Trios of students in RISD’s Spring 2023 course “Principles in Professional Practice” were tasked with designing a box. Each group consisted of a Client, a Designer, and a Contractor. My task, as the Designer, was to translate the Client’s wishes into a series of construction documents that were then handed off to the Contractor, who would assemble the final product. The Client wanted a travel-sized jewelry case whose outward appearance would not immediately reveal how to access the contents inside.

Laser cut template and assembly instructions. Click on any of the photos above to enlarge.

The schematics above were created using CAD and vector graphic editing softwares. The resulting box, once assembled, includes a removable storage shelf and an inlaid magnetic closure fixture. In addition to the final product, the most important group takeaway from this project was the pertinence of hands-on designing and prototyping.

The final jewelry box; the Client was ultimately satisfied. Photos courtesy of J. Yao, Contractor.