Week01

1. State of the art, project management and documentation

Before the official commencement of Fabricademy 2025 program, I was priviledged to get a preview of what the course entails and tools to be used during the training. First I was introduced to my instructor, Rico who prepped us every thursday of what we are expected to do.

Week 1 Session Reflection

I was very excited for this new journey and my first global meeting made it even more interesting. Within the three hours, I was immersed with new ideas from peoples works among them was seaweed dialogues by Alberte Bojesen. Who could have thought that such overlooked materials can be used to make exciting product? Aside from that, a majority of participants interests and works was towards biology be it they have used natural dyes, biobased materials to harness their work.I was fully immersed in the session and I felt a sense of belonging, first because I want to focus on natural materials and utilizing natural dyes to come up with ecofriendly products. It is a priviledge that I will get to collaborate with fellow participants to achieve my goals.

Inspiration

I have been inspired by the works of: - Brunna Ramos
- Shahed Jamhour
- Kohshi Katoh- Development of FabLabable kinetic seat that support spine movement.

WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT

My instructor held a meeting for us to know exactly what we need to get done for the week. One thing I liked is that all links to the meeting, software were put on notion page which could easily be accessed. I was prepped up on how to use GitLab, access XnConvert and how I generate information on my notion page to GitLab.
I had to buckle up and put my sleeves up to get started by going through the assignment checklist below.

Tools

-Gitlab - Mattermost - Markdown - Vimeo - MkDocs - XnConvert

Documentation workflow

Through Fabricademy tutorials and close assistance from my instructor, I was able to learn different documentation softwares. From how to write using markdown in Web IDE, compressing and uploading images to drafting a compelling documentation of my work and processes which are vital.

Accessing and manouvering the systems has been quite easier than I anticipated. I am going to share how I managed to do my documentation to help others who may feel intimidated by the big terms used in programming:)

Step 1

Login

The first step to get me started was registering to fablab.io platform where I keyed in my email and password. To access Mattermost, I had to login through GitLab where I could access recorded weekly sessions,tutorials,and a place for chatting and sharing ideas. To login to GitLab, I used the fablabs option provided which led me directly to the platform. This process is same in Nueval- a platform for evaluation and tracking our work.

Step 2

Content upload on GitLab

All content can be edited when clicking the docs folder which will take you to other subfolders such assignment, images, files etc...

To edit, I clicked the edit button then opened using Web IDE as an editing tool(which is scripted with markdown).

To access my website, I went to mkdocs.yml. I updated it with my names and took little effort to change the color to red. To my satisfaction, I left it at that (I will further style it when I learn all the functions and commands).

Step 3

In my week01.md is where I uploaded neccessary information needed during the weeks assignment. After uploading all content in each section, I clicked on commit for all data to be recorded.

How to use XnConvert

To keep my image size small as rrequired, I downloaded the XnConvert tool that came in handy. After downloading it, I had to select images that I wanted to compress which were on different location, I clicked on the 'add file' button and chose the images I wanted to compress.

The next step was to click on 'output' to change the quality, the format and file name. NB: The file name should be in lowecase without spacing.

The 'action' helps in transforming the image by resizing the width and height as shown. The 'status' check if the image has been compressed to the size needed.

How to use Inkscape

Navigating Workspace

When Inkscape is opened, you’ll see the; - Toolbar highlighted in blue on the left side of the workspace - Tool options highlighted in green located on the top of the page below the menu bar. - The highlighted red rectangle in the middle of the section is the canvas where the design will go.

If you want to change the dimensions of the canvas go to File ➜ Document Properties ➜ Custom Size and change the width and height. Keep in mind to check the units so the scaling is correct.

The first tool Inkscape starts you off with is the Select tool, which looks like an arrow. This allows you to move, rotate and resize your objects.

You can then use the tools in the tool bar section to draw, highlight what you want. For instance, the rectagle icon enables you to draw a rectangular shape.

To change the color of a shape or line, go back to the Select tool. Select the object you want to change the color for and at the bottom of the interface, pick the color you want from the palette. The object will change from the color you select.

References

• Fabricademy tutorials have been resourceful throughout my documentation process

• Image reference: photo credit

• How to use Inkscape: link