REFRACT
Project Duration: 5 weeks
Spring Semester 2025
A simple foundation to product manufacturability.
Design and fabrication of a user-centered, interactive chess set, exploring adaptive lighting, form, scale, and weight, while emphasizing manufacturability through mold-making and casting, unified by a shared component across all pieces.
Gemini Generated
Gemini Generated
Gemini Generated
Form Inspiration
Exploration of a high-tech design language, emphasizing bold color application, refined surface treatment, and intentional manipulation of light and reflection.
Initial Concept Sketches
Early exploration of geometric forms through intersecting planes, maintaining clearly defined components while establishing cohesion through a shared design element.
Early Models
Early 3D visualization to evaluate form and scale, developing a clearer understanding of the final concept. Three distinct directions were explored, inspired by intersecting acrylic rods and planar geometries.
Further Sketch Ideation
Design evolved toward a cylindrical form, with emphasis on intersecting acrylic rods. A concealed LED integrated into the shared base illuminates the acrylic, enhancing both the futuristic aesthetic and overall user experience.
Further Modeling
Physical models constructed from wood and aluminum rods were used to evaluate final form and scale, allowing for refinement of shape, proportion, and overall presence before finalization.
Common Component
The base was resin-printed as a three-part assembly designed to house a miniature LED, featuring a twist mechanism that activates the light.
Final Model Making Process
Common base components were cast in black epoxy around the micro LED, then integrated into acrylic rods and secured using hand-cut acetal copolymer rod.
Final Model Images and Renderings
Final models were constructed with acetal copolymer dowels, acrylic rods, and epoxy cast bases from a resin printed master copy. Contextualized renders done in Keyshot.
