Locker Glass

Exploring Transparency

This project started as an exploration of transparent and translucent shaders in Blender. Rather than designing a conventional padlock, I wanted to create a physical security object that felt more connected to contemporary technology.

The concept replaces the traditional key mechanism with a fingerprint sensor, which gave me the opportunity to imagine what could be happening inside the object: electronic circuits, structural components, sensors, and layered plastic parts.

The main challenge was finding the right balance between transparency, reflections, refraction, and internal visibility. The outer shell needed to feel like a believable solid material while still revealing enough of the internal construction to make the technology part of the visual identity.

Shader Exploration

A big part of the process was experimenting with how light travels through the translucent purple casing. I tested different combinations of roughness, transmission, IOR (Index of Refraction), thickness, and internal lighting to control how much information could be seen through the material.

Rather than aiming for physically perfect transparency, the goal was to create a shader that felt visually convincing and helped establish a sense of depth.

Designing From the Inside Out

Because the internal components remain visible, they became part of the product design itself. Circuit-like elements, structural pieces, and the fingerprint module were arranged not only to suggest functionality, but also to create interesting silhouettes and visual layers through the transparent shell.

The result is a conceptual biometric padlock where the internal technology is intentionally exposed rather than hidden—turning the shader itself into one of the main storytelling elements of the piece.

Key explorations:
Transparent Shaders · Transmission · Refraction · Material Thickness · Internal Components · Product Visualization · Biometric Technology