50 Shades Design Exploration
A Glass of Water
Background Information:
This was my favorite design exploration from my Ideation and Prototyping class at NYU taught by the wonderful Dalit Shalom. For my object, I chose to sketch 50 iterations of A Glass of Water. Initially choose to draw the different forms of water but I changed to a glass of water to try out how it would look when water is contained in a glass was a different experience.
Project Objectives:
"Choose an object to work with. Make 50 different renderings of the object using different tools, materials, techniques, and mediums, and experiment with different styles, forms, and treatments while still keeping the object recognizable."
Scope: Design Exploration
My Role: Ideation and Prototyping (Exploration, Experimentation + Documentation)
Tools: Adobe Fresco, Adobe Illustrator, Hand Drawing
I thought about showing ‘water’ in different forms but wanted to contain it in a physical object which a glass served to be the best. I wanted to choose a simple object that we see every day and don't notice much. Initially made some rough sketches using a pencil, gel pen, and ballpoint pen. I chose a glass of water and was thinking about all the angles, lighting, mediums, forms, and representation of a glass of water.
Tried out hatching, crosshatching, and stippling and explored different pencils and pens for sketching them.
Different pens had different pressure points and outcomes which I noticed while drawing. Shading using a 2HB pencil was difficult and switched different pencils while shading and noticed that the etching on the glass gave different shades and colors. Focused more on the rim of the glass and the still water edge sometimes.
Below are my initial brainstorming on the forms of water and my decision to choose a physical object (ie) a glass of water.
Below are my initial brainstorming on the forms of water and my decision to choose a physical object (ie) a glass of water.
Final Thoughts:
This project has me thoroughly enjoyed but not to mention that I was stuck at times to think what iteration to draw next. It was hard to think about the different iterations of the same object mine being a glass of water. Some brainstorming before I started drawing was helpful to do 50 sketches. This project helped in learning about the importance of simplicity and functionality. This helps out to figure out the design of a product and what works and does not in the eyes of a user/ observer. Adding more cartoonish and different types of art on my sketches made it more interesting for me to keep on sketching and iterating.