Product Sketching

Car of the Future: Charles Frederick Beauvais 1936


I chose this design to sketch because i thought it was intriguing. Cars are a very common thing in our lives now but we seldom stop to wonder how each car was developed and put together from scratch. This car was the first rear engined vehicle so i just thought it was interesting to see how its form related to its function.


"Marc I" Chair: Marc Newson

This product captured my attention because of its shape. This doesn't look like a very comfortable seat and probably isn't but the shapes that are combined to make this chair creates an interesting look. It would be more of a sculptural piece rather than a practical piece.


Catalytic Converter: 1980

This was also another invention that amazed me because it has to do with cars. Its an improvement to cars. A design that is meant to facilitate another one which is almost like redesigning the car itself. This would be a perfect example of form follows function. Everything about this converter does its job properly and there aren't really any extra parts but partly because this product would not be seen.


VentrAssist Heart Pump: Ventracor
This intricate design is both aesthetically pleasing and very useful. This is the type of design i would aspire to come up with because it not only looks attractive for what it does but its also something that changes peoples lives in a good way. This is the type of organic design that i think is successful. The shape is taken from something already available made by nature and its function is to assist rather than to do something for you.

Video Reflections 4: Paul Bennet - Design is in the Details

This video captured my attention right from the beginning when Paul Bennett stated that there is this threat that we are doing things to satisfy the big companies while smaller things such as the individual are left out. So what he wants is for the individuals to facilitate the big companies thus satisfying both.

His one example to show the big companies what really happens with the individual that experiences their environment. The video showed what the patient sees while in a hospital bed and it was just a 6 minute video of the ceiling. This was a good example of how design was made to satisfy the big companies but not for the individual who has to actually use the room. His solutions were to simply make the place more interactical for everybody. Make the patient feel like he has his own space and that people will talk to him there.

His second set of slides showed how people's experiences can lead to a new design such as just simplifying things with a whole lot of boxes becoming just one crate. Another point of design that he states that people design things through their own experience. They don't have to be designers to do that because its just human instinct. We follow a line on the ground when we walk, if there is a knob then we would most likely try to turn it so it is all just subconscious instincts that people do which lead to designs of new products.

He then went to talk about we could also put that same philosophy to children. They also have natural instincts to their environment so if we were to put ourselves in their shoes, we could get a better idea of what they would be feeling. Somethings that we personally would not think is practical may be ingenious to another so designing in consideration for the individual would help the product become more successful than people would think.

In the end, its about picking your battles. Picking specific products that you can handle but designing it so that it would make a big enough impact on individuals.

Video Reflections 3 : Yves Behar - Creating Objects that tell Stories

This video originally had me thinking that all design had roots and they were all based on something that had happened before or an event that triggered the way something would have been designed. To be able to design well, we need to all look back on what effected us to want to design. These would range from small events such as when you might have watched cars go by with the parents or when you decided to have a run at the park in the middle of the night which ended up as a bad idea. These are all things that could have triggered the way things can be designed because it involves the experience and an aesthetic that would be imprinted in a persons mind.

As i kept watching, i realized he began to confuse me as he says that we should be designed for the events rather than designing from events. He explains how an item should not just be an item, it should mean something and have a connection with people. I then became even more confused as he jumps to start talking about some of the things that he has been doing. I'm not sure exactly what point he's trying to make here but i do understand some things about how design plays a major roll in the interaction with people. Design should give things more than just one primary function, there can be secondary and even tertiary functions.

From these design philosophies he finally describes how design should contain value. People should want to buy something and keep it for what its worth whether it becomes of some sentimental value to them or it was just a good experience. This was pretty evident when he was describing the uses of the Y water bottle. I thought he really reached out about his way of thinking when he talked about his 100$ laptop. It was different as it was colourful, it reached out to its target market and it contained sentimental value to people as he showed with his nephew as an example where his nephew created his own version of the laptop because he liked it so much.

Finally, the way that he distributed the condoms out to the crowd, he really proved his point about values of a product as now those people would probably remember everything about the product because of the way they got it. Although, i learned a lot about Yves' philosophy of design, it was still a bit confusing as he ended with " and thats how we could change the world". That was very confusing for me because i didn't think he was trying to change the world with his designs, i thought they were to look at existing things from a different point of view. I would need to watch this video quite a few more times to understand everything about it but it would help if it weren't so confusing.

Video Reflections 2: Ross Lovegrove - Organic Design

The first impression i got from Ross Lovegrove was that he was too arrogant and to a certain extent, ignorant about anything else besides his point of view. By the end of the video, i knew why. He was so caught up in his own world and everything about it while ignoring anything else because his way was effective. It had been proven to work and has been made to improve many things. The ideas that derive from his way of organic thinking has led to many different forms taking place while at the same time it improved the functionality of the original product. He is also taking whats available to him so rather than to try make something that is totally new and radical to this world, he's just taken whats given to him naturally and translated that into something no one would have associated it with.

I was much inspired by the points he was making about organic design. He states that form can touch a person's soul and by using his acrynom of DNA (Design, Nature Art) he creates essential organic designs which means there are no unnecessary parts to his design. Ross said that he "doesn't set out to make funky things" when talking about the type of design he does which is very straight forward but i think that it would be rather boring to design without any novelty to the product. We are still basic human beings that succumb to shallow entertainment and one of those things that entertain us are funky colours and objects that have no other purpose than to be seen.

I was very impressed by the way he incorporated past century artists with the way an industrial designer should be working. He included Rembrandt, Da Vinci and a few others when explaining how we can intellectually see natural happenings and then translate that into a design form. He looks at a painting of water falling into water from Da Vinci and redoes one himself with 21st century tools to create a new water bottle. The result of his water bottle form that has a sense of individualism because each bottle is different really pushes his point forward that design should be inspired by nature.

Another thing that he stressed about in his speech was the use of new age materials. He describes the manipulation of polymers and other similar types of materials to be the new thing that everyone should be using. He incorporates not just using these materials for everyday products but also specific products such as ones that would be used for medicine. That point was very interesting for me because not only was he finding ways to improve everyday objects, but he was doing that while considering other fields that may need specific products.

In the end, the point that really got to me was the fact that he wanted people to understand that forms can evolve from anything. His explanation of form deriving from even a meringue was very insightful as most people would consider a meringue just something to eat. I very much agree with his statement regarding how form should be following nature, it should also evolve naturally and instinctively to create harmonious structures. I mostly agree with how he wants to take away any materials you don't need to do the job but the job may not always be as simple as one thing so while contradicting him a little bit, i think from watching this video, organic forms are going to be the new way of designing as mother nature has provided us with more than enough successful forms but adding human touches once in a while is what makes us evolve faster than any other specie.

Video Reflections 1: David Kelley - Human Centred Design

Before watching David Kelleys presentation on human centred design, i had an implanted idea that design was always meant to be produced for the users while the approach that David Kelley took was to also design with the user to create a product that was personalized and seemed to almost be a part of the user. The video allowed me to see design from a different perspective and to take into account a number of different factors when looking at new ideas or ways to improve existing products.

I found a number of topics very interesting in this video but the one that stood out to me the most was the research on how to make a cubicle more "friendly". The idea of wanting the walls of the cubicle to hug rather than enclose the person within those walls generated some very clever outcomes. It shows that designing is not all about brainstorming and making models to come up with ideas. It also includes putting a person in an inanimate object to make it almost human, to have a personality that a person can interact with. The flowers that were placed on the cubicle walls that wilted and bloomed as a person would come and go made me realize that not only did it put some emotion into the cubicle, but it also made the user feel wanted. It seems very shallow but the feeling when you enter a cubicle and all the flowers blossom would brighten anyones day.

The next topic that i found interesting was how design could be personalized depending on the context it was designed for. I found this very outstanding in the designs for the Prada store and the museum in London. Both were designed to suit the nature of what was happening in the building and for the people that would go to these places. The designing of these places not only considered what was going to be in the area but also the cultural role that it would play to the customers. The Prada store being a high end fashion store wanted to be unique so that it made their costumers also feel unique. This demand was met by the store having its own custom technology from the magic mirrors that allow customers to see their backs to the store scanners.

Although this video talks a lot about personalizing technologies to their users, it also talks about a different type of human centred design such as the water pumps designed for Kenyans allowing them to grow crops during the off season. This type of design is not so much the personality of the product but the usefulness it is to the people it was designed for. These water pumps were designed specifically for those who need water during the seasons of drought but the pumps are also made of a simple pumping mechanism so producing a lot of these would not be a big problem. This products meets the needs of the users and also allows for itself to be made by what it's composed of.

To sum everything up, this video was a great learning process to me as a viewer but it would be informative to anyone else who isn't necessarily in the design industry but wants to be informed with what is happening in the world on technology and design. The way that products are rearranged, personalized and customized to meet the needs of their users is something i aspire to do in the future.

Good Design: Eva Solo Grill Blasting Brush

Eva Solo Grill Blasting Brush











Designer : Claus Jensen & Henrik Holbæk (Tools Design)

Industrial Design Excellence Award 2008

Eva Denmark is a company known to produce high quality and innovative products. They always look to combine functionality with uniqueness as to personalize each of their products to its users. For the Eva Solo brush, the company turned to designers Jensen and Holbæk to design a brush which would be unique and have enhanced abilities as an everyday brush. Jensen and Holbæk would need to identify the problems of existing brushes and then create solutions on improving those aspects.

Jensen and Holbæk came up with a design that combined simplicity and high quality together creating an award winning brush. The slender design of the brush gives it a unique smoothness that would match the most contemporary and elegant of homes. The stainless steel maintains a clean and reflective surface showing off its quality of finish. With these properties, the Eva Solo is perfect for its target market which is the home cooker in need of an effective and elegant kitchen utensil.
One of the problems that many brushes had were that the brush hairs came loose and fell into the food while brushing it so Jensen and Holbæk made the Eva Solo bristles out of steel instead. This proves to be much stronger and less likely to snap off while in use. The steel brush hairs are actually spring coils which allow the user to spread fluids evenly and effectively. When dipped in a fluid the spring traps the fluid within its coils which acts as an fluid storage system. When the springs are brushed against a surface, the springs bend which then opens up the coils allowing the fluid to flow out of the springs.


Visual Design Analysis:
Line: Straight hard continues lines along with colour of material shows rigidity and strength of the product.
Line: Simplicity shown by the lack of curves.

Balance: Entire brush is flat and smooth allowing it to lie firmly on any flat surface.

Contrast: Metal surface allows light to reflect off surface creating a shiny and clean look.

Form: Rigid, making it look mechanical.
Form: With all the edges and corners, the brush resembles a steel structure.
Form: Straight handle of the brush provides easy grip for the user.
Form: Slim rectangular shape makes the brush stand out from other general utensils.
Form: Thin and flat shape make the brush easy to store.

Colour: Natural stainless steel grey gives the brush a sleek contemporary look
Colour: Monotone colour creates a more high scale and quality product as finish can be clearly seen

Texture: Smooth surface allows for a high quality feel. Appeals to users.

Proportion: Long straight handle creates the overall look and form of the brush.


Websites with more information on the Eva Solo Grill Blasting Brush
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/07/0717_idea_winners/99.htm
http://www.evasolo.dk/Info-pressroom/01-02-2007-grillproducts.html

Shape of a Scent

Lime, Basil and Mandarin by Jo Malone





























From my perception of the smell, I've created a plasticine model that represents a confined water drop. The scent gives a feeling of freshness and freedom from cool water drops while still portraying an image of a mature woman. The confinement of the water drop is what represents the maturity of the scent giving the meaning that freedom does start to fade a little with age but the freshness will always be there.