For this project, I looked to capture the event or moement in sport, in my case soccer, where one team scores at the very last moment in most cases either to win a match, or at other times to win a cup/trophy/etc. The project is basically a diary of sorts, something that can be built upon and used again and again. The idea of it is for every memorable goal scored for a win lets say, the user would put a golden peg on the miniature pitch to represent the goal scored from whicever position of the pitch.
In this day and edge, you would expect bare minimum requirements when u enter an elevator. Floor number buttons, floor indicator and obviously an open and close button for it. But turns out the closest elevator to me wouldn't even have these bare essentials! My apartment elevator has proved troublesome at times, constantly shutting when there are people still tryin to get in and out of it. It also proves inconvenient when there is someone just behind you trying to get in, and you try your best to hold the door open, and the it shuts in the guys face. Doesnt't leave a good feeling with me since it'll probably send out the wrong message.
My solution for this particular bad design is simple, add open and close buttons to it! Anywhere would do really. down the bottom, up the top anywhere. For me i think it is very important to have these buttons as common sense. To hold open or to close the door of an elevator at will. Below is a simple sketch of what should have been on this elevator.
The video shows the daily life of a designer and shows the steps of making a finalized product, such as recieving the brief, through to the brainstorming, and the crucial steps to getting the product such as the scooter and the Phantom Bike manufactured to the stage which the client wanted. From there the product starts to take shape and working with groups are an important as feedback as to how it can be improved and interaction with others can take your product in a good direction. One of the things ive learnt is to constantly keep in contact with clients as they are the major point in the process, trying to satisfy their wants and needs. Having a number of different concepts are good as there are other things you can fall back on if your first concept doesnt go as well as planned.
The Flat-Me Boxes are seen as a gift set to be sent to family and friends. Used basically to store items of value or just in daily use. The boxes are able to be flattened when needed to be stored away. The use of primary colours help to keep the overall visual appeal. The mixing and matching of different coloured parts of the boxes simply support the fact that the boxes are intended to be sent in a set.
The overall sizes were made to fit the C4 envelope which the objects were to be sent in. With the length of a C4 envelope being 324mm, the boxes had side lengths of 100mm each. This would give the boxes a bit of lee-way when the studs were put in to connect the various parts of the boxes.
The biggest message that I got from this video was probably the unavoidable fact that consumption is now our way of life. With the amount of waste produced just to make products that we constantly buy and replace, it does not bode well for our planet. The whole material economy cycle that Annie has showed does its best in making us consumers realize the vicious cycle that we are a part of and continuing to support. Annie further explains how the media is also used to aggresively fuel this addiction of ours to constantly buy newer products. After thinkin about this point, it does become frightening how much advertising we really are exposed to everyday as well as ideals that are put into our heads in order to follow the norm set by them. To sum it all up, sustainable design to me is probably the best way to go about this growing problem. This as well as recycling should slow down the need for us to constantly replace products that we own.
The Blade Blade is a merging of 2 already known concepts int he world of cutting blades. For those who have experienced the need to swap and change between a regular sized cutting blade to a much larger option, The Blade Blade easily provides this option. Targetted for users between the ages of 16 all the way through to people in their late 40's, with an interest in arts or just require the use of cutting blades in their daily lives. The Blade Blade provides a much more modern alternative to the cutting blade range.
The main attraction of The Blade Blade is obviously its ability to provide the option of a large and small cutting blade width. The smaller cutting balde can be used while placed in the dock of the larger cutter, or pulled out to be used by itself. The Blade Blade also has rubbery grips positioned in areas where users place most pressure with their hands and fingers. This is to provide the user with much comfort while using the cutting blades.
The Blade Blade also aims to educate users to break off the ends of the blades in a much safer manner. This is done by the introduction of symbols painted into the end cover as well as the underside of the front edge for both the mini cutter as well as the larger one. It uses mirrorable symbols and or images such as a heart shape or a yin and yang symbol. When brought together to form the shape, the user then knows that the position in which the covers are held is correct, and they then can proceed to break the blade forwards, in the case of the heart, breakin a heart as it were.
Yves Behar discusses the concept of designing more than just for the sake of design. He states that to produce a good design, the product should continue to enthuse the user long after it has been in possession. This has made me think more about the importance to have our design connect to the user at a much deeper level. Best example being his 'one laptop per child' concept. Having such technology being shared with children all over the world aiding them in their education and at the same time allowing them to have individual experiences and a connection with their own laptop. Yves puts out the notion that a working design should bring more importance, more value even to the users themselves. Yves' way of convening this idea has made me realise this important point in the design process, making it an integral part of producing a good quality design.
In this video Ross Lovegrove talks about his passion involving organic and intelligent form in his designs. The one thing that I’ve taken from this video is that instinct plays a crucial part in the work of designer. Seeing that there is no experience that can be taken into consideration when comin up with a new concept, instinct is what good designers depend on to make their best decisions.
The video does introduce some interesting ideas that are put forward to us. They show how designers are constantly thinking outside of the norm and coming up with ideas to really make people stop and think about the current state of design. I have probably taken most notice about his incorporation of human behaviour and its relation to design.
The Prada dressing room incorporates impressive technology that is now available, one being the liquid crystal door for their changing room. The dressing room also utilizes common technology such as video playback in their ‘magic mirror’. The customization of cubicles concept was pretty interesting. One would think that this kind of concept might already be put out there into use, but at the moment, obviously not. Having the spyfish on show, did make the whole video a bit jumpy, seeming more of a quick display of his ideas, though this might be his aim.
The video has probably made me think more about industrial design as a whole, not just focusing on one aspect of industrial design eg. Product design. It has made me take the much broader elements of industrial design into consideration.
The Firefly flyPhone is a relatively new mobile phone made by the company Firefly mobile, which is a carrier that makes a lot of kid friendly phones which is predominantly targeted for a young audience, around the ages of 10 to 12. The previous versions of the flyPhone were very basic, such as not having keypads or a colour screen. This phone is ideal for parents who want to have a certain amount of control over their children’s mobile use, such as calls and texting. However, it does offer the users plenty of features that they would find in more upscale phones.
Overall the design doesn’t look very sturdy, probably wouldn’t be able to handle a lot of knocks. But it does fit into the users hand very well. The buttons and keypad might be slightly small, perfect for children. It incorporates a pretty smart keypad design where, instead of only serving as a number pad, it can also be turned into a navigation pad.
DESIGN ANALYSIS:
Line: Straight and smooth.
Balance: Symmetrical on both sides, as well as top and bottom.
Contrast: Contrast between the colour black and blue gives it a solid feel
Form: Simple block shape with curved edges. Soap bar type body. Fits into users hand easily.
Colour: Use of the primary colour blue for most of the body as well the backlighting for the keypad. Black is used for its front and remaining keypad areas.
Texture: A very plastic feel to it.
Proportion: The transparent see thru plastic cover makes up most of the outer body.
Technical drawing of the product.
Final shot of the product.
