Levels

Autocad technical drawings

Rationale

My design "Levels" is a cocoon inspired clothing storage system for folded clothes and underwear, aimed at people who move around a lot, particularly university students.  A cocoon, which is a casing, spun of silk by many moths and numerous other insect larvae, essentially acts as a storage system for the larvae as it undergoes metamorphosis, cocoons can be formed almost anywhere, but usually amongst trees or bushes, hanging off leaves or branches away from the line of sight of predators.

The design is a flat packable storage that is made out of stretchable silk-like fabric encased around a wire structure.  The design being flat packable and so light weight acts as a simple solution those seeking fast and easy storage, once compressed it becomes easily portable.  The design has several rings which are held by the fabric and is gravity fed, it has a hook on the top, which allows it to be hung almost anywhere.  The rope that connect the storage unit and the hook is also adjustable, which means how high or low the storage system hangs is adjustable.  The back of the storage system is flat which allows for it to sit still when hung against another flat surface such has a wall or corner.  The storage system is opened from the front which opens vertically, and is held shut by Velcro. 

A major issue with storing clothing that i have come across in my research is the issue of moths.  Months are notoriously known for eating away at stored clothes, but this is a misconception.  It is not the actual moth that eats away at the clothing but its larvae who feed on woollen fibres.  Moth balls are commonly used, but are actually very poisonous and contain pesticides.  I combated this issue through research and found that lavender acts as a natural repellent of moths, and utilised this into my design.  In my design I have incorporated a small pouch which hangs inside the storage system, which may be used to hold lavender leaves which can ward off moths, alternatively I have infused the fabric with lavender essence to radiate the lavender scent to also act as a repellent to moths.

Blog comments

http://christine-x.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/bioinspired.html?showComment=1332687177483#c7801185018921463376

http://fooides.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/2012-ides2161-project-1-bioinspired.html?showComment=1332687324663#c6182022242013559959

http://dominicsee.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/arachni-key-holder-reminder-paper.html?showComment=1332689506353#c3293618271627249816

http://dougcusack-ides1031.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/studio-project-1-biomimetics.html

http://rowenagoodall.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/final.html

Mock - ups and work in progress

Initial concepts

Video blog : An inconvenient truth!

The documentary "An inconvenient truth" provides a wonderful insight into what the impact of global warming and climate change has on our earth.  The earth that we humans occupy has been around for hundreds of millions of years, which is reason enough for many to believe that it will last for many more hundreds and millions of years.  Because the earth is so vast and enormous many believe that the things we do, do not have a impact on the wellbeing of our planet, but this documentary brings to light that the actions of our humanity and what we do everyday has a very real affect on the world as we know it.

presented by Al Gore the documentary gives insight on the effects of increasing pollution, green house gases and global warming.  he brings to light that the atmosphere is so thin that we are able to change it composition, and we have been allowing the atmosphere to thicken due to the pollution caused by carbon emissions.  Carbon emissions is increasing at a alarming rate all over the world, and we need to investigate a way to reduce this rate.

Furthermore Al Gore continues to speak about the irreparable damage that has been inflicted upon the earth through the choices and decisions that humanity make as a collective.  Temperatures continue to sky rocket, which in turn diminishes the thickness of the ice caps.  this leads to the extinction of certain species that rely on those ice caps or any species lost due to the bleaching of coral reefs.

More and more people are becoming increasing aware of what the effect of global warming can have on our planet, and many people and countries are taking the initiative to combat pollution and emissions.  one such country is China who is producing higher milage cars that meet new environmental standards.  this is a huge step and such actions have ditto effects on others, such as America, who are also aiming to take this step, since they are one of the largest emitters of carbon emission.

This documentary has enlightened me about the terrible effects of pollution and carbon emissions,  it hight lights that global warming can have an damaging impact on the planet, the animals, plants , environments and the people who inhabit it.  if we do not change our attitudes to global warming now, our days will soon be numbered    

sketching

Throughout the entire project, I aimed to create a light which expressed the essence of the material given by JCEecaux, I aimed to try to create a light that was just much more than a recycled product of discarded posters, but a product that was stunning and elegant, that is ‘upcycled’.  I had many up and downs along the way, and explore many different concepts and ideas. 

One of the first problems I had was the difference in the properties of polypropylene and paper, having tested my ideas on paper, I soon discovered that those ideas would not translate onto the polypropylene, which only enforced the idea that my design had to be based around the essence of polypropylene to create a successful light. 

Throughout the project I was conscious and aware about keeping it flat packed and to keep wastage to a minimal, so I strived to create my light out of a single sheet of polypropylene with little wastage.  My design is a lamp, which is made out of a single sheet, which requires no clips of any sort, instead it has slots and tabs which connect together to hold the light together.  The light twists at the bottom that allows it to lock in the light bulb holding it into place. 

 Blog comments

Christine Chau -      http://christine-x.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcycled-utility.html?showComment=1318851650984#c669979771535427075

Ben Ma - http://mabenjamin.blogspot.com/2011/10/product-poster_17.html?showComment=1318851812757#c1160908606135723916

Luke Messina - http://idesluke.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-upcycled-recycling.html?showComment=1318856268825#c169111019333222160

Doug Cusack -  http://dougcusack-ides1031.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post.html?showComment=1318856614004#c3536131401535126575

Ricky Chu - http://starocean01.blogspot.com/2011/10/assignment-2-lamp.html?showComment=1318856789939#c910635255993871602

Blog Comments

Christine Chau -      http://christine-x.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcycled-utility.html?showComment=1318851650984#c669979771535427075

Ben Ma - http://mabenjamin.blogspot.com/2011/10/product-poster_17.html?showComment=1318851812757#c1160908606135723916

Luke Messina - http://idesluke.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-upcycled-recycling.html?showComment=1318856268825#c169111019333222160

Doug Cusack -  http://dougcusack-ides1031.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post.html?showComment=1318856614004#c3536131401535126575

Ricky Chu - http://starocean01.blogspot.com/2011/10/assignment-2-lamp.html?showComment=1318856789939#c910635255993871602

Bill Moggride!

Bill Moggride, who is the director of the Cooper-Hewitt design museum, gives a wonderful insight, on what is design, Ranging from architecture to industrial design and then goes on to explore the ideas of good design and bad design.  He explains that we wouldn’t recognise a good design, unless we are able to recognise bad designs.  He refers to “smart design” as designs that are suitable for everyone he uses kitchen utensils as an example, where it would be comfortable for a youngster, but also comfortable for the elderly who may even have arthritis. 

He then provides a video of the first lady of the united states, who talks about the education of students in design.  The first lady expresses that  the some a portion of children are “cut off” from America’s rich cultural life. She wants to open up new incentives for younger people to embrace the culture of design that surrounds them in their everyday life. She talks about achieving this through workshops and mentoring sessions like the one she gave her speech at to give direction to those interested and shape dreams.

  He refers to the intel tab as a supposably good design, as it integrates many functions together, and then goes on to bad design where he refers to the i-mode in Japan.  He shows a video where it demonstrates how the i-mode is able to allow you to purchase a drink through your cell phone, in the video it takes approximately thirty five minutes for the lady to finally purchase the drink.  Bill explains this bad design can come from the lack of communication between different aspects of design, in respects to the video he refers to the people who designed the phone and the people who design the web service for the i-mode.  He stresses the importance of prototyping to understand people better in order to achieve success.  There are 3 stages to prototyping; inspire, evolve and to validate

He refers to the  4 factors of design as being :

-physical design

-human and subjective

-Digital design

-Technical and objective

Bill explains to us that there are three expanding contexts that relate to design. Personal, Social and Environmental; all of which play a pivotal role in the design process. On a personal scale, we strive to design to achieve health and wellbeing. Socially, we design for impact, to change something, to improve it. And with environmental we look at how the materials that it’s made up of affect our world. 

This is a great video, which I found to be very insightful in expressing design processes and the flaws of design that we are faced with, and coming up with an approach to combat these flaws.  Bill also emphasises to us that it is important to design for others and not to be selfish and just design for ourselves.

Project One: Experience Enrichment - Rationale

Through extensive research on ice cream scoops, I’ve discovered that the majority of designs are primarily focused on functionality, neglecting aspects of comfort and satisfaction.  In this project I set out upon to redesign a scoop that would not only be function able, but to redesign it into a more pleasurable one that enriches and enhances the experiences of the user while engaging with it.  One of my main priorities of this task was to promote a “living relationship” between the tool and the user.  One of the approaches I took to achieve this was redesigning the scoop ergonomically, to increase the comfort in use.   Using ice cream scoops require a firm grip, the harder the ice cream the more effort and strength that is required to scoop it, a firm grip if required for any other hand tool.  Tissue compression (compression of soft tissue, in this case of the palm and fingers) may lead to obstructing blood circulation, leading to numbness and tingling, it may also lead to the forming of blisters due to the friction of the hand and tool.  The grip of the scoop was redesigned so that it spaces the fingers of the users slightly apart, ultimately to reduce tissue compression, when scooping ice cream, to increase comfort and satisfaction during long term use.  The scoop is primarily made out of stainless steel, for strength.  This allows the rim of the scoop head to maintain, it shape without bending, breaking or distorting its shape, as many other thinner scoop heads can do.  the handle is encased in a thick rubber layer to add grip, and prevent slipping.  The rubber will also create a cushion effect of the handle to reduce tissue compression to increase pleasure.  A bright blue colour was used for the grip, to evoke a feeling of calmness and coolness, which goes hand in hand with the thought of ice cream. 




Peer Comments:

Daniel Foo: http://fooides.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post.html?showComment=1315800729815#c7080060621137825260
Toi Shan Chung: http://toishanchung.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-experience-enrichment.html?showComment=1315800805552#c582591914360362517
Christina Le: http://christinaale.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/concept-poster-easi-open/#comment-11
Dennis Lee : http://dennisdolee.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment-vigo-cheese.html?showComment=1316071583919#c5144654332373875372
Ricky Chu : http://starocean01.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-product-poster.html?showComment=1316071910372#c3283362607989515814