Physical 3D Visual Simulations

Thinking about sketching made me think about all the paper prototypes I've used recently, which you could also think of as a way of sketching in 3D. And as we've learned, sketching in any form allows you to gain knowledge about a problem. I've also been watching First Round Toronto this week, and getting lots of inspiration there. Here are some prototype examples and how they impacted the design process for those projects.

First up is this M that was part of a logo exploration. I was trying to figure out how to illustrate an M that could be flexible and grow and shrink. I made this and the resulting logo I created was almost identical. I'm not a natural illustrator, so working this one out with paper was super helpful.

Next up we have a simple solution to a common problem. As ubiquitous as the trifold brochure is, it can be tricky for people to visualize the order of the pages from a pdf. And there are different ways it can be folded. I did this quick video to share with the account team, client and vendor so everyone could be clear on the order of the pages and how it should fold.

Here is a super lo-fi paper prototype I did for a trade show setup. It was a quick way to see if it really made sense in space. I ended up transferring this into Sketchup, but I wanted to make sure it was worth the time. At this stage, it would have been easy and quick to move things around physically or try out different arrangements. Or toss it into the trash.

Here's the resulting Sketchup model. I'm no power user, but I've found it's really helpful in trade show (or other physical spaces) design, photography and CGI art direction. I'm not trying to make the end result, I just want to figure out and then communicate the space or arrangement.

Lastly, this was just for fun as part of the prototyping section of the Design Thinking course I took. Our assignment was to create a prototype of at least one possible chair design by only cutting and bending a sheet of paper or cardboard. Something tells me this may not be comfortable, but it looked cool, and I liked the integrated foot rest that was also a magazine holder. If anyone wants to produce this, ring me.

That's all this week. No Designer/Client wisdom. Go make something with your hands.