Project One: Blog Comments

http://thatssoeames.blogspot.com/
http://z3333622.blogspot.com/
http://z3337777.blogspot.com/
http://z3332715.blogspot.com/
http://rebeccawomersley.blogspot.com/

Project One: Technical Drawings

Project One: Rationale

Through personal experience and observations, it’s quite clear that most, if not all children between the ages of five and twelve years are at some point unorganised and messy. This can be attributed to the fact that children find ‘clean-up time’ laborious and un-entertaining. After all, what child wants to experience the painful hardships associated with clean-up time? Especially after they have just been through the emotional highs associated with exploring their creativity and freedom.

A major concern during my childhood, and many others was the fact that we would lose pencils constantly after drawing or colouring in. This often resulted in packs of pencils depleting at an alarming rate, which resulted in children begging their parents to buy more supplies to compensate for the lack of organisation. To combat this problem, I have developed a ‘fun’ and ‘pleasurable’ way to store pencils.  The rationale behind my theory was that children would be more inclined to clean up if we made the experience seem less laborious and more entertaining. This notion was influenced by Volkswagen’s initiative entitled ‘The Fun Theory’ whereby they experimented to see whether people would be more inclined to take the stairs rather than the escalators if they made it fun (in this case making it like a piano). It turned out to be a very successful promotion with 66% more people than normal choosing the stairs over the escalators, therefore Volkswagen came to the conclusion that ‘fun can obviously change behaviour for the better’.

My final idea encompassed a pencil holder shaped as an echidna, with the pencils acting as the ‘spikes’ to help form it’s shape. I also added a detachable pencil sharpener at the front of the body, as I believed that this utensil could be beneficial, as it helps to bring together two related and necessary pieces of equipment that would benefit the users. After trialling numerous variations in form, I decided upon an ‘organic’ and ‘free flowing’ body that would resemble the shape of an echidna, yet not make it too obvious. The reason behind my decision was that I did not just want this product to be a ‘one hit wonder’; I wanted it to have some sentimental value, such as it being handed down from generation to generation and becoming an heirloom within a family.

This reasoning also lead me to choose ‘rubberwood’ (also referred to as White Mahogany) as the material of use. Rubberwood makes use of plantation trees that have already served a useful function, hence as it is a byproduct and plentiful, it is cheap. This ultimately helps to lower resource costs, which in turn can be passed down to the consumer and marketed as an ‘environmentally friendly’ wood. The colour I used was a ‘burnt orange’. I wanted something that was playful, yet would stand out in a cluttered mess. It also helps to emphasise the natural nature of the shape. The earthly tone has a connection with the echidna, whose natural habitat is in bush land. The paint was non-toxic which was a necessity considering it would mainly be used by children, who at times tend to put objects they shouldn’t their mouths.

The size of the pencil holder was intended to be a bit larger than traditional pencil holders. Because there were essentially two components in the design (the body and the sharpener) the product had to be large enough so as not to choke a child if they put it in their mouth. Having large pieces also makes it easier to spot, especially in a cluttered room or desk where it is intended to be used. Twelve holes for the pencils were also purposely done, as most packs of pencils I researched came in a ‘convenient’ pack of twelve, which seemed to be an ideal number.

Project One: Four Pleasure Analysis

Project One: Context Of Use

Project One: Hero Shot

Video Response: Objectified

Humans instantly forge a relationship with an object, whether it is consciously or sub-consciously, we have preconceptions of the object and later draw conclusions based on the assumptions we had made. We assume the object’s function, how well it performs its job, its cost and even how heavy or light it weighs. The overall appearance of the object also helps (or hinders) to make assumptions about its quality and integrity. The video ‘Objectified’ explores these subconscious decisions through the expert minds of the designer/manufacturer, as well as the consumers that purchase and use the objects. The video provides an exclusive insight into the minds of industrial designers and how they were able to forge a unique bond with the product they designed as they developed it over time.

The video emphasises to us the many everyday objects that we as consumers take for granted every day. During our waking hours during the day we use many objects in our day-to-day lives, often dictated by routine, such as getting bowls to eat cereal for breakfast, as well as driving cars or taking public transport to get us from point A to point B. As consumers we do not really put any thought into the amount of effort and time that has been put into the products we are using, we generally just take it for granted that it is there and cab be used. As industrial designers however, we become aware of the story behind each product and all the development stages and processes that are involved from it being an early idea to a final manufactured item.

One of the main processes used in industrial design and manufacturing is that of a hierarchical relationship. The video explores this notion in relation to Apple’s new Macbook Air. It highlights the numerous processes that have been undertaken to reach the final product, from initial ideas, concepts and development, all the way through to the final manufacturing stages and marketing ploys. Hierarchy is needed to prioritise specific areas of the design that have to be addressed in order to make the product better and more superior that its predecessors or rivals, which in turn should lead it to be more appealing. Despite the uniqueness of Apple’s products, they do not follow the traditional ‘form follows function’ which eventually causes people to question the design, thus attaching a certain stigma to Apple products.

The video explores the various views on the complex nature of design, as well as the many underlying factors that in the end influence the final product. It emphasises the complexity of design and the numerous stages undertaken to achieve the final product.

Task 5: Design Confusion V2 - PS3 console