Sheet Materials - Polypropylene Sheeting

Project 2 - Upcycling

E-waste (electronic waste) is a huge and rapidly growing problem in landfill due to the rapid rate at which technology in computers is being superseded, and the old technology simply thrown away. It is estimated that the US produces 50 million tons of e-waste each year, including 30 million computers. One of the issues with e-waste is the amount of heavy metals it pollutes landfill with. In the US 70% of heavy metals in landfill come from e-waste. The Environmental Protection agency estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled. This is the statistic I set out to change.

When given this brief the problem of e-waste quickly came to mind as an area that could be interesting to look into more. When I actually began to pull apart discarded computers I could not help but notice the interesting colour and patterns on the mother board and circuit boards, I was immediately drawn to their aesthetic appeal. I also thought that it would be quite ironic to make something for a computer out e-waste. And this was where my initial concept was born, to turn mother boards and circuit boards into a geek chic laptop case.

My initial idea was mould the boards into the shape to fit around the laptop, set them in resin and join the two sides with a zip around the middle. This had a few issues. First the issue of resin, it is not only dangerous to use but also harmful to the environment, which defeated the intensions of the brief. The second being that the boards are made out of a number of laminated layers, which really didn’t work in terms of heat moulding, as well as the fact they contain flame retardants.

I changed my concept so that the boards where fastened together with very small rivets. They where coated on the outside with a clear lacquer to protect the user from any heavy metals left, and this inside padded with foam and felt to protect the laptop. The handles are made out of reclaimed seatbelts and the whole thing held together by hand sewing in a zip and heavy duty fabric. The resulting product being a protective laptop case for both the laptop and the environment. This specific prototype designed to fit the 13” MacBook Pro.

Design For Life

"Design For Life" is a reality TV series on the BBC. It is much like Master Chef, but designing instead of cooking. The judge on this series is world-famous designer, Philippe Starck, who brings 12 hopeful British designers to a school of design in Paris. Contestants are voted off by Starck based on their design concepts and progress each episode.

This TV series is very beneficial for an industrial designer to watch for many reasons. The first is that it gives you a first hand view of the design process. You see this whole process for each of the contestants, from being given the brief to the final presentation. This involves seeing how different designers negotiate their way through this process, and the successes and failures of each contestant. As an industrial designer it is obviously important to have a sound understanding of the design process, so much so that it becomes second nature.It is therefore very beneficial to watch other designers and the processes they use to help you work out what works well and how you could use this yourself.

Another reason this TV series is very beneficial for industrial designers, especially student designers, to watch is purely to see Philippe Starck. Being one of the worlds most famous designers it is fairly safe to say that he knows what he is talking about when it comes to design. It is therefore very beneficial to listen as he talks about design, whats good whats bad, what works what doesn't. It is not very often that an industrial design student can watch a design develop from concept to final presentation, with Philippe Starck there to comment and judge throughout the whole process. This is a wonderful insight.

This TV series also gives a bit of an insight into the world of design. The design industry is very different to any other industry people go into. For a design student it can be hard to know what to expect once you leave the sheltered environment of uni and into the real design world. I think that in this sense this TV series can be very beneficial to design students to give them a taste of what to expect once they graduate.

I was particularly challenged when Starck made the point that there are too many products in our world. There are products always being designed that society does not need. Why should we design this products? This really challenged me to not design for the sake of more products, but to design so we have more products that we actually need.

Peer Comments - Experience Enrichment

Sarita Parto
Stephanie Hutcherson
Jimmy Iraheta
Helen Holman
Liz Grayburn

Project 1 - Technical Drawing

Sorry I did't realise I had to also upload the techniqal drawing onto my blog so here it is (it was physically handed in on time yesterday)

Project 1 - Experience Enrichment

Product Poster:

Context of use:

Four Pleasures Analysis:

A product that has hardly changed over time is the Ventolin puffer for asthma sufferers. Currently the puffer looks extremely medical and is not very ergonomic, this means that asthma sufferers do not enjoy using their puffer and try to hide it away when in public. All of these factors lead me to believe that there was lots of room for improvement in this product.

The brief for this project was to redesign a hand tool as to make the experience of the user a more enjoyable one by increasing the products pleasurability. When we got this brief I thought that the Ventolin puffer would be a perfect hand tool to redesign with the purpose of increasing its pleasurability, because there is nothing wrong with the functionality of the current puffer, only with how enjoyable the whole experience of the product is for the user. I decided that my target market for this product would be young sporty women in their 20’s, who are conscious about their health and fitness, but also their appearance.

In my design I decided that it would make sense for my puffer to use the same Ventolin canisters as the current solution. I made this decision because that means that the user can continue to buy the same canisters they used to, and functionally these aerosol canisters work well. In the current solution this canister sticks out the top of the puffer, which is largely the reason why these puffers look so medical. I decided that in my design the canister would be completely hidden from view to avoid this medical look.

Another main issue with the current puffers is that they are not very ergonomic, in particular the mouth piece. Early on I made a conscious decision the make the mouth piece less ridged and rubberised, as the increase ergonomics and thus increase the products pleasurability. I decided that the best material to use for this rubberised finish would be silicon rubber, as it is readily available in industry, and has the properties needed, such as being able to be washed up and moulded into different shapes needed. I also decided to use this material with a grip texture where you place your fingers on the product. I also decided to make sure that the puffer would fit well into the hand of a young woman, because ultimately this is who I was designing the product for.

A big factor that contributes to the overall pleasurability of a product is its aesthetics. The current puffer is very rectilinear, which is not very aesthetically pleasing to my target market. For this reason I decided to make the shape of the puffer more curvilinear, to appeal to them, and to fit in with other products they own. For the body of the puffer I decided to make it out of polypropylene. This was because this material is durable, able to be washed up and moulded into the shapes required.

Overall in redesigning the Ventolin puffer I have increased its ergonomic and aesthetic appeal, particularly to my target market. In doing so, I have increased the pleasurability of the product and enriched the experience of the user, thus fulfilling the brief.

Objectified

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTI5NjM2NjA0.html

This video, directed by Gary Hustwit in 2009, makes me excited to be a designer. I think that this is mainly because there are some designers interviewed and their products shown that are just simply beautiful. I think that the Mac Book Air is a product shown that really is a beautiful object. There are all these tiny details which you might not even notice but contribute to the overall feel of the product, an example of which are the little lights in it that indicate different things. When they are not indicating anything they are completely invisible, because why should you be able to see a little light bulb when you don't have to. It is things like this that excite me as a designer.

I think the concept talked about of wearing in not wearing out is very interesting. I agree that why should products get worse with use... why shouldn't they get better? It is like the example used of the leather brief case. With use the leather has become softer and a much more pleasurable product to use, it has got better with use. Also this means that people are much more likely to hold greater value in that product. The longer a person uses a product for, the more emotionally attached they become to that object because of the memories associated with it. This means they are much more likely not to throw it out.

I also think that listening to some renounded designers talk about design and what it means to them, what they hold as important, their design philosophies, is very interesting. I think that understanding a designers philosophy helps you to understand their products more, and why they have made certain decisions in regards to that product. For example Dieter Rams design philosophy can be summed up as "less is more" and this is very evident in his designs. You can see in his products that form follows function and his products have a very minimalist aesthetic. For me I find it fascinating to hear why people design, what motivates them and their decisions.

I think that this video is good for an Industrial Designer to watch as I think it gives insight into the minds of other designers. I think that listening to people explaining why they design helps you in forming your own design philosophy, and this is something that designers have to develop.