Johnny Wang

Udie Tran

Sara Webber

Second skin.

To our group, the second skin design must not only

be a physical layer that covers the “first skin”, but

should also represent the characteristics of the “first

skin”.

From there, we started by looking at the way our

body works. Immediately, we thought of the central

nervous system and the way it passes messages

through the spinal cords and to each of the limbs.

And we wanted to represent that sort of system and

structure through our second skin design.

We believe there are three ways an individual can be related to different personal

spaces.

1. To welcome – Approaching others on a friendly level, welcoming them into your

personalities and characteristics.

2. To hide – To avoid certain contacts with others who you are not familiar and

comfortable with, therefore consciously hiding parts of your personalities and

characteristics.

3. To interfere – We often consciously or unconsciously breach others’ personal spaces

which can appear to be an unwelcoming actions to others

Second Skin concepts

Initial ideas and sketches

After we decided on our idea of main

concepts, we began developing our

designs. We wanted to create a skin that

represents the three types of relationships we

have with different personal spaces.

Structurally, we wanted to incorporate a

spinal system that connects each parts of

our designs together.

Problems and solutions In the first few weeks, we worked on a design with a cape, a wing and a tail, each representing a metaphorical element.

The cape – The element that protects one’s privacy and other aspects of personal spaces. The armor – The scales of the armor are able to open up to others individuals to contrast against the characteristics of the cape.

These first two elements will be placed on the two sides of the torso. (However, after our group meeting, we decided to change the armor to a wing which appears to be more welcoming visually. ) The tail – The tail, being on the individual’s backside, is easy to hit others by accident while moving

around, interfering with others’ personal spaces. In the first few two weeks, we received feedback from our tutor and peers, suggesting that our designs have very distinct stylistic differences, and many aspects of our design are too literal. Therefore, we had group meetings and decided on a group goal,

and worked on connecting each pieces of our designs together.

First design

This is the very first cape design that we

created. Although it covered a lot of the

person’s body, it appeared to be too literal,

and definitely needed more refining at that

stage.

Structurally, it was too simple. Layers of ribs

would extend from the back of the body,

and fabric would be placed in between

each ribs. We also thought the form that the

cape created was not interesting enough,

but most importantly, wasn’t a strong

representation of our ideas of protection,

privacy, fear, discomfort and so on…

However, we did like the fact that the cape

was able to provide a strong visual contrast,

with it creating a large volume, and the

scales on the other side of the torso creating

a smaller volume.

After a lot of sketching and

experimenting with shapes and other

design elements, we came up with this

idea displayed in this brief sketch. We

designed the shape of the cape to be

rigid, but not enough to be threatening

to others like the tail.

We also wanted the cape to hide the

head and torso of the person’s body

when looked at from the side the cape

is located on.

Design Idea

Structural concept

We wanted to build the cape so

that it is able to hide one side of the

person from others.

However, we thought it would be

appropriate to allow some

movements within the cape to

demonstrate the idea that one

might often need to adjust to other

people’s viewing angles to protect

themselves and their privacy. This

extended idea of protection gives

another twist to the cape element,

making it act somewhat as a shield

also.

Inside the cape, there will be a stick

that is attached to each rib/bone

that form the cape. The person

wearing the skin will be able to hold

the stick and alter the direction the

cape is facing.

This is a sketch that displays the inner

layer of the cape. The red lines

represent the bones that are

moveable depending on the

person’s movements

This is a visual display

of the cape’s

movements. It will only

be able to move

horizontally, as it will

be attached to the

spine located on the

person’s back.

Cape’s Functions

Rhino Model The Rhino model for the cape appears to be

accurate to what we had in mind in our initial stages.

It is irregular, unique and rigid but not threatening. It

also covers up the entire upper part of the body like

we wanted it to, to illustrate the idea of protection.

Initial Design We watched tutorials on YouTube and researched on other

websites to see how we could construct different types of

wings that are able to open and close.

This is the first structural

design that we have

decided and built in Rhino.

In the bottom left image,

the basic motions of the

wing is demonstrated

through our model.

However, although we

were happy with the

structural system, we

thought the aesthetics of

the wing can still be

improved with further

developments.

Built model

The model is built by strong plastic and put together with

screws. The wing is perfectly functional with a string that is

attached to one of the screws that opens and closes the

wing.

The three pieces on the end of the

wing are connected by thin wires to

make sure they open stably.

Further Developments

After we made sure the structure of the wing is made and functional, we began developing the aesthetics of the wing.

We were given the suggestion that we

should tie the three elements of the design

together by giving them similar visual

characteristics so that it seems like one

design instead of three separate ones.

Therefore, we decided to add these rigid,

scale like elements to the wing to match

some of the visual elements of the cape,

even though the two represent very different

ideas.

For the wing to still

effectively open and close,

we decided to use wires as

the bone structure, and soft

fabrics as the skin, because

both materials are easy to

bend.

Model development

This model is built by wires and plastic materials (bin liners).

The model accurately demonstrated our design idea, however, we intend

on using a different type of material other than plastic in our final model.

Final Rhino model

These models were made after we decided to change the aesthetics of the wing. We think after the changes we have made, the design will appear less disjointed visually.

Sketches

We wanted to use visual elements that can appear to be threatening and intimidating in our tail

design based on our concepts behind it.

Initial design ideas These were our designs from week 2 and week 3. As you can see, we had an attempt of making the tail seem intimidating to others. We looked at patterns, plants, animal tails and other elements. However, after the week 4 tutorial feedbacks, we decided to further

develop the tail, because these designs weren’t able to blend with the other elements of our design.

This is the final tail model that we have designed and

constructed in Rhino. It consists of different shapes tied to a

string. The form that is constructed by the outlines of these

shapes are unique and matches other aspects of our design.

Rhino model

Tail Model The model is made of a string of cardboard

shapes wrapped around by black tights.

The cardboard pieces used inside the black

tights are of two colors (black/white), and they

are pierced by a metal rod at the center.

Tail Model

The model actually turned out to look

better than we expected. The

transitions between each of the shapes

were smooth while really showing the

sharp angles on some of those shapes.

We think the materials we have used

were appropriate, however, we may

use some other types of materials

instead of cardboard, because some

of the edges are bent due to the

pressure applied by the tights. We may

need to find another type of material

that is stronger.