The "Paper Project" is the first major assignment that all student in NC State's college of design receive in the interdisciplinary D104 "First Year Studio" course. The project's ultimate goal is to create a wearable paper sculpture that demonstrates a particular aspect of the motion of the human body.
For this course, we were required to keep an up-to-date slide deck that chronicled the design process. I've included many of my process slides for this project below.
The project has a lengthy process that begins with sketching the human body in motion. At the time, I had very little experience with non-digital art forms, especially drawing.
The next phase of the process was to translate the motion shown in our sketches into 3D paper sculptures.
We then performed material studies with one of our peers as a partner. The goal was to test the properties of paper using specific assigned manipulation techniques. My assigned technique was coating and crackling. We also performed individual material studies for techniques of our choosing.
The next phase of the process was to study our own motion using chronophotography, which is a technique in which multiple photos are composited in order to show motion.
We then created small scale proposals and mockups of our ideas for the final build as proof-of-concept.
The prototyping stage was next in the process:
The final paper wearable was then designed, produced and presented in front of a group of peers, instructors, and professionals from the field, who evaluated our paper wearables.
