Project name: “CD Design prototype”
The requirement of the project was to create a CD design prototype. A prototype is the first full-scale and usually functional form of a new design. By building a prototype, I could quickly weed out the approaches that don’t work and that do work and come up with the solution that will make a better look and function.
This prototype, that you see on the right side, is an early sample, for my portfolio, of my visual CD design model that I created in Adobe Photoshop, and then I printed it out on a simple paper and cut it out. This concept of the process is one of the first tests to see flaws that needs to be fixed. It is necessary because the design work becomes real than the theoretical one.
I had one flaw in this test, it was the wrong scaling of the front and front-back sizes of the CD prototype. They were smaller than I expected to be. I fixed it quickly in Photoshop, and my flaw flew away.
Description:
The top, in Figure 1, is the back and front sides of the CD case. I decided to use pieces from my original artwork design, from one of my assignments that I've done in graphics for multimedia with Daniel Jonson. I included the text that says the general topic of the CD, my name, and my artistic signature to protect my work. My artwork was originally drawn on a piece of paper, scanned, and transported in a digital format. As you can see, my design is the colorful flowers and curly squiggles.
The center of the picture is the inside part of the CD case with the CD disk. For the left side, I used the big designed flower and the text that states what people are going to see in my CD disc. I dropped the opacity for the flower so that the text could be visible. The right side is the cover of CD also done with the design so the rest of the parts can be identical with the same theme and color. Also, I included what is going to be on the CD disc, because the case can be lost with all information that states what is on that CD disc, and it is handy to inform again.
On the bottom part of the picture, I wanted to show, the design under the CD disk. When the CD will be in the case, the spindle hub will show the design flower. And then when the CD will be taken out the rest of the design will be visible.
The background color is the peach-pink, which is my favorite color.
Figure 1.
Visual design prototype print out
Final Product
While searching for a place where I can print my design on CD disk, I met a great guy who helped me to build the entire CD case. His name is Ethan Ouimet. He is a product designer who simply believes that products should work, and with conscious, appropriate, and sustainable design can make life easier and truly change our world for the better. Currently, he works at Portland Community College in maker lab as a coordinator. That is where I met him and asked for help. He gladly agreed to help me with my project, and we began.
I showed my CD design prototype, Figure 1, and we discussed what I want, and details that will or will not work. Then, Ethan shared with me with a fantastic idea! He said that we can bend the wood material by using the laser printer. I was surprised to hear that because I have never seen or used the laser printer. He showed me some examples of how it will work and we started.
Figure 2.
Work process
We started to measure the right scale of the CD case, making the shapes of it in Adobe Illustrator. Then, Ethan programmed the laser printer to cut the wooden rectangle material., Figure 2. The lines that you see on figure 3 makes the wood bend, so the case could close.
Figure 3.
Lines on wood for bend
Overall, I am so glad and excited to have such experience. My original artwork that was on a piece of paper became a real product. I'm very excited about my work, because it was the first experience, and a new door opened to a new level of creativity.
I practiced my designer skills, I made connections with a new person that shares the same interests that I have. And I enjoyed doing such work with the positive attitude and making the creative outcome.
Figure 5.
Wooden CD case Graphics for Multimedia
by Leah Zoloti
Figure 4.
Final product CD case
We’ve done several tests for the scale, function, and the style. The printer was cutting the wood by running left and right, and the overall work took approximately 2-3 hours. The outcome went pretty well. But the flaw still appeared. The wood burned on the inside side that made a little bit of a dirty look. But I rubbed it with the sand paper and the look became better.
Description:
The final product is on Figure 4 and 5.
The flowers and curly squiggles design looked really pretty on the wood material. As you can see there are no colors, because the laser printer eliminated them. So, we inverted the text color to white, because the flower was dark. At first cut, the text was not visible, but Ethan had a similar experience with the text, so he said that we will over cut it. The over cut worked, and the text became visible.
