1. Andrea
2. Ella
3. Mitch
4. Eunbi
5. Josh
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Upcycling Rationale
I have used train tickets as the disposed material to be transformed in to something more useful fruit basket is made by folding each train ticket to form small pieces that are then joined together to create a the shape of a basket. I have considered a strong joining technique and therefore the basket is highly functional and also aesthetically pleasing.
I think train tickets are successful choice of material as trains are the most widely used public transport and thousands of people pass through the ticket machines every day. I have obtained some statistics from the freedom of information line based on the counts of passes of ticket machines a day. Train stations of city rail counts 998,550 times of passes (from 303 stations) and the largest train station central alone counts 85,260 tickets passing through the machine every day on average. From these numbers, approximately 35% of the tickets get captured. This is an enormous number of counts and therefore there would be no concerning about the amount of resources and where to obtain it from as train stations would be a secure resource provider.
Not all the train tickets are even being recycled as I have observed many times where train tickets bins in the machines are just emptied into black plastic bags with other rubbish that are found around the station that are not recyclable. It may be an issue as the tickets are government property but since the material is only gets recycled and so far there is no method of up cycling the ticket, I think it would be a better option to produce something elegant and durable.
Unlike other ordinary baskets that are produced by weaving technique, using train tickets will appeal to consumers as they have not imagined something functional can be created using train tickets. As well as its strong and well shaped form each tickets are folded to reveal certain sections so that when all pieces of folded tickets make up a form, the repetition of those sections create an interesting pattern. The surface of the basket is treated with diluted PVA glue to provide a glossy surface texture to enhance the high quality of the basket. The form is symmetrical bowl shape but one end is taller than the other for an interesting change from the traditional bowl shape.
Fruit basket with practical utility and sophisticated elegance is achieved by using appropriate material demonstrating an upcycled process.
I think train tickets are successful choice of material as trains are the most widely used public transport and thousands of people pass through the ticket machines every day. I have obtained some statistics from the freedom of information line based on the counts of passes of ticket machines a day. Train stations of city rail counts 998,550 times of passes (from 303 stations) and the largest train station central alone counts 85,260 tickets passing through the machine every day on average. From these numbers, approximately 35% of the tickets get captured. This is an enormous number of counts and therefore there would be no concerning about the amount of resources and where to obtain it from as train stations would be a secure resource provider.
Not all the train tickets are even being recycled as I have observed many times where train tickets bins in the machines are just emptied into black plastic bags with other rubbish that are found around the station that are not recyclable. It may be an issue as the tickets are government property but since the material is only gets recycled and so far there is no method of up cycling the ticket, I think it would be a better option to produce something elegant and durable.
Unlike other ordinary baskets that are produced by weaving technique, using train tickets will appeal to consumers as they have not imagined something functional can be created using train tickets. As well as its strong and well shaped form each tickets are folded to reveal certain sections so that when all pieces of folded tickets make up a form, the repetition of those sections create an interesting pattern. The surface of the basket is treated with diluted PVA glue to provide a glossy surface texture to enhance the high quality of the basket. The form is symmetrical bowl shape but one end is taller than the other for an interesting change from the traditional bowl shape.
Fruit basket with practical utility and sophisticated elegance is achieved by using appropriate material demonstrating an upcycled process.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Design for life
This video kept me interested since I felt very connected to the situations that the students were facing. It was interesting to see everyone in the competition designing for their life. It was a life changing experience for everyone competing and I can see the passion that all the contestants had inside them. I watched this video thinking what if it would be like if I had the chance to be in that position. This kept me engaged and wonder what may happen next to the contestants.
When I put myself in doing task 1( choosing a product in a supermarket that represents male, female, good for environment and bad for environment) I have chosen two obvious items as well, which would result in going back home. I have learnt to think outside the square and think more creatively when task like this is set.
I was a little disappointed by the results on task 2. I wasn’t impressed by the quality of their presentations and I thought most of us studying industrial design in uni can do a much more better presentation.
The tasks that are set were very broad and the time limit was too intense. It is challenging to come up with a set idea concepts to models and presentation and I think this is the skills we as design students must have. I am not sure if this skill is something we can improve by practice and experience or if you are just born with the skills and you have to discover it through experience. It once again made me realise that designing is not easy and it is hard to come up with a innovative design that will please the person who set the task or the client.
By episode 3 when everyone failed to please Philip stark, the feelings that contestants was very much like what I felt when I failed to come up with a good design.
Overall atmosphere of submitting and task being assessed resembled the atmosphere of our uni life. It was more engaging because I can understand their feelings awaiting for Philip stark’s comments after their hard work. I feel like I should try more hard in every task that is set for me realising that our task may not be so intense like facing Phillip stark but our task will all lead to success in future life. Sometimes when the projects don’t go well and having trouble coming up with a design, I wonder if I am in the right position. It leaves me with a question, should designers always enjoy what they are doing or is all the stress that we are getting just a process that everyone goes through to become a successful designer?
I was amazed to see the final result of the last two students. I think the best part of studying design is when producing something so amazing that you did not realise you and achieve before.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Rationale
The target market of my product is for 20-30’s female who seeks for products that suit her own style. First thing she is interested is the aesthetics of a design which is in simple but pleasing form. I have chosen to design a citrus peeler for my target market as I have imagined that it will be an interesting tool to enhance the experience of using the tool for her. Majority of citrus peelers that are on the market are heavily focusing on serving the function and less on the appearance. Therefore they all look small and similar, buried in other ordinary kitchen tools in the drawer. I have designed the citrus peeler (whavo) different to other existing products, so that it can be used more often by giving pleasure to the user.
Whavo can be easily be separated from other ordinary tools but naturally belong with other kitchen wares by giving it white appearance similar to plates and bowls. The large size compared to other citrus peelers also makes it easier for it to suit the environment it is designed for. The size is maximized with also being comfortable to hold. This makes it more noticeable and therefore be used more oftern.
Unlike existing citrus peelers that are designed as form following the function, whavo delivers the main two functions of cutting of the skin of orange and to separate and lift up the skin of the orange successfully by naturally incorporating the functional aspects to make up the pleasing form.
The texture is given thought to add to the comfortable grip by using food grade polypropylene to create an injection molded parts with slightly matted texture so it does not slip out of hand. It has a controlled level of flexibility so that the orange can be peeled without being damaged, but hard enough to cut the skin of the orange.
Material selection also suits my target market who is young female unlikely to spend lots of money on expensive kitchen tool as it is inexpensive but durable. It is also a environmentally friendly recyclable product that will influence the target market as she is an environmentally cautious person who enjoys nature and feels refreshed by spending time in natural environments.
Whavo suits my target market’s style when choosing a product by its appealing aesthetical properties of simple but unique form and high functional performance.
Whavo can be easily be separated from other ordinary tools but naturally belong with other kitchen wares by giving it white appearance similar to plates and bowls. The large size compared to other citrus peelers also makes it easier for it to suit the environment it is designed for. The size is maximized with also being comfortable to hold. This makes it more noticeable and therefore be used more oftern.
Unlike existing citrus peelers that are designed as form following the function, whavo delivers the main two functions of cutting of the skin of orange and to separate and lift up the skin of the orange successfully by naturally incorporating the functional aspects to make up the pleasing form.
The texture is given thought to add to the comfortable grip by using food grade polypropylene to create an injection molded parts with slightly matted texture so it does not slip out of hand. It has a controlled level of flexibility so that the orange can be peeled without being damaged, but hard enough to cut the skin of the orange.
Material selection also suits my target market who is young female unlikely to spend lots of money on expensive kitchen tool as it is inexpensive but durable. It is also a environmentally friendly recyclable product that will influence the target market as she is an environmentally cautious person who enjoys nature and feels refreshed by spending time in natural environments.
Whavo suits my target market’s style when choosing a product by its appealing aesthetical properties of simple but unique form and high functional performance.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Objectified
It was an interesting film that introduced different designer’s philosophy and opinions on design. Different designer’s thoughts have made me think a lot about what values I have in as a design student. This film gave me the opportunity to see design with new eyes. It made me see design as something much more than I thought.
Every object speaks to the person viewing the object and we make so many assumptions about an object after the first sight. “Every objects tell a story if you know how to read it” –Henry ford. We have to have the ability to read the product. We have to understand the design to be able to design well. It also makes sense the other way around. When designing something, we need to be able to make the person viewing the product to understand the design for it to be a good design. Design should be understandable.
When designing, we need to know the extremes (such as person with arthritis). We always have to design for people to improve their daily lives, for them to be able to enjoy using the product. To come up with a good design, designer must know what the person wants, even better than they do.
It is hard to keep up with what people want because people always ask for something new and something different. As soon as you design something, it now becomes the past and people soon seek for something new and innovative. Good design is designing so that it does not age as fast as other products. It is hard, but designing a product that people want to keep is what all designers are aiming for.
Design is the way that you look at the world. It is such an extraordinary thing that designers get to design whatever they have in mind and produce it to reveal what you had inside to the world. You never know how people will react with your design, whether they’ll accept it as a good design or just see it as ordinary product until it has been produced and brought out to the world. So to come up with a good design, a lot of knowledge is needed. When I saw Mark Newson’s collection of different materials, it made me realize that designers should continuously experiment and explore materials. I don’t have much knowledge in materials but from now on I will invest my time in learning about materials and its properties. When a good design idea is made from exploring with materials, designers must have a clear understanding of the material used and its impact to the environment. We have to be conscious that most of the products we design will end in the landfill sooner or later. We should consider the cradle to grave concept, not just designing with materials just because of its aesthetic aspects but study and be well aware of its effects on the environment after its life.
Interesting design is created when you start from one idea and continuously develop your mind through mindmaps which will lead you to where you never been able to think before.
Every object speaks to the person viewing the object and we make so many assumptions about an object after the first sight. “Every objects tell a story if you know how to read it” –Henry ford. We have to have the ability to read the product. We have to understand the design to be able to design well. It also makes sense the other way around. When designing something, we need to be able to make the person viewing the product to understand the design for it to be a good design. Design should be understandable.
When designing, we need to know the extremes (such as person with arthritis). We always have to design for people to improve their daily lives, for them to be able to enjoy using the product. To come up with a good design, designer must know what the person wants, even better than they do.
It is hard to keep up with what people want because people always ask for something new and something different. As soon as you design something, it now becomes the past and people soon seek for something new and innovative. Good design is designing so that it does not age as fast as other products. It is hard, but designing a product that people want to keep is what all designers are aiming for.
Design is the way that you look at the world. It is such an extraordinary thing that designers get to design whatever they have in mind and produce it to reveal what you had inside to the world. You never know how people will react with your design, whether they’ll accept it as a good design or just see it as ordinary product until it has been produced and brought out to the world. So to come up with a good design, a lot of knowledge is needed. When I saw Mark Newson’s collection of different materials, it made me realize that designers should continuously experiment and explore materials. I don’t have much knowledge in materials but from now on I will invest my time in learning about materials and its properties. When a good design idea is made from exploring with materials, designers must have a clear understanding of the material used and its impact to the environment. We have to be conscious that most of the products we design will end in the landfill sooner or later. We should consider the cradle to grave concept, not just designing with materials just because of its aesthetic aspects but study and be well aware of its effects on the environment after its life.
Interesting design is created when you start from one idea and continuously develop your mind through mindmaps which will lead you to where you never been able to think before.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The story of stuff
The story of stuff
This video was focusing on planting new minds to people about sustainable environment by showing the reality of process in production.
We consume so many products in our lives but how much do we consider about the life cycle of the product we are consuming? I know and understand the process of creating a product. There must be extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. We all know these process exist and there are consequences when producing, but we don’t know the severity of the consequences.
By viewing this video, it helped me a lot to understand the true stages of a product life. It is the government that initially controls us to purchase more and more products. Strategy used to boost up the economy by making us consume the product is planned obsolescence (intentionally designing a product with a date of end life so it can be re-purchased) and perceived obsolescence (people purchasing better designed products to catch up with trend even if product is working absolutely fine). They are both strategies to boost up the economy and for the nation to be more successful but it is a selfish strategy. This gives a huge impact on the environment. We have to use up the earth’s resources, pollute the environment when producing and find somewhere to dump the waste. It was surprising to hear that we have used one third of the earth’s resources in the past three decades. Countries like USA use more than their share of the earth’s resources and move on to use other nation’s share, creating pollution at the same time. It alarmed me since we are definitely going to run out of the earth’s resource if we kept consuming products that we don’t need. Only 1% of products purchased are still used after 6 months of purchase, meaning 99% of products get thrown away within the 6 months time. We will continue to consume products and repeat the process of purchasing and disposing, not knowing that we are harming the environment unless we realise the consequences. Filling our life with more and more products won’t help us to have a happier life since we fill our leisure time with those products and less interaction with the special things around us such as our family and nature. We know that we are heading to a disastrous conclusion and therefore we should work it out to fix the problem urgently before it becomes too late. This video definitely has influenced me about the way I thought about sustainable environment and it made me be cautious about the products I am purchasing.
This video was focusing on planting new minds to people about sustainable environment by showing the reality of process in production.
We consume so many products in our lives but how much do we consider about the life cycle of the product we are consuming? I know and understand the process of creating a product. There must be extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. We all know these process exist and there are consequences when producing, but we don’t know the severity of the consequences.
By viewing this video, it helped me a lot to understand the true stages of a product life. It is the government that initially controls us to purchase more and more products. Strategy used to boost up the economy by making us consume the product is planned obsolescence (intentionally designing a product with a date of end life so it can be re-purchased) and perceived obsolescence (people purchasing better designed products to catch up with trend even if product is working absolutely fine). They are both strategies to boost up the economy and for the nation to be more successful but it is a selfish strategy. This gives a huge impact on the environment. We have to use up the earth’s resources, pollute the environment when producing and find somewhere to dump the waste. It was surprising to hear that we have used one third of the earth’s resources in the past three decades. Countries like USA use more than their share of the earth’s resources and move on to use other nation’s share, creating pollution at the same time. It alarmed me since we are definitely going to run out of the earth’s resource if we kept consuming products that we don’t need. Only 1% of products purchased are still used after 6 months of purchase, meaning 99% of products get thrown away within the 6 months time. We will continue to consume products and repeat the process of purchasing and disposing, not knowing that we are harming the environment unless we realise the consequences. Filling our life with more and more products won’t help us to have a happier life since we fill our leisure time with those products and less interaction with the special things around us such as our family and nature. We know that we are heading to a disastrous conclusion and therefore we should work it out to fix the problem urgently before it becomes too late. This video definitely has influenced me about the way I thought about sustainable environment and it made me be cautious about the products I am purchasing.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Reflection on Design Excellence
The award winning product, Stryker Bone Mill is the improved design of existing bone mills that are used in the sterile fields today. This improvement is essential, highly developing our medical procedures and resulting successful surgery for patients. In the process of the product form analysis, i have realised how much thought is needed to be put in to come up with a design in both functional properties and aesthetic aespects. All design elements and principles must be considered to produce a successful design with no faults. It is the designers role to consider and produce a design that best suits the design brief.
Don Norman: Emotional Design
When designing a product, aesthetics and functionality are thought to be the most important aspects to consider. In my perspective, I have thought that functionality will always take more part in design and the aesthetic qualities come after. This is because majority of people purchase products because they need the product. When a product is bought and the purchased product does not function well, then the consumer will then have to purchase another product that will work better. However, my opinion on design was challenged when watching this clip of Don Norman: Emotional Design. I was introduced to a new perspective of design.
It cannot be denied that more people will look for products that function over products just looks good and does not function. But it becomes challenging when it comes to comparing products that function well but given less thought in its aesthetics with products that look absolutely remarkable but functional aspects not as outstanding. Don Norman’s view of design was interesting and fun. His view on design was that fun design and design with emotions will always work even the functionality is given less thought.
People become more and more focused on the appearance and continuously want to be introduced to something new and innovative. Instead of holding on to ordinary products that still works fine, they will go for a improved design that they have not seen before. When a product is designed to hold emotion people get attracted to the design. Successful emotional design is when a design can create an emotional response from people. Aesthetics of product became very important. In some cases the functional qualities are not even being considered when the product is aesthetically pleasing and people purchase the product because they already feel happy just from possessing the product. In this case, functionality is not important at all. It is like owning a famous designer’s product. That product will never be used for its purpose but it is consumed for personal collection. Sometimes people don’t even have to understand what the product is used for. Don Norman shares a story of his case when he purchased a special edition of Philippe starck’s juicer by Alessi. The juicer came with a note saying “Do not use this juicer to make juice as the acid will ruin the gold plating”. He says he has this juicer in the hall way. This is an example of a situation when product is purchased for only its aesthetical properties, like when a bottle of water being purchased for its bottle not the water.
I think it is not just about choosing if functionality is more important or the aesthetics but its about providing people with improved design, emotional designs that creates emotional links between design and people. Don Norman makes it clear that pleasant things work better. Behavioural design is feeling in control which includes usability, understanding but also the feel.
It cannot be denied that more people will look for products that function over products just looks good and does not function. But it becomes challenging when it comes to comparing products that function well but given less thought in its aesthetics with products that look absolutely remarkable but functional aspects not as outstanding. Don Norman’s view of design was interesting and fun. His view on design was that fun design and design with emotions will always work even the functionality is given less thought.
People become more and more focused on the appearance and continuously want to be introduced to something new and innovative. Instead of holding on to ordinary products that still works fine, they will go for a improved design that they have not seen before. When a product is designed to hold emotion people get attracted to the design. Successful emotional design is when a design can create an emotional response from people. Aesthetics of product became very important. In some cases the functional qualities are not even being considered when the product is aesthetically pleasing and people purchase the product because they already feel happy just from possessing the product. In this case, functionality is not important at all. It is like owning a famous designer’s product. That product will never be used for its purpose but it is consumed for personal collection. Sometimes people don’t even have to understand what the product is used for. Don Norman shares a story of his case when he purchased a special edition of Philippe starck’s juicer by Alessi. The juicer came with a note saying “Do not use this juicer to make juice as the acid will ruin the gold plating”. He says he has this juicer in the hall way. This is an example of a situation when product is purchased for only its aesthetical properties, like when a bottle of water being purchased for its bottle not the water.
I think it is not just about choosing if functionality is more important or the aesthetics but its about providing people with improved design, emotional designs that creates emotional links between design and people. Don Norman makes it clear that pleasant things work better. Behavioural design is feeling in control which includes usability, understanding but also the feel.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
After viewing David Kelley: Human centred design.
I was amazed at the designs that are out there in the world which I never have seen before. It was even more surprising that the video was from year 2002. With the rapidly developing technology, this would mean that there are so many amazing products that are continuously being designed and created at this moment. This video made me feel like I am very delayed and I should watch more of these kind of videos to improve my knowledge on the latest contemporary products. I have come to understand that designers have always focused on products but as time goes, designers now design human centred designs. This means designs of products, services and environments now have behaviours and personalities involved in its design stage.
All the latest examples of design in the video such as retail store of Prada, cubical, Greenwich water cycle pavilion and spyfish grabbed my attention. When I saw the retail store of Prada, I felt like I was introduced to a new world. I have seen touch screens, scanners and liquid crystal doors but these were combined to create something more interesting. I have never seen a store with scanner that scans the product and uploads the product to be shown from a screen, liquid crystal door that change from visible to invisible for the fitting rooms, touch screen in a fitting room giving information about the product, and out of all, the mirror with 3 seconds delay for the consumer to see the back of themselves was just amazing. It was different to see how these innovative designs are now being used in familiar environments. I can see that these innovative designs are naturally being fitted on to our everyday life and new designs are being introduced.
I first didn’t understand very well about designs playing with emotions and giving personality and behaviour to the design but the video about the cubical design helped me understand. This cubical was designed entirely to improve the surroundings to fit human desire. Flower in a pot that drooped when the person leave the cubical and stands back straight when the person return was designed to make emotional connection with the product and the person. The lighting was orange to give similar effect as the sun, punching bag and hammock was also fitted. It was a great example to see how product can be designed to fit human needs and satisfaction. It was interesting to see how they come up with the ideas, including surveys, testing ideas with alive walls or taking pictures. I have realised how the designer has to actually become the product user and feel the need to come up with a better design.
It was challenging to hear that one person has created 19 thousand companies starting from a desire to help who are in need which successfully made a huge impact in Kenya. I realised the importance of the designer’s role to discover the needs of people according to their environment and actually come up with innovative product that can be used usefully by people who needs it.
All the latest examples of design in the video such as retail store of Prada, cubical, Greenwich water cycle pavilion and spyfish grabbed my attention. When I saw the retail store of Prada, I felt like I was introduced to a new world. I have seen touch screens, scanners and liquid crystal doors but these were combined to create something more interesting. I have never seen a store with scanner that scans the product and uploads the product to be shown from a screen, liquid crystal door that change from visible to invisible for the fitting rooms, touch screen in a fitting room giving information about the product, and out of all, the mirror with 3 seconds delay for the consumer to see the back of themselves was just amazing. It was different to see how these innovative designs are now being used in familiar environments. I can see that these innovative designs are naturally being fitted on to our everyday life and new designs are being introduced.
I first didn’t understand very well about designs playing with emotions and giving personality and behaviour to the design but the video about the cubical design helped me understand. This cubical was designed entirely to improve the surroundings to fit human desire. Flower in a pot that drooped when the person leave the cubical and stands back straight when the person return was designed to make emotional connection with the product and the person. The lighting was orange to give similar effect as the sun, punching bag and hammock was also fitted. It was a great example to see how product can be designed to fit human needs and satisfaction. It was interesting to see how they come up with the ideas, including surveys, testing ideas with alive walls or taking pictures. I have realised how the designer has to actually become the product user and feel the need to come up with a better design.
It was challenging to hear that one person has created 19 thousand companies starting from a desire to help who are in need which successfully made a huge impact in Kenya. I realised the importance of the designer’s role to discover the needs of people according to their environment and actually come up with innovative product that can be used usefully by people who needs it.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
My Design Career
I have enrolled in industrial design because becoming a designer is the only way I see myself in the future. The main reason I chose Industrial design course is because the best time of my study life was when I studied industrial design at my high school. I still remember back in year 10 when I couldn’t find my talent and had absolutely no idea in what I wanted to study after high school. When I had to move to Canberra for years 11 and 12, it was very much different to Sydney. I moved to a small school called Burgmann Anglican school where it was much open in terms of choosing my own subjects. I had the opportunity to choose 3 major subjects and I chose Design and Technology, Visual art and Fashion and Design. I enjoyed all 3 subjects but my favourite subject was design and technology. I devoted most of my lunch and study times in the design and technology lab since I had to complete large projects. I wasn’t devoting all my time to design in order to get a high UAI (since ACT calculates all your assessment scores instead of having exams for UAI), but I actually enjoyed the study of design and I enjoyed working under pressure. It may also be because of the Industrial design teacher I had who always encouraged me and helped me in all areas as best as he can in order for me to show all my abilities. The teacher loved to see my work and every time I find myself receiving high marks I gained confidence. He helped me to find the talent that I had and he convinced me to take further study in industrial design. Before making the decision to study industrial design I was very worried because I was making the decision thinking that I found what I was good at. It made me question,’ what if the teacher thought I was talented because my year was the first year ever to graduate and since there was only 10 people in the class there was not many people to compare with and made me look like I was doing good?’ I wanted to confront someone with my portfolios asking for critical comments but after all, I couldn’t think of anything else that I was interested in. After the first semester in UNSW, I found it very different to what I have expected. Being marked against so many talented students, I was disappointed at the marks that I received. But I still believe that this course suits me the best and most of all, I enjoy doing this course. Since I realised where I stand in the line it motivated me to try harder and I have the desire to learn more, improve, and discover my abilities so I am going to push myself even more because there is no giving up or going back. I'm haven't given much thought about my future as a designer but i am sure that if i keep trying my best i will discover my weaknessess, strengths and what i enjoy wich will be a guide to my future career.
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