Update

I have 15 iterations at this point.
Making these iterations reminded me of 'Spore', a computer game where you start as a cell and evolve into a creature, adapting to the environment.

I want to develop my form into something that has concealed spaces with extended arms that look like it could be suspended from a tree like a web. This is the sort of idea I'm going to keep in mind, I think it brings together my three words: Gossamer, Curious and Coil.

We are naturally curious about things that are hidden from us, and curling/coiling forms always have hidden spaces. I also want my model to appear light and natural as if it could float on the air like a piece of gossamer.

Experiment

For my experiment I glued four squares of card to a larger sheet then had three decks that I asked people to 'match' to the fixed squares.

The first deck had the same patterns and everyone matched them to the right squares

The second deck had the names of the patterns and everyone lines them up straight away too.

The next deck had names and patterns mixed up so people had to choose which to go with. Surprisingly it was even.

I got some feedback from people who tried it out,   they thought that I needed more colour to make it interesting. I also thought that I should involve an additional sense other than sight.

I'm thinking that I will also involve smell, this will make my object more interactive because people will have to pick it up and smell it.

Sensory Objects

Smell - I brought a stick of lipgloss that I have had for about 10 years, I've never worn it but I kept it because it smells just like lemonade!

Taste - An equal sachet. I would assume that, since it's a coffee sweetener, it would taste sweet but it's really disgusting.

Sound - I brought a rattle that I got from a vending machine in Japan.

Sight - I brought a tiny jar of glitter. I find it interesting to look at because it's much smaller than a normal jar and it has a cork stopper.
Touch - I brought a poi that I made with wool and plastic bags. There is a stark contrast in textures between the head and the tail.

These are my interactive objects. The white-out is my practical object. You can clip the cap onto the back so you don't lose it and the white-out tape is about the width of the average handwriting. This white-out is much neater than the paint-on kind and it doesn't need to dry.

The stress ball is my fun object, I think it's really cool that it changes colour and bulges out when you squeeze it.

First Nine

Here are nine of my first iterations. I think the later ones show the word 'gossamer' better whereas the first ones are more 'coily'

SolidWorking

Rather than use the full spiral in my last post I decided to start with a simpler form based on this view of the snail shell.

These are the steps I took in SolidWorks to get this curved part.

I extruded a boss from the spine shape on the front face which was based on the shell above. Then made curved cuts on the top face so that it curved backwards. I then filleted some of the edges.

I opened three of these shapes in 3DS.

 

Processing

I've just been working out how to use processing.
This is a quick sketch I made -slightly irrelevant, but it did help me practise.
http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/65654

I have also come up with my starting shape and played with moving sections of it to make a new shape.

 

First Forms in 3DS

 Here is the original form in SolidWorks, I took it from my precedent image of a snail shell.

I was just testing manipulations in 3DS, I quite like these forms but they aren't at all like my words.

Three Words

My three words are gossamer, coil and curious. I thought about words that have a similar meaning and added them to this word map. I decided that some words were between the two in meaning.

3 Word Drawings

    

 My noun is gossamer. I'm taking this to mean light and delicate like a fine cobweb.
I combined a butterfly wing with a spider's web but I think this drawing is too literal.
For my second drawing I just tried to capture the 'floatiness' 

My verb is coil, not all of my iterations may show this in the sense of being wrapped around themselves but they will have concealed spaces.

For this sketch I tried to show the twists and turns the 'coil' implies.







My adjective: Curious was harder to capture, I think this drawing shows 'curious' mixed with 'confusing'
I think curious and coil are going to work well together. The coil implies mystery and hidden places, which I think is also an aspect of 'curious'

Interaction Table

Solidworks

I made a weird sort of wire model in solidworks

Mind Map

Our group mind map for the sense 'smell'

First Shape

Today I drew my first form in processing, I started with numbers for the coordinates but I exchanged them for variables so I could change the position and size of my shape.
I found this first tutorial quite easy because I've done COMP 102. The language is quite similar.

I improved it by making it draw my shape where the mouse was clicked and with a random size. It clears the screen when a key is pressed. I also like the white on dark blue better.

First 3DS

This started as the outline of a snail shell. It doesn't look like that anymore. I still wanted to show that there were hidden spaces, which brings in one of my other words: 'Curious'

Precedents

My three words are-
n: Gossamer
a: Curious

v: Coil

 

I chose the word gossamer and then found an image for it, rather than the adjective gossamer meaning light or ethereal, I'm using the noun meaning spider's silk.

After I found some images for gossamer I continued to look at forms in nature and found lots of interesting pictures of snail shells, from these I took the word coil.

Gossamer and coil were relatively easy to find precedent images for but curious was a much more abstract concept so I chose something that I personally think expresses it.

Reference List

Olsen, S. (2004). Spider Webs [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.shawnolson.net/a/857/spider_webs.html

Camp, M. (2011). Snail Shells [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://creativeadmin.net/?tag=snail-shell

[Untitled abstract]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://wallpapers.free-review.net/12__Clipart_abstract_background.htm

Open Processing Sketches

http://openprocessing.org/sketch/65484
This would make an awesome screensaver.
I'm not sure about the definition of 'parameters' but I think the parameters for this are the colours of the left and right side, the time until restart, and the position of the particles.

http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/65714
This is awesome! It's a diffuse cloud of particles that chase your cursor and when they catch up they form a person.
I think the parameters are the position of the mouse, the colours and the direction/ speed of the movement

First Sketches

This is the first sketch I did for the word 'Run' It shows the basic impact then take off.

For this sketch I focused on one stride. The thick black lines are where the foot first hits the ground. The curve down then up shows the transfer of weight from the heel up through to the toes. The end breaks into smaller lines where the foot leaves the ground.

For this sketch I focused on a more specific moment. When you decide to stop running and you take that first step to push against all of the forward momentum that has built up.

For this sketch I took the noun 'adventure' but I was also thinking of words like exploration, discovery and curiosity.