Ceramic Final Design

Looking at the Fibonacci pattern I have tried to reproduce the pattern focusing on shapes I could see within it. I started with a circle and two Fibonacci numbers next to each other in the sequence of 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89… I used 5 and 8, and dividing the circle firstly by 5 and then used a French curve to create a curve from point to point, then by 8. To do this I divided the circle up and used a protractor, dividing 360 by 5 = 72 and 360 by 8 = 45. The curves for each number need to go in opposite directions.

 

           








The shapes I picked out were petal-like and the number of petals was determined by the smaller number of spirals, I experimented with 5 and 8 petals. I then decided to make the pattern 3D by extruding the shapes up, but keep the interlinking lines of the shapes. The 8 petal piece was too complex so I used the 5 petal design, and used Corel Draw to produce the outline of the pattern, and exported it into Solidworks. I have looked at the work of Tavs Jorgenson, who creates similar extruded ceramic pieces, using digital technology; he uses a 3D printer that prints out his pieces using plaster. 

 

I am going to use the clay extruder for my design, as slip cast methods can’t be used to produce my design unless I produced separate moulds for each segment. I have produced a 3d model in solidworks of my light, including the light fixture itself, I researched light designer Lilach Lotan who creates porcelain lights, she uses a light fixture from Ikea called the Grundtal which is safe for ceramic lighting. I encorporated the specific light fixture measurements to get an acurate model.  

With the light measurement in the model I can map out the scale needed to fit the light, I need to test different heights to see how much light gets out, I will do this using a prototype I have made using a 3D printer. I want my light to be subtle and warm. I can achieve this with a small light and a warm, neutral palette of clay.

My final design will change as I test clay colours, and the complexity of the pattern may need to be simplified. The next step is to produce coloured clay samples, and to design my CAD piece that will link to the light design, starting with the initial pattern. I want to experiment with materials further using the laser cutter and 3D prototype machine.

Development and Designs

I have looked at Fibonacci to inform the shape of my designs, at first I was looking at combining both material areas together to create a table with a light in its base/legs but I feel it’s moving away from my brief, I am focusing on the spirals and patterns within a pine cone, and also spiralling in staircases. I still want to create a set of lights or light built with several pieces for ceramics, and a piece of furniture in CAD that can link to each other in some way.

I am going to be testing different clay colours until I have a final design. I am making the slip from scratch, and then adding coloured pigments or stains. I got the recipe from, The Ceramic Process which gives you step by step instructions for many ceramic processes.

The recipe for creating a clay is:

HTR Clay - 25%

China Clay - 30%

Molochite 120's - 7-12%

Nepheline Syenite -10-13%

Quartz - 20-25% 

My colour scheme is quite a neutral palette such as brown, cream, yellow, orange and the shades in between. I decided to look at spiral stairs after seeing architecture by Gaudi who used the nautilus spiral for his stairs, based on the Fibonacci spiral. Looking at the stairs I am focusing on the levels and layering of increasing sized shapes.     

I need to focus on the main shape of the lights, and how many I am going to make. I want to look at using the fibonacci pattern onto the surface of the light in some way, and start designing more around this. I feel like my designs in my sketchbook so far are so distant and complicated, combining a table and a light together in my designs was too much, and it’s not what I want to do, I just need to take a step back and start again.

Fibonacci in Nature

I have noticed a pattern in the inspiration for my work; I have looked at flowers, cacti plants and shells. I was always interested in the patterns and shapes within these elements of nature. The picture opposite it a golden section spiral construction diagram, ‘The Golden Section preferences are part of the remarkable relationships between the proportions of patterns of growth in living things such as plants and animals’. (Kimberly Elam)

 

The main name for patterns found in nature is Fibonacci. Fibonacci was a mathematician who created a sequence of numbers, the first two numbers in the sequence are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two. The sequence is, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13,21 ,34 ,55 ,89 ,144 etc. Fibonacci sequences appear in biological settings, creating repetitive swirling patterns, giving structure to nature, the sequence can be found in sun flower seeds, tapered pine cones, pineapples, flowers, Romanesque broccoli and cauliflower, cactus plants and spirals of shells and ammonites. 

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I have always found the structures and patterns in nature captivating, and wandered if there could be a generalised pattern or structure to them, using the Fibonacci structure I will try to incorporate the patterns into my designs. I will look at the different plant, shell and fossil formations documenting them by taking photographs and  producing drawings focusing on pattern.