For this individual project, I was assigned an upper-class design mentor and was tasked to make a gift for them. I created a motorized customizable record player zoetrope. We had 4 weeks to create this piece.

Our class first discussed what we thought made a gift special and created a mind map illustrating our ideas. Some interesting words I took out of this discussion were interactivity, connection, and surprise.

I also created a mind map of traits my mentor, Summer, possessed.

For a quick exercise, we were tasked to make a container for an item we found walking around the Design building. I found a notebook spiral, and really liked the movement that it created. I then created a container using a toilet paper roll, spare cardboard, glitter, and the plastic end of an old paintbrush. I created a spring-loaded design that way, when it was opened, the glitter would shoot out.

To finalize, I added toilet paper around the toilet roll to make it look more inconspicuous. I really liked the idea of not knowing what was inside based on the outside container, and played with that idea to the fullest extent.

When it became time to create the gift for my partner, Summer, my brain automatically went to animation. I have enjoyed exploring movement throughout the year, and animation is something that we both had in common. Her cats have very notable features, being a clipped ear and a bad eye. I thought these were distinct features that I could play on in creating an animation. After researching different ways of physically animating, I decided to make my own zoetrope.

Zoetropes are an early form of animation that rely on motion to piece together an illusion of an animation. This is done on a circular, rotating object with slits cut into the side that helps the brain connect the pieces into this illusion. (https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/interactives/zoetrope)

To make a zoetrope, I knew I needed to test, test, test. A lot of it relies on sizing, and I ended up getting lucky that my measurements worked.

Time to create the Illustrator files for the actual animation! Originally I was going to do two, but due to time constraints for testing, I ended up only doing the cat animation.

Now for the mechanism to make the zoetrope spin! I have never done anything like this, so it was a lot of trial and error.

Action shots of finishing touches!

And here is the final creation!

Here is the video of the final zoetrope, and also a video of my mentor's reaction to her gift!

Concept Statement

Summer Raine is an Industrial Design student, who is full of life, independence, and creativity. Originally I wanted to make a project to be functional in my design mentors’ life, however, after meeting Summer, I realized that anything she would ever need, she would have already made herself. She was passionate about her design journey, her animals, and her love for play in design. One of her favorite designers, Yves Behar, had this quote that I allowed to lead my design journey: “For each project I do, I try to surprise myself, do the unexpected, and change my own status quo.” I felt like this quote fit both of our personalities, always trying to challenge ourselves, take risks, and experiment with materials and objects we have never used before. Therefore, I challenged myself to motorize a customized Zoetrope, fit with her cat dancing in the animation, and also customizable sheets for her to do her own creations. As someone who has limited experience with electricity, chipboard, and physical animations, I fully challenged myself, surprised myself, and surprised everyone around me. After this project, I changed my status quo to feeling like a true designer.