Process & Procedure

[Outline your approach to the project. What steps did you take to design, model, sketch, and prototype this projects? What ideas did you generate and how did you refine or reject them? How did you use cutting, etching, scoring? What challenges were encountered and how did you resolve them? Include photos of prototypes, redesigned sketches, design worksheets, and failed trails.]

First, I will need to design the different layers of acrylic. I will do this in Adobe Illustrator. The lines will be simple and etched. To prototype this, I will first test the etching and line weight on one piece of acrylic. I may want to use different colors per layer, so I may need to run multiple tests to see how well the etching shows up with different colors. I also need to make a base to hold all the layers. I think I will make this out of acrylic as well, but am open to testing wood. I will need to test the base to get a feel for whether or not the layers of transit routes can fit in smoothly. Different materials and cut sizes may help.

 

Because Hunt was closed, I used the Design Lab laser cutter. This was different because it accepts only Illustrator files. Luckily, due to the intricate graphics (maps) on each clock piece, I had done renders in Ai. The laser cutting process included selecting all the lines that needed to be cut, and then selecting all the graphics that needed to be etched. To save time, I did a thin “cut” at a low power to create the effect of etching. The only graphic that was actually etched was the front piece (with the numbers).