Andrea Krakovska
Helen Holman
Melinda Kingsland
Liz Grayburn
Stephanie Hutcherson
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Project Two: Upcycling
Many factories that receive shipped goods obtain boxes and pallets secured with Polypropylene Strapping that is cut off and instantly discarded. This strapping is an unusual material as it is can become uneasy to work with due to its tendency to return to its original shape after being rolled up. For this reason the strapping can often become a workplace trip hazard and therefore becomes waste as soon as it is broken off goods. This leads to many tonnes of strapping sent to landfill each year as it is the easiest way for factories to discard it. Polypropylene strapping has various positive properties that I wished to explore in my product. These are its high tensile strength, ability to be weaved, availability in various colours and ability to be painted.
These properties meant I wished to design a beautiful weaved product that carried weight. Early exploration focused on hammocks and deckchairs before concluding that a laundry hamper would be most suitable. I looked at various hampers online as well as inspecting the few that I found at home. I established how they were made and determined how mine could be made from the strapping. I decided to do a cylindrical basket with a base diameter of 40cm and height of 60cm. I decided that I would make the base using the technique of twining rope. This gave a strong base that had a very nice appearance.
The colour scheme was next part of the design that I had to work on. I sorted the large amount of strapping into various colours and determined that I would need to colour some of the strapping to be able to create a blue to clear gradient of colour. I experimented with various ways to colour the strapping until it was discovered that running the straps through a very thin paint then allowing to them to hang was the best method. Once painting straps in different shades of blue, I was able to weave them starting from darkest to clear.
Once I began weaving I realised that the sides would need some extra support so that the laundry hamper held its shape so I looked back to my original list of materials that could be up-cycled. From this I remembered that one of my materials I had listed was Corflute from real estate signs. This material was white, stiff, thin and lightweight therefore being the perfect supports for the basket.
The clean finish of the weaving combined with the soft gradient of colour has created a beautiful laundry hamper. The final product expresses the hours of careful crafting through the combination of twining and weaving. The production of this laundry hamper would divert excesses of Polypropylene Strapping from being added to landfill. There would be a reliable source of all materials used in this product therefore there is an ability for it to be a mass-manufactured product.
These properties meant I wished to design a beautiful weaved product that carried weight. Early exploration focused on hammocks and deckchairs before concluding that a laundry hamper would be most suitable. I looked at various hampers online as well as inspecting the few that I found at home. I established how they were made and determined how mine could be made from the strapping. I decided to do a cylindrical basket with a base diameter of 40cm and height of 60cm. I decided that I would make the base using the technique of twining rope. This gave a strong base that had a very nice appearance.
The colour scheme was next part of the design that I had to work on. I sorted the large amount of strapping into various colours and determined that I would need to colour some of the strapping to be able to create a blue to clear gradient of colour. I experimented with various ways to colour the strapping until it was discovered that running the straps through a very thin paint then allowing to them to hang was the best method. Once painting straps in different shades of blue, I was able to weave them starting from darkest to clear.
Once I began weaving I realised that the sides would need some extra support so that the laundry hamper held its shape so I looked back to my original list of materials that could be up-cycled. From this I remembered that one of my materials I had listed was Corflute from real estate signs. This material was white, stiff, thin and lightweight therefore being the perfect supports for the basket.
The clean finish of the weaving combined with the soft gradient of colour has created a beautiful laundry hamper. The final product expresses the hours of careful crafting through the combination of twining and weaving. The production of this laundry hamper would divert excesses of Polypropylene Strapping from being added to landfill. There would be a reliable source of all materials used in this product therefore there is an ability for it to be a mass-manufactured product.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Video Reflection: Design for Life
Design For Life is a television series where twelve students compete for a six month work placement with leading Industrial Designer, Philippe Starck. The program is shown over six episodes where students are eliminated based on outcomes of projects until two are left to compete in the final show for the placement. The show explores Starck’s way of thinking and approach to design, as he teachers the designers through providing feedback on their solutions to various project briefs. Philippe Starck believes that good design speaks of life. Starck states that he chose to run the show in Paris as the French culture has tough views on design, “When we make something bad, people say, ‘Oh it’s bad’. When we make something good, people say, ‘Oh it’s bad’.” This means that Starck believes designers must always question if they need to design more products.
In the first episode, the designers are given their first project which requires them to purchase two products from a common retail store from 100 Euros within one hour. These two products must fit into one of the following three categories,
- Ecology: environmentally sound/ not environmentally sound
- Gender: Female/male
- Function: Useful/useless
The purpose of the first task is for Starck to determine how the contestants understand creativity. Starck wanted the designers to show the stories behind the products they had chosen and how they relate to one of the categories. Many of the designers were not successful in achieving what he was looking for, which resulted in two being eliminated.
In the second episode, the designers are given their second project. The project is based on Starck’s philosophy of good design being products that are sustainable and can reach many people. From this the designers are required to design products that help humanity reach its full potential. The competitors find this brief extremely broad and initially struggle with creativity as there is no scope to focus on. The result of this task is the end of the road for two more contestants as they struggle to produce ideas that have sufficient innovation.
Starck’s approach to the project in the third episode is different to the two previous projects. He assigns the task of creating a product that can be sold in the market. The brief is to design a product used every day, which is not electronic and must be ethical, ecological and demographic. This task, like many other product design tasks, requires the designers to really understand the needs of their market before they can design a product to suit that group. The contestants complete in-depth studies including much role play to understand their market and needs. They also work on their presentation skills and pitching their ideas effectively in this episode.
The fourth episode is where the designers are cut from the existing eight to just four which will have their concepts made into prototypes. Leading up to this event it is an extremely intense and emotional week. The designers must refine their projects from the previous episode until they believe they have reached a stage where it the product would work successfully. This stage is only reached with ongoing consultation with Stark and his team. The designers try to sell their ideas to the judges as best as they can but at the end of the episode only four competitors are left.
In the second last episode the students are faced with the task of exploring branding and how this will affect the products success in its target market. This tough task results in Starck having to chose only two students to continue to the final week. In the final week the two students continue to develop their projects until they have finished, full size working prototypes along with advertising campaigns for their products. From this Starck must decide who he believes deserves the six month work placement with his team.
I found this series highly informative as it gave me an insight into the designer Philippe Starck. Not only did I discover his design philosophy and processes, I also learnt from the competitors. Each of the designers had different methods for gathering inspiration and exploring ideas and from that I discovered new methods that I can incorporate. I enjoyed this series very much and even know I understand the reasoning for the winner, my favourite designer lost!
In the first episode, the designers are given their first project which requires them to purchase two products from a common retail store from 100 Euros within one hour. These two products must fit into one of the following three categories,
- Ecology: environmentally sound/ not environmentally sound
- Gender: Female/male
- Function: Useful/useless
The purpose of the first task is for Starck to determine how the contestants understand creativity. Starck wanted the designers to show the stories behind the products they had chosen and how they relate to one of the categories. Many of the designers were not successful in achieving what he was looking for, which resulted in two being eliminated.
In the second episode, the designers are given their second project. The project is based on Starck’s philosophy of good design being products that are sustainable and can reach many people. From this the designers are required to design products that help humanity reach its full potential. The competitors find this brief extremely broad and initially struggle with creativity as there is no scope to focus on. The result of this task is the end of the road for two more contestants as they struggle to produce ideas that have sufficient innovation.
Starck’s approach to the project in the third episode is different to the two previous projects. He assigns the task of creating a product that can be sold in the market. The brief is to design a product used every day, which is not electronic and must be ethical, ecological and demographic. This task, like many other product design tasks, requires the designers to really understand the needs of their market before they can design a product to suit that group. The contestants complete in-depth studies including much role play to understand their market and needs. They also work on their presentation skills and pitching their ideas effectively in this episode.
The fourth episode is where the designers are cut from the existing eight to just four which will have their concepts made into prototypes. Leading up to this event it is an extremely intense and emotional week. The designers must refine their projects from the previous episode until they believe they have reached a stage where it the product would work successfully. This stage is only reached with ongoing consultation with Stark and his team. The designers try to sell their ideas to the judges as best as they can but at the end of the episode only four competitors are left.
In the second last episode the students are faced with the task of exploring branding and how this will affect the products success in its target market. This tough task results in Starck having to chose only two students to continue to the final week. In the final week the two students continue to develop their projects until they have finished, full size working prototypes along with advertising campaigns for their products. From this Starck must decide who he believes deserves the six month work placement with his team.
I found this series highly informative as it gave me an insight into the designer Philippe Starck. Not only did I discover his design philosophy and processes, I also learnt from the competitors. Each of the designers had different methods for gathering inspiration and exploring ideas and from that I discovered new methods that I can incorporate. I enjoyed this series very much and even know I understand the reasoning for the winner, my favourite designer lost!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Project One: Experience Enrichment
Rationale:
The ‘modern-day child’ is one which lives in an age where entertainment is dominated through technology and diet is determined by readiness. By this I mean, most children spend their leisure time watching television or playing computer games and their diets consist of many junk food snacks and frequent fast food meals. This is the reason why obesity rates in young children are continuing to rise. Therefore I chose to design a product specifically targeted at inactive and unhealthy ‘six to nine’ year old children.
The main steps to living a healthy lifestyle involve having a healthy diet and participating in physical activity. These are two things that this target group neglect and therefore many pay the price of having ongoing health issues. I set out to design a product that both encourages young children to eat or drink healthy as well as exercise. From this I have designed the ‘Fruity Bounce’, fruit smoothie ball.
This product encourages children to consume fresh fruit and healthy yogurt by providing a fun experience during the process of making the drink. With the assistance and supervision of a parent, the child can add their desired fruit and yogurt into the smoothie cup then place it inside the rubber ball. When playing with the ball outside, the ingredients inside the cup are mixed together and remain cold through the two small ice-brick inserts. The personalised selection of fruit and yogurt can be suited to any children’s special tastes. The outer rubber ball is perfect size for the ‘six to nine’ age group and the serving size equals one cup, specially made for the child. Children will be intrigued by the products use of bright colours and tactile surface representing a fruit’s rough skin.
The product includes an outer rubber ball, a smoothie cup with lid, a plastic grater lid attachment, a plastic mesh lid attachment and two ice-brick inserts. To make the fruit smoothie, with the assistance of a parent the desired fruit can be diced up, then the child can grate the fruit into a consistency perfect for a fruit smoothie. After adding fresh yogurt and milk, the lid can be secured to the cup and be placed inside the ball along with the two ice-bricks. The two halves of the ball then interlock using a double push release button system which prevents the ball from separating into two during use. While the child is enjoying themselves bouncing, throwing, catching the ball, the ingredients inside are being shaken up and mixed together. After all energy has been used up the two buttons can be pressed together which will release the ball in half. The fruit smoothie can then be consuming from the cup and easily washed out after use.
I believe this product can be successful in the chosen target market as it is a fun way for kids to improve their health. Unlike other ways, this product does not make children feel like they are completing a chore, as most of all it is enjoyable. ‘Fruity Bounce’ successfully meets the brief as it is a pleasurable product that enhances the life of its user.
The ‘modern-day child’ is one which lives in an age where entertainment is dominated through technology and diet is determined by readiness. By this I mean, most children spend their leisure time watching television or playing computer games and their diets consist of many junk food snacks and frequent fast food meals. This is the reason why obesity rates in young children are continuing to rise. Therefore I chose to design a product specifically targeted at inactive and unhealthy ‘six to nine’ year old children.
The main steps to living a healthy lifestyle involve having a healthy diet and participating in physical activity. These are two things that this target group neglect and therefore many pay the price of having ongoing health issues. I set out to design a product that both encourages young children to eat or drink healthy as well as exercise. From this I have designed the ‘Fruity Bounce’, fruit smoothie ball.
This product encourages children to consume fresh fruit and healthy yogurt by providing a fun experience during the process of making the drink. With the assistance and supervision of a parent, the child can add their desired fruit and yogurt into the smoothie cup then place it inside the rubber ball. When playing with the ball outside, the ingredients inside the cup are mixed together and remain cold through the two small ice-brick inserts. The personalised selection of fruit and yogurt can be suited to any children’s special tastes. The outer rubber ball is perfect size for the ‘six to nine’ age group and the serving size equals one cup, specially made for the child. Children will be intrigued by the products use of bright colours and tactile surface representing a fruit’s rough skin.
The product includes an outer rubber ball, a smoothie cup with lid, a plastic grater lid attachment, a plastic mesh lid attachment and two ice-brick inserts. To make the fruit smoothie, with the assistance of a parent the desired fruit can be diced up, then the child can grate the fruit into a consistency perfect for a fruit smoothie. After adding fresh yogurt and milk, the lid can be secured to the cup and be placed inside the ball along with the two ice-bricks. The two halves of the ball then interlock using a double push release button system which prevents the ball from separating into two during use. While the child is enjoying themselves bouncing, throwing, catching the ball, the ingredients inside are being shaken up and mixed together. After all energy has been used up the two buttons can be pressed together which will release the ball in half. The fruit smoothie can then be consuming from the cup and easily washed out after use.
I believe this product can be successful in the chosen target market as it is a fun way for kids to improve their health. Unlike other ways, this product does not make children feel like they are completing a chore, as most of all it is enjoyable. ‘Fruity Bounce’ successfully meets the brief as it is a pleasurable product that enhances the life of its user.
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| Hero Shot Poster |
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| Moodboard |
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| Context of Use Poster |
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| Pleasure Analysis Poster |
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| Scaled CAD Drawing |
Monday, September 13, 2010
Video Reflection: Objectified
“When you see an object, you make so many assumptions about that object in seconds. What it does, how well it’s going to do it, how heavy it is, how much you think it should cost”. The documentary Objectified by Gary Hustwit explores the process of designing manufactured products through interviews with some of the world’s leading designers. The products that are evident in our everyday lives can be taken for granted and even overlooked but each and every one has a story behind its existence, “Every object, intentional or not, speaks to who put it there.”
Design Curator, Andrew Blauvelt refers to Henry Ford’s famous quote, “Every object tells a story, if you know how to read it”. He uses the example of a common toothpick that has a serrated tip which was originally a Japanese design. He explains that this design decision was due to the Japanese cultural context and its reason in fact was to allow the tip to be broken off to signify the toothpick had been used. Most modern day users of this toothpick such as myself would believe this feature was purely a decorative addition and not even begin to understand the story embedded in this simple object.
In the film, former Design Director of Braun, Dieter Rams discusses what he believes good design is. He explains that in his experience, the most positive interaction with products come when things are clear and understandable. He states that good design is innovative, making a useful product, aesthetic design, making a product understandable, honest, unobtrusive, long lived, consistent in every detail, environmentally friendly. “Last but not least, good design is little design as possible”. He believes designers are not fine artists but need to work with business people to take design seriously. Rams’ opinion is that there are very few companies that currently take design seriously in the world and one of them is Apple.
Jonathan Ive, Senior VP Industrial Design Apple, Cupertino, is interviewed about Apple’s Mac Book Air. Ive provides the audience with an understanding into the complex thought process in designing the Mac Book Air due to its use of materials and manufacturing processes. He explains how a lot of time and resources are taken to design ways of holding parts in different machines to complete required processes. Ive explains how the materials can determine a significant part of the objects overall form such as the first Imac’s use of the cathode ray tube or the Iphone’s use of the touchscreen. These issue mean that Apple do not follow the traditional design philosophy of “form follows function”.
Sustainability is another important issue that is raised in this documentary. It is one that is growing with its need to be addressed as it becomes more and more significant the longer it is left unthought-of. Karim Reshid states that “a shelf life of a high tech object is less than eleven months, they should all be one hundred percent disposable.” So why are they products designed with materials to last? If most of these products end up in landfill then they would benefit from using materials that break down quicker. Reshid provokes the idea why shouldn’t his laptop be made of cardboard or mobile phone out of sugarcane or some bio-plastic.
This film has raised important issues that designers face and must work with in their quest to produce “good design”. It has been highly informative and made me think about things that are not obvious when looking at everyday items that I encounter.
Design Curator, Andrew Blauvelt refers to Henry Ford’s famous quote, “Every object tells a story, if you know how to read it”. He uses the example of a common toothpick that has a serrated tip which was originally a Japanese design. He explains that this design decision was due to the Japanese cultural context and its reason in fact was to allow the tip to be broken off to signify the toothpick had been used. Most modern day users of this toothpick such as myself would believe this feature was purely a decorative addition and not even begin to understand the story embedded in this simple object.
In the film, former Design Director of Braun, Dieter Rams discusses what he believes good design is. He explains that in his experience, the most positive interaction with products come when things are clear and understandable. He states that good design is innovative, making a useful product, aesthetic design, making a product understandable, honest, unobtrusive, long lived, consistent in every detail, environmentally friendly. “Last but not least, good design is little design as possible”. He believes designers are not fine artists but need to work with business people to take design seriously. Rams’ opinion is that there are very few companies that currently take design seriously in the world and one of them is Apple.
Jonathan Ive, Senior VP Industrial Design Apple, Cupertino, is interviewed about Apple’s Mac Book Air. Ive provides the audience with an understanding into the complex thought process in designing the Mac Book Air due to its use of materials and manufacturing processes. He explains how a lot of time and resources are taken to design ways of holding parts in different machines to complete required processes. Ive explains how the materials can determine a significant part of the objects overall form such as the first Imac’s use of the cathode ray tube or the Iphone’s use of the touchscreen. These issue mean that Apple do not follow the traditional design philosophy of “form follows function”.
Sustainability is another important issue that is raised in this documentary. It is one that is growing with its need to be addressed as it becomes more and more significant the longer it is left unthought-of. Karim Reshid states that “a shelf life of a high tech object is less than eleven months, they should all be one hundred percent disposable.” So why are they products designed with materials to last? If most of these products end up in landfill then they would benefit from using materials that break down quicker. Reshid provokes the idea why shouldn’t his laptop be made of cardboard or mobile phone out of sugarcane or some bio-plastic.
This film has raised important issues that designers face and must work with in their quest to produce “good design”. It has been highly informative and made me think about things that are not obvious when looking at everyday items that I encounter.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Video Reflection: The Story of Stuff
"The Story of Stuff" is a highly informative video where Annie Leonard uncovers the truth behind where "stuff" comes from and where it goes after its thrown out. By that, this video explains how the materials economy works and how it is affected by consumerism. Leonard's aim is to educate the general public about how this industry actually works, instead of how society is made to believe it works, and she was successful in my case. Before watching this video I had not thought too much about the whole 'cycle' of extraction to disposal and if I had then I would have realised that this is not actually a cycle how it should be but it is currently a linear system. The problem with this system is that our planet is finite, meaning that we have limited resources that will eventually run out.
Leonard explains how the government that are supposed to be representing the people, have focused on looking after the corporations as they have in fact grown bigger than the governments themselves. Extraction is a part of the materials economy, where we are running out of natural resources. Leonard explains that her country, The US, in the past three decades have used one third of their natural resources. The fact is that more than the fair share is being used. The United States accounts for 5% of the world's population yet they had used 30% of the resources and created 30% of the waste.
More issues with this system lie within the production of this consumer products. Toxic chemicals are put into products that are not tested for their affects on humans and the environment. To create these products toxic pollution is being released into the atmosphere. Distribution is the next stage that Leonard examines and she explains how low prices are achieved. The example she uses is that she went to buy a radio and found one for $4.99. The cost to produce this radio from materials to assembly to shipping, far out weigh the cost price so she asks who actually pays for this radio. "These people paid with the loss of their natural resource space, these people paid with their lost their clean air, kids in the Congo paid with the loss of their future, these people even paid by having to cover their own health insurance. All along this system people pitched in so I could get this radio for $4.99 and none of these contributions are recorded in any accounts book.".
Leonard states that The US has become a nation of consumers due to the government's influence on society. Value in society is now measured by how much we consume, therefore people are shopping more and more, even for products that they do not need. The presenter explains that 99% of these products created are thrown out within six months of being purchased. This is a huge statistic that is a main factor in the reason why this process is not working.
Products are designed using two strategies that encourage this process of purchasing new products, planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is designing products that become useless and will need to be disposed such as plastic bags, DVDs or even computers. Perceived obsolescence however convinces the user to throw away products that work perfectly based on changing appearances of products. Therefore making it obvious if a product is outdated and resulting in a consumer lose social value. These two strategies seem morally wrong but both work. I have experienced and have been aware of perceived obsolescence but had not come across planned obsolescence so this video really explained how the combination of these two work together to keep consumers buying products they do not need.
Leonard explains how the government that are supposed to be representing the people, have focused on looking after the corporations as they have in fact grown bigger than the governments themselves. Extraction is a part of the materials economy, where we are running out of natural resources. Leonard explains that her country, The US, in the past three decades have used one third of their natural resources. The fact is that more than the fair share is being used. The United States accounts for 5% of the world's population yet they had used 30% of the resources and created 30% of the waste.
More issues with this system lie within the production of this consumer products. Toxic chemicals are put into products that are not tested for their affects on humans and the environment. To create these products toxic pollution is being released into the atmosphere. Distribution is the next stage that Leonard examines and she explains how low prices are achieved. The example she uses is that she went to buy a radio and found one for $4.99. The cost to produce this radio from materials to assembly to shipping, far out weigh the cost price so she asks who actually pays for this radio. "These people paid with the loss of their natural resource space, these people paid with their lost their clean air, kids in the Congo paid with the loss of their future, these people even paid by having to cover their own health insurance. All along this system people pitched in so I could get this radio for $4.99 and none of these contributions are recorded in any accounts book.".
Leonard states that The US has become a nation of consumers due to the government's influence on society. Value in society is now measured by how much we consume, therefore people are shopping more and more, even for products that they do not need. The presenter explains that 99% of these products created are thrown out within six months of being purchased. This is a huge statistic that is a main factor in the reason why this process is not working.
Products are designed using two strategies that encourage this process of purchasing new products, planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is designing products that become useless and will need to be disposed such as plastic bags, DVDs or even computers. Perceived obsolescence however convinces the user to throw away products that work perfectly based on changing appearances of products. Therefore making it obvious if a product is outdated and resulting in a consumer lose social value. These two strategies seem morally wrong but both work. I have experienced and have been aware of perceived obsolescence but had not come across planned obsolescence so this video really explained how the combination of these two work together to keep consumers buying products they do not need.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Video Reflection: Donald Norman: Emotional Design
Donald Norman's presentation on 'Emotional Design' explains a base understanding into how psychology is used in product design. This is to demonstrate how emotion is provoked through a human's interaction with a product. The design phisophy that Norman speaks about is to design for not only function and aesthetics but to also design for an emotional response.
Norman's first example is Philippe Starck's juicer which he explains that the beauty of the design means he uses it as a show piece in his home rather than to actually funtionally use the product to make juice. He justifies this further by explaining that he has the special edition gold plated juicer which actually comes with instructions not to make juice with it as the acid will damage the gold plate finish. This point sums up how this product, especially the gold plated model, is designed for an emotional response rather than for functional purposes.
The global cutting knife is the next product that Norman chooses to talk about. He explains how the form of this knife is beautiful to look at as well as feeling great to handle. The knife's asthetics make it look as though it would function precisely, and it does so which leads Norman to describe this product as beautiful as well as functional.
Donald Norman went on to talk about how the pyschological state of a person affects the way they think. He uses an example of a study where a psychologist asked two groups of students to solve a problem involving connecting two pieces of string together that cannot reach each other. The first group was told "this is an IQ test and determines how well you will do in life", the students were unable to solve the problem. The second group were given a box of candy before being given the problem and were able to solve it. Norman justifies these results by explaining how axiety leads to a psychological response which focuses you and makes you as "depth first", where as if you are happy, your brain allows you to think as a "breath first" problem solver causing you to think "outside the box".
These aspects of human psychology can be used when designing products to try provoke an emotional response from the target user, therefore creating products that are "beautiful" or "fun" to interactive with. This allows for more successful products that the user will want to hold on to for a long time. I do however think it is important to remember that individuals react differently to each other so designers can only predict the response of their target user.
Norman's first example is Philippe Starck's juicer which he explains that the beauty of the design means he uses it as a show piece in his home rather than to actually funtionally use the product to make juice. He justifies this further by explaining that he has the special edition gold plated juicer which actually comes with instructions not to make juice with it as the acid will damage the gold plate finish. This point sums up how this product, especially the gold plated model, is designed for an emotional response rather than for functional purposes.
The global cutting knife is the next product that Norman chooses to talk about. He explains how the form of this knife is beautiful to look at as well as feeling great to handle. The knife's asthetics make it look as though it would function precisely, and it does so which leads Norman to describe this product as beautiful as well as functional.
Donald Norman went on to talk about how the pyschological state of a person affects the way they think. He uses an example of a study where a psychologist asked two groups of students to solve a problem involving connecting two pieces of string together that cannot reach each other. The first group was told "this is an IQ test and determines how well you will do in life", the students were unable to solve the problem. The second group were given a box of candy before being given the problem and were able to solve it. Norman justifies these results by explaining how axiety leads to a psychological response which focuses you and makes you as "depth first", where as if you are happy, your brain allows you to think as a "breath first" problem solver causing you to think "outside the box".
These aspects of human psychology can be used when designing products to try provoke an emotional response from the target user, therefore creating products that are "beautiful" or "fun" to interactive with. This allows for more successful products that the user will want to hold on to for a long time. I do however think it is important to remember that individuals react differently to each other so designers can only predict the response of their target user.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Task 4: Design Excellence
The Design Excellence task involved developing an analysis poster on a designated product. I was given the 'Yubo Lunchbox', a product for children which allows them to create their own personalised lunchbox. Through the research of the product, I learnt important elements that need to be considered when designing for children. The product must initially, visually appeal to the child otherwise they will instantly disregard the product without understanding anything about its function. The analysis of this product allowed me to develop skills in identifying design principles incorporated into a product and understand why they were used.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Video Reflection: David Kelley: Human centred design
The video of David Kelley discussing the concept of Human centred design provides any designer with an insight into current product developments in the design world. Kelley’s discussion informs his audience how his company has moved to focusing on designing products with personality and behaviour. Early in the presentation a heart defibulator is shown which is an important product that has saved many people from dying from heart failure. This development has enabled busy, public places such as shopping centres and airports to have access to portable defibulators that can be used by first aid officers if required before ambulance assistance has arrived. The advanced technology can analyse the patient’s condition and inform the first aider with step by step instructions on how to keep the patient in a stable condition until emergency assistance can take over.
In the video Kelley talks about how the new philosophy of “Human Centred Design” has changed the way his company communicates their new developments. Previous presentation methods used were 3D models and computer rendered designs but the new age in design requires communication to go one step further. Kelley explains that the products are actually created and captured in function by “internal video production groups”. This is very much a new discovery and provides a much more accurate interpretation of how the products will interact with the consumer. An example of the technology is shown, where Prada New York uses a system with “RF Tags” to enable staff to provide a higher standard of customer service within the store. All items are tagged so that they can be scanned and information on the products can be displayed on screens within the stores. There are also scanners present in the change rooms to allow customers to learn more about the items while trying them on.
Another project that Kelley showed, involved an office team creating a small, cubical workspace within their building to discover the difficulties workers faced within these conditions. Different groups experiment with how different designs would benefit or impact on the worker. The idea is to make the cubical “more human”. The final design that the team produced was a welcoming space with series of cut outs within the walls to provide storage space. The workspace was inviting due to the use of the vibrant orange and items such as a fish tank, interactive flower and hammock. This design gave me an insight into how the working condition of an office worker can affect their overall mood at work and in result their efficiency to complete tasks.
This video would be a benefit to any industrial designer as it conveys products that are designed based on the emerging philosophy of “human centred design”. Kelley illustrates developments in technology used to communicate these new products to people within the industry as well as the general public.
In the video Kelley talks about how the new philosophy of “Human Centred Design” has changed the way his company communicates their new developments. Previous presentation methods used were 3D models and computer rendered designs but the new age in design requires communication to go one step further. Kelley explains that the products are actually created and captured in function by “internal video production groups”. This is very much a new discovery and provides a much more accurate interpretation of how the products will interact with the consumer. An example of the technology is shown, where Prada New York uses a system with “RF Tags” to enable staff to provide a higher standard of customer service within the store. All items are tagged so that they can be scanned and information on the products can be displayed on screens within the stores. There are also scanners present in the change rooms to allow customers to learn more about the items while trying them on.
Another project that Kelley showed, involved an office team creating a small, cubical workspace within their building to discover the difficulties workers faced within these conditions. Different groups experiment with how different designs would benefit or impact on the worker. The idea is to make the cubical “more human”. The final design that the team produced was a welcoming space with series of cut outs within the walls to provide storage space. The workspace was inviting due to the use of the vibrant orange and items such as a fish tank, interactive flower and hammock. This design gave me an insight into how the working condition of an office worker can affect their overall mood at work and in result their efficiency to complete tasks.
This video would be a benefit to any industrial designer as it conveys products that are designed based on the emerging philosophy of “human centred design”. Kelley illustrates developments in technology used to communicate these new products to people within the industry as well as the general public.
Shape of a Scent
Our group agreed that the scent had a 'spice' to it and we associated many elements of earth such as stone, wood and clay with the scent. Its texture could be represented as rough so I created this bowl of spices to represent the scent and its texture.
My Design Career
Writing a blog is something that I am not too familiar with. I am taking this as a learning experience in which I hope to find useful in keeping record of designs and projects, as well as developing new ideas. I guess in a way it is similar to my experience in the Industrial Design course so far. I have always been interested in the design field but it has not necessarily been focused on Industrial Design. In high school, I attended work placement at a company which specialised in Landscape Architecture. From this experience, I determined that Landscape Architecture was most likely the design field I wanted to study. I tried my best to plan the subject selection for Year 11 and 12 based on this decision but a limited range of offered subjects somewhat made my decision for me. Visual Arts, Industrial Technology and Engineering Studies were the best combination suited to a design career such as an Industrial Designer or Landscape Architect. Some aspects of these subjects have been relevant in the study of Industrial Design but I unfortunately missed out on some skills which others developed through Design and Technology.
As the HSC approached I realised that I could not base my uni preferences on just one course and I needed to consider other degrees. I was already familiar with UNSW’s Built Environment faculty and the high standard of education they provide so I knew that was a good place to start. At this time I was already well into my two major projects for the HSC, one being for Industrial Technology- timber studies. I had designed an Octagonal Poker Table, which by this time I was well into the construction stage. This project led me to look into courses on product design where I discovered Industrial Design. I was still unsure whether I had the right skills and design flair to succeed as an Industrial Designer but I knew there was only one way to find out.
With a base knowledge in drafting and much experience with timber from many hours of high school woodwork, I was able to work through a challenging opening semester of university. I think the hardest thing was not knowing what to expect and therefore being somewhat unprepared right from the beginning. I’m hoping so anyway because that would mean this semester might have less all nighters :)
Jason.
As the HSC approached I realised that I could not base my uni preferences on just one course and I needed to consider other degrees. I was already familiar with UNSW’s Built Environment faculty and the high standard of education they provide so I knew that was a good place to start. At this time I was already well into my two major projects for the HSC, one being for Industrial Technology- timber studies. I had designed an Octagonal Poker Table, which by this time I was well into the construction stage. This project led me to look into courses on product design where I discovered Industrial Design. I was still unsure whether I had the right skills and design flair to succeed as an Industrial Designer but I knew there was only one way to find out.
With a base knowledge in drafting and much experience with timber from many hours of high school woodwork, I was able to work through a challenging opening semester of university. I think the hardest thing was not knowing what to expect and therefore being somewhat unprepared right from the beginning. I’m hoping so anyway because that would mean this semester might have less all nighters :)
Jason.
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