.org/images/koenigsegg-agera-02.jpg

Imagine you are drawing a highly detailed rendering of a car. We all know what a car looks like, we all know if a drawing of a car doesn't look right, yet we probably don't know exactly how to draw it properly. If you are drawing a car and your only reference is your imagination, chances are that your drawing will look, well, not exactly like a car does in real life. But what if you were to trace a picture of a car and then use it as reference to draw exactly where the car has shadows and colour? I bet this drawing will look much better than the one where your reference was your imagination... So why should it be any different for learning to design products?

When you first start designing products you will probably (and are told to) come up with your own shapes, concepts and ideas of what your product will look and function like. What would happen if you were to submit a product concept that looked exactly like one already in existence? You will be told to come up with your own ideas. Sure, you will have classes that teach you how to come up with your own ideas, and classes that will give you an understanding of why products are designed the way they are. But you won't have classes where you do the equivalent of the 'tracing a car picture to learn how to draw it' analogy. Instead it would be more like 'This is how to design a product, now come up with your own based on this knowledge'.

So why should you copy other designs instead of coming up with your own? Its simple; the more you know exactly why/ how a product is designed (through copying it...), the better you will be able to understand why it was designed that way. Think about it; If you design a vacuum cleaner that is just like a Dyson one, then you will know you have a well designed vacuum cleaner. Now when you design another vacuum cleaner, (or any other product, for that matter) you will be able to say, "Hey, I know what makes up a good design for a vacuum cleaner. I'm going to apply the aspects that made up the vacuum cleaner's good design to my own designs. Except this time I will focus on improving and adding my own design innovations to it".

I'm not advocating copying other peoples designs for all of your projects, just consider the ideas in this article for the first few projects. I believe it will help you to better understand and strengthen the lessons your design classes are trying to teach. Combine this article's concepts with the concepts of product design taught by your teachers, and I believe you will produce better work and better understand why a product is designed the way it is.

Don't forget to to share, like and subscribe to help build this community. The more the community builds, the more content we will be able to publish.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO DESIGN SKETCHING- Basic industrial design style drawing with a graphics tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 12:54:00 +0000

First edition in a series of drawing tutorials produced by DfS. This tutorial shows how to draw in a product/ industrial design style, focusing on basic geometric shapes.

I used a free program, Krita, to draw with. It offers all of the features that one would require for any level of digital painting to the extent that I can confidently say it is equal to Photoshop (But Krita is FREE!). I found the pen sensitivity and compliancy with graphics tablets excellent.

Drawing tutorial -

Start a new layer with no background fill. This will be our rough sketching layer.

Use a thin, basic pen brush to sketch out the basic shape that you will be drawing- pay attention to perspective. The way to invoke perspective in drawings is to making lines 'run off into the distance'. Everyone knows that the further away an object is, the smaller it looks to the human eye. So if you were to draw two parallel lines that were going off into the distance, they would gradually appear closer together the further away they are (like looking at a road trail off into the distance). Less perspective is required for small objects. Large objects appear with a much more noticeable perspective.

Now make a new layer; colour background/ fill is optional. Put the sketch layer on top of this layer (so that you can see it) and change the opacity of the sketch layer to a value that makes it just visible. You will now be able to use the sketch as a guide and draw more accurate lines on the other layer.

A rule fundamental to design sketching- All lines on the edges of an object which show only one face are thick lines. All lines that are on the edges of an object showing more than one face are thin lines. This rule helps define the shape of the object.

Using the sketch layer as a guide, draw new accurate lines (remember to follow the above rule). The line thickness is purely up to your judgement and style. Line thickness will be dependent on the style/ feel of the drawing.

I add a solid colour to all sides facing to the right and a darker tint of the same colour to all sides facing to the left. I use the 'darken' pen mode when colouring as it automatically keeps the colour within the black lines. Alternatively, you can use the 'magic wand' tool to select a face and then fill it with colour.

Use a white pen with only 20% opacity to shade and add texture to the sides facing to the right and a black pen with 20% opacity to the sides facing to the left. Pay attention to where the colour fades and where it is darker or lighter in the above video example.

Now we add the shadows. I use the 'darken' mode (or select with wand tool) with a grey pen. Have a play with shadow darkness. There is no specific set darkness of shadows, base it on the mood you want to convey in the drawing.

The shadows should be facing to the left, like in the video example. If you are stuck on where the shadows should be, look at a similar shape in real life for reference (with the light source in the same direction as it is in the drawing, of course).

This diagram visually explains shadows.

All done? Then click here to see the next drawing tutorial. It shows some easy yet extremely effective techniques to draw complex designs quickly- a must for anyone wanting a professional design drawing ability.

Don't forget to to share, like and subscribe to help build this community. The more the community builds, the more content we will be able to publish.

THE AMAZINGLY CHEAP GRAPHICS TABLET REVIEWED- all students must read this before buying one

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 13:15:00 +0000

Money can be tight for students, so the decision to buy a $250.00 Wacom is a very hard one. But graphics tablets can be exceptionally beneficial in helping you to create some amazing work quicker and easier than what is possible with the 'ol pen and paper. Although Wacom do offer one of the best built and designed graphics tablets available, there is a mind bogglingly cheaper option...
On amazon and ebay there a lot of graphics tablets, like this UGEE M1000L, going for only $49. There are a heap of other brands that are basically the same tablet with a different logo on it, and I have seen them go for as little as $30 in ebay auctions. Surely a deal like this is too good to be true, and in my opinion, this is a rare case where you don't get what you pay for, you get a lot more!

amazon.com/images/I/61C35hpkLRL._SL1500_.jpg

DfS decided to buy and test one of these tablets to see what they are really like (the UGEE M1000L as linked above).

This tablet has 2048 levels of pen pressure, 220RPS, a 10 by 6.25 inch active area, 5080LPI and 16 customisable buttons. These specifications are impressively on par with that of the high end Wacoms. If none of those specs make sense, don't worry- they are explained well here.

First impressions of the UGEE are that it feels cheap- the side buttons are sloppy and clunky and the AAA battery powered pen is a little 'cheap Chinese plasticy'. People often complain about the pens on these tablets but when you think about it, what does it matter what it feels like? It doesn't matter at all, because within five minutes of using the pen you adjust to its weight and feel (like you do with any 'real' pen). The pen is responsive and is not glitchy, the pressure sensitivity works well and the pen flows along the tablet surface smoothly. Overall there are no complaints about this tablet, I am surprised that such a cheap product works so well...
What I can't guarantee is product longevity, but according to other users you can get at least 2-3 years of continuous use- and of course it may last many more years with less frequent use but who knows? Either way for the price this is OK.

Here are the first sketches I did with the UGEE tablet. I noticed that I could zoom in and get a level of precision that would be impossible if done by hand. Also, shading and rendering is effortless and looks flawless. Here at DfS we are no experts at drawing- we are just students like you- still learning, but with the graphics tablet I was able to produce a nice piece of work a lot quicker than if I did it on pen and paper. Keep in mind that your intermittent drawing skills will still apply here- if you don't know how to draw in real life then don't expect to produce masterpieces just because you used a graphics tablet. What you will notice though is that the skills you do have will be easier and quicker to apply to the work. But the only way to improve is with LOTS of practice... so try to sketch every day, even if only for 20 minutes, and you will see an improvement in your drawings quality.

DfS will be uploading a tutorial on how to draw things that product & industrial design students will want to know how to draw. This is because DfS is a place built specifically for design students, so please help expand our community by spreading the word about our site, either by facebook sharing, word of mouth or any other means you know how! The more that people support this community, the more content it will publish and the more great help you guys will get!

PROJECT MANAGEMENT- reclaim your projects, reduce your all-nighters

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:18:00 +0000

Every student, me especially, knows the feeling of compromising the quality of their work due to running out of time. All-nighters are a common occurrence amongst designers, students and those working as a designer alike.
The most frustrating part is that it is often not that you don't want to do the work and decide to put it off until it is too late but rather that you simply don't realise you are running out of time to finish the project until it is too late. Ask even an accomplished and professional designer if they have this problem; they do... only it is often due to clients changing their mind or slow suppliers/ manufacturers and not hanging out at the Uni bar...

This is where implementing a project plan into your schedule can be very beneficial in reducing the amount of caffeine induced all-nighters. A project plan is simply determining the time it will take to complete each part of a project and working those parts into your schedule so that you know you will have the time to complete them.
A great way to do this is by using a Gantt chart. It is basically a spreadsheet that allows you to sub each part of the project into an allocated time slot. For example, you would want to have two time slots for each day and what you will do for the project in that time slot.

Project tasks will overlap each other as you will most likely be completing more than one task at a time.
Of course, it is impossible to know exactly how long a task will take- this is where you would implement periods of time dedicated to 'catching up' on tasks.
Make sure any tasks that if postponed would make the time to complete the project increase are done on time. For example, if you are waiting on finishing 'task 4' before you can start a task that will finish the same time that the project is due then make sure you complete 'task 4' on time. If you were to finish 'task 4' late then the project will not be able to be finished on time. This is often where you get caught out for time without realising it until it is too late.
It is also worth putting in the tasks for all of the projects you are or will be doing. This way you will be sure to not forget one.

There are also many apps that work as project plans, these are especially useful for when you have many projects at once or can't be bothered making your own gantt chart. See this post for some examples http://freelancefolder.com/10-free-project-management-applications/

Everyone should have a project plan, unless you don't mind sleepless nights and unfinished projects...