Thank you for the memory project!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog. I have really enjoyed this USB project and I will look forward to working on a project like this in schools, when I become a teacher.

Final Products

USB in use on a computer

Before and After- it's like Magic....!!

Rollercoaster few days but.....Hand in day finally arrived! :)

The last few days have been very hectic, to say the least. I have been finalising the final stages of manufacturing my USB and packaging. I have had a few hiccups but I finally handed in the finished product today. I must say, I am satisfied with the final outcome. The USB and packaging box are cohesive and appealing, as a collection.

I had an accident in the spray booth yesterday, when I accidentally sprayed red paint onto the gold main body. I was mortified but Tim kindly gave me some rubbing compund to remove the stains.

Once that had been cleaned up, I applied a final coat of clear vinyl lacquer to give it a shine and protect the paint underneath.
Yesterday in the workshops, I laser cut and assembled my packaging box, which I was happy with. The patterned card was a good choice.

Gold.......!!!

Spent quite some time in the spray booth today, applying the top coat. I decided to spray the whole main body gold, even the lipstick part. I have left that 24 hours to dry overnight. There are still a few imperfections and some dust particles have settled on the paint :(

Tomorrow, I will mask off the main body so I can spray the lipstick red. I will have to be very careful when I do this, as I don't want to ruin the paint work. I thought it would be easier to spray the whole body one colour, then I can mask off the relevant area and spray the red part.

Also, I haven't had a chance to check whether the lid fits onto the main USB, as the primer has been drying over the last few days. Previously, sanding it down had made the lid a bit too loose...

I have just drawn out my box template on Corel Draw, ready for laser cutting tomorrow. I couldn't just do a 'quick trace', as I only want the outline of the template to cut, not all the sides & flaps etc. (see below image)

Making good progress......finally!

Last night I was so frustrated with my packaging box template, it just wasn't working out. Lipstick boxes are slightly different as they have these small flaps- a bit like a toothpaste box (see image below)  
I wanted to make my own template from scratch, to fit my USB model in, as I had my own dimensions. I made 4 card mock-ups and still no result!

Image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/

Before I went to bed, I found this really good lipstick box template on the internet.

 

Image taken from http://www.wrapcandy.com 

This morning, I imported it into Corel Draw and resized it according to my USB dimensions. I then printed it out and assembled it. It works! I'm really pleased. Now I need to organise the design to hairline in Corel draw, so it can be laser cut.

Also, this morning I have sanded my USB & sprayed another final coat of primer on; in order to gain a smooth finish. I think that, that is the best as I can get it. I'll be ready to spray my top coat on today. I just need to mask the top section off, as that will be a different colour. Fingers crossed!

Art deco style for packaging....

I've decided for my packaging box, I won't use imagery or use Photoshop to create the set-up. This is because the Clothes Show Live brand is very simple. They don't have a graphic logo, the logo is the brand name. All the images which are associated with the exhibition event are photographs. Therefore, I have decided to use either textured, patterned or glittery paper. I want the pattern to be abstract and quite simple.

I went shopping today to look for some craft paper. I found some very nice, unique card at an art shop called Gadsby's in Leicester. It is ruby pink and gold with a flowery decorative design, very art deco (See below image). I feel it fits in very well with the design of my lipstick.

      

Find out more: Art and Craft at Gadsby's, Leicester

busy day in spray booth...

I have been in the spray booth since 11am trying to obtain a nice smooth finish on the main body of my USB. It feels smooth but there are still ridges and dots, which don't seem to be budging. The cap has quite a nice finish on it though.

So far, I have put 1 coat of plastic primer on and 3 coats of pressure pot primer on. I have left that to dry over the weekend now. On Monday, I will decide whether to put another coat of primer on or whether to proceed with the main top coat.  The final colours I had decided on are red and gold, to give it a really classic and luxurious look.

(You can see in the image below, how effective the colours are together)

I was thinking of sprinkling some gold glitter into the paint so it sprays it out onto the main body with gold glittery paint....but Tim says I can't do that, as it will clog up the gun!!

However, I can sprinkle some glitter on once it's been sprayed, which I will think about.

Going to work on my packaging net on the weekend, feel slightly worried that I haven't organised this yet but I'm hoping I can achieve a final design by Sunday.

Sanding....and more sanding.....and maybe tomorrow more sanding.....

I've been in the workshops, sanding my USB model down. I seem to have a lot of ridges and the thin layers, which have been RP'd are quite visible.
Also, as my model is very circular and spherical, it makes it very hard to sand it accurately. I have gone through all the 'Wet and Dry' papers and it looks quite smooth now. I had to sand the lid and main body seperately, which took a bit of time.

Looking at it closely, there are a few ridges still left but I don't want to sand it down too much, as I will ruin the shape.

One slight problem- the lid is now slightly loose, as I had to sand the connecting part to the lipstick (the part which fits into the lid); as it's part of the main body. I'm hoping that once I've sprayed it all up, there will be a thick layer of paint on the model surface, which will allow the lid to fit back on tightly.

Tomorrow I will be ready to spray plastic primer on and then base coats of the pressure pot primer (pre-mixed), more sanding and finally start working towards the quality finish of the product.

I knew this would happen.....

Manufacturing stage has begun and already I have hit a few obstacles. My USB model parts came out of the Rapid Prototyping machine today and they looked great (from afar). But when I placed my circuit down in the recess - I realised there was a big error.

The 12mm I had measured to ensure the metal chassis was sticking out, had somehow reversed. Basically, I ended up have 12mm internally and only a little bit sticking out for the metal part! This is what I was trying to prevent and I'm not quite sure how it has happened but I will go back to Creo and have a look over the next few days. For now, I want to focus on obtaining the final USB model as time is running out!!

I have made some manual adjustments now, to ensure the circuit fits. I really wish I had designed some locating pegs or some sloting holes on the main body. I have glued the 2 halves together and I have decided to sand it down as 1 whole object; to keep it symmetrical and even.

So it's glued together now, tomorrow I can continue working on the finish and making it smooth. Need to design my packaging net aswell in the next day or two. I want to make sure the packaging compliments the USB design and is relevant to my product; so Im having a bit of a think.

Busy day.....but productive!

I've converted all the parts into STL files and I've taken my design down to the workshop for it to be manufactured. It will be Rapid Prototyped. So, tomorrow hopefully I can see how it has translated into a solid model. I hope it all fits, as I have spent quite a bit of time on dimensions and altering my design on creo carefully.  

I'm thinking of hand painting my model, as it's so small and will be fiddly for spray painting. Still thinking about ideas for my packaging, will discuss this with John tomorrow in our 1-1 tutorial.

Slowly coming together now.....

Feeling slightly happier now that my USB design is developing on Creo. Just been checking all dimensions and created new assembly to check my circuit board fits into both recess' on both halves. Adding colour on creo adds realism. Just at uni, working with some of my SKE peers in Sheaf computer room

Circuit positioning, dimensions, Cap fitting!!!

Spent a good few hours today at uni translating my USB design onto Creo. Struggling with the software to be honest, but had a good stab at it today with some help from John. Sometimes, it doesn't want to seem to play ball, then you press one button and it's all working again!
I've been focusing a lot of today on thinking about circuit positioning/ mounting and dimensions etc. I started off creating 1 solid model but then realised it's better to slice it into two halves, in order to create the recess for the PCB on both sides.

Time is ticking fast....but im hoping to have my final design refined, for manufacture over the next 2 days.

What will I do for the packaging? hhhmmmm........

I've also had my thinking cap on today, on ideas for my packaging! I will research into this further over the next few days. My initial thoughts are to package the USB lipstick, in a standard lipstick box (see below). This is because its small and compact and will be easy to distribute, as a freebie. I am going to look into some other ideas for creative packaging and using the laser cutter, as the main method of manufacture.

How will it all fit together, as a USB...?

Just thinking about the dimensions of my final design and trying to visualise how it will look. I've realised internal supports/ architecture will play an important part in how it all fits together. I've been sketching out how the PCB will fit into a recess in the main body of the USB and the thickness of it, in order for it to fit securely.

Still working on sketches etc, so not posted these up yet. But my final USB design is to be in the shape of a Lipstick.  

More info on chosen venture....

I have created a research page for my chosen venture which I will add to tomorrow. Need to add some more information and images etc, to build up a picture on what the Clothes Show Live entails and the type of information I want the USB to contain for the end user.

Creo error @ home ....

I'm trying to access my final USB circuit assembly that I did in our tutorial with John Lee, where both parts are assembled as one. But it won't let me open it at home :( I wanted to post it onto my blog. It's saying 'Regeneration Failed'! Don't know what this means but I will have to find out on Monday

forgot to mention my chosen venture.....

Nipped into town today to get some Play-Doh so I can muck about with modelling tomorrow and think about the dimensions of my product; and how it fits.

I haven't so far stated what my chosen context is....my promotional 'freebie' will be designed to promote & act as an information service for the Clothes Show Live which takes place at the Birmingham NEC every year. It is a huge fashion and beauty exhibition with catwalk shows, hair stylists, make up, music And lots more!

I have attended many times and I love it. So I'm looking forward to developing my ideas further. Will post my intial ideas up soon

Visit the Clothes Show Live website here

Also, please feel free to watch the below video- it's the latest TV advert for 2011 Clothes Show Live! Thanks