_______________________________________________________________________
Brief
I was required to design a hospitality pack consisting of a soap bar , 3 turndown service chocolates and a sheet metal stand for any hospitality related company of my choice. I decided to choose the Equinox hotel in New York City as my hospitality brand because of its richness in textures and geometry within the establishment as well as the architecture of the building itself.
_______________________________________________________________________
Reference Boards
_______________________________________________________________________
Concept Sketches
_______________________________________________________________________
Prototype
I started by making a cardboard prototype that I could then use as a stencil to trace onto my sheet metal so I could avoid making mistakes and wasting the more expensive material.
The cardboard prototype was followed by renders so I could experiment with colour combinations to figure out what colour scheme would work best to suit my brand.
_______________________________________________________________________
CHOCOLATE
Process
After finalising and refining my chocolate design the design was then 3D printed. After 3D printing I used sanding paper and 1K Easy Filler to smoothen my models and prepare them for vacuum forming
Vacuum forming did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. I had trouble getting enough detail in my vacuum form however this problem was solved by creating small wholes around the areas I needed detail and in the base of the model so the vacuum could pull air through my model thus capturing more detail as less air was trapped.
The next step was casting my chocolates I first started by testing how the different chocolates would react with one another and thankfully the different colours didn't mix while casting.
Since I had to do multiple pours for each colour the order of operations was very important. I first filled the corner with dark chocolate and cleaned the edges to get clean lines in the final cast. I then filled the mold with milk chocolate and let that harden. Once hard I then poured the milk chocolate into the pocket on top.
_______________________________________________________________________
SOAP
Process
Before I could cast any soap I had to first create my mater pattern from which I could make my mold. I had the details for my soap laser cut out of 3mm MDF, I then layered this onto a 16mm piece of MDF that I cut on the band saw. Wood filler, sanding sealer and primer. were used to finish my master pattern.
I then calculated how much silicon I would need to create a mold and mixed the amount I needed accordingly. I was worried that bubbles would get trapped in my silicon because I had used the quick setting silicon however I avoid this by poured the silicon in a thin stream allowing for bubbles to release before becoming trapped.
I used goat's milk melt and pour as my base and then added fragrances I had from old kits I had at home and food colouring to dye the soap.
I used the same method of the double boiler to melt my soap just as I did for the chocolate. I also did testing to find the best method for creating the pattern I wanted to achieve.
_______________________________________________________________________
STAND
Process
I used and angle grinder and a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade to cut out the shapes I drew on the steel using my prototype as a stencil.
I used a Dremel and a drill press to cut and grind the handle into the spire.
To crate my bends I used the angle grinder to cut relief lines into the steel where I wanted to bend it. By doing this it allowed me to place my part in a vice and bend the feet of my stand to 90 degrees without any springing back of the feet.
I used an angle grinder, sanding paper and a file to smoothen the edges of my parts.
In order to assemble all my components I needed to weld them together. I only welded the underside of each component so the welds would not be seen unless they are looked for.
I used primer to prime my sheet metal for painting. I then used copper paint to paint the edges which I let dry than masked with masking tape and applied the black paint.
_______________________________________________________________________
FINAL OUTCOME
Stand
_______________________________________________________________________
Chocolate
_______________________________________________________________________
Soap
_______________________________________________________________________
Full Assembly
_______________________________________________________________________
In situation
_______________________________________________________________________
COSTING
_______________________________________________________________________
REFLECTION
Over all I am satisfied with the final outcome of this project. If I had to make any improvements for future iterations of the design I may look into getting the Equinox name cut into the stand as well as have recesses where the soap and chocolates could sit in to ensure they do not slide off the stand by mistake.
_______________________________________________________________________
