I am in the throes of designing my amp. I have created a CAD model that is helping me visualize my structure and how it will play into the aesthetic.
At first glance, and every glance thereafter, my design very closely resembles a washing machine made by Mattel. This was driven directly by the constraints of designing an amp cabinet that is essentially a rebuild of the current cabinet. I have added some greeblies, moved some knobs, and added vents (which actually serve a purpose beyond being greeblies), but the overall look is still unbearably that of a washing machine.
I tried darkening the control panel, adding filets to the edges, and changing a greeblie vent for a steel panel (which appears white, for some unknown reason). I do like how the vent on top looks, and I am likely to keep it there, but I will perhaps add a cover to make it look more complicated.
Some of my weathering practice has gone well. I like the look of the gunmetal paint, rust paint, and oil effects on the bumpers that I removed from the amp. On the final build I am planning to make my own bumpers to fit the aesthetic.
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These initial designs look amazing, it looks very complex and fitting a Star Wars aesthetic is no easy feat.
Tyler,
I really like the project that you chose. It seems very complex with a lot of parts that are going to need to work together. Since many of the steps to make this is very time consuming, I think it would be smart idea to work on creating the the aesthetic part of it first and getting it right before moving onto electronics. In this case, you can work on the electronics after and try to complete it by the end of this class and if not you have a aesthetics speaker/amp to display.
Hey Tyler I’m excited to see your star wars amp project. Using the droid aesthetic is impressive and I’m curious to see how you design the control panel. I think this project is a great idea and anyone who loves music and star wars will appreciate your project.
Hi Tyler, I like your idea. Initially, I thought it wasn’t creative but after you showed your “washing machine” I realized it will be both a creative and technical challenge to mimic the Star Wars aesthetic. Being consistent and repetitive throughout the project will be very important. I consider the surface finish to be very important especially in this class great job experimenting early in the design process.
Tyler, you have a very strong sense of what you want the aesthetic to be for this project which is great. You also have a lot of unique material going into this project. I can’t wait to see what you do and how it turns out! I am wondering if you have a timeline for when you want to complete every aspect of the project. Especially, with so may components it’s good to stay within a time-frame.
I think you have a great start! Your vision is clear and that will help you in the long run. Something that I would not have thought about that is really creative is the greebles to make it way more detailed, really fits the aesthetic!
Pretty Cool Aesthetics!.
Hi Tyler,
Great work and great thinking process. I like the star wars theme. The idea of making a speaker who looks like a pod is great. great work.
Tyler,
I love your aesthetic and the motivation behind it. The idea of reusing old scraps to create the aesthetic in Star Wars is a great idea because of the way that they reuse their props. I liked the weeblys that you showed in class and I appreciate the work that you seem to be planning to put into it. My question is how the wiring is going to be incorporated with the amp. Will there be an external power source for the lights and other electronic parts or will it be powered by the amp? Great project idea!
This project has a lot of depth, and I think you’ve got a strong sense of where you want to go with it. I think the biggest issue will be managing your time enough to complete every component. Maybe start by working on the aesthetic portion of the amp, which may be counter to what your hopes are for the completed project. But the functionality might be much more time consuming to implement.