salt & pepper !

[jens g.r. benthien]

Well, I've seen some corn in the forums, and Soquili even added a salt and pepper shaker, which I considered a nice idea.

However, I didn't like the shakers, sooooo...
I've spent some time on a product development for a salt & pepper shaker.

Yes, it's done in XARA - completely.

Check the final image here: salt and pepper final

Check the outlines here:
salt and pepper outlines

As always, any comments are welcome.

Anybody out there who knows a manufacturer for this design object??

Have a great weekend!

jens

[jens g.r. benthien]

Well, I've seen some corn in the forums, and Soquili even added a salt and pepper shaker, which I considered a nice idea.

However, I didn't like the shakers, sooooo...
I've spent some time on a product development for a salt & pepper shaker.

Yes, it's done in XARA - completely.

Check the final image here: salt and pepper final

Check the outlines here:
salt and pepper outlines

As always, any comments are welcome.

Anybody out there who knows a manufacturer for this design object??

Have a great weekend!

jens

[panfer]

Liked the polished brass out of the two and the holder.
Your images have very interesting backgrouds.

Thanks Jens for posting outline as well.

[jens g.r. benthien]

Panfer,

I posted the outlines to show how 'simple' the drawing is. Just a few elements :-)

Of course, the perspective for all elements is somewhat complicated, but it's correct (I re-checked it with a CAD application later). Using a perspective adds depth and reality, which I believe is very important to add 'realism' :-)

What I like most are the reflections on the brushed holder...that was kind of tricky to get just the right transparency

Backgrounds: they are simple and straighforward so that the product stands out.

[gwpriester]

Great product design Jay. And the rendering ain't too bad either :-)

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Be It Rarely So Humble...

[jens g.r. benthien]

Gary,

rendering and raytracing are expressions I know from CAD, but not from illustrations - so what does 'rendering' mean in illustrations? Applying colors, turning the picture into a 'final'? OK, I know what scetching means, but if it is something like Ross showed here, do you call it a 'rendering' as well if the scetch (hatching, lines etc) represent the image itself?

To be honest, I've never all the design specific expressions in English :-((

jens

[Ross Macintosh]

Rendering.

In traditional architectural practice illustrations are known as renderings. They differ from the typical plans, sections, elevations, and details used to build something. We call those working drawings or construction drawings with the equivalent prepared by a supplier or manufacturer known as "shop" drawings. Most construction/shop drawings are line drawings. Although they can be attractive drawings they are not produced to look "pretty", rather their purpose is as acurately as possible convey technical information - things like size, material, dimensions, relationships of parts, etc.

Such drawings, given their technical purpose, are not always very representational of the finished product. They can contain considerable information about the product but that info is in a sense, encripted so that only those very familiar with the all aspects of what is technically being described have any hope of really visualizing the finished product. Renderings aim to make the design more accessible. They aim to representationally illustrate the finished product and what it will look like. Typically they are produced before the design is built. Renderings typically feature texture, shadowing, reflectivity, and usually colour but not always. Renderings are produced to show the designers intent. Almost always they are drawn to "sell" the design - by that I mean they aim to make the product look as good as possible. To that end, artistic licence is frequently used to direct attention to particular features or minimize less attractive aspects. (Landscaping is a very important tool in architectural renderings. It can be used to hide the ugly parts of the building or make the good look even better. Rarely, in my experience, is as much landscaping actually done in the construction of the project as is shown on the rendering).

I would certainly consider Yen's illustration of the salt & pepper shakers to be a rendering. It conveys to the viewer the designers intent. Note how it shows the shakers in their caddy with the angles of the tops aligned. That,no doubt, reflects the designers intent - the illustration is not a "snapshot" of the product, rather it is being used to convey design ideas. That makes it a rendering.

So you can see from my perspective, renderings are illustrations but not all illustrations are renderings. Although I'm not very familiar with the terminology used by graphic designers, I believe my understanding is relevant to architectural, interior, and industrial design.

Regards, Ross

PS - Traditionally renderings are not considered "fine art". Given their commercial nature they are considered "illustrations" vs. "art". Of course the distinction can be quite blurry.

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[jens g.r. benthien]

Ross,

thank you very much for your detailed information! I will print it and read it every day to get used to the terminology.

Now I even know what 'shop drawings' are. Quite interesting, because I called every technical drawing simply 'blueprint', which - of course - was wrong.

And if you consult your dictionary, you will find everything, but almost never the correct expressions...

Thanks again!

jens

[Ross Macintosh]

To carry on (and on and on [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ) with what I started above:

Shop drawings are supposed to be fabrication drawings produced to tell the shop floor folks exactly what to fabricate. Your design intent matters little to those folks. With regards to the shakers, they want to know things like are they to braze or solder, if the holes have to be reamed, and what level of finish is required.

Those shop drawings are usually produced by the shops engineering staff. They interpret the designers construction drawings and written specifications (which together with any instructions to bidders, made up the tender documents). Your rendering would not necessarily be part of those documents. The rendering more likely would have been used to satisfy a client, investors, or marketer that it is indeed a great design worthy of production. As you know, to convince them you might have to build a model or even have some samples fabricated.

In many design fields considerable development goes into this process. In my work we usually begin with significant amounts of written documentation that define the project requirements. Schematic drawings and sketches are used to identify possible design directions. These get progressively more detailed as the initial design ideas are developed. At some point the ideas are communicated to the client for approval. The necessary drawings to do that varies with the client. Sometimes what is needed is very detailed: It could be a rendering, a model, cad plans, sketches, a 3d cad model, or all of these. Other times, all that is needed is a few quick sketches.

In my work (architectural) we usually have to coordinate the design with a number of subconsultants. Designing buildings can involve large teams of people and Architects traditionally coordinated the activities of that team. When we have that role we are known in my part of the world as the "prime-consultant" and the other consultants contractually work for us. I work in a small office yet we have projects with design budgets exceeding a million dollars. (Only a small percentage is profit). To say there is much work in designing buildings is an understatement. The bigger and more complicated the project the more time it takes. The process however is similar whether it is a small coffee shop or a hospital.

Sometimes I wish all it would take is a rendering. My architectural renderings are almost always my own designs. That makes it easy to know the design intent. It is considerably harder to render someone elses design unless they provide you very clear drawings to work from. To do good work requires considerable information - more than is generally available at the time the rendering needs to be produced. That's where artistic licence creeps in. Most renderings are of proposed projects. Without the finished project as a reference makes the creation of such drawings quite different from copying a photo. Good full-time renderers are very accomplished at 'reading between the lines'. To be successful they have to communicate very well with the designer in order to understand the design well enough to draw it, when the design itself is not complete.

Anyways, I don't know if these thoughts are of interest to anyone. I'm a person who likes to have a sense of what other jobs entail - perhaps some of you do too.

Regards, Ross

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