Harpy
January-February 2025
Duration: 4 weeks
Project Description:
Create a mask using one sheet of 19” x 24” Bristol paper—no adhesives or other materials. Additionally, create a set of instructions that will be followed by a peer in an attempt to construct the mask. The mask should be a representation of an animal or mythological creature. I chose a harpy eagle.
Iterations: 12
Number of creases: 260
Hours spent: 44
IDEATION
EARLY PROTOTYPES
After settling on the harpy eagle as my animal, I did some research (mainly visual) before moving into sketching. I focused on proportions (beak, eyes, etc.) and feather shape and formation.
As for the sketches, the callouts describe the details of each drawing that worked the best.
Early on, I struggled to form any sort of mask that didn’t resemble a masquerade mask. The forms were very flat and would have needed a strap to stay on my head.
I quickly realized that I needed to change direction completely, so I turned to a helmet-esque design. I knew this would result in a heavy workload because of the complicated nature of a paper helmet, but I also knew it would result in the highest quality final design.
Left: My first helmet-shaped design, made predominantly with rounded components
Right: A miniature helmet designed solely from squares, an aspect that I carried on into my final design. Also pictured are my first two full-sized prototypes using the square grid technique. These designs were missing proper joinery and stability aspects, as well as fine details.
PROTOTYPES
My final design featured a new beak design. The beak was the only component that bothered me from the previous iteration due to its rather sharp angle of protrusion from the mask. This design allows the beak to flow into the rest of the face and not stick out quite as far.
Before getting to work, I decided that the best way to create a cohesive instruction page would be to document every step with a photo on a consistent background. My previous process photos were from multiple iterations and were taken in various locations, so I created another mask. This time, I used a single piece of printer paper and made a mini-model (both to preserve resources and because I thought having a mini version would be awesome).
FINALS
The final instructions (which were followed by a peer who created a successful mask).
FINAL DESIGN
As I moved forward with the grid-helmet design, I began focusing on finding the perfect fit, creating a beak with the right shape and size, and determining the number and size of the feathers. My next three iterations are in order above; I moved towards a rounded chin shape, three feather sizes (including a handful of oversized feathers, the most important addition I made), and a large beak.
INSTRUCTIONS
