Reflections and Shadows

You can have the most interestingly sculpted shape in the world – if your reflections sabotage its virtues, your sculpting efforts have been in vain. Reversely, if you have a boring object, you can give it a surprisingly exciting, visually sculptural quality by employing surface modeling in clever ways – without really changing its volume a lot (in short, there are ways to put a few dents into a boring box which make the box look pretty good as soon as it has its clearcoat on).

Just to clarify a few terms:

• Shadow Lines are the boundaries of any shadows cast anywhere on your model. Good designers are able to refine the model’s shape so well that it will have attractive shadow lines cast no matter where your light is coming from. Never is this left to chance.



• Highlights are the brightest reflections on your model, and you must sculpt your object in such a way that they appear just where you want them to be – e.g., along an especially important edge which serves to define your model’s sculptural qualities when no shadow lines will be there to do the job.



• Reflections occur on any shiny surface, and can be used to make your object look smaller, larger, sleeker, brighter, darker, or more elegant than it really is. In order to do this, you must develop a feeling for the environment your object will be in, and decide what in that environment you will allow to reflect in the surface of your model, and what you’d rather hide. E.g., if you are designing something for outdoor use which will have to be large, but you want it to look compact, try curving its side walls in such a way that the sky starts reflecting on its sides at a low height, getting ever brighter toward the top, so that the eye can barely distinguish where the object ends and the sky begins – this will take away the hugeness of it to any onlooker.
• Volumes are the different shapes of which your model consists. In good sculptural tradition, they should interact with one another in exciting ways.

When you build a computer model, you are in complete control over the way shadow lines, reflections and high lights will eventually flow over the object you are building. This is the bit we will focus on today. Building interesting bodies and sculpting them is a different matter, and one you probably understand already.

How do I create a perfect surface then? Really designer-worthy?

It’s surprisingly easy. But you must learn to handle Control Point Curves. It is true that you can build good-looking surfaces from any curve. But beware of the difference between just any old curve and control point curves (or Graded Curves, as they are sometimes called, as in “Third-Degree Curve, Fifth-Degree Curve”, etc.).

A control point curve lets you tweak it in any way you like, and allows you to create climax points or parabolic-style direction changes. Any surface built on that will provide you with much more interesting qualities than surfaces built in simpler ways.

This is the difference between 3D-modeling and creating design with 3D modeling! Anyone can throw together a few curves and skin them, but only a designer will understand how to make reflections flow delightfully, and purposefully, over a surface!

Good looks are no coincidence. They are constructed.

Here are the rules:

• Develop a plan how to build your model out of as few surfaces as possible. The fewer surfaces you build, the cleaner your model will be, and the more attractive it will look.
• Never piece and patch things together in 3D modeling with little bits and ends, as if you were handling paper-machee. Your model will look like something that has been in a bad accident. If you don’t like an aspect of your model, select it, delete it, and rebuild it in large, generous, swooping forms.
• Use as few points as you can to build your curves. 3 to 7 is best. More is a deadly sin. Then, play with the control points until the curve looks great and has no weird kinks or bumps anymore.
• If you want to build another volume, use a new curve. Build separate objects. If you want one volume to visually flow into another, use the appropriate functions for it, such as building a bridging piece whose curves are made to flow seamlessly into the adjoining surfaces’ curves.

What About Control Points for Solids?

There is a way to make structural changes to solids. You simply activate the control points of a solid, and pull one or more of them in certain directions. While this can be of great help when you are building simple shapes, do not expect any acceptable results for more complex things!

If you try to negotiate a complex model entirely with the help of modified solids, you may end up with a space potato, but it won’t be something anyone would need to pay a designer for.

Remind yourself what convenient, clean work 3D-modeling is; there is no need to start building things in goofy ways, as you can so easily build and re-build anything as many times as you want.

And the Revolve Command?

That tool makes some stunning shapes. But its use is probably best limited to things like wheels, musical instruments, hubcaps, pottery, or cooking ware. Nevertheless, it’s great for that. You create one curve, set a revolving point, and you get an amazing result.

Beware: If it can be done on your computer, that may not necessarily mean that it can be made in a factory! To establish that, better do some research on whatever production methods are used to make whatever it is you are designing first.

Your object will be as beautiful as the curve you’ll have based it on. Take your time when you use it. If it is to be part of another object, use radii that can be found on it. That way, it won’t look like it doesn’t belong there.

To summarize: Our best friends for creating perfect surfaces on a computer are:

• Control Point Curves – the King of Curves.
• Control Points for Solids – for simple objects. Use sparingly! Space Potato looms.
• Revolve Command – for UFOs and other household contraptions.

That Evil CAD

Chris Ebbert/ Product Design/ Otago Polytechnic



3D-CAD – pro and con

Ever consider that 3D-CAD use in product design can have disadvantages? Here they are, and what to do against them:

Lack of sensory exploration in the development process:

• Touch: When you make things by hand, you develop a feeling for it as you progress towards completion of the object. You get a feel for how the object handles, what it weighs, and you pick up on subtle things like “does it feel good when you rotate it this way and that in your hand?”, “is that edge pleasant to touch?”, etc. In CAD, you have no such options. Possible solution: Either build on experience (takes a few years) to choose the right radii and curvatures when you design things on screen; in the meantime, outputting through a 3D-printer for verification purposes might do the trick, expenses permitting. Otherwise, make sure you’re aware of existing standards (see semantics/ semiotics handout) and use them: “1mm minimum radius for moulded housings”, etc.)

• Human perception: When you build an object in 3D-CAD, you normally get perfectly scaled and dimensioned objects, often constructed without fault. You can also expect perfect Bezier curves. But what you don’t get is a feel for how the object will actually look. True, there are perspectives, there are renderings, and you can turn it on screen. But all that is seen through the simulation of a camera lens, which is no match for what happens when you walk around an existing object and watch as the object’s shape works in different angles, different proximities to the onlooker, and when you’re moving (ever moved your head sideways while looking at a glowing LCD-display? The numbers seem to dance. Similar things happen when you look at objects while on the move, due to the reflections caused by imperceptibly pulsating AC lighting; CAD can not show you that). Possible solution: Either imitate something someone has done, and which works well, such as a certain sloping angle on chair legs; there will be a reason for it. Or create 3D-printed outputs, expenses permitting, for repeat-verification.

Compatibility Trouble:

• Software wrong for project: This can happen and is most likely going to happen at the workplace, when management does not understand the needs of designers and forces them to use limiting software (e.g. Solid Works for a freeform sheet metal vacuum cleaner housing project – useless!). It can also happen if you’ve spent all your energy learning one software package only with limited capabilities, because then you’re stuck with it. Solution: Communicate clearly at your job interview what software you can handle and what software you require training for. Later, when new software is introduced while you are part of the firm, immediately sign up for training for it. If computers are something you are being associated with, make sure you are being regarded as knowledgeable about the subject; that way, when new projects begin, and you feel you haven’t got the right software, management is more likely to make the necessary purchase of suitable software when you ask them to.

• Files incompatible with connecting applications: Depending on the quality of communication and competence in the work process, you may be presented with file outputs that mean nothing to you and cannot be processed by any of the computers available. It happens when people send you data without asking first what you can actually open, but the same goes for you, too. Solution: When giving out a data-CD to a rapid prototyping facility or any other agent for further processing, save the file several times on the same CD, in different file types. A good, universal one is IGES, which can normally be read by most software, if you have only one choice.

Company-internal, political issues:

• Lack of CAD competence among management: Commonly seen in small to medium companies of long standing which are run by the founder and a few of his old boys. Usually leads to the young designer becoming the official “computer genius” in the company. The difficulty of mastering 3D CAD software is often underestimated in such scenarios, and the value of your work can be, too. Traditional, old bosses are suspicious of workers who seem to sit still all day, looking at a screen, with very little happening and all output being a little file. Solution: Involve management by explaining to them what it is you’re doing, why it seems to take long and result in seemingly small things, and what it equals in terms of traditional methods. Once they understand that you’re actually doing the work of 5 engineers, a few craftsmen and an entire prototyping facility alone and in a week, they will appreciate your work.

• Inappropriate emphasis on certain software suites: A company may be entirely outfitted with software X and expect you to use it, because the licence is expensive, they’ve always used it, it’s perfect, blah-blah. If you disagree, download a trial version of the software of your choice onto your office workstation and demonstrate its advantages. In the end, nobody cares what you use to get the job done, as long as the result is right. They just don’t want to lose money and time. So, if you can download a free version and get the job done more quickly because it’s the appropriate software, then pop it into the official company software, everybody will be happy.

Advantages of 3D-CAD use:

• It’s precise;

• You can generate and visualize a large number of variants with great ease, showing different ways of constructing, proportioning, or colourising the product;

• You can generate photorealistic visualizations of a finished CAD model and hand it straight to marketing;

• It lets you exchange elements with a few clicks if testing shows that a re-design is indicated;

• Some software lets you test your product in virtual space. You can realistically crash cars, detonate buildings, age products (run a vacuum cleaner for 500 years in a second), or simulate stress situation handling with some programs;

• Direct output though 3D-printers gives you mature prototypes in hours which used to take weeks and months to make.

• For yourself: There is more, and safer money in CAD services and visualization than there is in design. If you can do both, you’re at an enormous security advantage.

The Package

Chris Ebbert, Otago Polytechnic/ Product Design


The Package


The Package has nothing to do with bubble wrap. Instead, it describes the bare basics of your product, including all the necessary technical considerations. It is extremely advisable to get the package together in great detail and with merciless attention to:

• Legislation (“what does the law require for this product?”)
• Ergonomics (“what does human interaction require of this product?”)
• Manufacturing Restraints (“what can be built?”)
• Marketing Brief (“what exactly am I asked to create?”)

A package can be accomplished in written form, but it is better when accompanied by graphic evidence. Multiple plots of a well-built CAD model are best. It is a good idea to have the package signed by your client or supervisor as a legally binding product development contract to avoid future trouble. Whenever a deviation from this document arises, have your client or supervisor sign a respective document. Keep all of them. Nothing is more destructive to your work than outsiders messing with your basics once you’re halfway through designing the product, as it undoes everything you’ve achieved. If there is a signed package, this won’t happen as easily. Plus, any nasty surprises won’t be pinned exclusively on you, as your signature proves another party was informed.

How to compile a package

In the olden days, which is to say until about 2000 in most places, the package used to be a so-called “full-scale tape”. It was typically a side view of an object or vehicle, pinned to a wall covered with vellum, executed in full scale, with the help of special, thin, self-adhesive tape which cost a fortune. On that tape drawing, measurements could be taken for the verification of compliance with norms and standards, and mannequins could be positioned.

These days, we can do a lot better than that. The best approach is to build a CAD model with a mannequin, in which everything complies with the norms and measurements which may apply. It gives you a perfect, three-dimensional “skeleton” of your future product, which you only need to “dress” as soon as you know how to. That information will usually come in just about when you’re done building the CAD model.

What programs do we use to make a package, and how do we use them?

• Adobe Photoshop: Use it to spiff up the package with a few well-placed airbrush strokes or colour coding if you wish – purely decorative, and save it till the end, please.

• Adobe Illustrator: For its line drawing capabilities. It lets you do Bezier-curves, which are beautifully controlled, crisp curves, executed in any colour or brush tip you can imagine. They add an element of confidence and skill to your outputs that will gain you the respect of everyone.

• Solid Works or Rhino: Build your package in it if you can.

Dr Photoshop

Chris Ebbert

How to Get Perfect Renderings

Renderings are the final touch to compliment your model. You can base them on sketches or 3D CAD models if you’re really clever (perfect perspective!). They do have to look like manual artwork though. That’s part of our designer nimbus, kind of like singing the chants when you’re a medicine man – it’s simply expected of you.

Again, the procedure for rendering 21st-century-style:

1. Sketch on cheap paper using whatever you like. Pencils are still best. Be prepared to bin forty to sixty pages until you have what you want. Keep going, page after page. You’ll see how your design will look better every time you draw it anew.
2. Once you’ve got it, scan it with 240 dpi. This will make it laser-printable.
3. Go into Illustrator and place your scanned image into the viewport.
4. Draw your lines using the pen tool in Illustrator. Try different types of lines and brushes. There are some interesting calligraphy options which are worth the time and effort, giving great variations of line weight. Remember, this is for lines only!
5. Click on the placed image of your sketch and delete it.
6. Save the newly drawn Illustrator line drawing as a PDF.
7. Open the PDF in Adobe Photoshop and flatten it (Image – Flatten Image).
8. Use Photoshop as outlined below.


Photoshop Magic for your Renderings:

Yes, markers, chalk, and airbrush are nice and traditional.
No, you don’t need them, as Photoshop can do everything they can, without causing the same costs and health hazards. Also, you are in much better control over your results.

Here’s the treasure chest. Use and enjoy. You will not find this information anywhere else.

To do marker style renderings: Use the paintbrush, set to a sharp boundary, with reduced opacity (50 to 80%).

To create an impression of glass: Select an area and make it look slightly milky – you do that by going “Image – Adjust –Brightness/ Contrast” – contrast down about 20%, brightness up by 10 to 20%.

To create an impression of tinted glass: Select an area and make it look slightly milky – you do that by going “Image – Adjust –Brightness/ Contrast” – contrast down about 20%, brightness up by 10 to 20%. Then go “Image – Adjust – Colour Balance”, and turn up the green or the blue just a bit.

To create the impression of fog with features in it: Any ghostly image on a dull surface will be seen as something in the fog. You need a surface first. Then you choose an image which will become your “thing in the fog”. You select it, copy and paste it onto your surface, and use the eraser tool to rub out the boundaries. Then you go to the layers and reduce the opacity to a very low setting, like 10 to 20%.

To add reflections: Any ghostly image on a shiny surface will be seen as a reflection. You need a shiny looking surface first (see “To create a surface impression like painted metal”). Then you choose an image which will become your reflection. You select it, copy and paste it onto your shiny surface, and use the eraser tool to rub out the boundaries. Then you go to the layers and reduce the opacity to a very low setting, like 10 to 20%. If your surface is curved, you may want to “squish” your selection image a bit (Edit – Transform – Scale).

To add a camera-style flare: Go Filter – Render – Lens Flare. Remember to adjust the intensity of the flare before hitting OK. Also, try the three different types of flare on offer first.

To create something resembling chrome trim: Draw a little square with the square selection tool at the end point of where your chrome trim should go. Now go Filter – Render – Lens Flare. Remember to adjust the intensity of the flare before hitting OK. Also, try the three different types of flare on offer first. When that’s done, go Edit – Transform – Scale, and pull on the side of the little transformer selection frame, all the way across your image. You can then get rid of the little transformer frame, and you will find that the selection is still active – go Edit – Copy, and you can just paste more chrome siding into your image easily that way, if you want.

To create a surface impression like painted metal: Draw a square of the correct height for your purpose with the square selection tool at the end point of where your painted metal panel should go. Now go Filter – Render – Lens Flare. Remember to adjust the intensity of the flare before hitting OK. Also, try the three different types of flare on offer first. When that’s done, go Edit – Transform – Scale, and pull on the side of the little transformer selection frame, all the way across your image. You can then get rid of the little transformer frame, and you will find that the selection is still active – go Edit – Copy, and you can just paste more metal panels into your image easily that way, if you want.

To create a material impression: Either use the texturizer (Filter – Texture – Texturizer, and select a material there), or find an image of a material and paste it into the area you want to work on. Then find your layers, activate the layer of the image you have pasted in, and reduce the opacity until what’s underneath is showing. Increase the contrast at will: Image – Adjust – Brightness/ Contrast).

To make swooping areas rather than curved ones: If your image is maximized (centre button on the very right of the blue top bar), you should be able to draw huge ovals with the elliptical marquee tool, far exceeding the image’s boundaries. That’s how you create curved selections. If you want to fill everything but your selection with a colour, go Select – Inverse. Use the paint bucket to dump the colour of your choice into your selection.

To make curved lines: If your image is maximized (centre button on the very right of the blue top bar), you should be able to draw huge ovals with the elliptical marquee tool, far exceeding the image’s boundaries. Now just go Edit – Stroke, and choose the right stroke width before you hit OK. There’s your curve.

To add 3D effect (Danger! Can look goofy if you have no taste!): First, select the curve or area you want to make 3D, e.g. with the magic wand tool. Then go Edit – Copy, Edit – Paste. Now go Layer – Effects – Bevel and Emboss, or Drop Shadow. Inside Bevel Emboss, you have several options. Try them. Remember also to play with Blur and Depth! Less is often much more.

A few final words of advice:

• Use colour sparingly
• Use highlights
• Cast shadows
• Indicate materials
• Always put your name on your renderings
• Always put the project title on your renderings
• Always date your renderings


Basic Photoshop Handling and Tips for When Things Go Weird

The following is a list of practical applications of Photoshop functions, what you can expect from them, and how to get there:

• Creating a new, empty format to work on: File – New; in the window that pops up, enter e.g.: Width: 28cm, Height: 20cm, Resolution: 240 Pixels per Inch (this gives you an A4 format). Then click OK.
• Getting images from the internet: Remember that most images belong to individuals and companies, and that it may be illegal to use them unless you have written permission. It may, however, be OK to use them if you are not planning to publish the images. GIF images are all protected, so acquiring one of them is technically illegal. This is how you get images: Do a Google image search; on the pages of pictures you get, select the right one for your purpose by clicking on it; now click on “see full size image”; then click on it with the right mouse button and save it into your own cad folder by selecting “save as” on the pop-up banner. Done. The image is now saved in your cad folder.
• Pasting images into your format or into another image: Select – All; Edit – Copy; go to the image you wish to paste into and click on it; Edit – Paste.
• Changing the size of an image you have pasted: Edit – Transform – Scale; if you want to keep the image proportions as they are, hold the shift key down while you take hold of one of the corners of the image you want to re-scale. Otherwise, the image will be distorted. To get rid of the scaling frame, click on any selection tool, e.g. the lasso or square in the tools pillar, and click on “Apply” in the window that will pop up.
• Changing the size of your entire image: Image – Size. Enter the measurements you want it to have. Remember, it will keep its proportions, unless you click on the little checkmark in front of the word “Retain Proportions”.
• Getting rid of the scaling frame: To get rid of the scaling frame, click on any selection tool, e.g. the lasso or square in the tools pillar, and click on “Apply” in the window that will pop up.
• Getting rid of the selection: To get rid of any selection, double-click into your image, using any selection tool (Magic Wand, Lasso, Square, Circle). Alternatively, click on Select – Deselect.
• “It´s not doing anything!” You may be trying to work on the wrong layer. To find the right one, find the layer window and check which one is highlighted blue. That´s the active one. If it is different from the one you want to work on, scroll up or down till you´ve found the right one. You can tell which one is correct by looking at the little image showing you the layer´s contents.
• Getting to see the layer window: Window – Show Layers
• Rulers: Window – Show Rulers
• Grid: Window – Show Grid
• Making a layer look translucent: Find the layer window. In it, there is a small window giving you a percentage reading and the word “opacity”. Click on the little arrow behind the percentage and use the sliding button to turn down the image´s opacity.
• “My images are gone!” Probably not. If you have been saving them as PSDs so far, and then switched to JPEG, the computer may not show them, but they are there. To see all your files, scroll down to “all formats” in the window you get when you click File – Open.
• Getting rid of excess material around pasted objects: The best way is to use the eraser tool. Make sure you have selected an appropriate brush tip. To do that, click Window – Show Brushes, and select one of the fuzzy ones. If you want to get rid of a very plain background, and if your pasted object has sharp contours, you can also use the magic wand tool and the backspace key.
• Brush Tips: Window – Show Brushes

On the Evolution from Drawing to Idea

Chris Ebbert/ Product Design/ Otago Polytechnic


DC3

On the Evolution from Drawing to Idea

Many hold the view that you must have an idea before being able to draw. This is only somewhat true. It is usually the interaction of an ongoing, alternating process of drawing and reflection on the drawings which leads designers to the discovery of their way in every individual project.

It is a curious thing that the French word “dessigner” means “drawing”. The similarity to the English word “designer” is certainly not coincidental, neither ethymologically, nor by content.

Large design studios cultivate an atmosphere of calm and inflection in which designers can be seen drawing for weeks on end, all day long. It is part of our profession to draw passionately and with no regard for further facets of the job until the drawing phase has come to a close – which it normally does as soon as a concept has emerged which warrants an immediate move towards those stages of the design process which lie outside the drawing room. But until then, designers draw.

It is expected that much of your output will only be process work. Nobody is looking for end products at this stage. But we can put refinement into our sketches by the dexterity we possess, be it though talent, or through “mileage”.

Even during these very tentative stages of the design process, try to exude confidence and clarity in the way you draw. It will help you think properly, and it will also give you something tangible to put on your wall.

It must be possible for you to extract the essence of that which you have taken away from a day’s work and express it in a series of clean, attractive drawings. This forces us to draw conclusions from our sketches, and it takes us one step closer to having an outcome. Conveying our ideas in large, clean, page-filling drawings makes it possible to put them up for discussion, be it within the team, or for superiors, or clients. Never forget that we get paid for doing this, and that a designer must be able to produce about NZ$1000 worth of work every day someone can be billed for.

In a world in which intellectual property changes hands for amounts in the millions and billions, this is strongly linked to the clarity with which you express your ideas, as any recognizable feature you draw may become another claim to strengthen the case within a patent application. It is on you to spell these things out.

And it is therefore vital that you portray all the possible guises in which you can see your idea. No engineer and usually not many patent attorneys have the vision or the inclination to do this for you. So, if you can think of another way your idea may become a product, grab another sheet of paper, and give it life.

If you have no idea just yet, it is considered a good tactic to start doodling. You must keep your pen busy at all times during this stage, and you will be amazed by the things you will find in doodles if only you allow yourself to do so.

Remember to photograph, scan, or photocopy things as often as you like. It will allow you to start over from one promising sketch, and it is a great way of getting more images for the sake of comparing subtle variations without having to redraw things.

Once you have gained an idea from one of your doodles, focus in on it and develop it.

Example Brief with Assessment Outline for a product design visualization paper

DC3
chris ebbert


Hello,

Welcome to DC3. In this paper, we are going to explore all known presentation techniques in product design, and try to bring our presentation skills up to near professional levels. We have 12 weeks together, in which I will be able to see you for 2 hours per session. There will be four deliverables within that time, each worth 25% of your mark. They are:

1. Your drawing log (due Friday 12pm, week 19)
2. Your sketches (due Friday 12pm, week 11)
3. Your presentation drawings (due Friday 12pm, week 15)
4. your rendered CAD model (due Friday 12pm, week 19)

Phase One

Sketching
Assessment criteria of our first presentation:

We want to create real designer grade sketches – think “documents”, things with a trade value. You are going to be billing for those before long – make them look the part.

They must be a documentation of our thought processes, and there is nothing flighty about them. They are clean, firm, elegant pieces of work with flawless perspective and delightful, artistic touches such as shading and highlighting.

These are our criteria:

1. A demonstration of breadth in exploratory sketching
2. A visual image that fits the brand and product you have chosen
3. A unified look to all your individual presentation boards
4. Proper labelling – name, project name, company logo, date, variation name
5. Sufficient bulk (sturdy materials, large enough format, filled with a satisfying amount of sketching)
6. Neat lines, done in Illustrator or with French curves; no pencil
7. Faultless perspective
8. Meaningful picture itinerary to explain how the object works and how it gets assembled/ what parts it is made of (configuration drawings would be good)
9. Well-chosen views of object
10. Neat, written explanations and referencing on the sheets (no serif type font)
11. 100 working sketches, give or take 20. All tricks allowed as long as used responsibly (photocopies, scans, CAD, etc.), in a folder
12. 3 – 5 neat presentation boards, complying with all of the above except point 11, of course.

Phase Two

Presentation Drawings
Assessment criteria of our second presentation:

We are at stage two of three with our visualization process.

Stage one were our sketches, an exploration of the topic with as broad a range of possible outcomes as imaginable, documented by an impressive stack of process work, and culminating in the selection of three mounted key sketches.

Stage two is now all about communicating a sense of “homing in” on a final solution to your client. Using your three key sketches, you will now create three highly accurate hand drawings of good, artistic quality, which demonstrate in something approximating production outcome visuals how the new product will look - in three meaningful variations.

These are our criteria:

13. A demonstration of detail resolution (ways of hinging components, assembly of parts)
14. An exploded view of each version
15. An assembly drawing of each version
16. A visual image that fits the brand and product you have chosen
17. A unified look to all your individual presentation boards
18. Proper labelling – name, project name, company logo, date, variation name
19. Sufficient bulk (sturdy materials, large enough format, filled with a satisfying amount of sketching)
20. Neat lines, done in Illustrator or with French curves; no pencil
21. Faultless perspective
22. Well-chosen views of object
23. Written explanations and referencing on the sheets (no serif type font)
24. Absolute neatness, in colour, A3.

Phase Three

Rendered CAD model:

These are our criteria. They are simply checked off for being there. Every one is worth 5% of this last project phase’s mark, which is 25% of the whole mark for this paper:

1. It’s a Powerpoint presentation or similar slide format, manageable by people who do not understand digital imaging and are merely users, as your clients most likely would be: Yes/ No (underline)
2. Your name is on every slide: Yes/ No (underline)
3. The project- or product name is on every slide: Yes/ No (underline)
4. The client’s brand name on every slide: Yes/ No (underline)
5. The beginnings of the project are also part of the narrative: Yes/ No (underline)
6. Your CAD model is actually finished as intended: Yes/ No (underline)
7. Your CAD model has been rendered with materials: Yes/ No (underline)
8. Your CAD model has been rendered with shadows: Yes/ No (underline)
9. Your CAD model is sitting in a meaningful environment: Yes/ No (underline)
10. Your CAD model is realistically lit: Yes/ No (underline)
11. You have added detail to your CAD model which helps make it look more realistic (split lines? Hardware?) : Yes/ No (underline)
12. You have successfully built elements in your CAD model which reflect the necessities of manufacturing and therefore deviate from the CAD ideal, making the object look more like a photographed prototype (e.g. modelled split lines in 3D which actually have “meat” on the split edges) : Yes/ No (underline)
13. You have made use of CAD to explain the object in its single parts, as in an exploded view: Yes/ No (underline)
14. You have created more than 10 slides: Yes/ No (underline)
15. Your perspective millimeterage is appropriate: Yes/ No (underline)
16. Your chosen perspectives are realistic: Yes/ No (underline)
17. Your CAD model actually looks like a photograph of a real object: Yes/ No (underline)
18. Your model’s surfaces are clean: Yes/ No (underline)
19. Writing accompanies your images enough to make the presentation self-explanatory: Yes/ No (underline)
20. Your imagery is of faultless pixel quality and large enough to fill the screen: Yes/ No (underline)

The number of checkmarks multiplied by the 5% they are each worth results in your mathematical assessment mark. The actual, academic mark will be the result of calculation with other factors, but as a rule of thumb, 100% is definitely an A, and 50% would be a C-.


Drawing Log (ongoing):

This is where you think, record thoughts, try crazy stuff. It is a record of your intellectual endeavours, your scribbles, your trials and errors, the ghosts of things which may have crossed your mind. All of these are important, and you are welcome to both write and doodle, sketch, draw, whatever you like. Consider it your “product designer’s fevered poetry album” if you like. Start collecting now, please. I expect to see one concept per day, for every day of the coming semester. Inventions, ideas, thoughts you have on things. It’s a diary of your creative mind. When marking this, I will be looking for evidence of:

Dedication
Creativity
Original thinking
Conceptual and inventive abilities
Ability to research and process information
Experimentation and process

… but on the whole, the drawing log needs to be the book that convinces me that you have a deep and original mind.

The Stages of Visualization in Product Design

chris ebbert

The Stages of Visualization in Product Design


Your primary money-earning enabler as a designer is the generation of visualizations of what is inside your head. In the process of developing a product, there is ample opportunity for this, but the seasoned professional is known by his or her ability to deliver the right kind of visualization at the right stage in the development process. These visualizations are known by a myriad of different terms in the industry, all stemming from the dilemma of people from different backgrounds trying to sound cool when asking for them.

I’ve heard it all – “napkin sketch, chicken scratch, thumbnails, storyboards, scribbles, ideations, sketches, renderings”, and probably somewhere in the world, “atzquorkydoodle” or “whem-whem40”, maybe even with a short pantomime and a hop, too.

That was the bad news. The good news is that you don’t need to know what they are, as long as you can begin your interactions with your client or colleagues by telling them precisely what you will give them. Personally, I go by this list, which is reasonably expressive in a common-sense sort of way to clients and colleagues of all kinds of backgrounds:

1. Ideations
2. Sketches
3. Presentation Drawings
4. CAD Model


This is how I personally define these terms to my clients if they ask:

The ideations are something I do for myself, in my sketchbook or drawing log or whatever you want to call the little book you never show to any client, because that’s the one with the chocolate stains in it, and also possibly containing political ravings capable of alienating the odd reader from one-self.
If the client is sympathetic to creative processes, or is even a romantic soul who takes an active interest in how we really work, I might copy and digitally enhance the odd ideation out of my book and show it to them just to add a little, artistic flourish to the experience – at the end of the job, I might present it to the client in a frame, for laughs and to make them remember where we started. But if my client comes from the “products are designed by NASA in an ivory tower and come out of a machine fully polished” school of thought, I skip that step.


The sketches are usually the first thing I bill for, and they are not nearly as loose as the word may imply. I call them “sketches” only because it implies a degree of possible negotiation that is wise to allow for at such an early stage, unless you want to call the sketches “proposals” and risk parting ways with your client prematurely.
Because I want real money for my work, and usually at every point of delivery, I make sure those sketches make an impact.
First, I employ digital help to create a crisp layout with plenty of stats and data written all over it in the most appropriate possible font (never use a serif font – it clashes with the spirit of innovation).
The most appropriate possible font is usually the one your client’s stationery uses, by the way.
If your client has no stationery yet, as may be the case with many young companies or new business ventures, just use Arial or Tahoma, as they are very neutral (remember that this may be an opportunity to offer your services here to help develop a corporate identity package with stationery and logo, etc.).

To create my sketches, I may use one of my ideations as an underlay in a vector programme like Illustrator, where I trace them, using Bezier curve tools, to generate clean, black and white line drawings which may contain the odd speck of colour only to clarify certain things – like, where the on-switch is, which I may depict in red.

The sketches serve to spell out the full range of possibilities you foresee to address the design problem, and you should approach this systematically:
Decide that you will show your client a certain number of sketches (three to five is normal, ten is not unheard of, one hundred may sometimes be necessary).

Then decide what progression your range will show – will you go from “conservative” to “avant-garde”? Or from “boxy” to “organic”? “Serious” to “humorous”, “cheap” to “expensive”, “good” to “evil”? This is up to you. Choose wisely. Normally, your initial conversations with your client should give you a clue as to what may be called for here.
Try tuning into the client’s psychology and aspirations.


Whatever the sketches show, remember to be as neat and as systematic as you possibly can be, adding shadow where needed, pointing out materials by resorting to writing and illustration techniques, and indicating moving parts by drawing arrows which show a high level of sophistication (this may mean drawing them digitally, or in perspective).

The sketches should be extremely clear, simple, and serve to pin down the big picture. Avoid getting caught up in detail at this stage.

The sketches are usually A3 in size, and will be printed out commercially on heavy card stock when ready, and covered by a sheet of vellum attached with tape on the backside before given to the client in a tasteful folder. All this becomes the property of your client.
This will cost you money, but economizing here may cost you more money. Remember that your charges should recoup these costs. Investing in a $50 leather portfolio costs you nothing if you jack up your bill accordingly, but your client will feel treated in a first class way.
Just make sure what’s inside the leather case looks at least as good.


Your Presentation Drawings should be as pompous an affair as they sound. Get ready to part with a further $50 for another leather case, and possibly some bubbly.

Presentation Drawings are an emotional thing. They are supposed to unleash the client’s happiness hormones by showing in all glorious detail, full colour, what the new brainchild COULD actually look like. This is still negotiable, but a lot less so than at the sketching stage.

To arrive at a great set of presentation drawings, you need to make sure you and your client are in accord first. Your client will have seen your sketches, and picked out the ones he or she liked best. Based on those preferences, you would have developed further sketches, and met as often as necessary, to reach accord.

With that out of the way, you go away to create a full pictorial of the future product (= the presentation drawing), which will serve to conclude the concept phase of the design process and give you an opportunity to ask for your cheque and offer further cooperation in the shape of developing a CAD model, which represents the first stage of the prototyping process.



Personally, I approach my presentation drawings as follows:
Religiously heeding everything the client ever mentioned, I actually start building a rough CAD model already, which I recycle later. I do this because I believe there is a great opportunity for better credibility in it for you if your presentation drawings look a lot like your later and final CAD model, and the fact is that you can prevent many surprises by building to scale immediately. From that initial CAD model, I create depictions which have a certain, hand-drawn character, but whose perspective is flawless, and which can be turned and replicated with great ease to show functionality and colour. Simply render the CAD model in default lighting, then save it as a JPEG, and put it through the Poster Edge filter in Photoshop, which will give it a comic book style look.

Keep in mind that you can, and may even have to, show the object multiple times in different positions on the same page to achieve your objectives. If it is a CAD model already, this becomes quite easy.

The presentation drawing should try to answer all the questions someone else involved in the product’s development may ask:

• What is it made of?
• How do the parts come together?
• What will it look like when in use?
• What are the dimensions?
• Which way does that flap open?
• Is that a little light there?
• Which one is the on-switch?
• Where does the recharging plug go?

The more of these questions you can answer visually, the better. Otherwise, add writing. People love to read, and the combination of text and image is a winner every time.


The CAD model is easily the most important, the most precious, and the most useful of services we designers can deliver to our client. Many clients will also ask for CAD drawings, and may, in fact, often be better off with them instead of 3D models, which many companies cannot process further due to a lack of software expertise. CAD drawings are a jiffy to create from a CAD model, and any 3D modelling software will let you do this one way or another.
Make sure you go the extra mile and do a fully rendered presentation or even animation of your CAD model though, and show it to your client when you bring the CAD drawings. CAD models, animated or as a slide presentation, always impress tremendously, and doors may open for you because of it.

If the company does have software expertise for further processing of your 3D model though, you will need to make sure a few things have been addressed. Those in charge of CAD operations are often formally trained CAD operators or engineers, who expect certain conventions to be complied with. Your image and credibility will suffer if you ignore this. Always make sure you do the following things when building and handing over a CAD model:

• Know which software the client company uses, and save your model in a format which is compatible. If in doubt, IGES is usually a good format. “I could not open your file” is an avoidable nuisance email.
• Mind the coordinate system of your CAD system; “x” is the longitudinal axis of your object, and “z” in the positive is its height. Much confusion can be avoided by correct positioning. How often have I been asked “what is that thing you sent?”, and had to reply “it’s, um, your truck, upside down, with the front facing backwards”.
• Your model should be built with the x axis precisely on its centre spine. That is the only way you can build half models, and mirror them for full symmetry.
• Your model should start at “xyz=0”. In the case of vehicles, that point is the front wheel hub axis. If you don’t do that, chances are a CAD operator working on a different scale will never discover your model once imported into his system, because it may be floating light-years out there.
• To send out a CAD model for further development or prototyping, keep one handy that doesn’t contain all the lights and cameras and extra screens you built for rendering. They just confuse the hell out of everybody, because they show up as objects (I was once accused of being silly by building lots of little UFOs surrounding a caravan, which in fact where my rendering spotlights, and looked like flying saucers to another company’s earnest CAD operator).
• Make full use of everything CAD can offer you – namely to create photo realistic images of an object you’ve created. You can not really go too far here – think “illusion of reality”. Photo realism is possible in CAD. That’s exactly what you want. CAD is an amazing make-believe machine, and our best friend when it comes to making people accept our visions.