Hello. My name is Megan and I like to draw. This will be a blog documenting my process through 3D Design.
Chapter 6: Problem Seeking and Problem Solving
After reading Chapter 6 it is apparent that all of the groups working on the Candle Project were using many of the ideas and techniques described in the chapter. The Candle Project required previous brainstorming before we could even begin building it, such as writing a list and gathering the materials we need, thumbnail sketches, and full comprehension of the problem at hand.
This was one of our first sketches of the machine. As everyone in the class can tell, our original idea went through many different designs. Our convergent thinking skills were pretty decent: we thought out our machine many times, working out kinks, throwing out ideas that didn’t work, and working towards our deadline. Unfortunately, our convergent thinking could not get us to the solution of putting out the candle effectively. This is where our divergent thinking process came in handy. We had never worked on a project like this before, so our minds were very new to this project and we kept coming up with weirder and weirder solutions for our project (even incorporating a whoopie cushion at one point).
The project, at times, was very frustrating and required us to scrap many ideas that we had planned out in its entirety. For brainstorming, we implemented sketches on paper and a chalk board, looking at common items with a new eye to see if it would be useful to us, and working together towards a common goal. Some ideas that we had to scrap included a water balloon putting out the candle, a platform that lowered when a cup was placed on it and filled with water, a cup smothering the candle, and a teeter totter lowering a heavy object onto a whoopie cushion to blow out the candle. It was a very frustrating process, but hopefully come Monday, we will be prepared to extinguish the candle.
