One thing I really appreciate is seeing the process of creating when it comes to developing a new design/product As a novice, seeing the first rough prototypes makes me feel better about my own work, and helps me in developing my own skills. To that end, here’s a photo sequence showing the first 3 prototypes for a bottle opener. The first attempt is at the top.
The first attempt didn’t go well, I ended up with a curve in the bit that needed to be straight, and the part that was straight needed to be curved. In the second attempt I was able to refine the curves but realized I need to make the top bar a good bit longer, which led to the third piece. The third piece turned out very well, and I finished it with a bit of copper wire:
I need to extend the top bar further in the next one, I didn’t have a bottle to test on that day. Note to self: keep a 6 pack of bottled cokes around for testing!
At this point in my learning progression getting the order of operations down is the critical step in a project. At the moment, with a project like this, I try to get a working model and then figure out the length of parent stock I need. From there I can work out the steps to create more as efficiently as possible. It may sound like mass production, but it’s really craft production of the sort that’s been done for centuries.
That’s a brief glimpse into my current design process for these small projects. I’m sure my process will evolve over time as my skills improve.
