This project was extremely fun to work on. I sincerely enjoyed using Adobe Illustrator to enhance my original sketches and then watch the template be transformed into puzzle pieces that once put together created a 3-dimensional lantern. While there were frustrations that popped up during my work on the assignment it was one of the most enjoyable so far as I cannot help but be overjoyed with the final version of my project.

It was slightly challenging at first to figure out what would be cut and what would be etched while trying to keep in mind any bridges I would have to make in order to ensure that the entire image did not fall out once it was cut by the laser. Having the ability to work on a paper sketch and then cut those images out really enabled me to see how my finished product would look long before I even considered transferring my sketches into Photoshop and Illustrator. Additionally, by having Illustrator on my personal laptop enabled me to take the project home for the weekend and come back to class the second day of the assignment with my completed sketches all ready moved into Illustrator with different layers for etching and carving. While it was challenging at first to find online instructions in regards to what each stroke width should be as well as the color of each line, having a weekend in between the first and second class time allowed me to research on my own and test my own abilities in figuring out how to create the template. Despite my first iteration being complete before the start of the second class, I ended up changing the layout of my lantern due to the first one looking too plain and wanting to challenge myself further to make a more difficult lantern that contained etchings and carvings on almost every side. As such I believe I am far more satisfied with my final product than I ever would have been if I went forward with the first version of my project even if it took more time to work out.

One of the other enjoyable facts of this project was working in class when I could bounce my own problems off of other students and hear what they thought I could do and offering my own help when asked. I believe that this led to a lot of the work not feeling so hard because I felt comfortable asking my friends for help whenever I needed it. This was a huge part of my Design Process (Build and Evaluate) as I was able to show my work to others earlier than the final day of the project (Share) and get more feedback on my project than I have been able to on any other assignment. While I started the project by figuring out what I wanted to make (Ask) and then writing out ideas in my star-book (Imagine) I was able to fully experience the cyclical nature of the Design Thinking Process by bringing a new part of my project to class each day and getting feedback and then rebuilding or redesigning the project and going back through the Design Thinking Process once again. I believe that this allowed me to create the best version of my project possible as well as grow more confident in asking my fellow students for help.

I can absolutely see myself using this project in a lesson plan. I believe that this is a project that could be used across multiple age ranges as long as there were enough funds allotted to buying and maintaining a laser printer. I believe even younger kids in grades 3-6 would be able to complete this project and learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator as well as give them the experience of taking hand-drawn images and transferring them into the computer and turn the image into a 3-dimensional sculpture. I would consider doing this entire project in Illustrator as I believe it may be slightly easier to simply bring in an image, lock the layer and then make different layers for tracing the parts meant to be cut out and the parts meant to be etched into the wood. I believe that it would be easier for younger students to understand and grasp especially if they only have to learn how to master one Adobe application. Otherwise, I believe I would keep the assignment the same as the one I completed in class.

While I had never done a project like this before, I believe this assignment exemplifies how art projects can teach artists how to use multiple mediums that stretch between handheld tools and digital programs. I wish I had had projects like this in my school art classes when I was younger but I also recognize the immense amount of money it costs to do projects like this. However, projects like this remind me of why it is so important for art classes to highlight to future artists how accessible the arts are through the multitude of mediums they can use both on and offline.

Due to the number of pictures and videos, I took over the course of the project the rest of the images and videos are broken down in a gallery post under the Arduino/Attiny category tab at the bottom of my blog page and can also be reached via the following link: Gallery