Student Work

I’ve been struggling a lot to try and come up with an idea for what to do for this project. This irks me because I’m constantly looking around my house and on the internet seeing cool things other individuals have done and thinking, “Oh I’d like to try to build something like that” but of…

Between the upcycle project and the work I had for other class, I hadn’t put too much thought into what I would like to do for my final project. As a result, I don’t have that many ideas for something that I could do so for this post I figured I would just list out…

I’m not too sure what I want to do for my final project, but I have a few ideas: An ergonomic bottle opener A folding chair (or series of folding chairs) Something I can make to house and interactive device with Arduino for another class   The bottle opener is an idea I had to…

Having just finished the upscale project, I haven’t put much thought into the main project.  Because of this, I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for it.  For this inspiration post, I suppose I will talk about things that I am passionate about and hopefully it will give me some inspiration.  The…

I have to decide between two ideas for my final project. I like both the ideas equally and I might end up doing both but one as a self project. Both the ideas have a aesthetic element to them. Lightboard- I was inspired to make this as my final project after I saw it in…

I have no idea what I want to make for the final project. Well, that’s not totally accurate. What I should say is that I have too many ideas about what I will make, and I don’t like any of them. I am enjoying learning about woodworking (see my upcycle project to learn more about…

I have not settled on a final project plan but have a few ideas that I’m playing with in my head. None of my ideas have any particular relation other than the fact that I am going to try to upcycle (I know it’s no longer a project requirement, but we should always try to…

For the main project in our class I have had some trouble figuring out what I wanted to do but I have an initial idea of what I want to do. I have been watching the Avengers series recently, and began to think about how I could possibly make Thanos’ gauntlet from Avengers Infinity War…

For my project, I decided to upcycle a decorative vase I had by using leftover magazines, newspaper, and other paper material lying around my house to form an art piece that fits the Merz paper mache collage aesthetic. I have been interested in the Merz aesthetic ever since I found out about and researched it’s…

I am still unsure of what topics I would like to explore for the main project aesthetic. I have a few ideas I believe would be fun to explore though! The first project I have in my mind is the aesthetic of machining and fabrications, particularly mill machines and cnc operations. To me this is…

One of my favorite hobbies is dirt biking – I ride a KTM 300cc (seen in the featured image) two-stroke that has been an absolute blast to ride for the past several years. One of the aspects of two-stroke engines that make them so fun is the simplicity of the engine itself. A two-stroke engine,…

A while back my dad and I thought that it would be a good idea to buy a project car to work on and bond through. Two years later and the car is still a project and we have put much more money into it than it is worth. However, him and I being the…

So far, my final project inspirations stem from a few different ideas and aesthetics. While I am still unsure if I will end up going with any of these I think that going a bit deeper into the ideas will help me brainstorm further and help me decide what to choose. One of the main…

For my main semester project, I am going to be building a ‘tensegrity’ base for a coffee table. A ‘tensegrity’ design is a tension-based structure that creates a sort of floating illusion. These designs operate on the principle of opposing tension to create stability. A lot of the designs that I have seen out there…

If you have taken a physics class in high school, which I’d imagine most of you did, you’ve probably had to build a mousetrap car as one of your projects. For me, it was a really interesting and fun project because you got to apply the physics concepts that you learned in class into an…

For my main project, I am thinking about doing a hidden blade; inspired by the videogame saga Assassin’s Creed. In the videogame series, the hidden blade is a concealable weapon that undergoes many aesthetic and functional variations. The first hidden blades showed in the game are owned by Altair and the other Assassins, they are…

Figure 1 Figure 2 My idea for my final project is to build a desk extension. I recently removed my desk riser to make room for a monitor, and I lost some easily reachable storage space. I don’t have a table that is the same height as my desk, so I figured I could build…

Masks are often a common element in the world of sci-fi. Whether it be for outer space, issues of pollution, or to protect against viruses, masks are often added into the genre. With issues such as COVID-19 arising and masks becoming more common, I can see the connection of why they are somewhat synonyms with…

I am constantly finding myself needing more light when I am working on projects in my room. I find myself trying to stand my phone up at weird angles in order to get light at a specific angle. I am thinking of making a desk lamp that can articulate to many different angles. I have…

My final project has been difficult for me to figure out. There are so many possibilities that I am struggling to make design constraints to brainstorm within. I want to take inspiration from well thought out engineering, simple yet elegant. I want to make something that I can use every day, not something that will…

My father has been asking for a digital picture frame for christmas or his birthday for years now. For some reason each year we neglect his request and get him something else. Why? I have no idea. But delay no more, for my final project in Aesthetics of Design I have decided to produced him…

For my main project, I am still unsure of what I want to do, but I have several inspirations that are guiding me. I plan to do some sort of art piece, with interactive or moving parts. I haven’t yet decided on what type of aesthetic to pursue, but I have a general genre or…

For my final project I am planning to try to incorporate a special extra black paint. I think that it will be an interesting combination with trying to incorporate something dynamic into my project. The reason that I am thinking about using this is that I think that if I have certain parts of my…

As a little kid I constantly found myself wanting to take apart objects or find a way to lock mechanisms that could be used for storage. For example, I had a special piggy bank for my allowance that had a key locking mechanism which must be inserted a certain way to unlock the piggy bank.…

Organics Inspired Desk Water Fountain For my final project I wanted to experiment with a process I have played around with the past. This process is the Topology Optimization tool in SOLIDWORKS which maximizes the stiffness to weight ratio of a given component. Basically, Topology Optimization strategically takes away material from the part while attempting…

With remote work not going anywhere anytime soon, people are making the most of their home spaces to create a space that allows for work to be done while also creating a relaxing space. I want to create two office spaces in a spare room that will still be able to function as a home…

What could be better than lying back in a hammock on a nice summer day with a cold drink in one hand and a good book in the other? Try and think of something – I’ll wait… With the cold weather that comes with the late winter months and the stresses of looming work and…

It’s always a good feeling to take something you’re ready to throw away and use it to make a useful product. My upcycle project involved taking an old bicycle wheel that was completely useless and transforming it into a functional clock. My goal for the aesthetic of the clock was to have a modern and…

From the beginning, I wanted a piece that could represent the human spirit in all its heroism and strength. Triumph and adventure was the aesthetic and mood that I wanted to evoke when looking at the statue. I wanted it to achieve the correct proportions and hold a pose that would convey the desired energy…

Presentation and Critiques When I first thought of what I should make for my upcycle project, I wanted to use whatever discarded material that I already have to save time and money. With this in mind, I looked around my place and found several cardboard boxes that are just sitting there waiting to be thrown…

For my project, I decided to upcycle a decorative vase I had by using leftover magazines, newspaper, and other paper material lying around my house to form an art piece that fits the Merz paper mache collage aesthetic. I have been interested in the Merz aesthetic ever since I found out about and researched it’s…

At this time for the upcycling project, I have managed to make the final product somewhat close to the initial idea. I started off with using solar panels from my calculators to charge Li-ion Rechargeable Button Cells(LIR-2032), 3.6 V that would power a Red LED inside a Crystal Ball Souvenir. My circuit consisted of a…

  Completing this upcycle project has definitely been a fun and interesting experience. It is always fulfilling to use low value materials to create something valuable and/or useful. I don’t mean to detract in any way from the value of creating pure art, but I personally find the upcycle process especially fulfilling when one produces…

  The conservation slogan that I remember most from my childhood is the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These R’s are supposed to be applied, in order, to all consumable products that people use. So where exactly does Upcycling fit into the R’s? Is it reusing? Recycling? If you make something that you would’ve bought,…

Just a little recap for my original plan for this project… I bought some Nerf guns at the beginning of quarantine to curb my girlfriend and I’s boredom. It quickly devolved into being paranoid of walking into a room due to the fear of catching a Nerf dart in the eye. As the months progressed,…

  The intent of this upcycle project was to create a lighting element that was well-incorporated into the space (such that it is not obvious it is a light) and to give off the vibe that the light was from the future.   [  Starting Point  ] I had already repurposed this metal shelf as…

For my upcycle project I was really inspired to explore further the low poly aesthetic.  The low poly aesthetic while visually stunning in it’s simplicity has two different forms.  3D and 2D.  The 3D low poly art is a fully rendered computer model with triangular facets which is shaded in accordance to simulated light.  It…

For my Upcycle Project I used cardboard to create a model car. The aesthetic that I tried to achieve was a modern supercar style and based the car off of a Lamborghini Aventador. The modern supercars have a distinct look with their sleek lines and low profile to the ground giving them a very noticeable…

Inspirations and Visions for the Project The aesthetic I have decided for my upcycling project is the high-end ski après lifestyle. It only takes a quick google to realize that buying a hand crafted ski chair isn’t cheap, and yet all the ski resorts tend to have them littered around. As a kid I always thought…

For my upcycle project, I wanted to capture the aesthetic of the 20th century graphic artist M.C. Escher. I also wanted to try my best to constrain my artifact with actual recycled material I had in my apartment. I think this added to the overall Upcycle aesthetic of the project, but it ultimately cost me…

For the final artifact for the Upcycling Project I created a polaroid picture frame. The inspiration for this artifact came from a poster I have in my apartment that is shown below. From this poster, I wanted to combine the classic / retro aesthetic of old hockey sticks with a modern aesthetic.  How I envisioned…

Inspiration: Creativity is not one of my strong suits and thus my Upcycle project took quite a bit of searching. At the beginning of the semester when we discussed our comfort levels with design I rated myself at the very bottom of the list. Therefore, I needed to take a different avenue to come up…

As mentioned in previous progress posts, I constructed a mobile out of old climbing gear.  The aesthetic that I was striving for was that of the climbing gear itself.  I wanted to both show the beauty of it due to the inherit simplicity, and the fact that it hadn’t changed much over the years.  I…

Presentation Video How Frame Fits Together Video For my upcycle project, I repurposed a climbing crash pad to be used as a small couch. I built a frame out of plywood for the pad to sit on comfortably, which was the main fabrication portion of my project. My goal was to apply a sleek minimalist…

Inspiration Incense waterfalls are a product found typically in Chinese Feng Shui, and are often created with religious imagery like the Buddha shown in the Figure 2. The origins of incense go back to the Babylonians thousands of years ago; however the backflow incense are attributed to Chinese culture. The inspiration for my upcycle project…

https://vimeo.com/user134296562/review/515596643/2d35099ce2 https://vimeo.com/user134296562/review/515596643/2d35099ce2 Presentation Video: https://vimeo.com/user134296562/review/515596643/2d35099ce2 Did you know that recycling is bad for the environment? It takes a lot more time, energy, and resources to recycle a plastic bottle, aluminum can, or glass jar than it does to produce new ones out of raw materials. Even after the tedious sorting, transporting, and distributing of recyclable…

We have all been spending far too much time in our homes recently, and if you’re anything like me, you may have rearranged your entire apartment 3 times by now in hopes that you would feel like you were in a less stagnant environment. Well there’s only so much reorganizing one can realistically do before…

Patchwork Aesthetic: Japanese Gi Inspired Bomber Jacket This blog post will show my final product of the upcycle project. I made a Japanese Gi Inspired Bomber Jacket following the Patchwork Aesthetic. However, before detailing the outcome of my project it is important to recap a few things that some people might not know if they…

What I did previously: Prior to this post, I made an initial post about the aesthetic and a progress post. In both of these I discussed my aesthetic inspiration and my plans for its functionality (more on this later), but also shared my initial work. I first started with sketches to get a sense for…

For my upcycling project, I planned to make a wire sculpture from upcycled copper wire. I explored several different ideas, including wire-wrap jewelry, or other wire-wrap decorations. For example, the two photos below represent the exploration phase of the project for me. I had no clear ideas in mind, and instead was just using the…

For my upcycle project, I created a cardboard model of the Toyota AE86 from the show Initial D. I wanted this project to capture the realism aesthetic, as well as the Japanese drift aesthetic. My vision for this project was to create a realistic model of the car that looked as similar to the original…

Intro to Viking Aesthetics Viking art is estimated to have started at the end of the 8th century. It was first developed by the Viking tribes of Scandinavia in territories that we now know as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Vikings decorated almost everything with elaborate carvings and contrasting super-positioned materials. Currently, Viking art is mostly…

For my upcycle project I wanted to bring plants inside in a minimal clean style that can be multifunctional. I decided to make small air plant holders that also act as refrigerator magnets because I never seem to have enough magnets on the fridge. Since I am still working on decorating my house, I did…

For this project I decided to focus on the aesthetic of sailing. Sailing is a part of my family and has been passed down through generations. Every year my family travels to Michigan to sail and partake in our favorite hobby! For those of you who do not know what a Hobie cat is, it…

For my project, I decided to upcycle cardboard boxes that I already owned and the racing bibs I have received over the last three and a half years into a work of art embodying the old school athletics aesthetic. The inspiration behind this came from running my last indoor track meet at the University of…

The aesthetic I chose to incorporate into my upcycle project is the tropical aesthetic. I chose this because the topical aesthetics is one of my favorites. I think the tropical aesthetic captures a fun lifestyle that is missing during quarantine. Along with this I think the tropical aesthetic is one that can be well captured…

  Following the comments from the previous post, I decided to incorporate gaming as a theme for the mainstage similar to how festivals have nature or a themed festival. For this, I took apart an old controller and added it as a DJ controller which is basically where the producers and DJs mix their music…

In the wake of a Netflix original TV series and rising popularity on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, chess has been making a recent resurgence. The story starts with an all in one platform called Chess.com. The Site is an free internet chess server, with aspects of forums, and a social media site. Games are…

Since my previous post, I’ve finalized my design to be a bicycle wheel clock. The materials I will need for the design will compose of a bicycle wheel rim, cardboard(for numbers or clock hands), an old clock(for the mechanism), some spray paint, old RGB lights with a battery, and velcro. Initially, I started by taking…

Hi All, In this blog post, I’ll be going over some of the progress I’ve made thus far on designing my Lichtenberg vinyl frame. Although I have not physically started constructing my vinyl frame, I’ve made some preliminary designs for the dimensions. The vinyl album itself is 12 and 7/16″ squared. To size the frame,…

The upcycling aesthetic that I chose was one of triumph and adventure. I decided to create a statue with a heroic pose made primarily out of a plastic bag, at least from the outside. The materials I gathered for the piece were pipe-cleaners, tinfoil, a small paper cup, and a plastic bag. Following the basic…

Example waterfall As an update I am close to my final assembly and I am so satisfied with the way the waterfall came out. I will outline the crafting process in the final post, but the changes I would like to make are the spout in which the incense is held. Without really thinking I…

The Lamp is coming along very well! Following the initial sketches I made, I went ahead and took measurements of the board and my lamp frame to get a better sense of how the slats would be made. From here I made a template of one of the slats with a slight curve. I feel…

Progress for my upcycle project has been moving along at a good pace. I spent the majority of the previous week planning the finalized design for my build as well as acquiring all the materials that will be necessary.  My plan is to cut out multiple faces of the Saturn V rocket out of cardboard,…

I have been seeing some good progress in my upcycle project to repurpose my rock climbing crash pad into a couch. So far, I have fully fleshed out the design, planned on my materials, and now just need to fabricate the frame. In order to minimize cost and materials, I spent some time working out…

Since the last post, I have come up with a set design for my upcycle spatula. I have also finalized my plan for actually building and finishing the spatula. I have not gotten to the building process yet, but I plan to get started in the coming week. For now, I will just describe my…

The first step of creating a cardboard rocket ship is to obtain flat cardboard pieces. So I have disassembled one of my cardboard boxes into several moderately sized pieces. The first part I decided to make is the body of the ship. The body will be a hexagon prism, so I would need 6 identical…