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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Bad Design


'The Duet' Apartment has a very unique lift. You can't just press the floor number to get up, instead you have to press a 5-digit code number for YOUR floor, because it's different for every floor.

The designer most probably prioritize the safety of the residents, but it makes it hard to operate, especially for elderly.

My proposed improvement would be to change it to operate like a normal lift.

Ross Lovegrove: Organic Designs

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ross_lovegrove_shares_organic_designs.html

To be honest, this is one of the few inspirational talks I've heard. It is an emotional talk, and to me it seems like he's not having an easy time talking about it because it's a hard thing to explain why he is so into nature's organic design and his passion, although he enjoyed it. It's also very unbelievably incredible how he sticks to his philosophy of nature, no matter what people think. He doesn't care about standards, he just wants to take those "inspired-by-nature dreams" home. He's trying his best and reaching for his dreams.

His concept of DNA (Design/Nature/Art) is the thing that conditions his life, and based on this, he designs. His design of the Ty Nant water bottle looks different from the others, and its form touches people's soul and emotion just like what he said at the start of the talk about what he wants to talk about. However, I personally think that what makes that bottle special is the fact that it fits every hand (and he said that every bottle is different) with its unique form. Another very interesting design is the future car - no engine, everything's holistically integrated, less material, sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and useful both as a car and a street lamp. A very unique and thoughtful design.

In short, Ross Lovegrove aims for a fat-free, healthy and efficient products - using less materials and different and more unique forms. He believes that the most beautiful forms are found in nature, and only nature, and so he tries to learn and apply it to his designs.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Experience Enrichment - WHISK


Mood Board:


Poster:
My design is a squid-inspired whisk. I got my idea while I was thinking why whisks all look the same, and what if children use it (children who enjoys coooking, baking, etc.) Wouldn't it be more fun if it's more colourful? different, playful shape? Target market is children, mainly ages 8-13. Although, older young-at-heart people would also be interested in it. The value I wanted to imply was FUN, which is represented by the shape and colour. Striking colours are used so that it's appealing and inviting to children. The colours also generate happiness which in turn brings about creativity.

The whisk also has a new function added to it; it can hold water inside the handle and water will come out from holes on the tentacles. Open the top part of the handle (like opening a bottle) to fill water in, and twist the bottom part of the handle to let water flow out from the tentacles.

The real product will be made of silicone (handle) and strong plastic (tentacles). Also, it will be available in a variety of colours. There are no sharp corners for safety.


Physio-pleasure:
  • different shape from other whisks, new feel to the touch of a whisk
  • comfortable, good grip

Socio-pleasure:
  • social identity (children, young-at-heart people)
  • talking point because the product is unique and quirky


Psycho-pleasure:
  • fun to use, so, fun in the whole process (cooking/baking) too.
  • interesting new feature/function

Ideo-pleasure:
  • fun and refreshing view for people in the kitchen as they don't see colorful whisks very often
  • the squid shape can be used to introduce children to animals


*( Thank you to the little girl for being my model, and the parents for the permission (: )


Peer comments: