Laser Wear
The first project in the elective Drawing Through Making consisted of designing a custom made item, such as jewelry, for our client which in this case, it would be one of our peers of the class. Over the three weeks, I had to interview and work with my client to counter her aesthetic preferences and design choices that suited best to her. This project was based on laser cutting which meant that the design had to be developed further on illustrator and then transferred to AutoCAD in order to laser cut it.
After interviewing my client, I had set on the idea of making the design inspired on the studio Ghibilie aesthetic as she was a great fan of the movies and animation. My client showed me a photo of his father and his dog that had recently passed away, so that how I decided that I had to do something related to his dog, named Dash, a black and white cute chihuahua.
Meeting my Client
At first, I planned to do a layered bracelet that formed a 3D photo of the photo that she showed me, his father and Dash. I planned to laser cut around 9 different layers to form the photo. The first 3 layers consisted of the background and his father, then it would be the shape of the dog, his head and his arms, the last 3 layers consisted of small details for the composition: the nose and eyes, a bone and his paws. (His paws would be the last layer which would make the composition look as if Dash would be carrying the bone.
Then I focused on the materials and that’s where I found some trouble, wood wouldn’t work because I was set on using carving, outlining, and cutting on the laser-cut, which would naturally burn or dirty the small delicate designs. Then I focused on using acrylic, yet it would’ve probably been very fragile, and knowing that my client did not want to carry something as delicate or “fancy”, I proceeded to change my idea.
First Idea Sketches
When I changed my design, I had already my concept and Goal ready: It had to be a bracelet or key chain (as the client told me) and I wanted to it to be something that she could look at and just remember the energetic and vibrant personality his dog had.
I learned that if I wanted to adopt Studio Ghjiblia aesthetic I had to be really aware that I wasn’t copying or appropriating any of the already characters of the company, as in the future, that would’ve been framed as copyright. I really enjoyed designing the product as I was able to multiply it as much as I wanted to and also scale it on different sizes, something that I had to do for her keychain and bracelet. What I clearly took beyond the time of this project was to play with the scaling and the carving options I could do on illustrator as it made the object much more dynamic and detailed, something that I experimented a lot with on the extra space I had with my acrylic plane.
The most rewarding thing about this experience is to see how the client approves or rejects designs that I, as the designer, interpret it from the interview. It is almost exciting to present your ideas to your client and see them happy, not only embracing the aesthetic and design of it but also acknowledge the intent or purpose I had behind it. Designing for a client is very different from designing for myself, as in a way I have control of the design yet, the client is ultimately my boss as the most important thing to design something she wished. In my perspective, as a designer, I was focusing on creating something she wished but also needed. Ultimately, I am grateful how having a client pushed my art into a direction I would’ve never thought about, helping my client, helped me.
Drawing by Hand
Prototype
Illustrator Drawing
Illustrator Design ready to print
Final Product
