SHERM

For the very last assignment for Introduction to Interior Design Projects, we are to create a living space for our client, in this case it would be my superhero character, The Madarin (Sam Shiro) from the previous assignments. The space created had to be 16 in total size, and there cannot be any loose furniture on the inside. It also has to accommodate three activities that Sam will be doing, which has two active activities and one passive. 

I chose the activities Archery, Rock Climbing and reading as I felt it would be appropriate for someone who has the characteristics of Sam. Therefore, I had to cleverly design the space that can fit all these activities without the furniture (all built in!)

Here are some insight of the place!


Location: Aokigahara Suicide Forest
Coordinates: 35.4626° N, 138.6544° E

Short description (from Wikipedia)

Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), also known as the Suicide Forest or Sea of Trees (樹海 Jukai), is a 35-square-kilometre (14 sq mi) forest that is located at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan. Aokigahara forest is very dense, shutting out all but the natural sounds of the forest itself. The forest has a historic association with "yūrei" or angry ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology, and it is a notoriously common suicide site (in which 54 took place in 2010). For this reason, a sign at the head of the main trail urges suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.

Why I chose this place?

I created a backstory where Sam failed to rescue the 4th victim of bullying who has gone suicidal again of the same month. He blamed himself for arriving too late for each case. To overcome the problem and to stop further suicides, he decided to build a shelter there where he can train to strengthen his abilities while being near to the site to stop further suicides.

Inspirational Context

Before the start of the assignment, we were to find different building designs that has similar design language with my abstract model while still maintaining its unique design characteristics.




Development Progress

Mockup 1

My very first mockup model that incorporates the buildings integration onto a tree trunk. The trunk i represented by a cuboid shape as I was uncertain of the sizing at first, since this model is not to scale.

Continuation from the previous post, this time I had to shortlist 3 poses out of the 12 that can show how humans use their body for specific usage of the furniture. After choosing the 3 poses, I had to elaborate as in sketching out alternate poses on how I might use the furniture. It can be extreme or just a varied way of the human pose. Anyways, I also have to sketch the top view and side view of the pose with complete dimensions of the furniture that was featured in the photo. You had no idea how many times I had to leave my drawing table to measure the furniture with my trusty measuring tape.

The criteria of this assignment is that I need to have the photo in B&W and in 10cm by 10cm size, a plan view, side elevation view and the alternate poses.

First pose

Madarin - The hero that has the powers of the Japanese Giant Hornet

My character is based off a human that has obtained the powers of the hornet that I was researching about before. To be honest, when creating the character I had a dilemma whether it has to be like anime-style or Power Rangers style. But I managed to come up with the final design, and Im quite happy about it. How I got the name? One, it is based off the scientific name of the insect which is Vespa Mandarinia, and second, it looks somewhat like a mandarin orange due to the orange color scheme.

Backstory

A boy named Sam is just an ordinary boy just like everyone else. Except maybe a bit shy and an introvert, okay a major shy boy. But he comes from a wealthy family and is a top scorer in class. Yet, he hides a big secret from the world. Sam has a really weird fetish with hornets where he would constantly sting himself with hornet venom for pleasure. His body contains a rare antigen that prevents him from being harmed of the venom which would otherwise melt other people's flesh. Thsi makes him the subject of constant bully in school. After a major embarrassment incident that happened in school, he ran home and cried. He injected himself with a large dose of hornet venom which caused a mutation in his body and he passed out. The next day, he discovered himself with new-found powers that allows him to protect others from harm, especially victims of bullying which he despises. He used his wide array of knowledge and wealth to build a custom suit to protect his identity from his foes.

Powers and Abilities

Super Strength - He can lift 5 times his own weight

Super Speed - He can run up to 40km/h

Increased Senses -  Elevated senses which include vision, hearing and smell

The presentation board



I regretted not adding color to the presentation boards as it looks a bit plain.

Mascot

The mascot is created using art card and color paper. The eyes are made using texture paper (something I didn't know existed)

The model features a detachable helmet as well for interactivity with the user. I actually recreated it again because the original model is has modified body parts which was prohibited. However, the second design is exactly the same as the first, just shrunken down, I promise!

Here comes the end of the Project 1 assignment.

Continuation from the previous post, which can be found here, this post is to talk about the final 3D model and submitted as the final submission.

The model is inspired by the shape below.


Final model submission

Now comes the fun part, the 3D model making. Before we were allowed to create the final model, we had to create a series of mock-ups that explores the various methods of expressing the keywords that was created in the 2D abstraction part of the assignment.

Now to remind you all what the keywords are again, they are formation, intrude and speed. So yes naturally I had trouble again interpreting it as a real life model. I already had trouble in the 2D part of this assignment, and now make it into a 3D model? Complications are bound to arise and they did. But since I managed to complete the 2D assignment, I just had to apply the same level of creativity and dedication, piece of cake right?

Note: Making these models are really time-consuming and really expensive, so i tried to minimise as much errors as I can in order to prevent remaking them.

What do they all have in common? The frame. Thats it. The frame is 20cm x 20cm and is made using 6 pieces of squares with modelling board. Then the frame is glued on a MDF board.

First Mock-up Model



Just like the 2D assignment, I had trouble interpreting what the lecturers wanted. I thought that I had to directly translate the abstract drawing into the 3D model, hence it is obvious that the speed lines, formation shapes and the intrude hive holes are directly taken from the drawing.

How I made it? The formation shapes are cut piece by piece individually and pasted at the top edge. I want the shape to fold in the end which will bend in a certain angle so it encompasses 50% of the frame.

Continuation from this post.

Since the previous part of this assignment was a bust, I had to catch up with my upcoming assignments. Now that I fully understand the criteria of the assignment, I had to brainstorm more keywords that are intangible that is related to the insect. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out...

Anyways, I really think hard for this part of the assignment, and with much help from my lecturers and rejection, I finally came up with the three finalized keywords. There was actually another drawing before the one showed below but I didn't take a picture of it (oh well...)

The finalized keywords are:

Formation - Because hornets fly in formation during their attack of the honey bee hives.

Intrude - This is defined as the way that hornets attack the honeybee hives since they intrude and brutally take everything that belongs to the bees such as honey and larvae (the hornets are bascially perompaks in the insect world)

Speed - The Japanese Giant Hornets can fly up to 25mph or 41km/h. Pretty hard to run away from these satanic insects.

After completing the relief model of the insect, its time to go abstract! The word I despise so much yet I have to embrace it since I am a designer. Don't judge me of why I hate that word, its because I am a logical person, meaning everything I do must be organized and have a logical construct to it. Anyways back to topic, time to abstract my insect!

It is a bit hard for me to do this assignment, like I said above, but still I managed to create the four examples as shown below. The designs also needs to have keywords that is inspired by the insect as well.

Abstract Design 1

I create this design based on the flight path of the hornet. As we all know, the hornets are basically bullies in the insect world, and their primary prey is the honeybee hive. After much research I realized that the hornet always sends one scout ahead, the rest will follow. Therefore, the design below shows how the hornets fly on their way to a hive. I wanted to represent how the hornets are dangerous, therefore I represented them with sharp edges.

Keywords
- Flight Path
- Hornet Attack


Okay it is kinda obvious I screwed this assignment up. I didn't fully understand what the lecturers wanted and pretty much jumped way to far ahead into the assignment. I thought that the 2D and 3D part of the assignment is connected as it whatever I draw for the 2D part is going to be built as a 3D model. But thank god my lecturers said it was okay (praise the lord) and I had to go to the next part of the assignment, which can be found here.

After finishing the formal organization and design element assignment, we have to take it further. For this, we have to create a 3D model, yes finally!

The assignment was to create a A5 model on top of a A4 MDF board. The model has to consist of four properties which is plane, line, point, and volume. This is quite challenging because I will be converting the previous assignment into geometric shapes. Below is the result that I created.



Next came was to start working on the model, which the progress is shown below. I used modelling board, art card, pins and lots of string. The most difficult part of it was nailing down the pins onto the board. Since the pins is too thin, just a little extra amount of force will immediately bend it into a improper shape. I had to be really patient and delicate to reduce the amount of pins that is "murdered". I used the drawing above and used it as a template to get the accurate size and shape that is required.




The buttock of the hornet was the most fun to do, as it involves a lot of string and knotting technique. I had to use tweezers to help hold the strings while they go through rounds around the pins. I literally felt like a surgeon while doing this, which is kinda fun.