Designing an Alternative Picture Album
OBJECTIVE
Design a mechanism for storing, viewing, and sharing physical photos.
MOTIVATION
In college, I found myself with a stack of photos and not enough wall space to put them up. This inspired me to create something that could store and showcase my pictures without taking up wall space.
ABOUT CASCADE
Cascade was designed over 10 weeks in a Stanford Product Realization Lab class as part of the Stanford Product Design Program.
MY ROLE
Designer
1 - Inspired by Rolodexes
What are existing solutions that store pieces of paper that facilitates paper browsing? Rolodexes and mechanical flip frames were a source of inspiration for design an interactive photo album that can store a large quantity of pictures that can be viewed in a small amount of space.
2 - Product Story
Laura, a college student, finds herself with a box of nostalgic photographs that she wants to put up on her wall, but she has no wall space. She doesn't want her memories to go to waste in a box since they spark so many good memories that she wants to share with her new college friends. The Cascade Alternative Photo Album is perfect for her to store and interact with her pictures in a novel way.
3 - Series of Prototypes
I started with a low fidelity prototype made from pink foam, acrylic tube, dowels, paper, and hot glue to explore how this mechanism might work. Next, I explored using materials closer to my final product to explore how bearing would work, how much structural support I would need, and how I would attach the pictures. Then, I laser cut main structural pieces out of acrylic and assembled a high fidelity prototype with metal connecting components to get a better sense of shape, size, and function. Each step taught me a lot and guided the final product.
4 -Building and Trouble Shooting
I used Solidworks, a mill, a rotary table, a lathe, drill press, and other machine shop tools to mock up and manually machine the components of Cascade. 4 of my pieces for cascade needed to be milled on all 4 side and on the top face. I had to use clamps in one position, mill, then move clamps in another position, mill again, and repeated that until I had milled all side of my piece. For milling the top face, I used machining tape to hold my piece down, and had to mill in the face in very small increments.
Troubleshooting Post-Processing
I added an inset ridge to my design for aesthetic purposes and I had to design a tool for me to be able to sand this part of this piece. I laser cut a sanding fixture that I attached sand paper to so that I could finish and polish this piece.
5- Final Product
6 - Learnings
1. Mentally prepare by visualizing processes to optimize time in machine shop
2. Ask questions early and often to gain perspective. Filter and synthesize as needed.
3. Prototype early and often.
4. Wrap and take care of pieces, immediately. Clean up after yourself.