Jules + David // Assignment 3

The Camelephant was created with the original stuffed animal in mind. We put a lot of effort into making sure that our new design would preserve the good qualities of the original model while making changes to improve the structural rigidity of the bottom half of the elephant as well as increasing the complexity of the ornamental detailing overall.

When working on the new designs and patterns, we split up roles based on our known strengths and weaknesses. In the first stages of the project, David worked primarily on laser cutting and creating patterns in Photoshop while Jules worked on figuring out the feasibility of the designs on a larger scale. Some of the stitches that were possible to make on a smaller scale, would not be as easy to sew together on a larger scale, some adjustments to the patterns had to be made.  In the end, we both stitched the Camelephant together.

The major change in the visual design included a laser cut pattern on the ears and tusks as well as adding eyes that were also laser cut from birch and acrylic, later sewed onto the rip-stop with a thicker blue thread. As the rip-stop nylon was not a strong material when it came to holding a lot of weight, we had to compensate by using a sturdier material for the legs.

Although we had to leave out the parachute and the backpack (which we plan on making in our free time), we accomplished a lot and we are very happy with the end result. The Camelephant, when inflated, is able to stand up on its own and is significantly more presentation-ready than our first iteration.