SAVAGE CONCEPTS
Design Terrains - Expanded Project
Prototypes
The starting point for my prototyping was to try to replicate the orange paper that I made during the Materials and Senses Project. At the point when I had made it, the issues that I had come across such as the water to pulp ratio had been overcome, however I wanted to see if it was a process I could repeat. This time when I attempted to repeat it, the paper that was created although thicker, was much more brittle and less flexible.
From this point, I chose to explore Banana Peel as another option. There is a high rate of import of bananas with it being a very popular fruit.
The Times had an article on the popularity of the banana within the uk - citing it as both a superfood and being affordable. this calling to both the health benefits and the affordabiltiy of the fruit would mean that it would be more wide spread in it consumption.
Wallop, H. (2023) Unpeeled: The amazing inside story of Britain’s Favourite Fruit, The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today’s latest headlines. Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unpeeled-the-inside-story-of-britains-favourite-fruit-banana-bwsn9d0nz (Accessed: 09 January 2024).
The method for creating the banana paper started off similar to the orange peel, first I blended the banana peel with some water. This then was placed in a mould and deckle. The orange paper I didn’t have a mould and deckle at the time, so created something with e similar properties. I found through trial and error that unlike paper making, the peel papers having smaller fibres and not seeming to bind as much, the peel needed to have mesh either side to stop it from sticking to either the blotting paper or disintegrating. This needed to then be patted with a sponge to remove as much water as possible before placing on the blotting paper. The smell at this point is quite strong in both the Banana pel and the orange peel. With both of the peel papers drying them out has been the biggest issue as they seem to hold the water more. I overcame this by using a rolling pin to gently squeeze out some of the water. This is hard to judge as the material tends to squeeze and sperate at this stage. Through a couple of different sets of blotting paper, I have managed to successfully get the paper to dry.
The first piece of Banana paper I made, I didn’t think it had potential and so left it to dry naturally, the fibres of the paper pulling it into a rough textured shape. Although interesting, I found that after it reached this stage, getting the paper to a point where you can work with it afterwards was difficult and unsuccessful.
To enhance the banana peel paper, I wanted to try various ways to add personalisation to the paper. I started to think about how in the first project the image of the past was on the acetate and the viewer was looking through it to the modern day. From this I wanted to try to add a water mark within the paper – a now less common sight, but at one point would have been on the majority of papers and able to show when and where it was made. In the spirit of the first project, I wanted to add interest to the paper by adding a watermark, as a nod to the history of papermaking, however decide that it would have more meaning to show what the history of what the material was instead.
Traditionally the watermark was a part of the mould, but in the material research that I carried trying to achieve this I found that the 3D printed water mark became too entrapped by the pulp to then be released from it afterwards. I did a series of tests with paper pulp to trial the thickness of 3d print that would be optimal and found that the 3d print was best at 1mm deep and without any flat sections, as the flat sections stuck to the pulp and any thicker meant that it started to cut the paper instead. Using the watermark within the project then set a limitation on the thickness of the material given that when the material became slightly thicker, it was then hard or even impossible to see the watermark within it.
This then led to screen-printing onto the paper pulp, as way to approach adding interest to the project that would be quick and safe for kids. To trial this, I started with a screen that I had already exposed. I images I had been of more delicate lines, which combined with a textured paper such as the banana paper, the print became lost. A way to overcome this could be to use a fabric screen with a large mesh size on it to allow more ink to pass, but since I was looking to tailor the print to the project, I kept it in mind as I was developing the print. As again I was looking to reference the material’s history and understand where it had come from, I developed a print in the style of the packing crates that the bananas would have been shipped it. By linking the product to its history, I am able to keep a conversation going about the waste that we create and how we can harness the power of the things around us.
As you can see from the image on the left, the texture of the paper was at points a hinderance with the new screens as well. To overcome this, I trialled putting water on to the paper to soften the fibres before pulling the screen
As a final way to explore how this material behaves in comparison to paper, I investigated how it behaves once on the laser cutter. This process, is fairly low risk, with paper and card being used on it all the time, and with the extraction going. From this I found that the cutter was able to cut through the material well, but that etch had limitations on its effectiveness. The rasterize as opposed to the etch did a great job, and by processing it through the laser several times, I was able to get it to reach the level of colour where it was able to be seen clearly.
The results from these prototypes have shown me that although I have been prototyping for a thin flat material like a piece of paper, that the methods of mark making would lend itself to being more like a coaster. This would be a usable product, that would then spark conversation and interest with visitors, but also be a reminder of what is possible.