What Emotions Do Lines Communicate?

In nature, seashells contain tons of lines.

Lines communicate emotion through the different shapes sizes shades and hues they come in. Soft, curved lines used in the drawing of a face may suggest a friendly face that communicates nice or positive emotions. In contrast, straight thick lines, may suggest a more negative or serious emotion.

The top left is a structural drawing, underneath it is an outline drawing,
underneath that is a contour drawing and the top right is a gestural drawing

Self as Designer

In this drawing I am in the corner. Each of the letters in my name
 portray a different aspect about design that I believe are important for me
as a designer to keep in mind.

The first letter "M" contains symbols of nature. I think nature is a very important aspect of design, because whatever we design helps us with how we cope with the world around us.

Second, the "E" has a pen that is drawing. I have always found it easy to use a pen and paper to express my ideas and I believe this is important for me as a designer as well. The first steps in designing something can take place with a pen and paper. Brainstorming, sketching, drawing blueprints, and note-taking all are necessary steps in designing that require a pen and paper.

The third letter, another "E", is built half-way with bricks. As a designer, I think it is important for me to know about all of the simple things that are used to build in the world that are very useful, like bricks.

Fourth, the letter "R" represents reading. For me, reading is essential for anything, including design. Books, websites, and magazines contain loads of information that can prove very useful to a designer.

Fifth, the "A" represents community and society in general. Most things that are designed are built for the benefit of the people. Keeping in mind the consumers of the potential "product" you are designing, I think, is very important for a designer. Many things are designed to essentially make life "easier", and to determine how to do this reflecting on the problems of everyday appliances can help designers reach this goal.

All of these aspects outline my goals for this class:
1) incorporate nature in my designs or things that can help the earth.
2) become better at drawing/sketching the concepts I want to design.
3)  eventually have ideas on how to improve the way people design things and the basic building blocks of design
4) gain knowledge of designing (how it works, what I need to learn)
5) help society and gather ideas on how to improve community/society

Product Improvement: Water bottle

For my groups Product Improvement we decided to improve the average Styrofoam cup. We knew that there were aspects of the cup that could be changed to enhance the product. 

Water Bottle Designs in Engineering Notebook 

First, we brainstormed different things that we didn't like about the cup that could be changed to create a more useful product.

• not sturdy 
• not reusable
• not easy to hold
• only one (small) size
• no straw
• no lid or coaster
• no insulation for hot drinks

Second in our improvement process, we talked about things we could add to fix some, if not all, of these problems we brainstormed about.

• metal and plastic material for sturdiness
• dishwasher safe/washable material
• nice grip for easy holding
• plastic rivets that can squeeze and lock together (comparable to i-home speaker)
• reusable straw that doesn't melt in hot liquids
• a lid that turns into a coaster (close-able hole for drinking with straw or mouth)
• insulating material between metal and plastic double layers to keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot

Third, we documented our work by drawing detailed and labeled images of our new designs ( as shown in the engineering notebook above)

Brainstorming, Testing & Teamwork: Grand Canyon Bridge Challenge

• Brainstorming is really helpful when solving a problem because you are able to list out all of your ideas without doubting yourself. When you allow all of your ideas to flow it is easier to pick one idea that is best to solve the problem you are focusing on.

• A successful team comprises of individuals who are willing to work together, be open with ideas, and accept errors and mistakes. A good team also requires people who can blend ideas and incorporate everyone's thoughts.

• We could have done a few things differently. First of all we could have had more tests before we started building our final model because one of our problems was too late to fix. Our problem was that our slits were too big where we weaved in the paper and also our paper wasn't curved enough on the one of the papers. Other than this, however, everything worked well. (:

• Testing is also very important for solving a problem. When we tested our ideas we were able to improve on our work while looking at what problems really effected our design. We had to find effective ways of fixing the problems, and testing our ideas really helped us see what worked and what didn't.