Week 5: A Fusion of Knowledge

Fusion 360: In Awe of Capability

This past week, our class had the pleasure of taking part in a Fusion 360 learning tutorial. Led by an industrial design professor, we got great insight into the software and all of the REMARKABLE capabilities it had to manifest an idea into a ‘tangible’ digital design. I was in awe at the unique attributes the software had to create such innovative objects or products. We began our venture into the software by learning how to design a lamp. The lamp I designed was…rather interesting, to say the least? It was safe to say that during my first test-drive of Fusion 360 software, I ran into a few speed bumps that definitely needed addressing (after every step of the tutorial…I may add). I’ve included an ‘in-process’ moment of designing my lamp.

Lamp

Digital Making IS Learning by DOING

This past week’s tutorial reminded me that learning how to become a digital creator is definitely a process that requires a great deal of patience and focus. Without the help of my kind instructor who assisted me with every problem I encountered, I would have become VERY frustrated and discouraged from continuing with the design. Complicated software like Fusion 360 requires practice and project-based learning efforts. One of the things I’m noticing about digital making is that the learning comes through practical use of the tools and applications used to create objects. Learning how to create digitally is NOT like learning many other subjects; it’s difficult to put the nuances of how to craft a beautifully tailored product into words and consequently, we need to learn how to do it by creating ourselves.

Creating Forward

As I progress with my aptitudes in Fusion 360, I will be focusing on how to alter existing objects and learning how to manipulate designs that exist to craft new functionalities and features to current products. I think the possibilities are endless with regards to what alterations can be made to an object. The incredible multi-dimensionality of how you can alter an object in the x, y, and z planes inspires me to let my creativity flow when playing around with objects. Additionally, learning more about this software has sparked my interest in exploring all the other softwares that exist to digitally craft objects. In looking at the world around me, I can see that so many objects are intricately designed to meet certain specifications. This tells me there must be a wealth of design softwares out there to help create these objects with incredible specificity.

One thought on “Week 5: A Fusion of Knowledge

  1. I completely agree with the whole learn it ourselves idea because even though we were given step-by-step instructions, it was still hard to follow. I would watch what he was doing and then try to repeat it, but I realized quickly that there are a bunch of little aspects of Fusion 360 that you have to practice.

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