Handmade models – Back to basics

When you first start out in design school, the two two tools that you come into the game with are your hands. These hands are capable of manipulating a mouse, clicking buttons, waving a marker around, and of course actually “shaping” the design you are working through out of foam or clay, etc. As 3d modeling software gets cheaper, faster and more intuitive this idea of getting your hands dirty seems to be an old school way of working. These days it is possible in just minutes to change a few curves in my 3D model and then send that to a digital prototyping machine for printing. A very accurate, full color model would appear on my desk in a few hours. This is a fast and accurate way of working.

What we need to be careful of is losing that physical interaction with the product. When modeling in 3d you don’t have the ability to quickly change direction and try something different. When working with your hands you actually see the surfaces and material breaks form before your eyes and you can guide them with your hand. Proportions are accurately judged and can be adjusted on the fly. You can tell immediately if something looks off.

The one big downfall of working by hand is that it gets difficult when you need things to be accurate within a few mm. All of these models were created to get the design intent across to the 3d modeler. When you get into 3d that’s when you can push and pull surfaces to get those dimensions more accurate .

Let’s not get lazy or think we are above getting our hands dirty. It’s fun anyway and you get to have foam in your hair the rest of the afternoon.