Drafting, Designing, and Creating
“Design is in everything we make, but it’s also between those things. It’s a mix of craft, science, storytelling, propaganda, and philosophy.” – Erik Edigard
ADST (Applied Design, Skills, & Technologies) Drafting was fascinating and enjoyable as we learned to print stickers with Cricut and 3D models with Tinkercad!
Tinkercad
In Cricut, Mrs. Myles taught us how to use the Cricut application to create our own unique designs and using the Cricut machine to print them out.
I was able to learn quickly and demonstrate my knowledge by using the application with ease and efficiency, implementing original and creative elements and intricate layers of colours to create highly detailed results.
Additionally, I was able to help my peers, assisting them in using the application and giving valuable insight and ideas
We were tasked to design and print out our names, the logo of our STEAM Cohort (The Thunderbirds), and our science safety logo.
My name design was my first ever design using Cricut, and the details are basic and simplistic.
This is my Thunderbird Logo Design, which represents the spirit animal of my STEAM Cohort (The Thunderbird) using different colors, layers, textures, and patterns.
This is my science safety design logo sticker from my science safety assignment, but I also have a online drawn version of it as well.
3D Printing
For 3D printing, we were introduced to Tinkercad, an online 3D modeling website, and were tasked with finishing its tutorials. After that, we were tasked with creating a balloon car that could go the furthest.
In my base design, I printed it off one of Tinkercad’s tutorials to test and observe its performance and results.
I proceeded to get feedback from my peers and educators, who told me that I should have refine my model to make the airway larger for more air to pass through.
My first design was very basic as it was the tutorial’s.
On the top of the car is a ‘chimney‘ which you put the mouth of a blown balloon on and the air comes out of an airway out of the back of the car.
My initials (JY) are printed onto the my car to prevent confusion.
My second design was more complex and took longer to print and complete to ensure better results.
Things I have changed in my second version:
- The body of the car is not that of a rocket to gain better aerodynamics
- The wheels of the car are now longer in length and thinner in width, and areas within the wheel are cleared out to create spokes and reduce weight
- The axles of the wheels are thinner to reduce weight and friction
- Two more parts are added to ‘clip’ the wheel together in place to the axles
Thaumatrope
In the last few weeks of December, Mrs. Myles gave us a short introduction to thaumatropes. A thaumatrope is a simple optical toy, essentially a disk with a different image on each side, where when spun rapidly between strings, the two images appear to blend due to the persistence of vision, creating an illusionary combined picture. Instead, we were instructed to spin the disks using a wooden stick for this project.
During the creation of my thaumatrope, I have used two programs, Affinity Designer 2 and Laserbox. Affinity Designer 2 allowed me to create the intricate shape of my ‘world map’ design, and Laserbox allowed me to export the file to be printed using the laser cutter.
Here is a short video on my completed thaumatrope that I have made:
My design on my thaumatrope was focused on teaching the viewers the shape of a few large global empires, with the First and Second French Empire, Spanish Empire, Danish Empire, Austrian Empire, and the Qing Dynasty on one side, and with the British Empire, Russian Empire, and Portuguese Empire on the other.
Upon reflection, I realized that my design may be hard to see and distinguish between the two faces. This is because my design may have been too compact and small, leading to its almost incomprehensible appearance.
If I were to do this project a second time, I would stick with an easier design that would be more noticeable, such as ‘A Bird in a Cage’, ‘A Ball Bouncing Up and Down’, etc.
Gingerbread House
On the last day of school before Winter Break, we were given one block to work on a gingerbread house as a group.
My group members for this mini-project included Andrew, Arthur, and Carson.
Due to the short amount of time, we hastily agreed on the idea of making a realistic house design with a few extra details. For our design, we included a garden, a front yard, a garage, a living room, a bedroom, a balcony, and a storage room. Additionally, we used the two given plates and we combined them to form a larger baseplate, allowing us to create a larger house.
This activity was really fun and exciting because it had the thrill of crafting something out of candy and the teamwork and effort we put together. Looking back, I feel a tinge of regret for not eating our wonderfully decorated gingerbread house.
Boat Race
On the Thursday of I-Week, we went to Hyde Creek Recreational Centre to build and race our cardboard boats. My teammates for the Boat Race were Arthur, Jinseo, and Taha, who were awesome at boatbuilding.
The race was done at the swimming pool, and the whole thing was wild bustling with liveliness. To learn more, come check out my STEAM Page for more information.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, ADST Drafting was very fun and interesting! I learned a lot from how to use elements of design to customizing supports for 3D models.
I really hope we could do more activities involving drafting, designing, and creating stickers and 3D models.
Online Sources Used for this Blog
For this blog, I have referenced and learned from online sources to help me create my website. Here are some that I’ve been used the most:
https://www.wix.com/blog/blog-format/
https://bdow.com/stories/blog-post-format/
https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-format-a-blog-post/
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