Visual Design - Part 2

“Maybe make it look less like a giant, metal artichoke.”

That was my thought last week, so here’s an update on the visual design. It’s still conceptual, but getting closer. Here are some thoughts:

• The stem is much thinner

• The blossom is more accentuated and will be more organic looking

• The mechanism that opens the blossom will also raise the laser… the blossom will be larger and hollow to house the laser and armatures that control the leaves.

• The antennae may be more like leaves on a thistle: spiky, curved, ornate, mathematical, numerous and varied in size

We’ve exhausted my abilities in Sketchup and will be transitioning the design process to a mockup from steel, clay and paper.

Here are more inspirational images:

I’m leaning towards the thistle as it’s already patterned in thirds and it’s spiky and thin and alien. Whatever we decide, it’ll likely have a mature flower on top (housing the laser and mechanical petals), a large bud just beginning to flower, and a small bud that’s developing. I like the idea that the Archeon is blossoming and we are witnessing it part way through its life cycle.