Johanna Jarvis, Class of ’27, is a Graphic Design major studying at Tamagawa University this Spring/Summer 2024.
As a graphic design major, one of our course requirements is Design 3, which is a class typically set in our Junior year (and I have yet to inquire what it’s exactly about)… but since we’re abroad, we had a course to replace it: 3D Design. The basis of this class has been to analyze and learn how to operate a 3D printer, practice what seems like endless nights of figuring out how to sculpt objects digitally, and then learn to print them adequately. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to do 3D printing since our course report only had the class as a substitute for Design 3, and I didn’t know what that was yet either. As it turns out, I love the class!
Though I have little to no history/experience with much about 3D printing, I was always interested in it from the get-go since my interest in figurines skyrocketed my urge to find ways to make them as accurate to character as possible. This was mostly during my childhood, but I still remember days I would beg my mom for polymer clay, having watched countless videos on their quality, ending up getting some random air-dry clay and making do. Without the tools and just hands, it was hard, but it made me think of how the depth and detail are sculpted in a way that could come out so smoothly. This interest came back and led to me exploring Blender around the beginning of this year. Man is that program complex. The different features of the building with mesh, faces, different view perspectives, and constant slight changes in the looks, it was madness. Who knew it would help me with this class in the long run?
As for 3D Design, and the thing I love most about 3D printing overall, is being able to create something functional on my own, figuring out the measurements and little details for something to work. (Okay, I actually don’t like that part the most, but the idea in my mind helps me with the effort…) Recently, as we’re now halfway through our time at Tamagawa (don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry), we’ve started our final project proposals and I’ve gone with creating something Akihabara-themed… almost like a Japan-specific project base I can take home and truly bask in its glory as a token from both class and my lovely relationship with Akihabara’s game centers…
This class expanded my academic interest perspective since it further made me realize, through exploring, that I’m actually pretty interested in analyzing and wondering how things work, trying to replicate functionality and expand on it! Going back to my final proposal, as we were learning different ways to create a certain thing (drilling into our heads that there’s more than one solution to get the same result) I was so excited to create a prototype of what I wanted. Though I’m still pretty inexperienced and it came out pretty lackluster, I’m still so hyped now that I saw my prototype in my own hands, and could see how I want it to feel and probably edit some parts to be smoother so it’s a little less pointed/sharp in case it causes harm while holding it.
Overall, this class is probably one of my top two favorites of my schedule, and I can’t wait to experiment more on creating my final! Until next time!
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