Progress report

Initially, I decided to make some silhouette's up for my gadgets using generic 'Steampunk' items and shapes. The end results are below, and although in some aspects there are victories, Alan and I both felt that the designs were forced and still didn't hold the logic and quality that I'm looking to achieve this time around





So it was back to the drawing board, and once again taking Alan's advice, I started to think a lot harder and with more clarity about what exactly the reason was for redesigning these gadgets. so to help me I decided to make a little check list for each gadget (3 of them - a mutual agreement that quality over quantity is going to be key here - positive decision) in my sketch pad. below is what was written down in my sketch pad, and is now blue tacked to one of my monitors to keep drumming into my head, what I'm supposed to be thinking about.

Proton Pack

KEYWORDS - Suck
Fire
Energy
Weapon

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - A trigger/firing element
A Power source
Something to show it's on
Something to show it's firing
An attachment from power to receiver
An element of mobility

MATERIALS - Copper, Brass, Metals, Woods, Wiring

MECHANICAL INSPIRATION - Funnel
Strong Lights
Gears
Gauge
Lever
Wheels
Cables
Pulleys


PKE Meter

KEYWORDS - Handheld
Search
Alert

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - Something to alert user of paranormal activity
Something to show a reading
Something to locate ghosts
Must be light enough to carry by oneself

MATERIALS - Wood, Brass, Copper, Glass, Leather, Wiring

MECHANICAL INSPIRATION - Compass
Gauge
Antenna
Bulbs
Bells
Cogs
Handles
Electrodes


The Ghost Trap

KEYWORDS - Suck
Contain
Capture

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - Something to draw in the ghost
something to transport it from suction device to container
Somewhere to hold the ghost
Something to show the trap is full or in use

MATERIALS - Brass, Glass, Piping, Wood, Gems

MECHANICAL INSPIRATION - Gramophone
Funnel
Vacuum
Jewelry box
Pipes
Cables
Lever
Crank

Now, it was once I began to think of the objects more as characters with stories and meanings of their own, that their logic began to take shape, and it is then that I reattempted some silhouettes using this logic and designer thinking.




These are the initial shape silhouette's for The Ghost Trap.



Above are the Shape blockouts for the PKE Meter



And Here are the results of the shape tests for the Proton Packs.

As you can see, these shapes alone are not enough, so I decided to try my hand at adding some detail in with gray tones. Personally, the actual imagery based outcome I don't like as I struggled with this technique, although it shows whats in my head, and after today, I can chose one of each gadget and design them in colour with each of their special components being more resolved and detailed/textured.







So, now I have more of an understanding of what I need to achieve, as mentioned before, I think the next step would be to design the intricate parts that are are only loosely drawn on these silhouettes, individually in colour and texture, and then put them together in a space, to see what my final piece would look like.