Further ideas

After already conducting various quantitative and qualitative research for clothing storage and other items, etc, pens, jewellery and other small items, I had found that the number of products that were on the market were sufficient anything that i would design would just end up being an improvement on other products which already existed. I wanted to find something new and innovative to design and i thought that plant storage would be the answer. Australia has a harsh climate (especially now with all this chaos) and I thought finding a way to improve and prolong pot-plant life would be a suitable enough problem when referring to our target market.
After asking a few apartment homeowners/renters about their idea of plant life in their apartment 9/14 people ranging from ages 23 to 45 said they'd prefer to keep their plants on their somewhat small balcony, out of the way, but would not mind having it inside, if it didn't take up any space. Out of those 14 people, 10 of them said they most definetly do not have the money or time to maintain the plants that were either already there, or were a gift from someone. Seeing as I plan on designing something that will have to prolong the life of the plant and provide as least maintenance as possible, any research on materials and or other designs would be very helpful.

As the design has to be modular, which in effect means the design has to be flexible, I thought it would be a good idea to design my product so that it could sit comfortably on a wall, where there is a maximum amount of space and does not take up any room on the floor.
The biomimic nature of my design comes from a few different forms in nature, the modular form, lets you move the plant pots among the wall depending on where the sun line is at each time maximising the effect of the sun in any apartment .
The biomorphic nature comes through the use of smooth flowing lines in the design without any sharp edges, to give an almost flowing feel to the atmosphere, it is somewhat hard to do this with some materials without the use of heavy machinery and so i will have to focus on using materials that can be mass produced with ease while still maintaining a biomorphic feel within the design.

In my design I am also concentrating on prolonging the life of the plant and not just concentrating on the aesthetic form of the design. Plants in the harsh climate of Australia store moisture deep within and such plants like the one above, use their cupped leaves to collect water and also absorb moisture in the air to keep themselves alive. Materials like bamboo can be used to increase water absorption especially in the drier conditions and it is also an extremely durable material, especially when used in the right way.

 I have based part of my design on the cup like nature of these leaves which is a natural way for this plant to gather enough water and nutrients to survive. As plants can sense a heavier moisture content in the air among other things, some plants will actually move and or shift their position (e.g. open their inner flaps) if they sense it is about to rain or if they sense the sunlight is about to hit them. My design, which is based upon the movement of the flower, is able to be moved to ensure maximum efficiency inside an apartment where getting enough sunlight during the day could be a big problem. My design can be placed up or downwards on a wall depending on where the sun hits your apartment everyday, and the plant pots can be moved in the direction of the sun if need be.

My Design

I'm still researching possible way to change and improve my design and i have yet to find a way to connect each plant to the other in order to make it modular, but there are many different types of joints, including the dovetail joint, which could be used quite effectively.
Another point to make is that, even though plants might not last long indoors due to lack of sunlight, I am researching different types of plants which need minimal sunlight and minimal maintenance to thrive and i was thinking about making my design into a special and much fresher way to hold herbs and spices, as that could possibly be another problem.

Concepts, Idea's and Research

After going through many idea's and quite a few different concepts my three main ideas were still very weak as they did not properly adhere to the design brief and the need I was trying to establish was not general enough to stick.
Three main ideas:

 This was meant to be a shelving unit for pen/pencil storage inside, however the nature connection was not evident in any part of the design.

This 'spider' key holder did not address a problem with enough conviction as not enough research was done to identify the problem in the first place, hopefully that will be rectified.

 This jewellery box design did not at all look like a product that would be successful, the leaf design did not work at all and the movement was restricted.

2012 Semester 1

Hey all and Welcome to my 2012 blogsite for Industrial Design.
To start off, here is a case study that i've conducted on my new Project Bio-Inspired.

What is your favourite storage solution for?

I really have a problem finding my shoes. As I own at least 10 pairs, I always end up leaving my shoes on the floor all over the place without any order whatsoever. When I finally need to go out I can never find the pair that I want to wear and it gets really annoying sometimes when I only can find one. If there was some way you could make it easier for me to find my shoes, it would be amazing.  Another problem I have which is similar to my shoes is that I can never find my clothes once I put them back in my closest. I own a lot of clothing but I’ve finally realised that I only usually wear my favourite clothes, e.g. a few different coloured tops and maybe one skirt, every week. I was thinking that it would be good to have a certain place or storage compartment where I could keep all my favourite clothing, somewhere, simple, and relatively easy to get too, so that I wouldn’t have to waste precious time in the morning looking for a top I knew I wore yesterday. I think I need something which is relatively small, that can sit in the corner and look inconspicuous while still adding to the overall modern feel of my house.

  

What about this solution makes it so good/unique/innovative?

Well, for one thing, I would want this design to be trendy and comfortably fit within the space provided, as I most likely would not buy it if it was ugly. For shoes I’m guessing it shouldn’t be a closed storage box otherwise that might smell a bit, but maybe something, which maximizes the space provided. I might have a fairly big house now, but once I get old, ill probably move into something a little smaller. It has last and be very easy to use so that everyone in my family can use it even the children. As you say it has to relate to nature in some way, you could use the whole wall in the entranceway and make it look like its shoes hanging from a tree or something like that, maybe vines could hang down from the ceiling and you could make it so you could attach your shoes every 20 cm or so. If your designing something to do with clothing, maybe design something which is small and insignificant, but can hold a large amount of clothes. I don’t like having a big closet full of clothes that I never wear, but I don’t want to move them out in the open to another big storage compartment which would just get in the way. I want something which I can put all my favourite things in, like my jewellery, scarves and a couple tops and dresses. If all my favourite clothes are in the same spot, then I can easily remember where everything is, maybe even put room at the top for my keys and phone, but I guess if its just for clothing then maybe not.

What is your least favourite solution that you have used?

Well I don’t really have the time to shop for new and better furniture I guess I’ve always just had to make do with what I’ve had. Right now, the shoe compartment is getting out of control! I put my shoes inside and they come out mouldy or just dirty. Somehow things get a whole lot worse when you put your shoes away, that’s why I just leave them in the open, plus, I go outside a lot and I don’t feel like reaching inside and out of a box to find my shoes, just need something that can display the shoes in the open so I can easily grab them and slip them on, especially when I’m in a rush for work. It’s pretty much the same for my clothing and jewellery, I don’t like it when I need to look for things in the morning, just need something that can show all my clothes and jewellery without me actually having to search for anything.

Why is this solution so poor?

If you were to improve on a storage system, would you have anything that you would add?

The solution is poor, because they most likely havn’t thought everything through yet. What is the point in designing something if your not going to do it properly, I want a design that I can buy and use without any hassles. I’m too old to be worrying about products that need to be maintained, they are just useless. Can’t you just find a material that doesn’t need to be cleaned and can last forever, I mean of course dust gathers everywhere, but something which doesn’t get mouldy and doesn’t smell, maybe a special plastic of some kind, I’m sure there’s something out there.

Some Solutions:

Helps to avoid clutter in the closest and makes it easier for someone to find a particular shirt and or dress.

Made from two pieces of wood, fairly simplistic but beautiful. Can be used as hooks for clothing, ties, shirts, dresses etc.

Biomorphic design used as a shoe stacker, gives a very natural feel.