Katie's Design Blog: Project 1

At first I took this project way too literally and I thought of making a place where a leaf would be found in nature instead of thinking abstractly. Breaking away from my literal approach to the assignment and thinking more abstractly was the most difficult part of this project for me.

For my first model I wanted to make something that wrapped around the leaf and had it slightly enclosed and protected so I came up with the idea of creating a spiraled piece of paper around it with a leaf shaped base to support the whole thing.

Then for my second model I thought it would be better to expose even more of the leaf so I cut the center part out of the base so that it was just an outline of the leaf.

Tommy suggested that I throw out the leaf shaped idea all together and try it a different way so for my next model I created a spiral shape around the leaf but gave it a rectangular base but I felt that with that shaped base the leaf didn't really seem to belong there and my next challenge was to try to make it with a single piece of paper instead of multiple pieces.

So then my evolved final product is in the last several pictures from multiple views and different lighting. For the final model I evolved the idea of making it one piece of paper as well as trying to steer away from the leaf shape and still make it seem like it belonged in the place I put it in. So to make my final model sturdier then the previous ones I got some Bristol board because it was thicker and stood up better without crumpling and it also helped make it easier to connect the paper to itself if it was thicker and sturdier. My idea for the final model was to make rings to encircle the leaf like the spirals had done and then connect them in the back by making a joint with the paper so that the tabs on one side slid into the slots on the other side and stayed in place really well. However, when I got done I realized that the fresh leaves that I had been getting every day were too flimsy to stay in the rings so I used one of the older leaves I had because they are more dried out and stiffer then the fresh ones and it fit perfectly between the rings and it almost seemed to defy gravity and suspend itself between the rings which I really like. Looking back now I think that my thoughts in the beginning were very scattered and not very well defined but I love the way that my project turned out just by improving on it in certain areas and how the paper seemed to hold the leaf just perfectly to hold it up without having to hang it, cut the leaf, or just anything to damage the leaf or the paper. So although it was challenging at first I really like the end result and I feel good about the way it turned out and looking at my progress through these pictures. Below are more images of my final model of my place for a leaf.