As artists and creatives we find our self exploring new ideas all the time. Allowing our creative mind and passion drive us forward to discover something new and interesting. As a photographer and filmmaker my creative interests don’t stop there. With a passion ever growing in architecture and design, I find that opening up my mind to those ideas and interests has helped me even in photography and filmmaking. I have always found that a defining space that a person experiences on a day to day, especially in a home and even commercial spaces creates a story in of its self. Those spaces and how we interact, view, and experience them can create new feeling or old. It’s a 3 demential experience that we get to experience similar to those experiences characters and audience members get with a movie or viewing a photograph at a gallery.

My first taste of design started within the world of industrial design. As a part of my Introduction: Industrial Design class in the fall of 2023 we began learning AutoCADs Fusion 360 software to implement some design experimentation.

The goal of the project was to create a series of futuristic city blocks using the “forms” section of the software. Taking inspiration from current building such as the space needle to drive the design process.

From there we began working on more traditional items found in everyday use, such as an ice cream spoon.

The main goal of this assignment was to take a normal basic item and create a unique design to it. Which could mean anything for the designer.

My goal was to focus on comfortability and ergonomics within the spoon.

After we experiments and gathered a variety of design skills and techniques we moved onto our final project.

The goal: To create a family of products for a designated brand. This brand itself would be a family of garden tools.

1. Conceptualization

I took inspiration from pocket knife designs that i’ve seen and even used. I wanted the design to be open allowing for breathability. Then at the backend an open hole that a carabiner could be attached to. That way you have your tools directly attached to your belt for quick use while working in the dirt.

Imagine this, you need to switch to using your hands while planting your new basil tree. Just let the tool retract to your side, use your hands them when ready just grad the tool quickly.

I started by sketching out a series of potential ideas for my garden tools. I began these sketched with the idea of breathability, comfort, and ergonomics. Because let’s face it garden tools are always uncomfortable to use. As a kid helping my mom or dad in the back yard gardening I found that the traditional designs for these tools never was fun to use.

Moving onto the next faze, is prototyping. After sketching out my initial ideas I began working with clay as a mean to test out my design and then implement any changes that I may need along the way.

I used my own hand to conform the shape of the handle to better its comfortability and ergonomics. The shape of the front blade was simple in its design, nothing too fancy.

My primary focus was on the handles design. As I engineered the handle I found the the openness of the handle allowed the bottom portion to act as a tool to push any tough dirt when using the product.

After several days of working with clay I managed to finalize the design. One that was comfortable, ergonomic, and functional.

The next steps were to move onto design the tool in 3D software.

As I began my 3D modeling in Fusion 360, I also began to rethink and map out the material choices for the garden tool. I knew from the beginning that I wanted the design to feel interconnected between the front blade and bottom handle, as opposed to being separate pieces.

As for the handle that I wanted to be made from wood, specifically walnut. Something that felt handmade. The metals used for the handle would be made out of stainless steel and carbon fiber.

The next faze of this design process was to begin work on the family aspect of the design. Again the whole idea was to create a family of garden tools. So the same material, same thought process, and same feel.

With that idea in mind I began work on the garden fork tool. I wanted to keep the same interconnectedness between the materials as well as keep the same handle design allowing for that comfort and ergonomics.