Research and Concept
Most toothbrush holders are very basic looking. They’re either a big cup or a rectangle with a couple holes to separate toothbrushes. They could use more personality that could make it more playful such as incorporating the toothbrush into the design. Even turning the design of the holder into something like a cactus would make it more delightful to look at.
This leads directly into my concept; I wanted to design a toothbrush holder that would have different arms holding the toothbrushes. The inspiration for my design was a cactus I saw online, which inspired me to make two big and tall arms that would be just the right size for a toothbrush to stand up straight. Not only does this look whimsical, but it prevents the heads of toothbrushes from touching each other, making it functional as well. The center cup could either hold a tube of toothpaste or other things like eyebrow razors or normal razors. I also added a funny face to give it more personality.
Iterations
Below is the model I constructed on Tinkercad.
I tried to get my model as close to the concept sketch as I could. I was having a hard time with measurements and I miscalculated the scale of the object by a pretty decent margin. I tried to make a second print of the same model that was significantly larger and sturdier but something went wrong and the entire print was unrecognizable. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get another one done in time.
I think I’m on the right track with this design. Like I stated before, I need to up the scale a good bit so that I can fit toothbrushes in their designated spots. I also need to make the arms connecting the toothbrush holders to the cup thicker and maybe even cylindrical because it doesn’t look so much like a cactus. It doesn’t help that it’s yellow. Otherwise, it’s still accomplishing the goal that a toothbrush holder is supposed to accomplish. I’m able to put the things I use regularly in it but it would be nice if I could put my toothpaste in the center with my toothbrush and maybe my razor in the arms.
Final Print and Reflection
My biggest problem prior to this print was my lack of direction. My previous attempt looked like a robot but was inspired by a cactus and it wasnt pretty. The last one was also tiny. I overcompensated in Tinkercad to the point where I had to scale the whole model down in Cura just to print it.
Thanks to feedback, I decided to make its teeth look more prominent and have the body and arms be squared off. It was a pretty decent struggle for me to make a toothbrush holder that looked like a robot. I didn’t want it to be too boring but I didn’t want it to be too detailed because the point is for it to be whimsical. I increased the size of it by a lot. Instead of the center hole being only for the toothpaste, I made it so that it would fit multiple things. If I didn’t live in a house with four other people, I would probably use this to hold my stuff; it’s pretty convenient.