Graffiti style phone stands

It started with a grant…

During the 2017-2018 school year, I wrote a grant to get six Mayku Formboxes for the art and concepts of engineering departments. Our school won $5,000 toward this purchase. The formboxes allow students to create molds or forms out of everyday objects (or objects of their own creation) using heated plastic and a vacuum seal. I had them create phone stands that would be sized to fit their own phones. They were also embellished with their names or a word they liked. To create this, students first learned about some famous artists that got started through graffiti (such as Basquiat and Keith Haring). Then they learned how to create their own graffiti style words, practicing in their sketchbooks. Finally, they designed a graffiti style word or name on foam core, which was then cut out.

For the stand, the students used the same block of wood, but laid two narrow strips of wood on top, allowing for their phones to slide in between. Then they positioned their foam word/name on the block underneath the wood strops. Once they were satisfied with the positioning, they used the formbox to create a plastic mold.

We poured plaster of paris into the molds and allowed them to dry overnight. The next day, the plastic was removed and students began painting their phone stands using acrylic paint.

Click through the slides below to see the process in action-

This was our first experiment with the formbox, but we purchased with the idea that we could do some cross-curriculum projects with the engineering department or home economics. For example, anything can be poured into the molds - even chocolate or jello. And perhaps we can have concepts of engineering create wooden cutouts based on our designs in the future. There really are endless possibilities with these devices.

Click on the image below to cycle through examples: