A. MAKING THE LED CIRCUIT
Soldering setup
Final LED circuit
After a careful and stressful attempt at soldering a LED circuit, I managed to successfully complete the circuit and get the white LED to light up!
B. PLUSH PROTOTYPE – ANIMAL FORM
and placing on the short fur
fabric to estimate fabric
length needed.
pattern onto the fabric.
fabric pieces.
animal form and stitching 3
sides of it with a running stitch.
pieces to face each other
and doing a backstitch to
secure the edges.
both pieces, cutting off excess
fabric on edges while
leaving a margin.
Completed plush toy (Looks like a Mouflon on 4 legs to me)
C. PLUSH NIGHT LIGHT IDEATIONS
IDEA 1 – ‘Heart in the right place’ plush nightlight
- Target user – Children between the ages of 3-12 years of age
- Description – ‘Heart in the right place’ is a bunny plush made to appeal developing children, to make them more appreciative of their natural surroundings. The toy uses contrasting plain and patterned fabric to show the two sides of the world – with and without nature. The heart placed in the center has a soft illuminating glow that lights up to display warmth.
- Materials and parts – Potentially uses 5 yellow LEDs to help illuminate the heart. The main fabrics envisioned for this plush are Linen and Cotton to help soften the glow, making it subtle but present. Alternatively, I also envisioned using a patchwork of scraps to help give it more personality, promote crafts and help manage fabric waste.
IDEA 2 – ‘Matryoshka doll light’
- Target user – Children between the ages of 11-15 years of age
- Description – The ‘Matryoshka’ doll is inspired by traditional Russian dolls crafted in wood. The silhouette of the form is envisioned to be soft and huggable. The idea for this derives from my brief stay at Russia as a child, bringing me back to the nostalgic curiosity of the shape and stacking of these dolls. Traditionally, there are multiple sizes fitted one inside another, which can be thought of too. Essentially, I wanted to create a soft form that can be customized according to the child’s taste while still having some depiction of their cultural identity or personality.
- Materials and parts – Potentially uses 8 LEDs to help illuminate the neck and base of the doll. The form is made of fabrics such as felt or linen, while the customizable part can either be a zipper sleeve added externally or a whiteboard like material wrapped around it to enable the user to interact with the product.
IDEA 3 – ‘Tiffany lamp shade plushies’
- Target user – Not restricted to any specific age group
- Description – The ‘Tiffany’ Lamp shade is an age old glass cutting and forming method that uses tiffany glass, creating visually interesting and colorful pieces. This plush softens the same vintage art form creating a stained glass effect but in the form of a plush night light. I envision this piece to be a combination of colorful LEDs and felt fabric. This night light will not only create interesting patterns and have a vibrant appeal, but also, be a nice keep sake for people interested in the appeal of the traditional tiffany lamps.
- Materials and parts – Potentially has 10 LEDs in different colors to create interest and intrigue. The fabric thought of for this plush light is felt with certain cutouts in acrylic that can help disperse the light softly. The opacity of the felt fabric will help create a good contrast to the translucency of acrylic.