Project 2: Acrylic Coffee Handle
This project was very similar to Project 1 in that our goal was to make some sort of coffee sleeve to protect a user's hands from the heat. We also had to take inspiration from one of three companies: "Moody Judy" (artsy, must be a single piece of acrylic), "ShiMountain Man" (outdoorsy, must be light and rugged), and "MyKea" (Ikea-inspired, must assemble from multiple pieces).
Sketches
I didn't really have a good initial direction to go. I had trouble picking a company for inspiration, so I just started drawing. In retrospect most of my designs worked best with Moody Judy, but could have been redone for Mykea. A lot were also too difficult to build, as I found out while prototyping.
Design Process
Testing out design 7b to see how well it would work. Ultimately, it didn't turn out to be the best idea.
Back to the Drawing Board
I decided to go back to sketching, this time focusing on designs with a minimal number of bends. Tentatively, I thought a "brass knuckles" inspired handle would be fun to make.
Final Prototyping and Fabrication
Prototyping the "brass knuckles" with paper turned out to be fun, although I had to make a few iterations to get the finger spacing right. Once I was happy with how the handle felt, I went ahead and made a SolidWorks model that I could make using the laser cutter. After testing a few cardboard prototypes to make sure the sizing was right, I went ahead and made the final cup handle using my acrylic sheet, the laser cutter, and a heat gun.