Outcome

Intention

In my house, I manage bill payments for my roommates and I. To prevent the disastrous case of losing bills and missing a payment, I tape them to the wall. Below the bill, I tape the envelope that it should be mailed in and the payment slip. This method also helps with transparency to my roommates, as they can view how much they should be paying for the month. Unfortunately, the only tape that I use is so strong that can rip the bill and peel off paint from the wall, so it was time for a different approach. 

Research

I looked at different types of mailboxes and file holders for my design. I wanted to sort them by utility, so researching paper sorters was the natural route. 

Process

My first design was a holder that was horizontal and it would hold and display envelopes in the same fashion, but it ended up being too large for the printer. So thus I edited my design such that the envelopes are held vertically. I also wanted to place them at an angle. This would make the envelopes appear uniform when displayed. Making this diagonal slot proved a bit difficult, but eventually I got it by creating a plane that rests on the line on the opening of the slot.

Reflections

I found that this project was interesting to do because there is a strong practical element and rather weak aesthetic element. I wanted this to easily fit in an office setting, so its rather plain. But I want it to take inspiration from natural forms.

In a later iteration of this, I would include more slots for outgoing checks and implement a way to convey that a bill will be due soon. I was thinking of a small rectangular notch that I can put a slip of adhesive whiteboard plastic so I can easily change the date. I also would find a way to streamline the print and make it use less materials because this iteration takes a day to print and I find that to be rather long. All in all, I like this design and I think that it's a great prototype. 

Link to presentation:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hf6JbQQpJrgA3ooJHpx8MvM1oq736WjjFSUqselXHOM