Saturday in Design

We went to Saturday in Design yesterday and it was really impressive. I thought it would be more like last year's design week, where a couple of exhibitions were set up around set up around sydney, but this was more interactive, where people would tell us about the designs. I think they were trying to get their stuff out there more, with important looking investors rocking up in BMWs and whatnot in suits and ties, sipping champagne going round to the different places. Also heaps of designers and students and people just interested in design from the general public were there. Met an economist on the shuttle bus who was going round to all the places, super enthusiastic.

First stop - a design shop selling furniture and lights and some other stuff. This light looks heaps organic and the material is going all one direction but inside it's all different directions so that it will hold in place around the thin metal frame. There was a live artist painting some stuff on the windows. Forgot to take a photo but was heaps cool.

Lights. Buying just one of them to hang above your dining table would look a bit empty.....so buy all of the above! i think its made out of some kind of paper?

If only I brought a camera with a macro function. GAR! ended up using my camera phone.

(stole this pic from Jenny - Thanks!)

This was a mini chair competition, where they were supplied two Chandon Sparkling corks. Would have been really tedious working with corks, carving and sanding to create tiny chairs, but it looked awesome with so many entries all lined up next to each other.

Use of cork wrapper --> INSANE weaving.

(pic from Jen)

are those swirly thingys from the foil?

Perforated metal. Looks origami paper/cardboard-ish. Bends at dotted lines. Very subtle, soft lighting, compared to other lighting with exposed light-bulbs.

Looks kind of.....huggable....

Chairs n lights! Musta been hard to get up there! They took the light in the background with the light bulbs spiraling downwards and put it in the centre of this upside chair installation.

This reminds me of something, cant put my finger on it. hmmmmmmm....

From far away it looks like a comfy black rug but its actually bark bits!! the stuff they put in pot plants and parks! They had a whole colour coordination thing in this furniture place, everything had that tiny bit of teal blue. i like the textile on the chair on the right.

If i got into this bath tub i wouldn't be able to get out fo sho. SO COMFY LOOKING!

This bathtub has some kind of aromatherapy thing. Changes lights, pinks greens blues. I don't know the point of changing lights though, would be very distracting in a bath..or maybe it would be better with bubbles.

I've seen someone do this with a shopping trolley in randwick...chuck the trolley high up in a tree..maybe they got their inspiration from there. Looks quite whimsical.

I saw these leaves on YANKO!!!!! LOVE IT! each leaf is a separate piece, and those thin long things are the connecting piece, and they click together kinda like lego. All plastic. If you grab one leaf the whole wall of leaves will move.

<3

Don't think you can see it properly from the photo, but its got tiny holes in each leaf.

Looks quite structural but i'd be scared of snapping the entire chair with my weight. Won a design award though

a true industrial designer sticks his head under chairs and tables (Kevin)

Inspired by brail? wonder if it says anything

cute little chair boxes

Nowonder its called planeX...storage systems...

This thing opens up and then you press some buttons for the table to fold down.
WHOA!! kinda like a disco light ...very in yo face...futuristic? or retro?

(pic from Jen)

the white one looks much better though

Looks a bit cardboardy...

GENIUS! <3

At first glance it looks like all the light-bulbs are lit up.

Market the chairs as artistic designery ... feel like climbing to the top

Held together with pop rivets!! but still looks flawless

twistyyyyyy...what is it for? i think its just an ornament.. or maybe a light?

From far away it looks like plastic, but it is actually fabric...one tiny hook into the fabric and the whole chair is rewened! I'm guessing there is a weight limit to this. You sink into the fabric between the frame and get a floating sensation because none of the frame is touching you..your just kind of suspended..

SUUUUPER smooth...looks like there's just one sink hole without the dip in the surface for the sink! mmmm...

LED

(pic from Jenny)
whats cool was how they displayed all the lights! all on these cardboard boxes. Looks more friendly and approachable.

pyd. if only we had business cards. hai.

Treasuring TIme

I was aiming to capture short moments in time that don't last very long, such as free falling and parachuting. These moments are so short lived, yet people value that time in the air because of that excitement and adrenaline rush. I have designed a different way of capturing a memory from this activity. As the target market are probably outgoing people, they could want a fun way of capturing these moments, besides photographs.

The target market of this product is people who sky dive. It is clamped to the user's parachute strap, near to their shoulder, after their parachute has expanded and they are floating down to earth. And then the trigger is pressed with one hand, which then releases squirts of paint that would project onto the top of the roof of the parachute. After a jump, a pattern of paint patterns, (maybe similar to the style of Jackson Pollock) would be left. It allows the user to create an art work without having any art experience necessary, only maybe some sky diving lessons would be useful. As parachutes eventually need to be replaced, instead of disposing of the remains of the parachute, it could possibly be framed, or a portion of the parachute could be framed, allowing the user to look back on the art piece to be brought back memories of each jump.

Task 4: Bad Design, Navman GPS

When pressing a letter, sometimes it'll select another letter on the screen. For example, if I press on H, sometimes it will show that I pressed G instead. This could be because the letters on the screen are too small, or my fingers are too fat, or simply because the touch screen navigation is not accurate enough.

This holds the computer to the front screen and is adjustable. The A in the first image is slotted into the A in the second image. Same for B. It supplies the batteries to the device. The problem with the design is that when trying to remove the device from its stand, alot of force is used, which results in the user applying so much force that the device hits the glass window or fingers are crushed against the glass. This is dangerous and could damage the product.

My suggestion for the first problem is to implement a surface acoustic wave for the touchscreen monitor if not already chosen for the touch screen navigation system. It works by having transducers and reflectorsat the x and y axis of the screen, and when there is a touch at the glass, waves are absobed, causing a touch to be detected. This would allow a high touch resolution and also allow the highest clarity for the images behind the glass. I thought about introducing a stylus but that would easily be lost, or would cause to be too time consuming and fiddly to take out and store, considering if someone is on the road, they would want navigations fast.

For the second problem, of removing the device from it's stand, I would suggest, instead of removing the device upwards, it should be pulled out towards the user. I changed the port and the slot in piece, labelled A and B in the above images, so that they are horizontal, and so the wire comes out from the back of the device instead of from the bottom. I kept these lower to the stand, so as not to change up the inside of the device too much. This way, when removing the device from its stand, the user can push against the stand, in order for the device to slip away from the stand easier. Also, they can use two hand to do this, allowing more control.

Task 5: Video Reflections, Designing Dream Machines

The video demonstrated the whole process of how products are introduced into the market, from when the client gives the design firm the brief to when the product is available to the consumer.

The video shows that we cannot just design what and how we want to if we are working for someone else, but that the client must always be kept in mind and referred back to, such as the new Phantom bike, and that it has to have a similar style to BSA’s previous designs, and “be true” to the original design. When they presented the renderings to their client, they had in mind what design they preferred, but the clients had a totally different say of which bikes they preferred and what was suitable to their market, shocking the designers. They believe one of the designs is “too modern”, almost overly sophisticated. This proves the important of having many designs, so that the client has many alternative options to choose from. It shows why some designers don’t work for other design firms because they can’t always design how they want to, but are restricted to the brief, the target market and what the client thinks is best, even if there is a disagreement, they are still forced to go along with the client’s decision.

When the designer’s presented their food processor and kettle to the client and their reaction towards the products seemed as if they did not really like it, it was so dis-heartening, as the design group’s whole journey of creating the products spanned over 4 months, and they demonstrated all their hard work, only to be let down by the client. It is similar to how we work on our assignments for 3/4 weeks and present it for a couple minutes. I guess it’s better for us, because we get feedback every week in order for us to keep improving our designs, so that we are not completely shut down when we present our designs. For the guys designing the new Phantom (Bantem?), however, their client didn’t show up to review their clay model. This caused them to lose time because the sooner they can get their client to approve it, the sooner they can get a new client. They just had to continue on with creating the final product, which was risky, seeing as the client may want some final adjustments still.

The video emphasises the importance of research in a project, as demonstrated with the scooter design for customers in India. I like how they have gone all the way to India to observe and record the use of the scooter, to find that they are used differently in India, and are of great importance in people’s lives. They discovery that the scooters must be able to hold a family, with the mother and child on the scooter as well and an area for long objects to be placed, forced them to take this into consideration when designing. Also, they found that instead of design leading towards more and more curvilinear and organic shapes like in the states and Australia for example, in India, the more fashionable bikes were the ones that had sharp rigid edges, which surprised me. This could be because India has not been as exposed to design elsewhere, and vice versa. The video was made a while ago, so maybe it has changed, as people are more aware of the environment and nature.

I was surprised how fast and easy it was for them to come up with ideas on what to design when they were brainstorming on home appliances for T-File. I guess working in a group and brainstorming like this allows them to feed off each other, as one idea leads to another. Through the problems they recognised, they designed things that would solve these problems. Compared to the designing of the bike, it seemed like they had more freedom to design it how they wanted to, not having to stick to so many restrictions or to have a broader brief on what to do. This could have been because less money was involved in releasing these 2 products, or simply because the video didn’t show us that part of the design process.

Postal Presents - Jazzle! - The Toothbrush Rack

The above images were presented as a back-to-front folded A4 page to be put in the receiver’s C4 envelope.

Function

The main function is to act as a toothbrush stand that separates each toothbrush and allows water to drip off the toothbrushes through the stand. It is flat-packed to be used for travelling families, is lightweight and does not take up much room. It could be sent as a Bon-Voyage gift to a family.

 

Target audience

The target audience of the product is young children because it’s kind of like a puzzle. Hence the round parts of the pieces, when in flat form are similar to that of puzzle pieces. It could act as an interactive product between young children when having sleepovers. The product consists of a highly interactive set-up for the child, as they can have fun with it. It allows individuality as they can choose what colours to use and how many pieces they want to use, depending on how many people there are. It can also be used for other objects such as stationary, as shown in the image.

 

Reason for chosen colours, form, and sheet material

Polypropylene was used in the design because it is waterproof, and is flexible enough to be bent in this loop shape and is durable, hence having a long lifespan. It’s also very light to be sent to someone, hence saving money for the user. Translucent material is used so that the light in the morning can shine through it, and partially show part of the object standing inside it.

 

Research

There aren’t many flat-pack toothbrush stands on the market, but the one I found, designed for Colgate, requires the bristles to lean on the stand to be held up. This would mean that the brush would take longer to dry because part of the contact with the plastic. Also, the plastic used is a bit too thick to be mailed in an envelope easily. 

Task 5: Video Reflections, Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff

Major take home messages from the video would be that the money from the products that are sold, do not pay for everything that went into the process of making it, such as people who manufacture the goods are not getting paid enough in some countries. Although all we see is the buying and selling of goods, there is so much more to the process of getting a product to the buyer. 

As the video is not so much about industrial design, but more the bigger picture, it suggests that our products that we design should strive towards being more environmentally friendly and avoid designing objects that are planned for obsolescence. We should influence the consumers to steer away from this want for products that are to be bought then disposed of, even if it is perfectly useful, by designing things that are timeless, and would be appreciated in many years to come. An example of bad design towards the environment are those juice packs mentioned in the video and how they are made of inseparable materials such as foil and paper or something all merged together, making it impossible to recycle. The part about obsolescence, both planned and perceived is also warning the viewer against consumerism, and constantly buying things unnecessarily.

My opinion about design has changed by giving me an insight into the bigger picture, and how the design of a product affects the world, and this linear cycle that we must develop to become a cyclic cycle. The problem with the cycle is that we are using up all our resources and destroying our planet. It shows why the whole design world is becoming more environmentally friendly. 

Experience Enrichment: Toothpaste Squeezer

My product’s function is to squeeze every last drop of toothpaste out of the tube easily with one hand, as the toothpaste is being applied onto the toothbrush with the other hand. The symmetry of the form allows the user to be able to use it with their right or left hand, and the slit forces the toothpaste tube to be positioned so that a thick or thin finger can use it and also someone who has long nails. It is small enough to be held and quite a dainty sized product in order to attract a female to it, as opposed to something that is overly bulky. Through research, the widest toothpaste tube that I came across was McCleans’s tube which is 55mm wide, so I made the slit 57mm wide.

The blue rubber grip would be made of thermoplastic elastomer so that when the user’s hand is wet the tactile material allows the finger to grip on to it. The rest of the body would be made of polypropylene because it is light and cheap and possibly inexpensive to manufacture by injection moulding. Off white was chosen as the main colour in the design because it is to be used in the bathroom, and off white would allow it to be of a similar colour to its environment. The light blue was chosen because it is a calming colour and best represents the water element.

One of my very first ideas was this huge round thing where the knob is turned to squeeze the toothpaste out. I researched similar products on the market but they either had to be controlled with both hands or if they were controlled with one hand, there were complicated mechanisms that would cost more to manufacture and produce for this target market. I figured, since it is an easy motion of squeezing toothpaste, there should not be an over complicated product to achieve it. I explored ways of solving the problem of getting the toothpaste out with one hand, and ended up simplifying the initial design completely to what is shown now.