Twinkle Shah: Hammer Model

Concept
For this project, I tried a different approach and decided to do some brainstorming on paper before working in Rhino. I did some sketching, and found a reference of a walking stick that gave me some inspiration for the shape and form of the 3rd hammer I sketched below. This is ultimately the one I chose because I found the shape unique, ergonomic, sleek, and minimalistic. 

Ideation Sketches

Victorian Walking Stick - Inspiration for form of the hammer

Rhino Model with Layers

Rhino Model Ghosted Painted Black

Rendered Hammer Model

Rendered Hammer Model - Perspective Shot

Process

To make the hammer model transform from a sketch to a 3D model, I started out by perfecting a curve for the head, and a curve for the handle, and then piped the two with flat caps. I then joined the 2 and then worked on trimming the 2 ends of the pipe for the head into a shape that would be suitable for hammering. Next, I extracted a subcurve from the curve I used for the pipe, and then moved it closer to the edge where the pink silicone part would be on the handle. I then duplicated the handle and then trimmed out the pink piece from the duplicate, and then capped that with an extrusion from the subcurve, and then joined the 2 pieces back together. I repeated this for the top of the hammer as well. Next I added some chamfers at the bottom of the handle, and at the 2 sides of the hammer head. 

Then it was time for rendering. After I assigned my materials and set up my environment and lighting, I took the images into Photoshop and gave more shading and highlights to the pink silicone parts, because I could not get it to look realistic enough in Keyshot. I used the dodging and burning tools in Photoshop and dropped the opacity of those adjusted layers, and changed the mode to soft light. I think the result was much more realistic looking than the 2D plastic look from before. I also toned down some of the highlights on the metal because they looked too dramatic next to the silicone's.

Materials
I wanted to keep the materials simple and straightforward, so I stuck to only 2 materials: a silicone/rubber type material, and a silver metal. For the silicone, I used a Axalta painted plastic, and added some more dimension to it with the dodging and burning tools in Photoshop to make it appear more realistic and more like silicone. The metal is a Zinc with a radial brushed texture, which I think turned out to compliment the form of this hammer well.

Twinkle Shah: Project 1 Castle

Concept: 
When most people think of a castle, they think of a medieval, historic castle made of stone and with large pillars. Although not technically a "castle" by definition, I thought of the Taj Mahal. I wanted to make a more modern version of an old castle with some aspects that resembled the Taj Mahal. In particular, I liked the concept of the 4 pillars that surround the structure, and want to include that in my project. I do not intend to include many other concepts besides the pillars from the Taj Mahal, because I want my castle to have a minimalistic, modern, and futuristic feel.

Taj Mahal-Inspiration

Here is what I came up with:

Ghosted Castle Painted Black

Castle in KeyShot with Materials

Bird's Eye View of Castle

Pedestrian View of Castle

Process:
I started by constructing the base of the structure, which I created using the pentagon form tool. I then used the same tool to stack one more pentagonal prism above the first one. These made the two tiers of my architectonic structure. Next, I added the 4 pillars surrounding my structure that resemble the Taj Mahal. These were also pentagonal prisms, continuing the repetition of the pentagon throughout my design. Hovering above the 4 pillars, I created a ring that serves as a futuristic force field to protect the fortress. I oriented each of the pillars so that a flat edge was lined up with the ring above it. I then added detailing with some small spheres on the points of the two main pentagons and the ArrayPolar command. I wanted to be sure not to overdo the details so that I can stick to my minimalist look. I then added some cones that intersect the 5 sides of the top pentagonal prism, also using ArrayPolar.  

Materials:
For the hovering ring, I used glass (solid grey) because I liked the translucent effect it had. For the top tier and the spheres on it, I used anodized titanium brushed pink, and for the cones, I used a very reflective anodized niobium polished green. The bottom tier is marble (black advanced translucent), giving nice reflections and providing some striking color contrast. The 4 pillars are copper polished, also producing nice reflections of the inner structures. For the lighting environment, I used a lighting with 2 large light sources for ample light. I increased the contrast and included ground shadows and reflections for a nice finish.