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.

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.