Gmay3's Sketching Journey

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:

Update on the VR Glove, for practice and to simplify the previous sketch, I used the Oculus design language for inspiration. I realized I was over complicating the portions that carry the cable over each finger and used an bicycle brake cable inspired idea with cloth line and flexible tubing stitched to the glove.

Very nice. Huge step in your sketching style.

Thanks a lot Michael! I’ve been experimenting and working on learning digital sketching tools/workflow. Having the undo button is helping me learn by making mistakes and fixing them as best I can. It takes longer this way but it’s helpful for learning rendering techniques and linework!

I’ve been working on some analog sketching recently especially forcing myself to practice some marker work. This is the most I’ve done with them to date but I had a lot of fun experimenting with them.

These sketches were replies to Weekly Design Challenges on Instagram @weeklydesignchallenge for a hand mixer and hammer design.They do weekly subjects and repost some of their favorite submissions and it’s been a lot of fun to see the sketches everyone comes up with!

Hey everyone, quick update, I just moved to Chicago where I’m going to be enrolled in the Master of Design in Industrial Design Program at University of Illinois at Chicago aka UIC starting in a few weeks. Totally excited, I can’t wait! Huge thanks to all of you who contributed to this journey and help me on to this path, I’m very grateful!! :smiley:

Now that the move is complete (phew) I’m getting back to sketching so here are a few of the latest.

A ring flashlight/lantern for the backpacking crew, cast in magnesium to make it lightweight and so you could use it as a fire starter in an emergency by cutting a few magnesium shavings off the body.

A friendly, bedside table designed without corners to save your arms or head from to hitting a sharp corner while you sleep.

congrats on getting into UIC and the move to Chicago!

Thanks a lot Michael! Looking forward to your Keynote at SQ1CON!

Here’s a page of guitars I did for the Weekly Design Challenge. I love sketching music gear.