Top 5 Specifications
High Quality Laser Cut Patterns
The most important aspect of the project is the quality of the laser cut mountain and tree patterns. If those don’t turn out well, the piece will not be the desired quality and my parents won’t want to have it displayed in their new house.
Matches Room Aesthetic
My mom has repeatedly made it known that she wants the color scheme of the piece to match the existing colors of the wall and the rest of the house.
Visible Animal Pattern
A major difference between the piece I am creating and many of the templates on Etsy is that in mine there are animal outlines nested within the treeline. This means I will have to be mindful of the background and tree color contrast. If I left the entire background dark blue, the animals would not be easily visible which would look bad. My mitigation plan for this is to paint gray splotches on the backboard where the animal cutouts will be. This will require some forward thinking and careful marking of where the pieces will go.
Even Paint Application
It is very important that the paint is applied evenly to the piece so that the surface is relatively smooth. Because the art will be viewed from below, it will be more obvious if there are thick areas or paint drips which will distract from the beauty of the scene.
Functional Door Hinge
Access to the loft room is paramount to the success of the design. Without it the project will have no dynamic component and the loft will be permanently sealed off which is not the desired outcome.
Top 5 Constraints
Laser Cutter Availability
The laser cutter is a popular tool used for freshman projects so it will be important to get on the machine sooner rather than later.
Time
The end of the semester and graduation are rapidly approaching! Although this is exciting, it also means I am on the clock to finish the project. I already know that the end of the semester will be incredibly busy so I need to stay on top of my work in this class and the others.
Budget
The budget is the smallest concern for this project as I discovered that I already have most of the paints I will need and I purchased the wood from home depot for less than $50.
Paint Supplies
I will need to purchase white and gray paints to complete the project which I have been looking for online. I have identified a couple options but have not made the final purchase yet.
Space to Paint
Painting is a messy and time consuming activity. Not only is the lots of setup and teardown involved, but the piece also has to sit undisturbed while multiple coats dry over the course of several days. Because I will be applying multiple coats it is important to let the previous coat dry before applying the next. My current plan is to talk to my roommates and clear a 5 foot by 5 foot area in the garage. This would be an optimal place to paint because it doesn’t matter if some paint gets on the floor. One of the two downsides I can think of are that paint dries slower and less evenly in the cold. The other is that it could be disturbed when people take their bikes and other belongings in and out of the garage.
5 Comments. Leave new
Super cool ideas, I think this will look great on the wall. Will you be added some color the laser cut grooves on the piece?
Collin – looking forward to seeing the final product. One thing that may be worthwhile is playing around with the laser cutter settings on test pieces of the same material to dial in the style of the cut.
Definetly, I had some issues with the piece moving slightly between passes which I luckily caught on test pieces.
Hi Collin, I really like this idea. Your laser cut fabrication process helps understand your overall plan and scale along with your aesthetic. I noticed that you said you would be laser cutting your wood pieces and also including a background on blackboard. I wonder if you plan on creating a frame or a way to mount the overall piece. I don’t know the exact scale or weight but I am curious on how you plan to incorporate this as well as your method on attaching the laser cut items to the design itself. Good job!
Hi Emilee, good question! I forgot to mention it in the post but I will mount the backboard using command strips so that it can be easily put up and taken down. The whole thing will wiegh ~10lbs so 4 command strips, 1 on each corner, should be sufficient to hold it in place on the wall door.