Typography and Expression

This week we learned about typography and how font choices contribute to our design decisions. Fonts and typography contribute much to how well information is communicated to others.

I wanted to learn more about Adobe Illustrator so I went through some tutorials to get a basic understanding of the application, then dove into these assignments.

Expressive Words

Our first assignment is to create expressive words. Expressive words are representations of words that convey the meaning of the word through the fonts used to display the word.

Using a thesaurus for ideas, I picked the word opaque. The word is displayed in a bold black font with its antonyms layered behind it in semi-transparent colors.

The word "opaque" in the center with words related to transparency like glassy and diaphanous randomly placed behind it.

Read more…

Input and Output Experiments and Weekly Readings

Electronics Lab

Our assignment for this week was to create something using digital or analog inputs and outputs. The circuit I created will light up a 3-color LED with a new randomly selected color when a button is pressed.

Here is a photo of the completed device:

arduino connected to breadboard with single 3 color LED lit up, and three resistors connected to the LED leads, and resistors connected to pins 8, 9, and 10.

And a schematic of the circuit:

incorrect circuit diagram! arduino connected to breadboard with single 3 color LED, and three resistors connected to the LED leads, but the resistors are incorrectly connected to power and not pins 8, 9, and 10.

The Arduino uses digital input to detect when the button is pressed and released. It picks random RGB values and outputs analog values to light up the 3 color LED in that color. Observe I am using the 3 resistor values I calibrated for last week's assignment to make the LED's 3 colors balance out.

Read more…

Things That Fit Together

This week we learned new tools for constructing 3D objects. Our assignment is to use what we learned to build something with two parts that fit together.

My idea for this assignment was to build a phillips-head screw. I had a real screw that I used to model my Rhino screw. I began by making careful observations of the screw with a magnifying glass because I wanted the threads, curvature, and proportions to be as realistic as possible. I used digital calipers to take measurements that I incorporated into my design sketch.

Crude drawing of a screw with measurements for width, length, and distance between threads. Also, real screw in the upper right corner.

It took a lot of experimentation to figure out how to do this. I settled on an approach using Rhino's Taper and Helix commands. After tapering a helix shaped line, I can then use that line with the Sweep1 command to make the threads. It is important to taper before adding the threads because the Taper command distorts the threads in an unrealistic way.

Read more…

Tisch Soundwalk and The Machine Stops

Tisch Stairwell Soundwalk

Our class project was to create a Soundwalk within the Tisch building. I worked in a group with my fellow students Chian Huang and Ella Chung.

Our idea was to record the audio of ourselves walking from the main entrance of Tisch up all 12 flights of stairs to the top of the building. We added sound effects to our recording that were inspired by the departments or activities of each floor.

To go on this soundwalk, enter the Tisch building located at 721 Broadway in New York City. Present your ID to the guard and walk to the stairs to the right of the elevator. Go through the door and walk up all the steps.

Read more…

Signage and Information Systems

This week's topic is signage and information systems. Our assignment was to find examples of well designed signage and analyze what it is that makes it effective, and to find examples of poorly designed signage.

My first thought of poor signage is in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I live in the area and do volunteering there on a regular basis. In the park there is a path running through the entire area that is open to bicycles and pedestrians. Here is an example:

bike and pedestrian path in park with trees to the right and left and a metal fence going down the center. A small blue post delineates which side of the path is for bikes and which side is for people.

There is a mixture of people and bicycles everywhere. It's hard to notice the tiny blue sign in the middle that instructs bicyclists to stay on one side of the path and pedestrians on the other side. There are only a couple of signs like this anywhere along this mile-long path. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Bike and pedestrian path in park. Bikes and people who are where they are supposed to be have a green box around them. Those that do not have a red box. The text "Bikes on Left, People on Right" is added to the center of the image.

Read more…

First Electronics Lab and Weekly Readings

Electronics Lab

Our assignment was to create something using switches. My goal was to use 3 switches and a 3 color LED to make a circuit that can produce any color.

First I wired a circuit with a 3 color LED, 3 1K Ω resistors, and 3 buttons, like so:

Arduino, breadboard with 3 buttons and 3 identical resistors, all connected to a 3 color LED.

I am using my Arduino to power the board. Each button can be on or off, so this can produce 8 different colors. In the picture below I am activating the blue and red colors, making magenta.

two of my fingers pushing down on two buttons, lighting up the LED

Read more…

Introduction to Rhino

For our first class, we were introduced to the Rhino modeling program. Our assignment was to build something that fits in a 3 inch cube using the commands we learned about in the lecture.

My goal was to make a standard rook chess piece. To begin, I created a new workspace with millimeter settings (as instructed by Xuedi) and turned on the grid snap. Using the Polyline command, I drew a rough outline of the contour. My intention was to later use the Revolve command.

Gray grid with green and red axis lines and crude outline of rook chess piece

Read more…

Introduction to 3D Printing

Introduction to 3D Printing, taught by Xuedi Chen.

Class blog posts:

Basic Design Principles

Our first assignment is to choose a design we like and analyze its adherence to the principles of design. We needed to look at the grid system, color system, and the fonts.

I picked the movie poster for the movie The Grey. I find the imagery to be visually striking in a way that is consistent with Liam Neeson's character in this movie.

The most primary feature of this poster are Neeson's eyes. His eyes are the most noticeable and are the only blue thing illustrated on the poster. After his eyes, the prominent features are the movie's title and the redness of his mouth and the cut on his face.

Movie poster for the movie The Grey. A close-up of Liam Neeson's face, which has a beard and several cuts on it.

Read more…