Bunny Friends Clock

Intention

Write about the big ideas behind your project? What are the goals? Why did you make it? What are your motivations?

My goal was to create a clock I found cute and aesthetic. I wanted to make a clock that I could proudly put up in my new apartment next year with my two other close friends. Since our friend group is a group of 6 people total, I not only wanted to create a clock dedicated to them but also one that showed my style and unique design. 

Research & Context

[How does your outcome relate to other work in the field? What makes it similar or different to other objects of the same genre? How have other objects failed to solve the problem you have identified?]

I started my research looking for both wood and acrylic clock designs. I tried to first get inspiration for my clock through various methods (looking up cute artwork, using friends as references, using my interests and hobbies). I wanted to create a design that would suit both my friends’ tastes and my taste so spent a lot of time just trying to find aesthetic inspirations. I have found clocks that incorporated either the moon or the bunnies but not one that have incorporated both so I think it would be interesting to create.

Sketch

[Include sketch with as much details as possible, like: approximate dimensions, materials, layers, textures, colors, and aesthetic influences.]

Details:

I wanted to make a clock based on my group of friends. This is the final sketch I drew before starting to model the sketch onto Fusion 360.

However, my final design turned out like this:

The 6 bunnies represent my five good friends and I. I originally planned on having just 3 bunnies and 3 stars but during the process of creating the product, I decided to add another 3.

Aesthetic & Inspiration

[What influenced your design? Is there a specific style, art movement, or natural phenomena? Include at least one example. Can be a still image, video, or music.]

Dreamworks Logo

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.]

My original plan was to base this clock on layers. The first layer would be the background with the stars. The second layer above would be the moon. The third layer would be the bunnies. In order to make the bunnies stand out, I planned on making them protrude out from the second layer to look for three-dimensional; however, in my final product, I decided to just split the three bunnies into six separate ones instead of gluing them together. I started designing from the base up and using various different images as references to create my bunnies. I used cutting in order to create the general shapes of each part of my clock, like the moon and the outlines of the bunnies. I used etching for the numbers on my clock as well as the text. The facial features of the bunnies were supposed to be scored although the power may have been a little too high and most of it were cut out except three sets of the insides of the bunny ears, which were scored correctly. 

I actually went through a lot of difficulties during the process of making this clock. I had three main problems. One was with the different CAD programs. Since I've never used Fusion 360 or Illustrator, it was really difficult for me to get accustomed to the various functions. I had to go through a lot of trial and error in order to get the shape I wanted for each part of my clock and it took me several tries of fixing each part of my clock in order to get the design the way I wanted it to look.

Another problem was with the laser cutting process. During the laser cutting process, I had problems with sometimes getting the laser to cut all the way through the acrylic and getting the right positioning. The latter problem actually took me over 5 tries with different parts of the clock in order for me to realize that I misread which nozzle it was that the laser was actually coming out of. I couldn't quite understand why the same power and speed cut through some parts of my clock pieces like the moon when it could not cut all the way through for my bunnies.

The last problem was getting the text onto my clock. It was not the scoring and engraving of it that was the problem, but the creation of it in Fusion 360. The text would not stick onto the bodies no matter what I did so I ended up creating the text on Illustrator and using that to etch the text on. 

Fusion 360:

Illustrator:

[Two renderings on complete project styled with finished background, lighting, positioning, reflection]

[Five semi-professional photos with care given to context, lighting, staging, scene]

[Reflect on the process of making this project. What did you learn? What would you do differently?]

Overall, the process of making this clock was incredibly enjoyable and a great learning experience. I learned how to use basic functions of both Fusion 360 and Illustrator and I find that to be a great feat considering I've never used any CAD applications before. I would try to ask for more help next time at the beginning of the project because I struggled a lot with laser cutting and determining how to make the laser cut more accurately. I would also focus more on trying to start more simply and then adding more details once I get the base of what I was my design to be like instead of rushing and trying to work on too difficult things when I do not have as much experience with the programs yet.