The task was to create a connecting plug-in system. I began by exploring shapes that were both visually interesting and connectable, eventually settling on the snowflake due to its unique, intricate form. I sketched various designs, aiming to preserve the snowflake’s aesthetic while adapting it for connection. While modeling in Rhino3D, I had to simplify the shape, using more geometric lines and fewer decorative elements to ensure pieces could connect effectively. A key challenge was designing multiple connection points, as most initial sketches only had centered connections. I wanted to avoid overly simple joins, so I created two interlocking versions—one with off-center plug-in connections and one without—allowing for more versatile assembly while maintaining the snowflake’s identity.
Ideas
My idea is based on a snowflake. I thought about the folding techniques I used as a child and the designs they created. For this task, I tried to translate that into the plug-connection system. It took several attempts and sketches to find a design that would work.
Designing in Rhino3D
My first design (red) was very faulty and more snowflake-like. It lacked multiple plug-possibilities and wouldn't have worked. The second design (blue) was a step in the right direction, however the plug-connections are centered, direction-wise, and would collide, making it impossible or simply useless. After some feedback, I made the snowflake-peaks smaller and abandoned the centered plug-connections. I replaced them with non-centered connections.
Prototypes
The first prototypes turned out good, in the sense that nothing broke off and everything is stable. However, the prototypes were too big. Instead of having a diameter of 6cm, it had an edge length of 6cm. That resulted in having a diameter of 11.5cm, which is 3.5cm above the maximum size for this task.
Final
I do like the finale product.
Nevertheless, I worried at first because of the material. The material is technically the same as the prototypes but this one apparently is thinner, which I did not anticipate. So, I made the mistake to laser everything on it. However, after actually assembling it, I don't think it is a big problem. It is a lot more lose than I'd like, yes, but it creates more possibilities to plug it together and create more connections. And that was my goal from the beginning.
In the end, a total of 29 pieces have been lasered. A total of 6 pieces from the prototype, 3 with inner connections and 3 without, and 23 pieces of the final version, 15 with inner connections and 8 without.
Technical Drawing
