Inspiration
Capturing my experience at Berkeley in one object was difficult for me, because I'm no longer the same person as I was freshman year.
I've taken on some quintessentially Berkeley traits in the last few years. I've stopped caring about jaywalking. I've found my favorite organically grown, locally sourced, collectively own pizza place. I've called my mom to tell her I'm participating in protests -- and then assured her that I'm not going to get arrested.
So when I was coming up with ideas of how to represent different experiences at different times in my Berkeley years, I wanted an object that's flexible enough to show change.
This sign board outside the Mars vintage shop became my inspiration. It's a sort of landmark on Southside that I walked past every day, and it reflects how everyone in Berkeley has something to say.
Design
I designed my take on the sign board using Autodesk Fusion 360, with some help from Adobe Illustrator.
For the sign letters, I designed letters to print and cut out using Adobe Illustrator. I intended to print the letters on plastic transparencies (the kind math teachers use on overhead projectors) to better match the aesthetic of the Mars sign board. To my surprise, Staples charges $50 for them, so I went with white paper instead.
Fabrication
This was my first time using a 3D printer! Because only 4 meters of red PLA filament were left on the spool at Jacobs, I scaled down the sign board to 75 percent of its original size. (Please note the letters file is scaled to fit the smaller version of the sign board.) This also cut printing time down to approximately half an hour.
Here's the finished sign board in use. A major part of my experience at Berkeley was finding my political voice and realizing that I care deeply about gender and racial equality.
I'm happy with how this project turned out, but in future iterations, I'd add a compartment in the back of the sign board to store extra letters.
Beyond this project, the sign board can also be used for passive-aggressive notes to roommates.
Special thanks to Brent and Josh for help with the 3D-printer in Jacobs!
Comments