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Week 2

Assignments

This week, I worked on printing a skull sticker inspired by Halloween decorations. The goal was to explore how vinyl cutting can combine creativity and technology in the art classroom. As I worked through the process I realized how engaging this experience could be for students, students love showing their personality through their artwork, and I can imagine assigning the task of creating a simple sticker that shows who they are are what their personality is related. It connects digital design with hands-on creation, something that strongly represents the maker mindset in education.

Process

Steps followed

  • I prepared a skull design. The design was about 20 × 10 cm.
  • I prepared the vinyl adhesive by cutting a piece slightly larger than the design and placed it on the cutting mat.
  • The design was uploaded to the Cricut software and size adjusted to match the vinyl piece.
  • I loaded the vinyl sheet onto the cutting mat and inserted it into the Cricut machine, following the prompts for blade settings and material type.
  • After the machine finished cutting, I carefully weeded out the excess vinyl with tweezers, leaving only the skull design on the backing.
  • Using transfer tape, I lifted the cut design from its backing and applied it to my classroom window, pressing firmly to ensure it adhered smoothly.

Photos / screenshots of key stages

Challenges and solutions

Challenge: If the sticker has too small details, it might become difficult to cut or get rid of the useless parts. Possible solutions: Avoid making pieces with too much details, work on big proportion, review negative spaces of the stickers before printing to make sure they are easy to peel off.

Reflection

What are some opportunties to integrate this technology in the classroom? How do I think it could support my teaching? Vinyl cutting opens many possibilities for creative projects in art. Students could design their own logos, classroom decorations, or custom stencils for painting. It promotes experimentation, and design thinking, and makes them understand how digital tools can transform artistic ideas into real world products, it also allows the students to understand the design process for specific objectives.

How would I implement each one of the steps of the design process model explained in the Master Class. (Research / Creation / Staging) One possible educational activity would be a Personal Symbol Sticker Design where students can design a sticker of a symbol that represents themselves and their culture and use it to identify a specific space where they can place their belongings in the classroom. First, students would have to research symbols, colors, and images that represent their identity or culture. Next, they would have to sketch ideas and choose the one that best communicates their personal story. Then they would be creating the design digitally using software suitable for vinyl cutting. After that, they cut the sticker using the vinyl cutter and prepare it with transfer tape. The last step would be applying the sticker to their locker, personal space, or chosen surface and reflecting on how the symbol they created represents them. This could also work for example for a sketch notebook identification.

In which part of the digital fabrication continuum (DF for kids to DF by kids) would I feel more comfortable? Why? I currently feel most comfortable in the “Digital Fabrication for Kids” stage, since I’m still learning how to use these tools myself. But I really want to move toward “Digital Fabrication by Kids,” because I’m really excited to explore this new world of ideas and possibilities, inspired by the children’ s perspectives and spark of how they see the world and how they overcome the challenges presented to them.

Tools

  • Cricut® software and machine
  • Adhesive Vinil, transfer tape
  • Scissors, tweezers