Peer Comments for Upcycled Utility

Peer Comments for Project 2:
1: Doug Cusack: http://dougcusack-ides1031.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-two-upcycled-utility-box.html?showComment=1318850408553#c1364510018485120161

2: Cherrie Fillisia: http://cf-indesign.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-upcycled-utility.html?showComment=1318916077928#c4040459178847630025

3: Max Glanville: http://maxglanvillez3333044.blogspot.com/2011/10/up-cycling-poster_17.html?showComment=1318916490688#c533080288971680834

4: Sarah Howard: http://sarahoward1031.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcycling-utility.html?showComment=1318916842612#c4308672264322939637

5: Lizhaozhao:  http://lizhaozhao3329407.blogspot.com/2011/10/light.html?showComment=1318917070263#c4520852876182038534

Project 2: Upcycled Recycling

 Rationale

Project Two: Upcycled Utility

By Luke Messina

Throughout this project the exploration between industrial design and ecological sustainability has been a major issue as the environment and the minimization of solid waste into the environment is something that needs to be reduced dramatically if we want to preserve our future. 

My whole design of this upcycled utility was based on organic forms and nature. My poster was made up of a multitude of colours and from the beginning my idea was to use these colours in a way that my design can put emphasise on the beauty and elegance in nature that surrounds us all. For example, the long elegant curl of the design seems to copy the curl of a plant opening its branches and stems in summer and the varying colours throughout the design reflects the different shades of colours that you see when flowers bloom. 

Even though my inspiration gave me a few good ideas, I needed to somehow come up with a way to make my design minimize solid waste generation and be flatpacked into an Australian Post box (standard size). To start off, I experimented with a number of easy ways this type of material could join together through the use of folding and cutting and after a variety of models come up with a way to secure my strips of plastic together onto the frame, while still allowing movement within the design. Each strip is cut in the centre with a (X) and when fitted onto a round bamboo frame provides enough friction to stay in any place it is put, but is still able to be moved in a variety of different ways, depending on the user and their interests. The quality and strength of the material used is shown through the way each strip is held together and when the lamp is fully assembled, an elegant shape is formed by both the sharp edges and the curved shape.

Overall, I used about 55% of the material given to me, and although 45% of that material was not used it should not be classified as ‘wastage’ as it could have a variety of other uses. For example, the leftover material could be used partly for packaging, or could be included in my postage box as spare parts just in case a strip of plastic is damaged. Although I made my model by hand, it could however be mass produced using CNC (Computer Numerical Control) to cut the plastic sheet into strips. Although it says in the brief to consider your product and mass manufacturing, I do not believe that this would be the best option as mass manufacturing would have an even bigger impact on the environment, when the whole point of this project is to minimize solid waste generation.

In conclusion, the process of design in this product was constantly evaluated each week with the help of others, and I believe that this had a significant impact on the final design of this product which, in the end, will significantly increase the success of my product if it ever landed on the open market. 

Heroshot:

Cutting Diagram:

Overall I only used about 55% of the material, the wastage was 45% however, it could be used for other things, including packaging, back up strips for my lamp etc. Scale is 1:5, so the estimated dimensions of the poster was 1220x1840.... therefore in scale the size of the poster is 244x368 and i used a section which measures 204x232, so when a multiply them and subtract my wastage = 47%.


User Instructions:

Flatpacked:

Other Photos:

R.I.P Steve Jobs

Video Blog Bill Moggridge: What Is Design?

Bill Moggridge: What Is Design?

In his video Bill explores the nature of design in everyday life and in society. Since nearly everything in the world is man-made, nearly everything in the world is designed and with these designs, Bill talks about how bad designs are needed in order to show us which designs are the best. In his video Bill Moggridge shows us examples of both bad and good designs. He states that in the design process of a product there is still a big separation between the design of the product and of the applications that are used in conjunction with that product, that is why most of your bad designs today are connected to technology.

In this video Bill talks about the key aspects of the design process and says that if you have a sophisticated understanding of how people think, their needs and desires and have a sophisticated way of building prototypes then you are most likely to succeed in the design process. Good innovation is achieved when you conduct qualitative research in order to understand and interpret what people want and need. When you understand the needs of society, you are then able to design your product from a business perspective and the combination of both these aspects will greatly increase your chances of success on the market. The design process is always important when thinking about a new project and although Bill states that the main aspects of the process are prototypes and the understanding of how people interact with the product, constant evaluation is also important. The design process is not a set list of instructions that you have to follow when designing a product. Depending on your design brief and the constraints of your design, the design process might change as the constant evaluation will force you to look over your mistakes and make you start again.

Another important point made in this video is that when you are designing a product you should always consider every aspect of the design and not just those aspects which relate to yourself. For example, designers who are left handed, wouldn't design a handheld tool that can only be used for left handers, but would consider every aspect of the target market, e.g. left vs right, big vs small, old vs young, strength vs weak, and then would change his design accordingly.

Peer Comments

Here is a list of the blogs which I have commented on:

1: http://christine-x.blogspot.com/2011/09/spatula-concept-poster-hero-shot.html?showComment=1315833148953#c8896063821679569155

2:http://cf-indesign.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-confusion.html?showComment=1315833584693#c2043040424086222038

3:http://studio3289813.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-confusion.html?showComment=1315833758841#c1247615845699108156

4:http://designingantheasworld.blogspot.com/2011/08/task-2-design-poster.html?showComment=1315834044757#c4722387182802979851

5:http://thesolidstate.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-excellence-poster.html?showComment=1315834245890#c3816894565106636203

6:http://cf-indesign.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-excellence-wilkhahn-chassis.html?showComment=1315834489055#c6494928586060583435

7:http://studio3289813.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment-storyboard.html?showComment=1315900074950#c4945409074616339753

8.http://camillekordek.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-farourite-assignment-yet.html?showComment=1315900375598#c1535093088875547097

9:  http://ghinaali.blogspot.com/2011/09/luxury-at-your-hands.html?showComment=1316188955168#c3172690012424428383

10: http://designingantheasworld.blogspot.com/2011/09/assignment-stuff.html?showComment=1316189226873#c6163972723656787117

11: http://rowenagoodall.blogspot.com/2011/09/usage-storyboard-garlic-crusher.html?showComment=1316189528604#c4705076136267265340

Project 1: Experience Enrichment, The Water Wiper

Here is the list of things we needed to complete for our first studio design project and what I have posted in the following order:


-Product Poster

-Product Usage Storyboard

-Rationale

Experience Enrichment Product Rationale

By Luke Messina (z3376270)

My window wiper design is unique for the main reason that it explores a whole new area of ergonomics than the variety of other window wipers on the market. For example, my design uses an ergonomically enhanced handle that allows maximum comfort for the wrist while reducing the strain that normal window wipers usually generate. My design does this by creating a handle that allows your wrist to remain in a straight position relieving the pain one usually receives when wiping from side to side with another product.

When deciding on the shape of this product, I used curves and free flowing lines to make this product aesthetically pleasing while still catering to the functionality between the product and its human user. As you can see with my model the curve that represents the handle has been designed in a way that when you grip the handle, the curve feels like it fits in the palm of your hand as it follows the natural way your fingers sit while gripping an object. The small and smooth indent which you might not even realize is there has been purposely placed so that your thumb naturally sits in the position allowing the user to subconsciously realize the right way to hold the product while allowing the thumb to put pressure on the wiper without it slipping off. This indent and the shape of the handle were all made to maximize comfort while also allowing the user to stay in control of the product, especially when being used in a wet environment.

The large handle space allows anyone to use this product with ease and comfort while allowing the product to be hung or placed on a hook or extruding handle in order for it to be stored. This large space also cuts down material usage, which needs to be considered if this product was to be mass-produced. As this product needs to be made from one piece, in order to reduce the amount of small areas where water can penetrate and cause degradation, I have decided that the manufacturing process for my design should be injection molding as the high pressure ensures good surface finish, fine reproduction of detail and excellent repeatability. The thermoplastic scrap used in this process can be recycled in this process however, my product has been designed in a way that combines ergonomics, aesthetics and function to enable the user to keep this product till the end of its life cycle.

In the final stages of my design process I realised that my product is special as it is the only window wiper that is comfortable to use both vertically and horizontally while still allowing maximum comfort for the wrist. If you measure my product you will find that the length of the blade is also slightly longer than the body of my product allowing the wiper to be used in tight corners and spaces. The body of the wiper also does not exceed a width of 20 millimetres at any point on the product, and so does not interfere with the function of the wiper, allowing users to use this product in situations and places where a straight and longer handle would interfere.

My design caters to wide target market as it is easy to use due to enhanced ergonomics and increased wrist protection for every user, however I would have never made it this far without constant evaluation of every aspect of my product. This includes both constructive criticism from my peers as well as constant evaluation by myself throughout my design process and without this my product would not be as successful as others on the market.

-Technical Drawings

The Story of Stuff

Story of Electronics

This video explains the life cycle analysis of electronic goods and how these goods all have a devastating impact on the environment whether they are recycled or not. Built in obsolescence and design for the dump are two ways in which products are designed so that they force the consumer to upgrade or buy a newer version of their product when the old one has become unusable. Big companies make it nearly impossible to fix their products after they break, e.g. through stopping production of old parts, and make it cheaper for the consumer to just buy a new product. This is bad for the environment as the amount of e-waste produced every year numbers in the millions.

People believe that once they throw out a product, that is the end of its lifecycle, however, the products usage by the consumer is only a blip in its whole journey. With the amount of toxins in the product, they need to come out sometime and somewhere. Whether the product is being sent to landfill dumps or overseas recycling plants, poor families, sometimes even children, are risking their health breaking apart the e-waste and releasing toxic materials to find the valuable metals that is used to create electronic consumer items.

So is it the designer’s fault that their designs go to the dump? No, companies keep the human and environmental costs out of sight and away from the designers in order to externalize the true cost of production.  This allows companies to keep designing for the dump and while they get the profit, we have to pay with our health and our lives.  That is why most companies these days are being forced to look after their own e-waste. This is called extended producer responsibility or product take-back, and would force the company to design products that last longer and are less toxic as it would be the cheapest way out.

Story of Bottled Water

Despite what companies think, bottled water is not in demand as most bottled water, when compared to normal tap water is less popular. Companies say that they are just satisfying consumer demands, but who would demand a less tasty, less sustainable and way more expensive product when you could get tap water for free in your kitchen.  Bottled water costs almost 2000x more than normal water, however because of manufactured demand, companies are scaring us and seducing us into buying bottled water, which sometimes is just normal filtered tap water.

As water has sometimes been described as ‘the most environmentally responsible consumer product of the world’, this video shows us how companies will lie about anything in order to make a profit. Each year the oil that is used to make bottled water in the US is enough energy to fuel a million cars and after it is shipped around the world to be sold after its use, it is thrown right back into the garbage to be either sent to landfill dumps or recycling plants.

If companies did not need to ship the large amounts of waste that comes from so called ‘recycled’ bottled water, the money that would be saved could be used to invest in public water infrastructure, but then where would these companies get their profit. Manufactured demand is all about how companies scare us, seduce us and mislead us into buying their products in order to get rich and we are the ones who support them.

Story of Cosmetics

Consumers have no idea what kind of toxic chemicals goes into their products, especially cosmetic products. To find out, we have to go back to one of the key features of our materials economy, ‘Toxics in, Toxics out.’  Less than %20 of chemicals in cosmetics have been assessed for safety and we have no idea what is in the other %80.  The problem does not lie with the consumer choosing the wrong product, but rather with the companies that choose what products to put on the shelves for us to buy. Companies still believe that people really don’t care what goes into the products just as long as it makes them look better and so many cosmetic designers are ignoring the human health cost that toxic chemicals are affecting.

What is even worse then toxic chemicals in out cosmetic products is the way the cosmetic companies have set up their own health and safety committee to self-police their own products as the FDA have left a big hole, and compliance with their recommendations is voluntary.  So, all in all, it is left up to the cosmetic companies to make sure that the products we use are safe, however, it is quite scary that the cosmetic company has the power to make new rules and decide whether or not to follow them.

Product Sketching

The three exhibitions that I visited were quite good and although spending time looking at art is not usually my strong point I did in fact enjoy learning about the variety of products on the market and the many wonderful materials and processes designers create in order to make their products unique.

Communication B Model & Isometric Drawing

Finally finished model after a long day, lets hope the technical drawing goes a bit better.

Mat and Tech Workshop

Hey guys, here are just some photos from everyones cardboard chair design assessment.

My Design Career

My Design Career

In high school I had no clue what I wanted to do as a profession and even when I was applying for university courses last year I still had no idea what subjects I would like and dislike. Although I have always been a design kind of person, there are so many things in the world which I would have liked to do before coming to university, but seeing as I wanted to get ahead in life I figured I mine as well start somewhere and ended up in Industrial Design at UNSW. 

At first I thought this course was unusually hard, however over time I realized that I have grown to like this course and am extremely passionate for it to continue. As I am more of a hands on type of guy, I was never really up for sitting around writing pages and pages of work that counts for nothing and that’s why this subject attracted me so much. The combination of the subjects, e.g. Studio, Materials Technology and Communication, is extremely interesting to me as it challenges my mind without me having to write pages and pages of essays and notes.  As I had taken design subjects all throughout school I had some idea of what was expected and even though this course is tough I felt that it is the right course for me as it is a challenge to be overcome.

 Over the last 3 years I have also had much experience in other ways my life could have gone. E.g. I have worked as a carpenter, plumber and as a manufacturer, however I have found that while the job can be interesting at times, most of the time it is boring. I want a job that I actually like doing, hopefully it wont be as repetitive as lugging bricks back and forth for a couple days at a time, but who knows. Another reason why I picked Industrial Design as my course is because I also love to travel and plan in my later years to move overseas, maybe to America in order to find one of the many design jobs they offer. Although I have always like to design furniture items after experiencing my first project on ‘hand tools’ I would not mind finding a job focusing on consumer products for everyday use.

After my Industrial Design course/career I had also thought about taking up teaching, as the one teacher I actually did like at school was my design and technology teacher and truth be told, it doesn’t seem that hard. Teaching in a way, would be good for me as I like talking and even though school children nowadays are out of control I wouldn’t mind working in a small school maybe somewhere out in the country.

Design Confusion Task 4

Hey everyone, here is my poster for task 4... see if you recognise it.

Design Excellence: Product Poster

Hey everyone, this is the product for my design excellence poster, it is the HP Envy all in one multifunctional printer.

All in all, I think the reason why this product was so popular was because of its compact and unique shape. Its modern, sleek and looks minimalistic and all these qualities of the form of the product add to the success of it on the market. The Envy's easy-to-use ergonomic touch screen was another reason why this product was so popular. People want to be able to connect with their products without much thought, and to do this, systems need to be created in which the users can easily find their way around. For example, this is exactly like Itunes and Apple, although their products are sleek and minimal, it is the user friendly system of Itunes, which makes their products so appealing.

David Kelley's Video: Human Centred Design

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/122

Critical Analysis of Video

This video talks about the way design has changed so that behaviours and personalities are now being included into the designs of all products. In this video, David Kelley talks about how with the introduction of human centred design, designers now have to rethink their whole marketing strategy and come up with new ways in order to communicate a design to the consumer. David stated that before human centred design became popular, 3D models and renderings were quite effective in conveying a designers idea of a product,  however with this new age comes new responsibilities for the designer. In order to communicate a products interaction in its environment, David Kelley says its much more beneficial if a actual functional prototype of the design was made and then tested in the environment it was created for. This, in effect, gives consumers a greater knowledge of the product as they can see in what ways it is being used and the purpose of the product. Knowing why a product is made and understanding its functions can play an important role in the subconscious minds of the consumer when they are purchasing a product. Don Norman's video on emotional design explains why behaviours and personalities are being included in the products design process, through the use of shape, colour and texture. 

In this video through the use of many examples David Kelley shows us how the development of human centred design greatly increases the ergonomics of a product through human interaction. Greater interaction with a product allows the user to understand the product and with understanding comes the desire to buy the product. For example, the Apple corporation understands completely the power of interaction and therefore has three quarters of their store dedicated to improving ergonomics between the user and the product, with the help of its employees.
In summary, human centred design is extremely popular in todays society as consumers need to be convinced why they need a certain product and designers need to convince consumers why theirs is the best product to buy. Designers who incorporate behaviours and personalities into their products ultimately benefit from their unique design process as they are more integrated in the business strategy of companies and therefore are more trusted.

Project 1: Experience Enrichment (Studio 1031)

Hey everyone, just thought i'd update my blog with my 3 concept posters all done and dusted. Although I havn't yet fully worked out how I plan to make the prototypes for each idea, I chose products that would make me use a number of different tools in the process, e.g. lathe, blue foam, laminating etc.

 Window Wiper for Glass

 Light/Dark Salt and Pepper Shakers

Ball pump


These concepts posters were not that hard to create, the only problem I had was deciding which of my ideas were ideal to actually keep.

Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy | Video on TED.com

Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy | Video on TED.com



Critical Analysis of Video

My understanding of Don Norman's blog is that he is changing his outlook towards product design in order to understand what can be defined as beauty. Should a product perhaps, be called beautiful because of the way it functions? or should a product only be called beautiful if its aesthetic quality is pleasing to the eye. What Don Norman is trying to find out is how emotions towards a product can greatly impact on the products success in the global market. If a product is fun and inviting rather than ugly and functional will it ultimately sell more products on the market? I believe it will, as Don Norman states during the video, subconscious emotional feelings play a massive role when analysing products and when he also states ‘I really have the feeling that pleasant things work better,’ we see that human emotions, whether it be fear, anger, happiness can be evoked through design and will ultimately contribute to the success or downfall of a product.

What was interesting to know is that experiments and tests have shown that, being even a little bit happy allows you to think outside the box and promotes creative thinking, whereas being anxious and fearful, due to a deadline, allows you to get your work done, but lacks the creative thinking that you would normally get while you were happy. The Visceral level of design is actually very important to understand as it explains human nature, e.g. what humans are naturally inclined to like, due to the colours, textures and sounds that represent individual feelings and emotions. The behavourial side of design is all about subconscious levels of thinking where you design a product that people automatically feel connected to and in a way feel like they have total control.

The third level of design is called the reflective level of design and although I did not understand Don Norman’s explanation completely I think it refers to designs that are especially designed ‘over the top’ so that people can feel part of something big and grand. For example, products like Hummers, Rolexes and Doc Martins create a sense of belonging to a particular group of people and we as humans want to show off that connection by buying these expensive products. Like Don Norman said, ‘people buy products for their image and not for the products themselves.’

All in all, this video is interesting because it explains the three levels of emotional design, visceral, behavioural and reflective and how they control our thinking on a sub-conscious level and allow us to choose the best product that’s right for us.  

Starting Semester 2 UNSW

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog for 2011, had an awesome holidays and hope you had the same. Just letting you know that the blogs from now on will be for my Studio class in Industrial Design 1031.
Have a good semester everyone :)

Design Passport

Seeing as i dont have a scanner i cant really upload my design passport so i just typed it in :)

Design Passport: To be signed off, completed and handed in 31 May

Luke Messina

Visit a museum

On the 8^th of March 2011, I chose to visit the Powerhouse museum with the intention of broadening my horizons in an effort to understand more about design in our history. As I walked through the museum, they had many sections, which now focus on sustainable design and ‘green’ design. Such products, which I found extremely interesting, included many products like ‘Bambooware’, which successfully reduces plastic waste by making a cheap set of cutlery and plates which can be reused.

Visit an exhibition

I visited the HSC DesignTECH exhibition, which was on show at the powerhouse at the beginning of the year. I saw a number of my fellow students work and was interested to see how most of the design’s that had been chosen for this exhibition included sustainable and/or green designs.

Read and comment on a design blog

I read and commented on a design blog from a website called Ambidextrous and its article about the amount of surplus goods that are wasted every year and how a company called RAFT is collecting these surplus goods and then allowing teachers to come round and pick up whatever materials they want for as cheap as a dollar a bag. It talks about wastage, and its impact on the environment and how even this little act of collecting these surplus goods could help keep millions of tons of waste out of landfill.

Read and comment another students IDES1122 blog

I commented on Oskar’s blog and told him that his post, which was about refillable paint canisters with 4 different types of colours in one, would be an excellent idea to reduce waste and harmful toxins in our environment.

Read three design magazine / journal

I read an article that was posted in the magazine INDESIGN about how a lady called the police because she thought a building was about to fall over, but the building in question was specifically designed crooked in order to prevent movement in the higher levels by the strong wind around the area.

Another design article I read talked about how the best designs are the ones that have the least design, emphasizing the quote ‘less is more’ which is a particular characteristic of the Droog design company.

The third design magazine article I read had the title ‘weightless timepiece’ and talked about the reasons for wearing a heavy watch when ‘time is an abstract and weightless entity.’ The watch I read about weighed only 11 grams and brings together ideas of design innovation, playful aesthetics and the quality of sustainability.

Do the UNSW Library induction - ELISE

Finished the ELISE quiz and completed the survey and I’m glad to get it out of the way as I have so many other assessments to do at this moment in time.

Visit another Library – COFA, Fisher, etc?

During one of our projects for Design Fundamentals my group and I visited the library at COFA. Our movement project, which required us to research the movement roll and provide a number of pictures of this movement led us to COFA library, however, as we could not find anything we had to find relevant images mostly on the internet.

Listen to ABC Radio ‘By Design’ Podcast

After listening to a few podcasts on the ABC radio I found a few that were quite interesting to listen to. One of which talked about will their still be jobs around for architects and designers in the year 2025 and another which talked about the trends in society, which included Carbon Neutral Timber apartments and was even more interesting as the project was located in Melbourne.

Watch a TED talk [http://www.ted.com/]

I watched a few TED talks quite a while ago and one I found extremely interesting was the use of robotics to give people extra strength when carrying something heavy and to even allow paralyzed people to walk again. It was interesting to know how far technology has advanced and even more interesting to know that people are coming up with new and innovative ideas not just for profit, but to help people improve their lives.

Design Product History

Yay... finally finished my product history tree now i am one assessment closer to finishing this semester. Only have 3 more to go :)


Oh and this is what it looks like

Design Product Family Tree

I have decided to choose the guitar as my product for the family tree, as it would be interesting to know how many different varieties of guitars are on the market at the moment and how they got there.

Here are a couple of legitimate guitars which i found were extremely fascinating...

Although i have yet to finish my product poster, i already have spent at least 10 hours researching the different types of guitars and when they were introduced in society.

Ambidextrous Magazine

Hey guys, heres a good magazine/journal you can read for your design passport. They have a lot of excellent articles relating to design.
http://ambidextrousmag.org/

Piranesi Project

Finally all done :)
heres the final copy, all together took me over 80 hours to finish, but who's keeping time, lol.

Foam Modelling Assessment

This Foam modelling exercise was done in-class over a week and wasn't exactly my best work, lol. I passed with 57 so at least I don't have to redo anything but still, hopefully i can do better with the MDF foam model.

If anyone has any trouble figuring out what it is, just letting you know that its meant to be a clock radio.... apparently.

Btw, it was sanded pretty well when i handed it in, just got a little bit handled when i put it in my bag to take home.... oh well.

Finished my Comic Strip :)

These took a while with all the cutting and pasting but I hope it turns out alright tomorrow......

heres a video if you want to see my comic strip with my music but its only a sample so don't expect the whole song.

Some Rolling Pics for You