What's your process for planning projects and brainstorming?

[MaKim]

Some of the recent topics about software and assembly instructions have been really interesting and I’ve enjoyed learning from the other folks here.

While cleaning up some files from a recent project, I started to wonder how everyone plans, brainstorms & iterates on designs? As an example, here’s the rough process I use:

Capturing Ideas

For me, it works best to write down any ideas that come to me as soon as I have them - this cleans the ‘mental whiteboard’. I use Onenote so that I can access the notes on my phone or desktop. Generally, when brainstorming, I will start to see a trend when I get more detailed ideas about a project option - this is usually a good indicator that I may want to move forward with it.

Brainstorming

At this point I move to the Freeform iPad app. I like to build a board of reference images and also lists of ideas. In this case, I was wanting to experiment with some components from Maker’s Supply but also just thinking of elements I might want to model. I use this same list as a ‘checklist’ through the rest of the process.

Block Out Space

Once I have the general ideas, I start sketching (in Freeform) and blocking out (in Blender) the general size and shape of the model using basic shapes. In this case, I also started to think about the spacing required for different components. Drawing directly on screenshots of the model makes it easier to plan any mounting points.

Refinement

At this point, the notes are getting more detailed as I’m considering the design of various components, mounting, fonts & assembly options. I’m not an artist so my sketches are rough but at least help me track ideas.

Add Detail & Simplify

This sounds like a contradiction but in my mind it isn’t. I like to save detail for the end of the process but it also becomes easier to see where some elements could be simplified for easier printing. As with previous steps, I like to take photos of any sample pieces and sketch on top of them while figuring out the final elements. Also, at this point to-do lists become more important to me!

[Zammer3D]

@MaKim

Screenshot_20241118-0802191080×1630 214 KB

Those are some really good ideas! (both on that list and in that post )

I keep my ideas in the above Notion database. They’ve got tags, and I can assign them to different columns for different priorities.

I can then add “Distribution” of in-person (I sell my models locally) or digital. I attach a publish date, add a link to the Google Drive folder with all the files, and ad a link to the MakerWorld page.

I can also display that same list as a gallery

Or as a calendar based on the post date that I assigned.

In each database item, I have an unlimited canvas of space to add text, images, audio, etc. I use this to make notes on what Maker’s Supply components I’ve incorporated into a design, what versions/profiles I’ll have, etc. It’s especially convenient because I’ve also got a bunch of other stuff in my Notion, e.g. my Gift Card Tracker.

[ozarkexpeditions]

Great write up and discussion topic! I too have a Notion database like @Zammer3D where I keep track of all of my ideas, work in progress and completed/not-doing. It’s a great way to have pages for each of the ideas that include notes, list of parts, screen shots of whiteboard sketches, etc.

I use several whiteboarding apps, but there is nothing better than engineering grid paper on a clipboard to sketch out ideas.

[Josh-3D]

You guys and your planning apps, and paper, and sketches, and writing ideas down in a meaningful manner. What even is this?! a class assignment?!

I’m kidding.

I have a collection of ideas rolling around in my head, and I usually sit down and just think for awhile, plotting out ideas, how I want them to look, how I’d construct them. All of that is contained within my head, and can last in there for years at a time. Sometimes I’ll draw some sketches if I don’t think I’ll be able to remember the specifics of an idea I had, or how I want something constructed.

Alongside that, I keep a collection of “inspiration”, which is just collected images of various things to help inspire me along the way. Like for the card shuffler I did, I had a bunch of images of print presses that I would reference for styling. For the industrial headphone stand I did, and related models, I had a collection of machined parts I’d look to for ideas on styling, how to make it feel more machined. Here’s the two main images I used when modeling my lift table.

I tend to concept and flush out ideas in the 3d space, so while I can have a decently solid plan in my head, it’s not until the polygons hit the viewport that things really kick into gear.

How things work mechanically, are assembled, is usually something I think out in great detail in my head before putting it into 3d.

The SciFi crates I did; those were years in the making, in that sense. I had thought a lot about how I would construct each section, how they would fit together, and how I could make it look complete and not just a spliced up model, spliced to fit the print volume. The final styling was a bit more on the fly, but the actual approach had been something I thought about in great depth for awhile, and still have ongoing thoughts on.

I wish I was better at sketching out ideas and stuff. I just, I don’t know. I’m not a sketcher I guess.

[MaKim]

@Zammer3D

Those are some really good ideas! (both on that list and in that post )

I had big ideas for multiple project but ran far short on time

@Zammer3D

Notion database. They’ve got tags, and I can assign them to different columns for different priorities.

The tagging sounds really helpful - I haven’t used Notion that way before but’ll have to give it a try - especially the idea of assigning them in a kanban-style board like in your screenshot. I’ve used those board in dev projects but not for print/design.

@ozarkexpeditions

I use several whiteboarding apps, but there is nothing better than engineering grid paper on a clipboard to sketch out ideas.

That’s true - I’ve use the large, dotted version of the hardcover Moleskines for years but am finding myself using digital versions a bit more over the last year or two. There will always be a place for paper.

@Josh-3D

All of that is contained within my head, and can last in there for years at a time.

That’s a good skill to have. I have to get them out of my head or they’ll just go bouncing around in there like Breakout (to use a dated video game reference) and not going anywhere.

@Josh-3D

The SciFi crates I did; those were years in the making, in that sense. I had thought a lot about how I would construct each section, how they would fit together, and how I could make it look complete and not just a spliced up model, spliced to fit the print volume.

An especially good activity for times when stuck in a train/plane/waiting room.

[Square3D]

I applaud the way different people tackle creativity
Normally i don’t take notes or draw ideas because they come to me most of the time, when i am almost falling asleep. Next thing i know is that then it’s morning already and i only have a mental sketch formed and then proceed to open my cad software and design it.
Yes, sometimes i have to write down some more important profiles for some sketches but those are normally for the company where i work and it has to be 100% perfect, even when they give me clear instructions on how they want it. Wanting it does not make it feasible.

But i am liking some ideas. Carry on, i am reading

[Dr_Operator]

I never write anything down, unless it’s crucial life advice like “Never follow a hippie to a second location.”

My process always starts with a basic idea and then that idea evolves in my CAD program of choice, Shapr3D.

With my board game Are You Chicken, the second I saw the ring lights in the store, I knew I wanted to put that in a game piece and have it activated by magnets under the board as a player crossed it. So I took that basic idea and started to work on ideas and a theme in CAD.

Over the course of a month and a half, it went from being a Police Quarrels game to being a game about chickens crossing a minefield (I would have called it Cluck and Cover) to it’s final version of a race across the street.

[MZip]

@Dr_Operator

unless it’s crucial life advice like “Never follow a hippie to a second location.”

I’ve had good luck with that one. Sadly, not so many hippies these days…

[AeonJoey]

Oh wow, one of my skills in work-world is I literally streamline processes and build project management systems for creative departments to make them more efficient - in hobby world, I have a reminders list lol!
I need to get my projects up on airtable or Monday dot com; some GREAT ideas here for better organization of ideas though- eg notion hadnr thought of that.

[Caguayo]

I write any and all ideas on my phone, that way I don’t forget right away. Then on pen and paper, I do mini sketches to develop the idea and explore alternatives. After drawing very many, I’ll pick the best one and develop it some more.

The full process goes like this:
idea > sketching > CAD > prototypes > procrastination > prototypes > procrastination > photography > procrastination > publish or hide in the box of shame.

[h3li0]

I mostly write and do some sketches in my remarkable to quickly capture the ideas, but then keep a kanban board in obsidian where I keep track of all the stages in their own buckets

[SH_Designs]

My process is messy. A complete disaster compared to your organization, but it’s how I flow. I might with some sketches or brainstorming notes on paper, but then I go into Illustrator and start messing around with the idea. My artboard get filled up with random stuff. I might have 3-4 files like this for 1 project until I finalize things. Then I starting putting things together in the slicer and testing out parts. Then back to the literal drawing board and back and forth this way until I get to my final creation. I have files upon files with various STLs, OBJs, screen shots and other misc files. For my latest project, Twisted Temple there are just over 350 files. It’s really crazy. But once I am done with a project I clean and purge to get everything organized again.

[DWdesigns]

I use Trello. One creates boards, and cards within a board, and each card can have checklist (like to-do list that one can check off). It’s like Kanban boards.

So I can have a board called Useful 3D Models, under this board I will create a card for each idea that I have. I can also create check lists under each card for what need to be done to get the idea moving along. But most of the time I don’t need the checklist.

The Trello app is on my phone so I can add a new card easily whenever and wherever the idea comes. I only need a short sentence for the card to describe the idea. I can remember what the idea is about even years later :slight_smile (3D model design is relatively new to me though)

Any sketch and actual design happens on CAD. I may start with 2 or 3 designs for the same idea and narrow down to one as the prototyping moves along. I go through many iterations during prototyping. It’s not unusual that the final design is vastly different from the first draft.

For really complex concepts or ideas, I use Mindnode. This is a great app for brainstorming. It’s like having your thoughts mapped out in a visual manner. One can come back to an idea later, even years later, and clearly see how the thought process was going and pick up from there to further develop the idea. Mindnode app is also on the phone, it sync with the web for easier view of more complex ideas on a bigger screen.

One note to share: Don’t get too hang up on developing a “perfect” idea with too much specific detail. Once the idea hits the road, it is bound to be changed. Act on the idea is more important.

[MaKim]

@AeonJoey

I need to get my projects up on airtable or Monday dot com

That’s an awesome list - so many ideas and only so much time

@SH_Designs

My artboard get filled up with random stuff. I might have 3-4 files like this for 1 project until I finalize things.

I love seeing the rough draft next to the final project - your model looks fantastic by the way.

[jaayjeee]

I have a Trello, but I hate Trello and want to move away from it, I also have a massive whiteboard wall full of stuff that has yet to make it to the Trello

I’m so bottlenecked on design time though, I just need the physical hours in front of fusion and they are very sparse between my job and my family

Another shortfall for me is finally finishing a project and losing motivation to do the final bits like photography (though that’s easier recently with my light box) and actually writing up the MakerWorld post (my recent project is like one sentence, I’m seeing how that goes as a description, I have mixed feelings though)

[MalcTheOracle]

@jaayjeee

job and my family

Tell them one has to give and there is a competition to stay in the race and for your live!

[Froggydog10]

This is a great topic! Rarely, I use ChatGPT for my ideas, but it almost always turns out to be identical to another model (people say AI is going to take over the world. It can’t even make a unique thought). Usually I come up with ideas by meeting up with friends, smashing some weird stuff together on Onshape, and hoping it resembles a masterpiece. Unfortunately, by the amount of likes, downloads, etc I have, this process doesn’t seem to work.
If you want advice on what not to do, just ask me.

[jaayjeee]

@Froggydog10

but it almost always turns out to be identical to another model

I think because it’s trained on current data, and doesn’t do much in the way of innovating etc

So I kinda expect this with AI ideas

I’ve yet to dabble in AI anything to be honest, I’d love to run my descriptions through an AI and get them sounding snazzier, but I’d also like them to not sound AI generated!

[jaayjeee]

@MalcTheOracle

Tell them one has to give

That would not go well for me at all

[J_B_Custom_Designs]

You guys are way more organized than me. My process is a mess. I’ll come up with a basic idea, let it marinate in my head for a few days to a week or two while I try to design it in my mind. Once I feel like I’ve got something worth working on, I’ll prototype a few parts in Fusion and see how things look. If I like it, I pretty much just build it in Fusion and print out test parts along the way. I keep a few scrap pieces of paper on my desk for writing down some dimensions and stuff like that but that’s about it.

I wish I could be more organized with this stuff, but between work and family, I don’t have a ton of time to design models or learn the programs.