Form Investigation Project

Project Areas: Industrial Design, Form Design

Project Length: 2.5 weeks

Participants: Matthew Derry

This project revolved around the idea of how form impacts design. This work started with initial sketches, progressing through rapid prototyping, color studies, and exploded views for a final line of product designs.

I chose three form directions to initially pursue. The first was based off of the Hercules Beetle, the second was influenced by the spiraled bark of an orchid tree, and the third was inspired by a chair design by Brodie Niel. For each of these areas I did sketches and then created moodboards that tried to evoke the same form language. In the end I went with the form language of the Dynastes Hercules beetle which largely revolved around asymmetrical bodies that sat in opposition with one another.

I continued on from the form inspiration with a visual psychographic study of the customer that I would be targeting. With the form language and the user defined it was easier to move into form ideation for the products that I would be designing.

Initial form ideation

KETTLE & MUG DESIGN

After choosing three products to redesign based on the form language of the moodboard selected I began initial sketches. I ended up pushing forward with more dramatic examples of smooth curves paired with an asymmetrical design.

The sketches below show the progression of ideas for the tea kettle and mug. I looked at taking the asymmetrical design in a couple of different directions (ie. planar or curved forms) but in the end settled on smoothed curves that would catch the light in the same way as the Hercules Beetle’s head catches the light.

COFFEE GRINDER DESIGN

Design progression of the coffee grinder. As in the designs for the kettle and mug the origin of the forms were based off of the Hercules Beetle’s asymmetrical form.

Earlier sketches start on the left side and progress along with foam-core models. The foam core model pictured had some of the design elements that I wanted to emphasis but had less of the smooth asymmetrical form of the beetle. This led the the continued push towards a more unified design.

Continued exploration of the coffee grinder form with higher fidelity models using yellow foam. Having the body of the grinder tilt in one direction and then be offset by the handle captured the feeling that I wanted to portray. The coffee beans would go in the top cavity and then be ground with a hand powered burr grinder into the lower piece of the product. This lower container would hold the grounds and could be removable for easy access.

With this general form to work off of, I began looking at more visual aspects of the form such as the color and finish. As mentioned before, I wanted the surface to evoke the same feeling as the beetle’s black head. This meant a satin like finish that would catch the light at the corners and along the form of the design, accentuating its curves.

Color / Material Studies

After coming to a final form I further investigated color and material choices based on branding direction.

Looks-Like Model

Form of coffee grinder carved from yellow foam, spackled, sanded, and painted to match the aesthetic defined. Handle spins around the central axis to grind the coffee with the internal burr. The lower compartment slides out to allow for easy access of the freshly ground coffee.

DESIGN VISUALS

After refining form language and color palette, final renderings and exploded views were completed on Photoshop & Illustrator.

Instead of modeling then rendering in Keyshot I wanted to create Photoshop renders of the kettle and coffee grinder along with exploded views to more clearly show the different components and functionality of the designs.

ORTHOGRAPHICS

Final detailing of coffee grinder, tea kettle, and individual mug. Dimension used in final foam models.

Again, these were done on Illustrator instead of how I would normally do them in Solidworks.