Entry 3 (Practical 2)

Hello!! In this second installation of Entry 3, I will share my experience and documentation for Practical 2.

Practical 2: Cardboard Joinery

My experience with Practical 2 was fun. We got to craft objects using cardboard. 

The task for this practical was to implement cardboard joinery methods and use as minimal glue/tape as possible; utilising only cardboard to create an object. 

Dr Noel inspired us by showing a cardboard figurine of a pegasus horse, using mainly slot and tab cardboard joinery style, and honourable mentions from other classes' projects.

The objective for every team here was to use at least 6 different cardboard joinery styles taught in SDL Package.

Here are some of the common cardboard joinery styles:

- Flange

- L-brace

- Fold and slot

- Tabs

- Slot and tab

- Pipe-cleaner (my favourite)

- Brass Fastener

Flange Cardboard Joinery

Improvised Pipe-Cleaner Cardboard Joinery

We were given about 2 hours to create our masterpiece. My team consisted of Hariz, Yeung Jeun (YJ), Keith and Me.

Initially, I had strong confidence in our team's ability to succeed.

However, to add to the difficulty of the challenge, Keith did not show up to support the team. Hence, my team was short of one member while the other teams all had 4-5 members; mine had 3 minds.

Before the practical, our team had decided to create a car. However, Hariz had an idea to create a rocket ship in the back of his head and told me to keep it in mind. 

During the practical, Hariz and I pitched the idea to YJ and he said it was great and unique. However, after a logical discussion, we decided against it and went to the next best thing...a FISH. 

Whyyy??? We realised a fish looked similar to a rocket ship and we could maximise the various cardboard joinery styles to achieve 6 or more forms of cardboard joinery for the product.

From this, we began our planning for the fish design.

We first sketched out what we wanted the fish to look like, then the various parts to install cardboard joineries.

Planning of the idea via sketch

We then began prototyping the design.

Hariz creating dimensions of the fish's body

I felt that our team really had good teamwork and complemented most ideas effortlessly during the time frame provided, although there were slight disagreements and no plan on who to do what initially. 

For example, I was the chief researcher for the project and I theorised that we could implement the pipe-cleaner joinery style to create a tail that could move. Hariz then chipped in to say that we could use a slot and tab to secure the tail to the body of the fish. YJ was very encouraging towards the idea.

Me researching the various cardboard joinery forms to use for our project

Approaching the end of the allocated time, however, we were struggling to fit the dimensions of the tail and fins for the fish. 

Rush Hour

However, we did to the best of our ability with the scenario and time of this practical.

I am proud of what we created.

From this practical, I realised that something I do effortlessly is to keep track of the time for many time-sensitive projects and call out the time remaining to the team.

Presentation

During our presentation, we proudly showcased our design of the fish and explained the various cardboard joinery styles implemented into the fish.

The styles used were:
- Flange

- Fold

- Slots

- Tab and Slot (most preferred)

- Pipe-cleaner

- Brass fastener

The dynamic trio; posing with our Fish Design

The Tab and Slot was the most preferred and utilised method (used 5 times), as we found it to be the most secure and tight fit. Furthermore, it was easy to use.

Tab and Slot

Pegasus Horse

Carrying on from our presentation, I identified in the later activity that Tab and Slot is widely used for cardboard art. Here is my identification of the cardboard joinery styles for the pegasus horse shown by Dr Noel.

Pegasus Horse parts analysis

In conclusion, cardboard is very useful for prototyping an idea into reality before embarking full steam ahead on the project. It helps determine the integrity and feasibility of the idea while maintaining a minimal budget. The reason for this is that cardboard is very easy and inexpensive to use for 3D Designs.

To reflect, my team did not plan well before the practical on how and what product we would like to replicate/create. Hence, we did not use our time and manpower effectively.

A key takeaway from this practical that I can apply to future learning is that things won't always go according to plan and unexpected circumstances will occur. It is essential to plan prior to starting a project so that in an event where the unexpected happens, I will be calm in the face of such adversity and carry on with my project to the best of my ability.