Lock it in, Eddie

Over the past week I've been developing a means to lock the rotating rods so that my needlebox functions correctly. An animated conversation I had with a mate of mine at home inspired a few ideas and now I think I have a definite track to follow. Full credit to AJ for the following work of art, from which I was able to develop a coherent series of sketches that eventually evolve into something that might actually work;

Cheers AJ

As for my own development of the concept;

As I couldn't find anything like what is shown in these sketches in the shops its up to me to make the locks. Typical...

The most reasonable and durable option apparent is to solder a ridge onto the underside of the hinge which would jam inside grooves carved into the wooden rods. Using screws would still require solder as a seal and a wooden wedge would eventually wear out. So it was off to the workshop to prototype;

I found after a lot of waiting, that the solder disagreed with the metals I was using and wouldn't attach to them. A solution, it seems, is to change my ridge wire to something other than aluminium and sand off the layer of oxidised metal on the hinge and hopefully some progress can actually be made. But hey, this is what prototyping is all about.
An alternate, but considerably more elaborate solution cooked up in the workshop is to use ball bearing in the way they feature on adjustable-height crutches. Instead of one bearing, however, there would be several staggered around the rod, which would be inside a tube with holes in it for the bearings. This solution would require a lot more delicate work and is a bit less desirable for my inexperienced workmanship.

Here is the sketch nonetheless.

Scheming About Colours

I decided to look into potential colour schemes for my project and what meanings certain combinations may have. My first scheme came from one of the patterns I created in the tutorial which made me think of autumn.

The shapes would likely be angular, slightly softened by curve, taking on a form inspired by leaves.

The next series of images are more about the shapes, rather than the colour scheme (as you'll see it's not very colourful).

Constructing a web from a build up of random and incredibly fine lines could look awesome if done right. It would just need a little colour.

This final few images probably excite me the most. Having a crack effect that gets more intense the more layers are built up could be incredible. The code might be a bit of a nightmare but we'll just have to wait and see.

Although the blue will not be as dark as shown here it could look quite cool with a touch of grey.

Making Pretty Structures

Having downloaded the pattern maker code it was time to experiment. Our new project is to explore the concepts of structure and noise in how they differ and how they relate. Although today's experimentation was  still pattern oriented, it introduced 'loops' into the code, opening up a new range of possibilities of what we can create. With a better understanding of the code I hope to explore structure and noise and create some intricate, and hopefully beautiful, imagery.
These are the results of my experimentation;

As you can see, as soon as I discovered how to make a gradient I was off. Being able to control numerous colour gradients as well broadens the range of what I can accomplish with the code. Exciting times...

Interim

Touch is the most intimate of the senses. It can create an enormous range of sensations that trigger various emotions. In my project I wanted to explore the sense of touch. Undeniably touch is kinetic; we use our hands to stroke a cat, our feet to test the temperature of a pool, our tongues to play with a lolly in our mouths. To create an interesting experience for the sense of touch I would have to create an object that can be interacted with in a kinetic way.

I chose to create a box of wires where the angle of the wires can be adjusted to alter the sensation they create when stroked against the skin. This artificial ‘grain’ can change the sensation from being a pleasant massage to a scratchy rake. The angle of the wires is adjusted by rotating the rods which they are mounted on and locking the rods in place with a latch. Not only do the wires provide a sensual experience but the kinetic manipulation of them adds to the experience as well.

Finally, being able to manipulate the wires means that the user is able to customise their experience, and is free to experiment.

Lock, Box and Needle

This is one of the reasons I want to do Media Design over Industrial. But hey, I took physics in high school and enjoyed the engineering, so here we are. Hopefully this helps solve my locking problem for the needle combs.

I want to avoid a lock that requires pressure as I plan to use wood. Applying too much pressure too often might cause the wood to fracture. And that's not good.

Slotting the rods in and out of some kind of frame that is reset by a spring could work if the frame allowed multiple orientations of the needles. The rod holding the needles could be pulled out, twisted and released. The only flaw is that the rows could collide with each other.

Some kind of tab latch could apply pressure to one side of the rod. Not really feeling this one though...

Just another picture of a spring latch. I think I'll visit my sketchbook now. Oh dear, it's twenty to one and I have to be up at seven...

Images found at;

http://www.yerikindia.com/products/6-Truck-and-Trailer-Parts/6-109-Spring-Latch-Assembly-enlarge.jpg
http://www.supersecuritylocksmith.com/images/Dec/xSash_Lock_-_Latch_Base.jpg http://image.ec21.com/image/kwankee/OF0014553376_1/Sell_sliding_moon_rotating_lock.jpg
http://www.iowa80.com/DirectionsWEB/client/images/l09478.jpg

Adaptable Form

Ta-da!

My final forms all primed (bah-dum tsh) and ready. I made a few adjustments to the final composition to make the overall change flow a lot better. If I was to do this project again I would explore breaking the shape up more as I found I was restricting myself too much to the triangles. The second series is probably the most successful as it completely removes itself from the boundaries of its original form and as it disintegrates it produces numerous other shapes.

Another change I would make would be to play with filling aspects of the shapes in white to create greater impact from the white; perhaps through not clearing the background when moving the shapes? I found that if the stroke got too thick the shapes became 'clunky' so I preferred to use the thinner line. This kept the corners of the triangles sharp and the images seemed more delicate.

Overall I think it was a successful project. The slight gradient produced by the increasing density of white aids the composition in coming together as a whole and emphasises the transformation. I am also pleased with how warped the final forms are of each series relative to how they begun. Hopefully the markers feel the same way :)

Black is the New Black

Here they are, potentially my final five series. I ended up doubling the stroke weight from one to two to make my images more imposing. I then inverted the colours and found that the white shapes on the dark background really popped. Because they will be mounted on black foam board I will likely leave a thin white border around each image but no more than a couple of millimetres as I don't want to distract from the forms. The last two series I created came from the realisation that I was restricting myself to manipulating the triangles as whole shapes so instead I altered the lines. I also wanted to push the boundaries of my form, almost literally to the boundaries, while breaking it up into its most basic components.

The 'twist' series, where the triangles twist to form a fan as they stretch actually goes further than what is displayed and creates this wonderful hollow fan inside itself if it continues to expand but to get to this stage in the series would require massive jumps and would make it too confusing.

I have yet to see any of these on paper so that will be tomorrows job before anything is finalised.