Video Reflection - Story of Stuff

I personally find the video very useful, cause what Annie taught me in this video is that we have to think more when we're making products. We shouldn't just think about making products that are "trendy" products that have an expiry date, that people can just like for a short amount of time, and then throw it away cause no one is using it anymore. We should create something that is timeless, that people can use over the time. We also should focus on the environmental side of how the product is made, and to make sure that it doesn't destroy the environment, also make sure it is easily recycled.

This video is very useful cause industrial designers usually don't care about the environmental side of how the products were made. We should think about our planet and the consequences that it could get if we couldn't care less about the environment in making product.

Video Reflection - Ross Lovegrove

In this video, Ross Lovegrove has opened my eyes of what beautiful shapes and textures nature can helps you create. The designs that he created are also beautiful, especially the water bottle and how it was created. It's very interesting for me because I don't think I ever did include nature or using sustainable materials that are eco-friendly in my designs.

This has certainly inspired me, and I bet it does also inspired designers to to use more eco-friendly materials. He has also taught me that simplistic-minimalistic forms create the most vision of elegance compared to others.

Video Reflection - Designing Dream Machines

This video shows us that ommunication between client and designers is a really important factor in designing. The process shown from start to finish clearly highlights the message that they are trying to convey, which is that.

There has to also be a process in designing a product, which is started off by brainstorming session, that is to list every idea that comes to mind that they want to sell to the public market, and then after few of the best are then selected. Drawing or sketching the idea is the next step, as it's important for us to be able to know what we want it to look like -- hand-drawn (will be explained further in next paragraph). The real model is then made, with people commenting on what should be improved. Critiques and opinions are then taken into account and then it is improved until everyone agrees on it. After it's fully done, consumers are asked and surveyed whether they like it or not.

Knowing what target market likes and responds to is also a key to making a desirable product. Surveying the target market is a vital thing, an example of that would be the scooter. The fact that one went to India to complete the survey about what would be appealing to Indian people amazes me. That really showed determination and hardwork, all in just to create a product.

Another factor that designers should take note of is that, although nowadays technology seems to be taking over everything else, the best way of a designer to be able to think about a concept and develop it is by hand-drawing it instead of relying computers to do it. It gives designers an insight and there's nothing clearer than drawing it yourself, as ideas will just pop up when you're drawing it by hand.

This video really helps new designers in knowing what they have to prioritize in order to be able to come up with good inspirations and have a good career in design. Not only do we need to have the skill to create the product, we also have to be able to know what consumers want, since if they're not buying our products, why bother making them? Also, communication, being able to get opinions from people to improve our products is also important process in making a product.


Image from: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/DCImages/Case%20Studies/Aqualisa/R_Seymour_&_D_Powell_Sm.jpg

PEER COMMENTS - Project 3

1. Sam Whipp

2. Kate Barclay

3. Hyo-Ju Cho

4. Emily Soares

5. Jen Jun Zhu

PROJECT 3 - UPCYCLING: Rock the Casbag (Cassette Bag)

For this project, I chose to make something that is different, that celebrates the use of recyled materials. I chose tape ( the total of 30 ; 24 gold and transparent and 6 black tapes). Making the project for me is really exciting, since I get to experiments with materials that isn't usually used to make a bag.

I chose to make a bag using tapes, because the tapes I found in reverse garbage has a very lux color-- the base part is transparent and the circle-y thing in the middle colored gold. When you line them together you can really see that it makes an interesting and unusual patterns.


I experienced several difficulties making these cause the tapes are very wobbly and it falls apart when I touch it. I like the use of the black, medium size lace as it gives more edge to it. The thing that I could work on is the construction of the prototype since it's kinda rough, although I have to say decent effort is put into the construction-- maybe other materials should be chosen instead of the ones I chose to use. And also, I had a problem between deciding how to make it so that it doesn't look like a briefcase-- and it kinda shows by the construction of the sides.


Oh, and about the poster, I actually changed the name of the product to Rock The Casbag (Cassette Bag), just for fun since XOX Handbag sounds dull haha.

My target market for this is girls who are artsy --dare to be different and into fashion -- That's why for the colors, I chose mainly gold transparent and magenta for the sides.

PEER COMMENTS for Project 2

PEER COMMENTS:
- Jason Vergara

- Nina Harcus

- Cori Eom

- Julia Ruyu Xiao

- Fiona Lee

PROJECT 2 - POSTAL PRESENT

PORCU CD HOLDER

PORCU CD Holder is an easy to set-up CD Holder. It is inspired and modeled after porcupines, as is seen by its shape. For this project I chose to make this because I want to make something that I can use, and not only me -- I want people from all ages to be able to use it as well. I made the shape looks modern and contemporary, yet make it subtle and classic as well, using tinted-black colored perspex. I want the CD arrangement to look elegant when put in the CD holder, that's why I made it so that the CD can have different height arrangement.



I chose perspex for the material because I want it to have that tinted/ transparent look so that when each parts are slotted, it's gonna look better than if I'm using solid color. I wanted to use MDF, but then it's gonna look cheap compared to perspex, and it wouldn't be able to have that transparent look. I chose black because black goes with everything in almost everyone's house, and I personally like the color as well.

The shape is chosen because for my last project (Experience Enrichment) I already did a butter dish which resembles a toaster, so for this project I want to try to make something more elegant and abstract, yet is inspired by something. I want it to have curves, but not alot of them, so that it is still elegant, and is visually beautiful when seen with CDs in them.

It's made so that it's easy for people to set-up, because there's nothing more pleasurable for people than being able to set up their gift just in a matter of second and able to display it beautifully--and is functional as well.
For the packaging, instead of a normal C4 envelope, I want the receiver to know that this is a special gift so a special envelope is used as well.

BAD DESIGN

Well, for my bad design project, I chose the Palmolive handwash-refill, because I find that the font where it says "Liquid Handwash" seem to be causing problems, since it's too small. People from overseas, like myself, may think that it's for Bodywash, or a Haircare product, when it's actually a refill for the handwash.

"Conditioning" doesn't also make it clearer that what it's for, it may be a conditioner (haircare), conditioning bodywash, or..?---bottom line, is that it's not really clear what it's used for.


My suggestion (solution) for this is to enlarge the font, and make it so that it's big enough so people can see it. It's as simple as that. Oh, and as Andrew said-- maybe put some kind of picture of hands so that people can know that it's for handwash.

Experience Enrichment -- TOAST! Butter Dish

TOAST! Butter Dish.

Actually, it's more like a butter dish set, as the "Toasts" are actually butter knives.

My target consumer for this product is kids aged 3 to 6 -- male or female, although girls would probably prefer it more than boys.


The idea behind this is that I think breakfast is a way people start their day, so why not making something pleasurable that can be used during breakfast. When the father's have to go work in the office and the kids have to go to school, breakfast is the only time they can actually talk and discusses things.


The butter dish is shaped like a toaster and the butter knives/spreader as toasts, just to make it look more fun and cute, as it's what kids focus on.
I made the shape really simple and just focus more on the color, cause I think that's one of the foremost important things for kids -- it has to be visually pleasing, and nice, bright colors is the only thing that's gonna make it pops out compared to other butter dish that I've seen. My main focus for this is the colors, so I did put a lot of thought into it. I used unisex colors -- white, yellow and green for the lid, and orange for the bottom part-- with white on the inside, this is especially colored to make the butter looks better (... it rhymes!). The colors are also picked because the combination of colors is fun and elegant at the same time. For the real material, I would really like to use plastic, as it is lighter and environmentally friendly -- and it doesn't shrink when put into refrigerator, and can be easily cleaned.



For the 4 Pleasures :
--IDEO:
It has bright colors, and that makes kids happy.


--PSYCHO:
It is fun to use, especially because it's shaped like a toaster, and the knives shaped like toasts.


--PHYSIO:
The surface is really smooth, and it has round edges, which makes it safe for kids.


--SOCIO:
Kids at these ages (3-6) love to talk and interact with their peers, so the shape and the color of this makes it an interesting point for them to talk with other kids and also a talking point.


POSTER:


PEER COMMENTS:
1. Guida Arezzi

2. Glenaldy Janto

3. Lucy Zhang

4. Alissa Sanders

5. Kate Barclay

Yves Behar - Designing Objects that Tell Stories

It is undeniable that Yves Behar is a talented industrial designer, the designs presented in this lecture all oozes elegance and have originality to it.
Yves believes that designs should have a humanistic sense to them, and as designers, we really need to think how to create relationship between our work and the world.


There are some designs that I really like in this video: the light fixture for Swarovski; the watch for MINI COOPER; and Jawbone.


Morpheus Chandelier


The idea behind this is just spectacular, and the visual aspect of it is breathtaking. The design enables us to change the shape and texture of the light from computer. It's innovative and it's beautiful and pleasurable to look at.

The one thing that I'm disappointed about in this video is that (as one commenter pointed out), that Yves failed to include how each object tells a story. Sure, it's beautiful, but it doesn't tell a story (at least for me) and he didn't seem to try to tell the story behind each object. The key aspects of the lecture, for me is almost the same as those in Don Norman's lecture.

This lecture, although doesn't deliver what is promised in the title, is still important for industrial designer to learn that adding humanistic sense to designs will completely elevate them to a whole new level.


Photo of Yves Behar taken from:
http://www.dezeen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/2b.jpg

Video available @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGn8F4j6pH8

Don Norman - Emotional Designs

In this video, Don Norman explains about emotional design. Emotional design is defined by designs which sparks some kind of reaction when people see it, even if it's useless or not as useful as other ordinary designs. He then went on to give examples, the first one is Phillip Starck Juicer by Alessi and the second one is the MINI COOPER automobile. Both has flaws but they're also interesting, and that makes the flaws not so unacceptable anymore. Although the gold-plated juicer cannot be used for making juices and the car has many faults, the aesthetics of both designs are exciting and different, it sparks a reaction from people.

I completely agree with his observations and view points, since I also think that pleasant design works better. The example (watches) that he has given proves that sometimes beautiful aesthetics triumphs over function. Even if an object is really functional but is not pleasing to look at, people will not wear/ use it, let alone buy it.

There are 2 designs that caught my attention the most; the ping pong table with an image of water and fishes projected on it, and the Jack Cress' chair.
Sure, the fishes are distracting the players from really focusing on the game, but it is fun and exciting to look at. I really like the Jack Cress' chair, and it is a good example of an emotional design -- people reacts instantly after seeing the image of the chair.

This is very important for industrial designers for them to know that sometimes design doesn't have to be all about function -- the appearance of the products matters too. Combining those 2 aspects of design is even better, just like the teapot which Don talked about in the video, the design is pleasing, interactive -- and it has a good function as well.


Image taken from: http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/de2008/images/day_images/don_norman.jpg

Video Available @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlQEoJaLQRA

Task 3: Good Design - Poster

Product: X-System

This task has given me an opportunity to use Photoshop, a program which I rarely use. Making this poster has made me realized why I wanted to take Design in the first place. The beauty, function and aesthetic of this product is really good and well-balanced, and I just hope that one day I'll be able to create something like this.

David Kelley - Human Centred Design

I've learned alot from this inspirational video about David Kelley, discussing about him and his firm's works over the years.


The video is about David Kelly, who is a great designer, talking about how he focuses more and more of his work on Human-Centered Design, human centered-ness in approach to design, which involves designing behaviors and personality into products.

5 innovative works of his are introduced, which are all human-centered.

I think all of them are very innovative, since I've never seen anything like it, and I am particularly impressed by his work for Prada. The scanning device that enables people to see how it looks like in different sizes and in the runway, the Liquid Crystal in the dressing room, a scanner for security reason and the magic mirror. The magic mirror, I think will be sought after by many high-end fashion stores, since it can enable customers to see them wearing clothes in different angles. However, I think there can be improvement for the magic mirror. If only the customer is able to zoom in and out, so they can see them wearing the clothes from afar, whether it fits them perfectly or not.



The interactive wall in London museum and the interactive game are pretty good, since the combination of colors and lightings seems to match, enabling people who come to visit to see something beautiful and will be able to learn more about the museum as well.

However, the Dilbert cubicle, although good, seems to bland and I think, is not imaginative or playful enough for that kind of office environment.

The display for the London museum, I have to say is genius, since it oozes elegance and allows visitors to learn easily as well. The colors picked is excellent since it is designed for a quiet environment, and the dark colors, combined with the usage of bright colors, which aren't too bright are perfect in complimenting each other to achieve the feel of a quiet environment.

I have to say I am disappointed by the innovation of SpyFish, although still in development, the usage of cable which is connected to a device located on the boat can endanger the people on the boat. The camera (device), which is put underwater, if hits an aggressive predator (which it did on the video), I think, can possibly trigger an aggresive behavior which will make the fish try to eat the device (pulling of the device) which causes the boat to be unstable, and eventually loses balance and flips over, endangering the people inside it.

The last one that he talked about (Approtec), is important for designers, that is to inspire them to actually design for people who need it. The fact that the proceeds is going to charity and that it accounts 0.6% of Kenya's GDP is amazing.

After watching this video, I finally understand how designers can make people's lives easier using their designs, and also that in order to do well in design, I have to be able to understand many kinds of material and study them to be able to design something good or decent.

Industrial designers are encouraged to see this video because this man will inspire them to make something innovative, useful and able to help people who need it. It also teaches people that sometimes creating a good design can take years (the Spyfish project has taken him 8 years to develop!).

Image taken from:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Y_6VEo8Jf4UMkutXiRcigczFxk84tPL5hnSU5pYk1Uu2xW8vvpZ7nFFp6jUru6DvHtWcogPbtsTL-I_2wFHYx-IWyMSvr4Ia0LSxog6_OosiQ7m4oY2ftRuCtSvXo_cHghGbDx4xD2rH/s400/DavidKelley.jpg

Video Available @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXndL3TNCmo