Planning Primary and Secondary Research: Material Resourcing and Scaling pt. 1

  

 I have been looking into different materials to research for this project including different types of paper, paints and 3D materials. As I have not gathered materials for the 2D project yet, I will be discussing more into the 3D materials I have access to in this post.

 Wood is a common material used in children’s toy that I had access to for this project. While plastic is a common materials as well, I neither do not have access to it nor the ability to shape it in the way I want. Wood has been a ‘natural’ medium that is (mostly) shatter and damage proof, which makes it an ideal materials for children who are prone to dropping objects and getting into accidents. 

 The current wood blocks are quite small, so I may have to go to the Wood Workshop to gather bigger ones and use this for practice. The wood type of this block is Pine wood, which is quite notorious for its simplicity and problems for carving. Only a select type of pine woods are suitable for carving, and even then they are known to have problems such as knots that make it hard for carving. This further prompts me to go to the workshop to gain access to more types and sizes of wood block.

 The size of each wood block is roughly 3 cm, and had fit quite snuggly in my hand when put in a 2 by 2 size. I have to consider that children’s hands are much smaller than mine. However, considering that the 3D element in this project has to be significant as well, I may as well simply consider bigger scales as it would be like a concept model for the businesses to make off of. But for primary research, before I get access to bigger blocks from the workshop, I am considering 2x2x4 scale, 2x2x3 scale and 1x2 scale for carving practice. This would be important in practicing wood carving and working in mediums that I have not worked with prior to this project.