Summary of Project: Wooden Vessel

This project was possibly one of the most challenging and rewarding projects of the semester. I was exposed to an area of design that I have not had much experience, which involved hands-on building and the use of powerful wood construction tools. Because of the newness and the difficulty of this project, I learned a great deal about types of wood, working with wood, using cutting tools, and the construction of a vessel.

Originally I intended to have a much larger vessel. This is one major weakness of the project. Although it can hold coffee beans, it cannot hold many. In addition, the lid does not feel on perfectly snug, which means that the vessel cannot adequately seal in the freshness. Realizing that this would be an issue from the very beginning, I intended for the vessel to hold a partially used bag of coffee beans. This is often what I am seeking to stow away. If I were to do anything differently to this piece, I would use a darker wood such as walnut. I would also make the vessel much larger and try to make the lid fit more snugly.

On the biggest strengths of my project involves not just the end result but also the process that brought me there. My initial sketches had more complex shapes and incorporated the coffee bean shape in to the middle of the vessel, as a stopper and as a handle. The curve was also much more extreme. However, I feel that editing is one of the best ways to improve a design. After getting a feel for the machines and working with the materials, I soon learned that my project design needed to be edited down.

After I cut the initial shape of the outside of the vessel, I realized that the inside design needed to allow for more space. If I had used the organic shape of the coffee bean I would not be able to utilize the entire vessel and would be limited in the amount of content it could hold. I decided to make the walls as thin as possible, while still maintaining structure. I also cut a piece from the remaining wood to be used as the stopper that would mimic the shape of the inside as well as the outside. I titled this piece in order to keep the lid more secure and to add interest to the piece.
I realize now that this piece is stronger than it would have been had I used my original design ideas. Overall, I was very satisfied with the simplicity and sleekness of my final project.