Vintage Style + Group rendering

In order for the group to have more synergy and look like a collective, we arranged to meet up during the break with a line drawing, and render together to offer tips, and see what kind of approach and style that different people had to their drawings.

Ethan taught me a lot about exporting ai into ps format and about using paths, and the whole exercise as a hole was really valuable. 

Light Concepts

Traditional original lightbulb shape

Industrial style, referenced from existing style

Group added suggestions that the shields could be solar panels and that i need to loose the thick black lines.

Interim

In the Interim presentation, Vaughan pointed out some flaws i completely missed in my last rendering. Because i used a photo to get the shape of the mason jar, it was in perspective, but the lid that i drew, was in isometric because of how i constructed it. Also, the top was too dark and showed little detail, while the glass was super bright.

After the presentation, i did some research online and found the same design has already been done. I swear this happens too often, and although i understand that i have still something to offer to the idea, i feel that it will be more worthwhile to go with a different design.

Mason Jar

This render did not come easy. I first took a photograph of the mason jar with my desk lamp acting as my desired light source. I then traced the image in illustrator to get the shape. I moved it into photoshop to put down the base colouring, gradients, shading etc. To do the glass i ended up doing a rendered version (adding soft greys to create contouring) and then found out that if i overplayed the image, i looked clean and glassy.

The solar panel on the top could be an alternative to the usb in the hook idea. 

Had an epiphany moment today after testing an idea in 3d. My latest design

had been a simple extruded cylinder, that was visually lightweight, as well as

having a cleaned machined aesthetic. 

When i found a mason jar in my wardrobe, the idea switched (after spending

weeks in the dark, not liking any ideas). The idea was to do the same cylindrical 

shape led lamp, but it would have a mason jar thread on the inside, so it could

fit on top of a jar. This works for three reasons. 

1- The crucial part of camping is not taking more than you need, so repurposing 

something you already have is always awesome.

2- The jar acts as the bulb and creates that aesthetic i wanted of the vintage/hipster

hanging bulb look (which appeals to the target market) 

3- The jar diffuses the direct light, dispersing the light more evenly, and the jar

also allows the option of keeping the light on a flat surface (like the kitchen table)

Renders

For this render i tried incorporating a background to put the lamp in context, 

which is actually also the same style as the Optec logo.

The youtube tutorial of creating light was really helpful, using an effect layer "curve"

to expose the selected part and then gaussian blur to make it blend.

To get the shape right i tried modelling it on Rhino and then exporting the file into ai format,

which after deleting a lot of lines, gave me a really great starting point (proportion wise)

This render is referenced by an industrial style design i thought would appeal to 

the target audience. I tried warping the logo around the cylinder to make it look 

more realistic.

Textures and swatches

After trying to replicate material textures from rubbings i realised that nothing soft works. 

In my exploration i did realise that the grain in my desk came up well so used some pastels

to try and replicate the effect.

Texture Renderings

I found it easier to reconstruct the bulb in illustrator as i could use eclipses to determine the shape better.

Concepts and Renders

Initial scribbles and ideas of what i could design...

Final rendering of power bank, incorporating leather and stainless to look like a flask. After tons of layers, the leather came out good but ended up drawing the shadow on the wrong side.

Solar shower which rolls out to heat quicker, or is a backpack for easy carrying. 

Am missing the underlays for this page but a page full of renders for flashlight/lantern concepts.

Initial trials with vectors in Illustrator

First computer rendering. Took hours as i went for the artistic approach (small little stories building up), which ended up taking hours to correct and the final looked off.

More linear and simplistic rendering with gradients and simple tools.

Logo concepts

20 minute observational drawing

Initial drawing of my phone, hatched shading and perspective construction. Teamed up with Ethan Grigg and Brad Rolsten, group name "Optech" which we changed to Optec.