What Is design? by Bill Moddridge

In Bill Moddridges lecture he speaks about what design is. He not only speaks about industrial design but he also talks about what design is in all disciplines. He speaks about the design of not only tangible products such as products, clothing, interiors and houses but also the design of processes such as services and applications. He points out that without bad design we are not able to recognize good design. As designers we must think of not only making a product look good but we also need to have the end user in mind and think of what their needs are.  We must analyse the process of the intended use and test it and experiment on how to improve it. For example, with the i-mode service of buying a drink using your mobile phone. When tested the user was confused and also had to wait over 30 minutes to receive their drink.

I really liked the point he made about the importance of observation, experimentation and prototyping. To design for other people is to observe their daily lives to further learn what they need. If you are to ask someone, “what do you need?” they probably could not tell exactly what they need but if you are to study them you can learn more. For example, the customers of the Bank of America wanted to save more money. They were probably asked “what do you need?” and the answer was most likely money. So the bank started an initiative called keep the change where the bank saved up all the roundings of change into an account. This was good design because the needs were met and all parties were happy.

The other point I took away from the blog was the importance of working with other design disciplines. The IDEO company now has architects, industrial designers, interior designers and even engineers. This helps to understand things we don’t understand in our own fields. If you are to work with an engineer, they will not think like a designer so they will work with a designer to improve the process or the aesthetics of the product.

I learned a lot from having watched this video and will take it all in through my design process in the future.

UPCYCLING: lamps

I drew inspiration for this design from my love of all things feminine and from my Asian background. The shape of the lamp is reminiscent of the female figure in a ball gown with its curvy silhouette and cinched in middle. The scalloped edges soften the hard edge and creating a more flower-like effect following the theme of the ball gown.

I decided to play with the polypropelene’s flexibility. While I was travelling around Asia, I came across villagers who would use banana leaves to create their wares and found it quite interesting. I also thought that the material we were given could act very similar to the leaves they were using and create nice curves from it. I researched different weaving techniques, from basket weaving to fabric weaves such as twill weave and sateen, but found that the plain weave worked best to gain the results I was after. The weaving pattern creates a diffused light pattern when a soft yellow bulb is used.

The packaging for this product is minimal and doesn’t take up much area when being transported. It is the size of half a mailing tube and can easily be assembled, disassembled and re-packed if necessary. The actual lamp design yields a minimum of 6 lamps per sheet (1800mm x 1500mm), and because it is made up of mostly straight edges the shapes tessellate and waste is kept to a minimum. 

The lamp is easy to assemble with a comprehensive instruction manual.

This is the cutting layout for the lamp design. As you can see, there is minimal waste and yields approximately six lamps per sheet of 1800mm x 1500mm.

 

Peer comments

These are a few of my favourite products from my peers and therefore thought I'd comment.

1. http://jacquelinebui3377777.blogspot.com/2011/09/hero-shot.html?showComment=1315917598203#c6064196017917523663

2. http://lubar-han.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment.html#comments

3. http://kirstiecocokiost.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment.html#comment-form

4. http://feliciaides1122.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-experience-enrichment.html#comment-form

5. http://idesluke.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-experience-enrichment-water.html#comment-form

Presentation Day

Product Rationale

This product is designed to enrich the users experience when it comes to working their muscles. It is mainly designed for woman who want an alternative to the usual bulky,  masculine and sometimes intimidating looking weights that are commonly found in most gyms. Its sleek lines and curves gives the product more of a feminine shape, but the bulging ends is suggestive of biceps which the user may want to achieve. In its stationary position the product looks to be more of sculpture than a dumb-bell which allows the user to house it somewhere in the home where it will remind them they should work out more often. It’s shiny chrome finish gives the cast iron and steel material a modern and clean look.

The handle of the dumb bell is ergonomic allowing the user to feel like it is an extension of one’s hand. The curved “S” shape not only gives the product a sexy line but its function is to help stop slippage of the weight as you do with conventional dumb bells while the straight narrow middle prevents confusion on where or how the product should be held.

 The chosen material for the product is cast iron and steel. The lighter weights are a little more hollowed out in the centre, and as you get heavier weights it is filled in more with cast iron. The range of dumb bells starts from 1kg up to 7kg. The shape begins to distort thereafter and if the target market is for women, there really isn’t a need to produce heavier weights.

I believe I have answered the brief in that the  product evokes feelings of pleasure while detracting from fact that you should work out, it instead invites you to pick it up. While the use of elements and principles of design satisfy the visceral, behavioural and reflective emotions.

A model Journey

You can see where it started off as a rough cut piece of MDF. I spent many hours sanding and filing to get the shape to be amorphous, and then many hours still just trying to get the symmetry perfect. And after sanding, I sanded some more with a finer sand paper to get the surface smooth and prepared for priming and then painting.

The Story Of Bottled Water

I’ve always been a tap water drinker, only in desperate measures will I buy a bottle of water. This video exposes the truths about the bottled water industry for exploiting one of our basic human needs, the way in which they scare us from drinking tap water, claiming that it is inferior to their bottled water. The seduce us with their marketing techniques, tricking us into thinking that tap water is for those that can’t afford tap water. I’ve noticed over the years how bottled water has now become just as much an accessory as with a designer handbag, with celebrities in magazines being spotted carrying bottles like Evian, Fiji, Perrier and Bling H²0, further creating a desire for people to buy bottled water in order to emulate the stars. The bottled water industry also mislead us into thinking that tap water is dirty and doesn’t taste as good but according to the video, tests have consistently shown that this is not the case. In Australia, fluoride is put in our tap water to prevent tooth decay, even though the bottled water companies will try and say that there are more minerals in their water. Do these so-called extra minerals warrant the 2000% mark up on their water?

It was shocking to find out exactly how much pollution manufacturing and shipping bottled water created. Not only that but waterways are being polluted because of industries like bottled water companies further increasing our need to buy their product. The recyclable bottles are not exactly recycled the way we would like to think (I like to think that they are reused and recycled over and over again), but they are not. The bottles are shipped (using up more fossil fuels in transportation) to India to be “downcycled” and/or dumped there.

As designers it is important to know what our impact is to the environment and the community when it comes to marketing our products. I think if you were going to disrupt the balance of nature we should offset it by doing something positive, like planting trees and using recyclable or recycled materials, or in the case of the bottled water industry maybe they should set up projects to help supply water to those who do not have clean, safe drinking water.

Sydney Design Weekend

Here are some of my favourite pieces from my weekend of visiting design exhibits across Sydney.

This chair is from the Japanese Design exhibit in Chifley Plaza. It is a massage chair but I love it because it looks minimal yet inviting, and doesn't look bulky like the other massage chairs I've seen in shopping centres.

This watering can won a prize at the Australian Design Awards. It is a watering can that you can fill while waiting for your shower to reach its correct temperature.

I found this costume at the exhibit in Ultimo TAFE. Its a students work and has many panels and gathering that would have taken quite some time. 

This is my favourite piece from the entire weekend. The lamp looks simple enough, but I love that it looks like a giant desk lamp making everything else in the room looks smaller.

This chainlink fence can be seen at the Love Lace exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum. It is very clever how the designer has knitted the wire into this beautiful intricate pattern that would otherwise be found in industrial/construction sites to deter people from entry. Here the pattern is attracting the viewer to take a closer look.

My design career

My passion for design started back in high school when I was inspired by my design and technology teacher. Although back in high school I was more interested in fashion design, after finishing high school I went on to do a course in textiles, clothing and footwear at Ultimo Tafe. There I gained valuable experience in clothing production and design. My qualifications enabled me to work initially as a pattern grader for an evening gown company. Subsequently I went on to spend 6 years in the industry employed as a pattern maker, assistant designer, production coordinator and marker maker for companies that manufactured items such as sleepwear, kidswear and ladieswear. I enjoyed my time in the fashion industry because it was fast paced and challenging, however I never found my niche. That’s when I decided to learn new things and expand my horizons and apply for industrial design at uni.

My family and I are very hands on, for example, my older brother is a cabinetmaker and the company he works for manufactures some incredible products using PMMA, an acrylic resin that can be easily heated and moulded into various forms. My younger brother was an art teacher who also needed a career change due to lack of creativity in his current occupation. Now he is a stonemason creating sculptures using sandstone and marble as his medium. I love seeing what they create and am inspired to use mediums other than textiles for my own work.

After finishing this course I hope to be able to work in furniture design and hopefully get a family business started with my siblings. It would be great if we could design and create interiors, furniture and gardens. That is one of my main goals but product design and graphics also interest me and I hope to incorporate that into my future. Although I have yet to find my design style, I would like to be ecologically conscious when I form my ideas and use sustainable materials. I admire designers that can utilize materials we have and make it into something new again. I would also like to be able to help those that are less fortunate to be able to help themselves, for example the Approtec project. They help the Kenyan people to build their own community using their own resources, or help them transport water much easier than they have been or providing heat with their homes without electricity and prevent smoke inhalation. As you can see, I want to start small but I have big plans. J

Design Confusion

Here is one example of how some design can cause confusion.

Design Exellence Award

The Seaglass project Tuna board has revolutionised the alaia board. The design is very sleek and sexy and entices professional riders and beginners alike.

Human Centred Design

Ted Kelley's lecture on human centred design is interesting because he talks about how design is now about making things more like life and how behaviour and personality is incorporated in designing too. For example, when they were asked to design a cubicle for the character Dilbert. They made it so that his cubicle replicated what was happening outside. The orange colours represented the sun, and the placement of them represented the movement of the sun.  

The Prada concept store with its fancy LCD doors, scanners and displays was a little much for me. I just think that it would be more difficult to train the staff in how to use the technology. Even as a marketing tool, I would think that having a sales consultant discuss and explain the products would be more human centred seeing as the customer will be face to face with a human.  I do, however , like the idea of the 3-second delay on the camera in the change room so that you can see what it looks like from the back.

Other ideas Ted Kelley spoke about was the spyfish. A camera device which lets you see what is going on under water. Mainly designed for those who want to go scuba diving but don’t like to get wet or perhaps don’t want to encounter the dangers of drowning a getting eaten alive! It was specifically designed so that it is easy and fun to use, rather than the  research type cameras which do the same thing.

I feel the last two ideas were a bit indulgent but I did like the company Approtec. They are a company that help Kenyans to build their own tools that will in turn make their life easier. They make pumps, irrigation tools and sowing tools in order for the Kenyans to help themselves. I like that it has helped their economy by using Kenyan labour, and Kenyan resources.

So, even though I found that that some ideas were over indulgent they are still human centred. The question you need to ask is, who is the human in mind when you are designing?

Don Norman speaks about emotion of design

This video of Don Norman talking about the emotion of design is very enlightening. He speaks of the 3 different types of emotional design, Visceral, behavioural and reflective emotion.  The main point he tries to convey is that not only is a product successful if it does the job, but it should also make us feel something, whether it be happiness or belonging and also be pleasant to look at. So when we design things we need to keep these three types of emotional design in mind.

Designing for visceral emotion plays on the pre-existing knowledge in our brains. As human beings, he suggests that we tend to prefer to feel happy over sad, like the look of bright colours as opposed to dull, and we dislike scolding voices because it is how our brains are wired. For example, you can evoke an emotion using a colour like red, which could portray hot, or buying a water bottle for look of the bottle and not the actual water.

Another emotional design tactic is behavioural design. This is to make the person feel in control. Because we do most things subconsciously, designing for this makes the user feel like they have more control. Much like using the Global knife to cut a tomato, the knife was designed to be light and easy to cut with.

The reflective level of emotion deals with how the user wants to be perceived. It may be that they want to be seen as rich so they buy a flashy watch. It could also be that they want to belong to a certain group of exclusivity, like the small group of mini cooper drivers or Porche drivers.

After having seen this video it has stirred some thoughts around in my head. Where is the balance between functionality and aesthetics? In times of financial crisis would people still be willing to buy the Starck  juicer for the simple fact that it looks good? Perhaps, during tough times a pleasant looking object would help to lift spirits. All in all a thought provoking video by Don Norman.