KEN ZUPAN
University Design Lecturer: Industrial Designer
Above: For this project, students used SolidWorks to render a material finish on their ergonomic flashlights in a moodboard. Swatches were shown for intended and alternative materials as well as visual descriptions of interaction style and persona.
Above: Close-up of ideation sketches using fineliner pen for flashlight project. I encouraged my students to use hatching as a means to give depth and dimension to their sketches.
Illustration
Background: For this assignment (see left), students researched and prescribed color and material treatment for ergonomic flashlights.
The moodboard was a continuation of the previous assignment where students had to design and construct blue foam flashlights. In this students were asked to define the aesthetic qualities e.g. color, patina of their flashlight based on one of the descriptors below:
1. Hygienic
2. Rugged, Durable
3. Desirable for Children
4. High-Tech
5. Environmentally Friendly
Teaching Focus: As part of learning outcomes for my product design course (IAT 336), students are required to create various representations of their designs including assembly/exploded views and moodboards.
There is no real pre-requisite for this course, so many students who lack formal drawing/sketching/rendering experience need to be brought up to standard. Some of the skillsets that I impart include linear perspective or perspective projection, human figure and proportion, composition and mixed media.
Of the mixed media, I stress marker rendering the most as a skillset because it relates well to other courses in the design concentration and is an effective communication medium when ideating.