BENV1010 Week 10 - Assessment 3: 10 Curated Images

Developing My Style

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWgkATrGWzk

BENV1010 Week 9 - 100 Word Statement

Light can be manipulated to communicate depth, perspective and presence within design. 

Natural and artificial light have the ability to highlight key features in a design and cast dramatic shadows which can ground a design into it’s environment, providing a subtle but significant three dimensional quality. 

I have explored this through placement of different light sources around models of my designs and within digital images. In experimenting with light, I also found that including a light source within structures can create a soft, human presence through the design. Curating a lighting scheme for my designs over different mediums proved to embed the structures into the reality of the chosen environment. 

BENV1010 Week 8

Materials & Rendering in Fusion360 

1. Raw Copper & Red Granite Render
The first material combination I created was also my favourite! I have always liked the red/pink hued flecks in red granite. I used this for the inside 'tunnel' of my initials and used copper for the outside. The rosey tones complimented the granite nicely. I also used the raw copper over the polished copper for a matt look which blended better with the granite.

2. Blue Aluminium and Blue Mirror Render
I love the ocean and swimming so I wanted to make a version which reminded me of the glossy ocean surface.
I experimented with the mirror function and turned this blue and really liked the effect on the inside the 'tunnel'. I soon discovered though that the blue Aluminium had a similar look to it. I made the entire shape the blue aluminium and then edited the blue mirror colour to be a lighter shade of blue and shiner - I then added this to the inside 'tunnel' and to outline the face of my initials. It reminds me of an indoor swimming pool.

3. Black Oxide and Titanium Nitrate Render
For this render I wanted the colours to draw you into the tunnel. I liked the matt look of the Black Oxide Metal which made the initials looked like a void when the whole body was rendered with it. I then took the Titanium Nitrate and rendered the top, bottom and only two panels on the inside walls with the Titanium Nitrate. The brassy tones contrast really nicely with the black void of the oxide and pulls you inside with the brassy spiral. 

In reflection, I found rending an exciting exercise as it allowed me to express my personal style with colour and material. It was also enjoyable to experiment with the different materials available on Fusion 360 and the different ways you can manipulate a standard material to appear completely different. This will be a great tool to communicate the aesthetics and material choices of my 3D designs.


Experimenting with Materials and Textures in Photoshop 

I composited the image of my best model so far into a background shot which I took a few years ago at my grandparent's farm. I chose this as my background as the Farm is significant to me, having had many happy memories there. As a landscape it represents a relaxing environment which I cherish. My model image was quite bright and needed the brightness to be altered and many shadows added in order to blend the model into the Farm background. 

Photo of Model to Composite - Source: J Robertson (2020)

Background Photo - Source: J Robertson (2017)

Model Composited into Background with shadowing

Below are the different material combinations I chose to work with in photoshop.

1. Stone, Concrete and Cloth
For the first material combination I used stone for the wall, concrete for the steps and cloth material for the sail cover. I also added in some wooden doors and I didn't think that using stone, concrete or cloth looked very suitable or realistic. 
I chose the stone as I really liked the look of tessellating stone walls, it was challenging to scale it correctly, but I was able to add several panels of the one image to create the correct scale then use the perspective tool to warp it correctly. 
The sail cover is my favourite part of this building and using a cloth texture allowed me to play with light a little more as the material is porous. 
The concrete was the easiest texture to manipulate, however it was difficult and time consuming to add this to the stairs due to their irregular shape. 

Image References: 
Cloth texture - Photos Public, No Author (N.D.) https://www.photos-public-domain.com/2012/01/15/tan-fabric-texture/
Stone texture - Jeon Sang-O (N.D.), https://pixabay.com/photos/wall-stone-wall-pattern-texture-1475318/
Concrete texture - Concrete, Home Solutions News by ydsdevreocrete (2019), https://www.reocrete.com.au/the-problems-and-the-solutions-when-using-exposed-aggregate-concrete-for-renovating-your-homes-exterior/ 
Wood texture - Sample Sanremo Oak Wood Grain, Vinyl Home Ltd (2020), https://www.vinylhome.co.nz/Sample-Sanremo-Oak 

2. Orange Corrugated Iron, Grey Corrugated Iron, Black Metal

For my second material combination I used orange corrugated iron for the walls, black metal for the stairs, roof and doors and grey corrugated iron for the sail cover. 
While searching for textures to use I came across and orange corrugated iron and was really interested to see how this would pop against the green of the countryside. In reflection this material is probably a little too bright for this image despite toning it down quite a lot. I thought the black metal would be interesting to play with light and shadows being a dark reflective material and enjoyed adding in the shadows under each step for extra effect.
My favourite material was the grey corrugated iron as it the final scaled effect I used appeared quite realistic and I really liked the finish. It also ties in with the farm aesthetic. 

Image References: 
Orange Corrugated Iron: Adobe Stock, Nopparats (2020), https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/high-resolution-rusty-corrugated-iron-texture-background/145706882
Grey Corrugate Iron: Adobe Stock, Carola (2020) https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=%22corrugated+iron%22&asset_id=187954448
Black Metal: The Champion Blog (N.D.), https://theconservativechampion.org/blog/5-best-companies-for-high-risk-auto-insurance/

3. Blue Marble, Indented Metal, Wood Panelling 

The final material combination was wood paneling for the walls, blue marble for the roof platform and indented textured metal for the stairs. The wood cladding for the walls had a great finish and also tied in nicely with the farm aesthetic. Upon seeing this in combination with the grey corrugated iron I really liked this and the building looked much more situated in the background. I left the grey corrugated iron and decided to add a different material of blue marble for the roof platform instead as the extra material to experiment with. The blue popped in a more muted capacity and blended nicely with the background. The textured metal was quite difficult to scale and took many attempts to get this to tessellate. This final image I constructed was by far my favourite of the material combinations as it looked the most realistic and situated into the farm background. 

Image References: 
Grey Corrugate Iron: Adobe Stock, Carola (2020) https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=%22corrugated+iron%22&asset_id=187954448
Wooden Cladding: Double Mesh, Editorial Staff, (2012), https://www.doublemesh.com/40-free-wood-textures-for-designers/
Textured Steel: Design Trends, (N.D.) https://www.designtrends.com/graphic-web/textures/steel-textures.html
Blue Marble: No Author, (N.D.), http://bgfons.com/upload/marble_texture4504.jpg

In reflection I found this exercise rather challenging initially due to the image I selected. The white walls and stairs were almost exactly the same shade of white/grey which made using the quick selection tool impossible to accurately outline each section of the walls and stairs. To combat this, I used the pen tool in pathways so that I could draw around each component to individually select it and add in the textures. This was perhaps a more time consuming method, however I am happy with the outcome of the final images. This new skill will allow me to communicate how my designs will be situated in the environment as well as communicating the aesthetics of the design and the material choices. 

BENV1010 Week 7

Model 1 - Iterative Model 
Paper, Scale 1:50 

Part A
The first version of my Iterative Model was definitely an improvement from the last model I made. I paid extra care with the template folds and corners - I used a ruler to get my edge folds really crisp and was really careful when gluing that I only glued one side at a time and focused on connecting the edges exactly so there was no overlay (this was an issue I confronted during the last few models I made). 
I used my phone and a small torch to light up the inside of my building, however as the actual model itself was quite small, it proved hard to fit a light source inside to light it up from within. 

Part B
I decided to make a second version of my Iterative Model as the first model was not based on the new and improved version of my living space, but I was glad I could practice getting my folding and gluing technique down. I re-designed my 'better' version of my living space so that there was an open space on the roof of the building covered by a sail cover which curled over the side of the building. I thought the curved sail cover would make for some interesting shadows. This model was designed on a scale of 1:50.

Part C
Although I liked the re-designed space and the shadows cast from the curved sail cover, I found playing with light and the effects of shadows still difficult as the model was quite small and it was hard to light up the model from within as the small torch and my phone light did not fit inside the model. On top of this, I thought the model needed a few more elements to make the building more interesting. 

For these reasons I decided to design the building again to be larger and with some added features. I added double doors, larger windows and a staircase to the design so that the roof was now accessible. I initially attempted to make a spiral staircase out of cardboard however it did not go to plan. The triangular steps which I cut were not able to stick to the centre spiral as the glue I was using was not strong enough. Most likely a glue gun would be needed to make this type of stair case. Therefore I went back to experimenting with paper and folding the stair shapes.  I also wanted to work with a slightly larger room with bigger windows so that I could fit a light source inside of the building more easily to play with light. I designed the building to the same scale as 1:50 however I used larger dimensions this time to make the building bigger. 

Template for Expanded Living Space

Having a larger building made it much easier to light up the inside of the building and the shine was more visible through the larger windows. The curved sail cover and the stairs also created some excellent shadows from the natural light. 

In reflection I prefer creating larger models as I found I was able to produce better light and shadow effects being able to fit a light source within the building to light it up from inside. 

After experimenting with light and shadows on my new models, I also wanted to try and achieve this on my best model from last week using my scaled figure. 

These photographs looked more professional than the shots which I had taken on this model last week. 


Model 2 - Fusion 360 Transitional Space Model 
Paper, Scale 1:50


I re-created my Fusion360 'Transitional Space' model from week 5-6 in paper from but instead of using the tongue and groove method, I sealed these spaces over and added tabs. 

Fushion360 'Transitional Space' Model

In reflection I can now see what a powerful tool light and shadowing has in communicating my design through photography. It has given depth, scale and a pleasant aesthetic to the images, especially when using two light sources - natural and artificial light. 

Fusion360 - My Initials JJR

There were some constraints using my initials double JJ being a fairly narrow letters. While I wanted to have a very distinctive 'J', I was unable to create a J with a deep groove which the application would accept when creating the loft. The narrowness prevented the 'tunnel' from forming. I therefore stylised the J to be thicker which solved the issue of narrowness cutting off the 'tunnel' and it connected better with the R on the other side. 

I found using Fusion 360 for the second time much easier to navigate despite this exercise requiring quite a few re-jigging of the 'J' shape. Fusion 360 will be a great tool to use to communciate designs of irregular shaped 3D designs such as this.