design and production update

This whole project for me has been a nightmare. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. I can't seem to get ahead of the game and i'm not looking forward to finishing it which is bad for me! If my heart isn't in it then i know it won't be the best it can be. I'm hoping that once i get everything straightened out, i will be much happier. When we first got the assignment i was so excited to to start sketching. it was a chance to do a production line with simpler pieces than my other classes. I went with my korean heritage inspiration again but kept it simple and streamlined. It's completely different from my locket project which is nice. So, i started sketching designs in different formats, thought about the materials and colors. I thought my sketches were good but i had to eventually outsource my designs with computer renderings. That was the longest process yet for me because i am HORRIBLE at computer stuff. It took me forever to figure out how to scan in my drawings and trace over them. People helped me in the studio and it took many nights at mcdaniel's computer labs. I thought once i had them as files, it would be easy to send them out to ponoko and a steel laser cutting company... WRONG! I tried a million times to send it to ponoko and a kept getting a weird message back. Everyone tried to help me, Megan and Jan even double checked that i had done everything right. I've been emailing back and forth with someone from ponoko's customer service and they even fixed it but it still wouldn't work from my computer. They said the file they fixed worked from their end but for some odd reason i still couldn't do it. SO, last night they finally agreed to do it for me and i picked the material, color, and paid. I bought the smaller size but it was still $100. They were super nice and tried to work with me as much as they could. it was once i started freaking out about my dead line was when they submitted it for me. I thought i wasn't going to be able to use ponoko at all. As of right now, i sent the money and hopefully it's getting cut right now. *fingers crossed nothing else will go wrong with it!*

I also wanted to get steel laser cut with my designs. I made up a different file in illustrator for that process. [the file had to be exported to an autocad DWG file] I did some research and emailed some companies but one in particular got back to me super fast and was really nice. That company was superiorcutting.com. The man i have been emailing with is Jack and he's been helping me through this process. I didn't know about a lot of things that he helped me with like having to be a DWG file, etc. I haven't sent the money in quite yet because i've had to do adjustments on the designs, pick the gauge steel, what kind, etc. He gave me an estimate about $100 too. I like this company so far because he gets back to me so quickly and hasn't gotten impatient with me. I will keep you updated once i get them in the mail.

This entire project has been a constant battle with the computer but i hope it will all be worth the headaches and money. We have to put money out there to make it, right? i keep telling myself that.