Edward Prince Furniture Design - Creativity - Design in 3D

The Basics of Three-Dimensional Design
The third dimension contains three elements that are not physically present in two-dimensional work.

1. The viewer/user should be involved by engaging them in, on or with the object and presenting continual changes that visually lead around the work.
2. The effects of gravity mean objects should be structurally stable appropriate to their environment; gravity can be visually exploited through apparently defying gravity and creating visual tension.
3. The necessity to establish a balance between form and function.

Three dimensions are normally described on the Cartesian X – Y – Z system of axis and everything in our world is described in these terms. Although Non-Euclidean geometry’s provide a different set of patterns for the designer which are worthy of practice and can lead to new solutions with R. Buckminster Fullers geodesic domes being the most famous example.

 

Patterns associated with different co-ordinate systems of space. (L to R) Cartesian co-ordinates; polar co-ordinates; tetrahedral co-ordinates; each illustrated with a tessellation by M. C. Escher.

 

The three-dimensional designer works with the same elements of design as the two-dimensional designer: line, shape, form, space, texture, value and colour as well as the same unifying principals: repetition, variety, rhythm, balance, emphasis and economy. However because of the effects of space and gravity working with these elements is quite different from that of two dimensions. It is harder to isolate and recognise these elements from the unity of our perceptions. Despite their visual subtleties, the unifying principals of design are more important in three dimensions than two. In order to hold our attention the object must change continually as we move around it yet at the same time should maintain an overall sense of continuity.

Three-dimensional design must also take into account that an object is considered from many angles and it is difficult to establish all their complex spatial relationships on paper. There are also differences in thinking styles for the two and three dimensional designer. A three dimensional designer should be capable of mentally visualising the whole form and rotating and manipulating it mentally in all directions, as if it is in their hands. The objects form should not be confined to one or two views, but will explore the play of depth, flow of space, impact of mass and the nature of different materials throughout all its planes

Visual Thinking for Three Dimensional Design
Visual thinking pervades all aspects of human activity, from the abstract and theoretical to the down to earth and everyday. Visual thinking is obviously central to the practice of architecture, design and the visual art. However visual thinking is far from the exclusive use of the artist. Arnheim (1974) argues that everybody constantly uses visual thinking. This is aided by three kinds of visual imagery which in the experienced designer are in a continual dance with each other:

1. The kind we see.
2. The kind we see in our mind’s eye.
3. The kind that we draw and model.

The elements of visual thinking.

Each element does occur independently, however the expert visual thinker will interactively use all three by utilising seeing, drawing and imagining in a fluid and dynamic way. The illustration shows how visual thinking is most effective when seeing, imagining and drawing merge into one. Additionally these interactions between the elements stimulate each other.

A designer’s creative process may visualise and approach a problem from a number of angles, possibly solving it in the direct context of seeing. Once they have a visual understanding of the problem, they will imagine a range of solutions. Then using a series of sketches or models they will compare and evaluate these ideas. This process continues through graphic, perceptual and inner images until the problem is solved.

The Languages of Three Dimensional Thinking
Basic ability in visual and spatial thinking provides the flexibility to display information in different ways. Visual language often says far more about an idea than words. Visual feedback is essential for understanding and developing ideas, making thoughts visible through maps, diagrams, drawings and models. Feedback includes other languages like verbal, sensory, mathematical or musical. Special care needs to be exercised when using verbal language as this can distort the perception we have of the world, possibly expose preconceived interpretations based on individual world views and thus predispose our mind to certain ways of thinking. Because thinking is a condensed and active process, it is only when thoughts are expanded into form and made communicable to others that they loose their active volatile, and creative character. 

Even after facility with language becomes fluent, spatial relations continue to be fundamental to reasoning and to understand the world. Only a small (and perhaps insignificant) area of our system of knowing and conceiving which makes designing possible may be amenable to verbal description. The way designers work may be inexplicable, not for romantic or mystical reasons, but simply because their processes lie outside the bounds of verbal discourse: they are indescribable in linguistic terms. Many kinds of problems are solved visually, imagining relationships like cause and effect, comparing, contrasting, anticipating and organising. At the core of a three dimensional designers skills lies an understanding of spatial relations and it is this which is basic to carrying out many routines and tasks.

The Elements of Spatial Thinking
Spatial functioning is the mental process of interpreting certain types of incoming information. The most relevant to the skills of visualisation are the ability to hold and compare images, rotation of the object and deconstructing and manipulating the deconstructed components. and by developing the following factors the designer will improve comprehension and performance at complex design tasks.

Visual Memory.
It is hard to measure the ability to retain visual imagery; poor performance could be the result of a poor memory or inaccurate perception. The ability to accurately perceive, remember and reproduce are closely aligned. The great mnemonicists linked visual images to that which is to be remembered.
Look at the shapes for 1 minute close your eyes and recall the shapes in order:

Rotations.
This involves being able to rotate two and three-dimensional objects in space and visualise what they look like from a different angle or viewpoint.
Identify which of the four shapes is unlike the others:

Orthographic Imagination.
This involves being able to visualise what a solid object looks like from different orientations. Either the object is rotated mentally or the viewpoint is changed in relation to the object. Orthographic imagination also involves cutting through an object and viewing the resulting cross section.
Which one of the drawings shows the same object in a different position?

Dynamic Structures 
These visual spatial skills require the ability to move a single configuration in space or several objects in relation to each other. Motion in visual spatial operations is likely to be affected by kinaesthetic imagery which forms a very important aspect of three-dimensional thinking.
Which block is not formed when the pattern is folded?

Visual Reasoning 
Rather than utilising visual spatial ability, visual logic can solve problems. “if this does this, therefore…” this visual logic works in the same way as mathematical / verbal reasoning. Deductive reasoning moves from abstract to concrete and occurs in all thinking applications. A designer who realises an abstract idea in a particular form thinks deductively but this process is enigmatic.
The two boxes are related to each other through a change. Which of the boxes follows the sequence of changes that takes place?

Visual Synthesis
 The complex and manifold operations involved in the act of visual synthesis require a new object to be created that is greater than the sum of it’s parts. This process is at the heart of designing at its most basic would involve assembling a series of geometric shapes into that of an object.
Take the following objects as the basis to create a piece of furniture.