COSMIC EXCELLENCE
ROY GUAN - HOUSE MEMBER
SEMESTER 1
BLOG #1
Week of 9/9
This week was an eventful one. Finally situated in DTech, I've gotten into the rhythm and feel of the class. My role as finance minister has gotten me involved in a variety of tasks, such as designing templates for our sales order calculator and financial spreadsheets and making invoices so our customers can pay with credit card. I worked on button designing with Shiv and Jake as well and we learned how to use the button maker. Seeing everything, like our website and social media, come together to promote our business was a sight to behold.
BLOG #2
Week of 9/16
Another productive week has passed. The scrunchie business, courtesy of Kelly and Hannah is booming and I am still learning how to handle the revenue from it. The design for Power's pin is an ongoing experiment, and we are perfecting our final model to show him. We've basically finished the design for the website and took team photos to put on it. Our team is planning on starting to learn how to silkscreen so we can have team T-shirts like Atto.
BLOG #3
Week of 9/23
This week I took it upon myself to try to learn how to use the machines that are available to us. I took the laser safety test and watched my team design our house plaque, which looks very cool. Along with this, me and Jake were finalizing our plans with Mr. Powers for the buttons and determined that we would sell them quarterly. Shiv and I also learned how to use the vinyl cutter to make stickers. Next week I plan on actually laser cutting something for practice and to try and get a job in this field.
BLOG #4
Week of 9/30
This week I successfully designed and printed my first test laser engraving, with the help of Ethan from Atto. A previously daunting task was proven to be fairly simple and straightforward. I designed something for a Literature project and decided to try laser engraving it so I can learn how to use the machine. Along with this, I also worked on invoices and setting up credit card invoices on our team website so potential customers can pay directly through our website. Things are really starting to come along for our team!
BLOG #5
Week of 10/7
This week I secured a job with Captain on my laser engraving. She thought it was exceptional and was willing to buy it for her classroom. With the help of Shiv and Aidan, we are going to get this job going. Our house also set up a Trello account so we can manage our work more efficiently and make sure group members stay on task. We are settling into our house and are starting to think about what we represent and what kind of image we want to have for potential customers and our competitors.
BLOG #6
Week of 10/14
This week was all about transition and how we need to change certain things about our order process and team organization: we learned how to use Trello and how to set up job cards for every job that follows the correct criteria. In addition, we ditched Discord and are switching over to Microsoft teams, which in my opinion will function a lot better than Discord. I am continuing learning how to make vinyl stickers with Shiv and coming up with potential business ventures within his community.
BLOG #7
Week of 10/21
This week was a period of realization. I figured out what I needed to do thanks to Hannah and got caught up with all of the changes. We updated our financial sheets and fixed the quote calculator. In addition, I learned how to laser engrave a phone and designed something to put on my phone. This is a potential business opportunity. Vedang from Dynasty 3 also taught us how to use the vinyl cutter to make stickers and Shiv and I made a sticker for his water bottle.
BLOG #8
Week of 11/4
We started Quarter 2 by establishing some new changes to the financial documents: we will now set up the financial sheets with the sales order estimates and invoices as well as the Trello card and the quote calculators. Hannah also set up weekly team discussions so that everyone is caught up with what everyone is doing to minimize confusion and increase team participation. Captain finally got back to us about the engraving and we had agreed upon a deal. Also coming with ideas with Jake and Shiv about holiday themed items we could make to take advantage of this winter season.
BLOG #9
Week of 11/11
This week we finalized the Captain sign job and turned in the money. I am also working on the Indian sign job with Shiv and have completed a design and approved it with his mom. We learned how to use the dye-sublimation machine and its process so we can make house shirts for the dynasty pictures next week. Updated the financial sheets again and made some changes to the invoices and sales estimate templates and am continuing to update the financial sheets.
BLOG #10
Week of 11/18
This week our house learned how to use the dye-sublimation machines so we could finally make our house shirts. The process was a lot simpler than I had imagined and produced some pretty good results. Looking forward to using the machine to create various items for the holiday season. Also am going to begin work on coming up with ideas for the DTech house joust where we attempt to come up with the coolest awards for the sophomore World History students. I am looking forward to learning how to use machines in different ways to produce the final product, and brainstorming new product ideas for Liz Donelley.
BLOG #11
Week of 11/25
This week I finished helping Shiv with his Indian sign project. I helped him with the initial design and calculating the finances required to make the sign and how much he should sell it for. In addition, I helped my team with the Fitz chromebook stickers with applying them on. I am also starting initial designs for housewarming gifts for Aidan's mother's real estate company such as cutting boards and coasters with the company logo and personalized messages. Jake and I are also still coming up with holiday gift ideas and making the design for a bottle opener that can be mounted on the wall.
BLOG #12
Week of 12/2
This week had a lot of progress in terms of projects, but on Thursday we also got our first ever lesson on finances from Tessa. I found it very interesting and useful information on how to logically manage money and how to analyze advertisements. Finished a design for a housewarming cutting board with Jake and will begin making a prototype for it with scrap wood. Also designed a coaster for the holiday season and making sure the financial sheets are staying updated. Also began brainstorming ideas for a design for the journalism awards.
BLOG #13
Week of 12/9
This week I worked with Aidan and Anahi on designing the World War One themed trophies and awards for the Soldier Project. We got some feedback and initial advice from Mr. Li and decided to redesign the awards. Anahi made some really cool designs that featured a soldier with a gas mask and a helmet that displays the teacher's name on it. Other designs included an old-fashioned camera and a poppy to symbolize the war. The trophy also features a unique shape so it isn't just a dull and boring rectangle. After designing we lasered them out on pieces of scrap wood to test it out, and they came out great. Shiv and I will help pitch the award to teachers.
BLOG #14
Week of 12/16
This week on Tuesday and Thursday we continued Tessa Roper's lessons on handling finances and learned the benefits of various ways of spending and storing money such as a credit card, a debit card, a bank, or simply storing the money "in the mattress". We were taught the benefits and downsides of each technique. I am very grateful for Tessa and her lessons will most definitely carry into my college and adult life. In other news, I helped Aidan and Anahi with their design for the soldier project awards, and they turned out really cool. Lasered out prototypes so we can pitch to the teachers next week.
BLOG #15
Week of 1/6
After winter break, this week Shiv and I got started with our next job that we began before the break. We are planning on designing a sports mural/poster that will be placed in the office. After numerous trial and errors with Adobe Photoshop I finally got the hang of it. The process was to take pictures that I have accumulated of various sports on campus and cut out the person from the picture. After doing that, I place the cut out image onto a blank layer until I have multiple cutouts on the layer. It is starting to look pretty cool. We are debating on whether or not the post will be in black and white or if it will be in color.
SEMESTER 2
BLOG #1
Week of 01/27/2020
This week we started the the semester off strong. Our team secured three teachers and four sets in the Soldier Project awards House Joust. We spent a lot of our time focusing on production of the awards and I helped with lasering them and sanding them afterwards. I learned that putting duct tape on the wood prevents the edges of the cut from burning. We found that sharing the laser cutter with the other houses can be frustrating because used they used the machine for two periods in a row. Some pretty good outcomes.
BLOG #2
Week of 2/03/2020
This week our house continued to work on the soldier projects and their production. Our teachers (Fitz, Schmitt, and Miller) have set deadlines that we don't want to miss with our projects. We are on a time crunch because the other houses also have their own trophies to complete on the laser cutter. After we finished sanding the awards, we rubbed them with oil to enhance the coloring and make them look nicer. I think that they came out looking very nice. Lillian also made a new website for our house which I think is a big improvement upon the old one, so I will transer my old blogs into it.
BLOG #3
Week of 2/10/2020
This week we finished doing the House Jousts awards and we got assigned a new one: a Cross Country Disneyland Themed project for Mr. Reeves. We take an image of the cross country coaches on the Splash Mountain ride and edit it to make it look nice and memorable so that Mr. Li can present it to Reeves. I also spent time transferring my old blogs from the old site to the new website in the same template as everyone else so it is more united. We also have a potential job for girl's water polo shirts that Hannah will inform us on.