Week One: Process Blog

The Bespoke Object

Progress Blog 
Week One - January 20th, 2025

My concept for the bespoke object is for a butterfly claw hair clip. Lately in my photography practice, I have been diving into a lot of conceptual portraits and fashion editorial type work, and props are a huge part of that. I was trying to think of an object I could make that I could also utilize as an accessory or prop. I love including nature elements into my portraits, so a butterfly felt natural. I also considered a flower one, which I could investigate doing later if this one succeeds. I want the butterfly clip to seem almost a bit ridiculous and outrageous to wear on a daily basis, but still something delicate and fun. 

As a frequent user or claw clips, there are always issues I pick up on. Some of them don't stay in, some are too small, etc. This object would be bespoke because I am going to try to not only make something original and fun, but also functional for wear and something that would be used in my practice. By adding features, like longer teeth on the clip, this could help solve the eternal claw clip problem of security. I have been measuring this to scale of claw clips that I use that are the best fit, making it more custom to me. 

Here are some sketches and a prototype for this object: 

I made this rough prototype with cardboard and wire and an existing clip I had, but it helped me to figure out early on what needs to be changed so the design is functional and successful. First of all, I really want to include two sets of wings. When I was creating the prototype, this felt like it added more dimension. However, the wings being placed so close together hindered the ability to actually open the claw clip. The bottom set of wings needs to be lower down and the top wings will be smaller and facilitate pinching to open and place the clip. The wings will also be a bit bent to add some dynamics and have some texture, i just wasn't able to implement that in the prototype.

Now, I am not entirely sure how exactly to accomplish this. My guess would be to digitally design the piece and then 3-D or resin print it. Might need some guidance on what sort of processes would best suit the construction of this. As for the mechanism that makes the clip actually work, it seems fairly simple. Just a spring and a nail basically, so I will have to source and size those pieces. 

Next week, I will continue to investigate the function and creation of this object and hopefully get started actually modelling it!