Treasuring Time

I originally wanted to create a product that would help us to treasure our presnet time by reminding us of death and that we only had finite amount of time. This was too negative and would difficult to sell as a product. So I decided to focus on the treasuring the present time part, and also the finite time part, but instead of reminding the user of theit death it would remind them of now, and that they should be using their time mor constructively, whetehr that means doing something or maybe taking a break.

The product is a small object, that the user can carry around and play around with using their hands and their sense of touch. The object bears no religious significance, and so it can be used by anybody. It is similar to Komboloi, or worry beads, in that it allows the user to play around with something if they feel worried or nervous or even just bored. The object however is far more compact than Komboloi, and also more solid and can last longer. It is also more masculine, and is something that only the user should know about, as it sits in their pocket and the palm of their hand.

The product would be made of a solid and resistant material like bronze or aluminium. This allows it capture heat and also is quite pleasant to touch. The object does not need to look good, as I focussed on touch when designing it. The curves are specifically placed on alternate corners and edges, and a point on the remaining corners and edges. This made the object feel goodand also more enjoyable to fiddle around with. The sensation can cause the user to react in such a way that they could realise they need to be doing something at the time, or maybe they need to chill. It is a bit like having a little buddy with you, when you are in a situation where you have know one else, for example going up to do a presentation or doing an assignement or homework at home.

Designing Dream Machines

This video, 'Designing Dream Machines' shows us how designers really work and how they start with a brief and end up with the final product. The video is set at Seymour and Powell and British design partnership. One this about this group is that they try to design for the future, rather than design for now, which can be very tricky, as you must predict what is needed for the future, which can cause conflict between the designers and the clients.

The brainstorming phase of the briefs they were given was important in how it showed how open minded you had to be as well as how working in a group allowed more ideas to flow. Next they had to research extensively to get an idea how the product could improve on current products and also how current trends will evolve in the future to allow the product to be innovative and original by the time it is released.

After that the product can start to take shape and many concepts can be produced allowing the client to choose what product they want. This than leads to the prototype phase where the concept must evolve into a working product. They use many techniques, including some futuristic and soem that have been used since product design began. This then leads to the final presentation to the client which, and when the product ends up being rejected you feel for the designers as they have gone through so much to gain nothing in the end. Even the best companies can fail sometimes whic can be very disheartening, however when the designs work, the company will forever be remembered and all the work pays off. Its a tough industry but with pateince and hard work it can all pay off.

Please help!

This is Webster. He is a spider. Unfortunately due to a terrible accident Webster can no longer build webs. He now lives in a bathtub, too afraid to go outside in case a cat, or possum or bird will eat him like they ate his partner and kids. You can help Webby, by helping me. Just give me some good ideas for project 3 and I will eventually have enough time to send Webby to a psychologist to help him get his life back on track.

Bad design

This is the control panel of an airconditioner, with a certain button circled. This button switches modes on the air-conditioner, a fan mode, a heating mode, a cooling mode and a dry mode. This works like a thermostat and in conjunction with the temperature control.


This is a close up. As you can see there is a picture of an 'A' surrounded by two arrows circling around it, so this must be the fan mode. Then its the snow flake, this must be cooling, then a drop of water, so this must dry it, then a sun so that must mean it is heating mode.
Well obviously its not, but it is an error made many times by people in my family as well as friends who have tried to operate it. The pictures stand for what the weather is like, not what setting you want the mode in. So the snowflake is, its cold outside so this must heat the house. Likewise with the Sun, Ive never even bothered using the other settings.

In order to avoid confusion, on the screen it should just use words instead of pictures. This should be no problem since the rest of the controls are in English. Also ive seen it done on other models made by the same brand, and even my mum knows how to use the other models.

All it has is:

HEAT
DRY
COOL
FAN

Surely it would make more sense to put that on the current model I have if its made by the same company.

Postal Presents

The postal presents project was a difficult project, in that we had to create something that met a long list of criteria, but it had to be good. I went through many idea over the past few weeks, including a ball, and boxes which could hang from the wall, to finally settling down with my final design, a pencil box shaped like a jet fighter.
I used a lot of polypropylene in the assignment as I thought it was an excellent material to use for such an assignment. I experimented with different folds and different ways of locking in pieces of polypropylene. I also researched a lot of products to find out they do it, and also on websites and blogs, as well as other students.
The final product first started out as sketches and paper mock ups. Eventually I moved onto the polypropylene to see how the material would react to the different ways of making the product. I had to get every detail as correct as it possibly could be. I cut out and sketched many different styles of wings and tails for the plane to give the right look. I eventually for a futuristic look and made it from black and clear gray pp, which gave it a shiny metallic look as well as a stealth look.
The product is targeted at young kids, usually pre-teen (under12), who would find machines like fighter jets fascinating, but also love the fact that you could make it from a few flat pieces of pp, and use at as a box.
The design I feel could have been better. There were parts in the actual making of the product that I feel could have enhanced the product and made it even easier to assemble and use. Overall I was satisfied with the final outcome.

Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff

Annie Leonard pretty much sums what is wrong with the western world, and what is now creeping into most other cultures in the world. This concept of consumerism, and the vicious cycle of creating the products and what not, to fuel the economy and in the process destroy the poor and the environment.

Leonard talks about how products are designed to be discarded rather than kept, and how it was all started after WWII to get the economy up and running. She goes on to say how much we consume (and how much waste we produce in the process) compared from the 50's to now. I was amazed when she said that Industrial designer's were designing for consumerism rather than for need, and how they would design for the object to not last long so a new product could be manufactured and sold sooner rather than later.

Ive been fascinated with waste for a while and remember seeing a program that talks about creating products, not that can be recycled, but rather can break down quickly and be returned to the earth so new products can be made from them. An old example of this system is the Australian Aborigines who would only take natural things from the earth to survive, wood, leather and stones, which could then be returned back to the earth and the cycle could continue with no damage done.

Its not just the government and large corporations that are to blame, Its us consumers as well, for if we didn't buy crap, they couldn't sell us crap. Also we've become too lazy to fix our damaged goods. If a computer stops working we chuck it all out, If our car stops working, we buy another one, If our phone is outdated we a get a new one.

I hope that we are starting to see a change to this culture, the USA is so screwed economically, maybe the rest of the world will stop creating products just for the US market, and start thinking what the whole world needs, not wants.

Experience enrichment

I have decided to focus my efforts on redesigning a basic and common kitchen tool, the peeler, in particular the Australian peeler. The normal peeler is cheap, boring, and uncomfortable to use. My Carrot peeler tries to fix this by making the product more enjoyable to use and make the owner feel proud of owning one. The rounded shape came naturally with the shape of the carrot, and this made it much more comfortable for people to use around the kitchen.
With more people staying at home to cook food, this seemed like a product that these people would enjoy having around. The carrot design was inspired by vegetables that you peel, like carrots or potatoes, and also seeing an orange peeler, the idea just popped into my head.
The peeler would use stainless steel for the blade which is durable and resistant to corrosion. The handle would be made from plastic.