Dan MaloneyHi all -- we'll get started in about 20 minutes
Hi Eric! Nice to have you here today!
Thanks, nice to be here
@Eric Strebel Thank you for your videos. I've learned so much from them.
yeah same, I feel like when I was still exhibit fabricating I learned some tiny tidbit that was so useful in the shop
Ok, cool. So glad that people can learn from them
awesome, I like to give back to the world, making stuff by hand seems to becoming a lost art in some ways
I am try to preserve as much craft as I can
What gets me is the variety of materials you can use. With the right techniques, wood can look like something completely different, like plastic or metal.
yeah, there really is no limit to material so long as you can stay safe
sky is the limit and new materials keep becoming available all the time
the conceptualization before fabrication is I really like, as that's not something I'm super good at
...is something I...
@morgan that is just practice
just keep doing it and watch other that are good at it
For me, it's mor my drawing skills. Give me CAD software anytime
yeah I've been trying to get started on regular drawing/sketching practice
you can multiply your options with drawing, you can draw a lot faster than you can model something
I've never been much for drawing
Drawing is a tool just like anything else, you just have to get good at using it
and yeah, ^ that's what I want. I'm proficient with CAD which is great, but it's slow when trying to come up with ideas
@morgan , like riding a bike, that took you some practice to get good at as well
oh, I'm great at that
And for me, there's something about the "look inside" that drawings give that makes a design more tangible, in my mind at least.
:)
I find that making paper models helps me a lot
@Dan Maloney its that first peek into your idea
even if I just print the footprints of all the components, and play with them
also been trying to do that more, especially when I'm struggle with visualizing scale
Exactly! It makes it real in my mind like nothing else can
@deʃhipu those are great for ideating, love them
Did this just started? or is this a warm up?
@morgan , scale is something I see people struggle with a lot, its hard
Nah, this is the pre-chat. But we'll kick it off "officially" in just a few
@Pablo Oyarzo just starting, welcome
hehehe
Since we're talking about drawing, I notice that architects exhibit a distinct visual style when they draw. Is there a proscribed way for learning how to draw for design?
I'll make sure to capture this for the transcript, though ;-)
@wayn3w that is probably more what they are taught, so more of a schooling thing
Cools, Eric I love your vids, Im the leader of the local Hardware Community in Dominican Republic, and I share a lot of your videos to incentivise low/mid scale manufacturing
@Pablo Oyarzo sweet! Thank you, very humbled
Does that approach really help? Or should one just 'draw'?
OK everyone, welcome to the Hack Chat today! I'm Dan, I'll be modding along with Dusan -- I think he's here anyway -- as we welcome Eric Strebel to the chat. We've probably all seen Eric's industrial design work on YouTube, and that's what we'll be talking about. Welcome, Eric!
@wayn3w just draw, architects draw different objects than industrial designers, so they have a different way of expressing their thoughts, keep that in mind
I was wondering how good should my design files aesthetics look, as a hobbyist that wants to publish something online: hackaday.io or blog (so not for a client). Do you have a criterion of effort on looks vs its return. Personally I am bad at drawing schematics and sketches but I find it nice to have them as background to why I am making said thing.
Thank you
Eric, can you start us off with a little about your background?
Hi everyone. It's my pleasure to be able to join this chat.
I design products for various clients around the globe, many of the things you see on my videos are just small parts of those projects, I am not always able to share. I teach ID here in Detroit at Wayne state university,CCS and Lawrence tech
I love to share my craft and educate the world about how products are born into our world
@Inne i guess it depend on the level you wan to take it, since it just a hobby, do the best you can to get th result your are happy with
So does one get a degree in ID or is it more of a "figure it out as you go" thing?
I actually have a degree in ID, but many schools just offer a BFA
so it depend on the school you attend, I went to Pratt in Brooklyn
In your work do you have to run any simulations (like FEA, to see the forces) on your design?
There are two schools of thinking between industrial designers from what Ive observed, from which one you consider yourself more align with "Art side" or "Industrial side" (lets call it like that)
I kind of figured there would be a degree. I mean, you can major in packaging engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology, which is actually pretty cool. I'll bet there's a lot of ID that goes into packaging of consumer products.
@Erin RobotGrrl , no there is usually an engineer that works out that stuff, my focus is to design for manufacturing, astecticts, functionality, visuals. Engineering would handle that stuff and we would work out a solution as needed
Ooo interesting
@Pablo Oyarzo depends what your focus it, hire a designer that has the focus that is important to you
You can learn about ansys if you are into that
What would you recommend for someone moving in to ID, but they don't know Solidworks. Should the software be obtained through various means to get experience? Or keep working on more projects in other CAD like Fusion 360?
I do all my production stuff in fusion 360, it’s more than capable. But learn how to communicate an idea befor you learn how to model in Cad, that is more important
You might start with basic softwares like tinkercad and then you move up as you learn more.
I see a lot (basically, all) job postings require Solidworks
For designers, communicating ideas and concepts is one of the big things
But it is not necessary to jump straight away into most difficult softwares
Have you encounter resistance while using F360 in the industry? Here in my country Sheet Metal manufacturing facilities require the design to be in Solidworks, only because its legacy
I don’t look at job postings much, but if you are able to articulate ideas and communicate them, the company would make accommodations for you
in your students and/or career do you see a log of overlap between ID and Communications?
@Pablo Oyarzo , no, nobody seems to ask where the step file came from
that's also another area of study I've consider moving towards next
@morgan , yes, you must be able to communicate your idea, sketching, models, renderings, and story telling, and empathy for the user
love that, empathy for the user.
@Pablo Oyarzo nope, not really, so long as you have the information they need, it does not seem to be an issue for me.
we really drove that in our exhibit design
Concerning documenting projects is there anything you picked up that turned out to be a big time save/made things a lot easier.
In 2018/2019 , I search a lot on the internet for online courses on ID, didn't found much, pretty much found nothing. Now after the pandemic started, or mid pandemic to be precise, I've seen many content and courses, specifically Domestika. What are your opinions as an educator on the ID courses that are online ? Why arent there more? Or have I been looking in the wrong place?
@Inne when you finish designing a product, having a good design guide, to share with manufacturing is super important, I have a video about it
What are some issues that one would normally face when designing very small product? (Like 1 inch square challenge)
@Pablo Oyarzo , its a hands on field, hard to teach those skills online, particularly the basics of form, function, proportions and craft
What makes good ID portfolios stand out against others?
@Rudranand Sahu , not exactly sure what your asking but everything is designed in metric in CAD, I don’t do inches, just to much hassle
@Inne yup
How about designing a product within 3cm x 3cm area?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DR8MN7uKZo
@Erin RobotGrrl depends, but being able to articulate a concept form beginning to end is important to me, you can render, but cant think out a problem then I am not interested
Ok :)
Have you ever been to a Hackaday Superconference? If not, are you interested in going?
@Rudranand Sahu be more specific, not sure what you are asking me
@Pablo Oyarzo have no idea that that is!
Hands on... could augmented/virtual reality be of any help here?
@Thomas Shaddack it will be much bigger in the future that’s it is now, positive of that
In the "before time", Supercon was a yearly get-together in Pasadena where hackers from all walks of hackerdom got together to talk about hacking
I'm planning to make a blutooth controlled car within dimensions: H: 1.5cm, L: 4cm, W: 2.5cm
Its like the Comicon, for hardware hackers and such, organized by Hackaday!
We went virtual last year, like pretty much everyone did.
Did you work at a design firm before making your own company? Which do you like more?
Comicon for Hackers, perfect!
yeah, @Eric Strebel should talk at SuperCon (or at least attend)
@Rudranand Sahu That pretty cool
Thanks :)
@Rudranand Sahu , that is quite small, make sure you understand the scale of your components first before you start that project
Hey, we're looking for speakers for Supercon already. Let me know who you want to hear and we'll try to put it together. I assume there are votes for Eric already...
supercon, sounds so important! LOL sounds fun, send me a ticket
I can fit circuits in that region but I am facing problems at mechanical portion.
What helps a lot is having a mockup of components in eg. openscad. Then you can shift them around and see what fits and where the space is too tight.
@rud, exactly my point
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