The Brief
The brief was to come up with a home-ware design that would incorporate an element of anthropomorphism. Something that somehow resembles in some way the form of an animal or part of an animal. The notion of ‘beauty and the beast’ came to mind whereby a simple household item could be transformed into something eye-catching and interesting by adding an element of grotesque.
The form would take into consideration the 3D printing fabrication process with its advantages and limitation.
The Problem
As someone who loves to listen to music on vinyl, I have over the years acquired quite a collection. For me, I find that the inconvenience of putting on a record is far outweighed by the experience of engaging with the music through a tangible medium. But once the record is on the player and the needle has dropped into the groove, the problem of where to put the empty jacket arises. The jacket will often end up on top of a pile of previously played records on the lid of the turntable, where it will most likely stay. This can cause the jackets to get damaged and generally looks messy.
The solution was to design a record jacket stand that would be used to conveniently display the record currently on the player. The design would incorporate the anthropomorphic theme with the aim of producing a functional object with an interesting aesthetic.
Inspiration
As a fan of rock music I began to think of iconic symbols with- in the genre. I ultimately settled on one of the most famous appendages in rock n roll. The tongue of Gene Simmons.
Development
The basic tongue form created using t-splines in fusion 360.
The tongue shape is refined to further reflect the shape of Gene Simmons’ tongue, and a crease added down the middle for a more realistic touch.
The addition of a twisted hexagon pot plant adds a secondary function to the stand as well as expanding on the anthropomorphic theme of a simple home-ware item being trans- formed with a grotesque element.
The pot plant design is refined with fillets to smooth out the edges.
The finished product was split into three parts for assembly. This made the 3D printing fabrication process possible.
Digital Render
