Dee's OBDF 310 blog

I'm having a lot of trouble with the bottle, actually. Between juggling other midterm projects and trying to figure out the weird truncated cone shape at the bottom I've been a little stuck. I feel like I'm on the edge of breaking through and completing the project but for now I'm stumped. So, to sum up what I've achieved - I created the cap using extremely fine triangles and the extrude tools, and used the caliper to measure out the size of the bottom of the bottle. I had to do a bunch of maths to figure out the size and number of triangles I need, finding the circumference and the arc length of the base of each triangle, then dividing the circumference by the arc length. I then used the rotate/copy tool to line the entire circumference of a circle with the triangles, and extruded it to form a cap. I also made a smaller cylinder inside and used boolean split to make the cap hollow. For the bottle base, so far I've made the hollow shape on the bottom of t...

So, I actually chose a new object for the project. It's the pill bottle for my estrogen medication. The bottle seems simple but actually has 3 components - the cap, the bottle itself, and inside the cap, there's a little tab that clicks into place that functions as the child-safe lock that prevents children from unscrewing it easily. Additionally, there are various stickers on the bottle body that I think would make for a good challenge to reproduce. I would choose this over my jeweller's saw because of it's personal importance to me - as a transgendered woman this one bottle is easily the most important object I own, and I would not give it up for anything. Furthermore, despite the simple geometries of the objects, there are actually many intricacies in the design - teeth and grooves and other moving parts - that I would like to investigate. The following are some pictures of the broken down components as well as some close-up shots.

For this project, I had to select an object to disassemble, recreate digitally, and reassemble without issue. My choice for the assignment is my Jeweller's Saw. The saw is made of two main components - the handle and the saw frame. But the saw frame can be further broken down into multiple parts - the base, the backing, the screws, each of the vices that hold the saw blade in place. I chose the saw because it is significant to my current art practice as a jewellery designer. I also chose it because there are numerous components to this piece that have very different constructions - for example, the handle is more organic, the saw frame is more geometric. The screws are teethed, etc. There are many different textures and forms to capture in this one object, and yet the saw functions smoothly as one simple object. This elegance and streamlined ergonomic design is why I decided to choose the saw.

So, patterns. I always fancied myself a purveyor of good patterns - I'm very fond of patterns, especially on daily wardrobe and other textiles. My brain is also quite obsessive when it comes to repeating patterns and will nitpick inconsistencies and asymmetries. That's why, for this study, I mostly chose patterns of a fractal or floral nature so when it comes to making a pattern myself, I have references for making sure the pattern loops smoothly over several sections. Examples looked at: One face on a 6-sided box-cushion. It uses a floral style radial symmetry that I find very appealing. The hem on a new coat I bought. The simple yet evocative diamond loop catches my attention. A blanket cover with examples of symmetrical design, once again in florals, but with a more geometric twist. HONORABLE MENTION: not a photo, but the design of a character from a webcomic called Goodbye To Halos by Valerie Halla is super evocative and interesting. The eye motif in pa...

The Tower of Dee's Hubris So for the first assignment, we were given the task to create a castle. Sounds pretty self explanatory, yes? Well, I immediately thought, why a castle though? Why not some other defensive structure where figures of authority ruled over grovelling peasants from? I jumped right in, starting to do some research on different styles of fortification and 'castles' (technically still a castle! Just not the European kind) throughout history, and hit on a few types I was really quite fond of. Being a huge nerd for Mesopotamian cultures to begin with I had a strong bias to make a ziggurat, a la the Tower of Babel (see fig. 1) among other semi-religious, semi-fortified buildings. (Fig 1. Public Domain picture of a Ziggurat in Iraq. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ancient_ziggurat_at_Ali_Air_Base_Iraq_2005.jpg ) I additionally looked up other prominent forms of ancient fortification such as Egyptian temple complexes and palaces (see f...