Gmay3's Sketching Journey

Those are some really helpful points! I will try to think more creatively about the grill surfacing and focus on making sure the speaker can play in both together and separate modes.

On some of those concepts I had been kicking around the idea of designing the speaker so that it would only play in stereo/separate mode to emphasize its difference from other bluetooth speakers, but designing out a useful feature of playing in a compact mode doesn’t make any sense.

I’ve been working on a few concepts that would be able to play in both attached and separate mode. I think they’re getting closer, it’s so fun to see the different forms progress! I would never have thought to start here without the exploration.

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Nice progression Gerry. That is why it is so important to move beyond your first few concepts. Getting feedback is just one tool to get you out of your comfort zone. I like to look at products in all different industries and from all different time periods as well. Often there are similar problems that others have solved, even if in a totally unrelated product type, or in nature. Combine this with generating a target user and identifying the other products and experiences that this person values.

Thanks Michael, you’re describing a lot product research points I hadn’t of thought of before and they are some great lessons learned for me!

The latest concept is standing out to me as one I want to try to develop further. I’m going to work on choosing a target user and focusing some research into the next sketches of this concept.

This weekend I did some research through pro audio blogs to see what a Musician and Audio Producer user would want out of a portable bluetooth speaker.

A little background: I started studying and learning design in 2013 but before that I spent a lot of my free time in college composing music and doing the audio production that goes into making a mixed and mastered track. I started thinking about this stereo bluetooth speaker idea after seeing all the time I spent carefully mixing individual instrument tracks across the stereo space go to waste on a portable bluetooth speaker with two speakers that were only 4 inches apart. Because of this, the sound that hits you ears is essentially monophonic and producers even use these bluetooth speakers to check their mono mixes. :slight_smile:

Here is the ideal stereo speaker setup from a top view which maximizes the stereo space, instrument clarity, and immersion while listening to a track.

With this target user in mind, I created a list of features from the research I did to help shape this concept going forward.

Portable Stereo Sound (two seperate speakers with the ability to attach together)
Aux input
Analog sound knob - tactile buttons
Control of the track (play/pause/rewind/ff/next song/previous song)
Flat EQ response (most bluetooth speakers are overly bassy)
Speaker stays in place on the table at full volume
Prioritize sound quality - it’s ok if the product is a little larger and heavier than typical bluetooth speakers (musicians are used to hauling around really heavy gear because it sounds better)
Incorporate natural materials where possible


I did some sketches and overlays to incorporate more tactile controls into the latest form concept. I also sketched a quick scene showing the scale and how they would be used in stereo mode.

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Here are a few sketches I’ve been working on to explore some of the details. I started thinking about how the back of the speaker should look and wanted to arrange the ports in a logical way. Making the power button biggest and easy to find was most important and I put the AUX in port at the bottom so that the cord would be closest to the table when plugged in and in “stereo” mode.

I also worked on trying to explore different ways the speakers would interface together to allow for charging in “mono” mode. Both speakers will need batteries but it would be great to charge both of them by plugging in only one cord. I was thinking of using pogo pins to be able to electrically connect both batteries on the inside faces of the bottom TPU rubber grips. The bottom of each speaker half would have magnets embedded to make them easy to detach and connect.

Good explorations! I’d really design out the UI. With it split in two and in the position it is in it might be hard to press a button without accidentally spinning the volume. Also, in digital products, volume is typically a rocker or two snap domes. The potentiometer volume wheels are more expensive to make feel nice.

Thank you! That’s a good point about the buttons and accidental presses. I had been thinking that placing the wheel inside this curve was the only place it would be protected when the speaker is knocked over or tossed into a back pack. I was trying to shoot for the moon with the volume wheel but I can see where it would add challenge and cost to get right.

Over the last few days, I have been working on exploring different button layouts using all snap dome/micro switch style buttons.




The first concept puts the buttons flush with the outer housing edge and recesses the speaker grill to make space for them. Putting the buttons here might help the user grip the back of the speaker while pressing the buttons with their thumb. Since the grills are rectangular, there is some extra dead space around the speaker where the buttons wouldn’t be in the way.






The second concept allows the grill to be flush with the outer housing edge. I’m trying out a button style I’ve seen on some bluetooth speakers where the speaker grill/cloth is used as keypad membrane and thin plastic buttons are bonded on top to show the user where to press.






The third concept makes use of the existing speaker housing edge and breaks it up into buttons. This edge would be closest to the user in both listening modes and should be easy to press since the buttons are close to the base.

I’ve been thinking about how to have both speaker bottoms fit together like a puzzle and connect electrically and it was getting way too complex. I really wanted each speaker to have a solid TPE/rubber base instead of having pieces cutout to fit together but I couldn’t think of a way to electrically connect the two halves and keep a solid base. Finally, I came up with a solution of using a single magnetic power cord that would connect with both speaker halves on the back!

In this concept I got rid of the USB ports and did a new back port layout sketch with the new magnetic charging connector. The two speaker halves will have magnets in their bases to connect them together physically. This will make charging much simpler.

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May, you sketching and visual sophistication is really advancing. Nice work.

Thanks so much for the kind words Michael!

For others that might be also learning sketching, something that’s been helping me is taking a minute or two before the sketch to think about what I want to communicate and what that frame would look like before I start sketching. Kind of like a photograph before it’s taken. It’s not a detailed picture in my mind at this stage but it helps me layout the objects and perspectives that might help communicate an idea more effectively.

I’m working on some top/front/side views with the newest design to help define the geometry in my mind a little more. In each previous perspective sketch, the form has been a varying so I’m working on refining the proportions to be able to model it in foam or in 3D in the future.

Here are some side and back views I’ve been working on. In the side view, I decided to flatten out the form so that it could rest on a table top much better. In the back view sketch I made some small adjustments to the layout and labeling, then changed the design of the magnetic connector so it will be two parts that were offset inside the rubber base to allow for a continuous rubber base on the bottom.

Just for fun, I did a quick photoshop cut and rotate of the front and back to see how they would look like in stereo mode.

At this point, I think I’m ready to take these sketches and start modeling this concept in foam to evaluate the form and UI. Since this is the Sketching board I won’t post these models here but you can look for them in the Projects section of the forum in the future!

Next, I’m going to work on sketching a Virtual Reality glove that gives grip feedback I’ve been thinking about lately!

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Here are a few sketches I’ve been working on with this VR Virtual Grip Glove concept. The basic idea is to add a lightweight cable on the outside of your fingers to act as an additional software controlled, external tendon for each finger. In this way the fingers would move normally but could oppose the gripping force applied by the flexor tendons in your hand, stopping the cable and your grip at a certain point between a flat open hand and a closed fist. One example would be picking up a football in a VR game which would stop your grip based on the size of the football, each finger would feel like it is contacting the surface of the virtual football without going through it.

I’ve been thinking about how adjustable these hand controllers would need to be so I started sketching some ideas showing how the length of each finger band would adjust and stow away in the body of the glove. Also I think the “links” which will carry the cable on the outside of the glove will need to be able to adjust along the length of each finger band. Like a watch band, some links might need to be added or removed to support the cable evenly along the finger.

Working on this more, I think it might be easier from a manufacturing standpoint to have pre-made bands with sockets so you could put the cable guiding posts wherever they are needed to allow for free movement of the cable.

I wanted to explore how the whole VR glove controller might work with some of the concepts I had developed before so I thought I’d go for it and sketch the whole thing! This one got a little crazy but it was fun and also helpful to see how different parts might work together!

I built a PC recently and though I didn’t use one in my build, I was thinking about how a PC water cooling system works. I had heard about a “life hack” to cool yourself down pretty quickly by holding the underside of both wrists under running cold water from a sink faucet and it really works! This is kind of hacking your anatomy to cool your blood quickly from one place and then let your heart pump this cooler blood throughout your body, kind of how a PC water cooler works to keep the processor cool.

I’ve been thinking about how the properties of the human body’s circulatory system might be leveraged to help cool you down after a workout or after you brought in groceries during the summer, while being a busy party host, or basically any time when you feel like cooling down but still need to keep moving around. A wearable equipped with an electronic Peltier cooler worn on this same spot on the wrists could potentially provide this cooling through a more portable and convenient experience. Here we go!

fun stuff Gerry, I can see your confidence growing on the page.

Thanks very much Michael, and sorry I’m only now just getting back to you!

I’m starting to visualize the sketch on the page before I start and I think that’s been helping lay the ideas out a little better.

I’m starting to explore sketching in Virtual Reality because there have been some great new creative VR tools that have been recently released for the Oculus Rift. Sketching in VR is really compelling and fun and I wanted to learn and explore their potential from an Industrial Design perspective.

Here’s the first video of my first attempt of sketching a simple table in VR: