Postal Presents: Folding Dust Pan and Brush

This fold-up dustpan and brush set has a vast target market as budget products often do. Some likely people to buy this product include young people that have recently moved out of home, or into a new home; or anyone that would consider buying such a gift for said people (older relatives in particular). However because this would sell for less than a regular dustpan and brush it is also likely to be bought by anyone that performs the cleaning duties in their home or workplace. Ie. Independent people, therefore typically over 20)

If sent as a present there is a real sense of humor about receiving something so dry and boring; one can imagine sending this to their messy son or daughter when they have moved away from home. Also as the product comes flat it would be possible to print messages on the product to further complement the joke and give the product an endearing and personal dimension.

The Velcro tabbing is simple and effective to allow for ease of manufacture and assembly. Other stylistic elements were explored however they detracted from the functionality of the product

Video Reflection: The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff deals with the underpinning issues with the global economy. Unfortunately there are lots of issues, social and environmental. The story of stuff is nice and succinct and really should be seen by everyone because it really sums up what’s wrong with our economy!

Personally I would like to see a return to what I perceive the values of the 1950’s were; that is that one would still appreciate nice products, but there is not hyper-consumption, people would truly appreciate well designed and produced products and pay for them what they are worth. This would be more expensive but they would be built to last, their parts would be easily replaceable and one would appreciate that product for their lifetime, even pass it on through the generations, the product might even appreciate in value too! Also I would like to see, like most people, a large move to sustainable design.

One sobering factor about human consumption that she talked about was our constantly changing values and desire to consume which not only sustain our economy but unfortunately sustain most of the design profession.

Project 1: Hand Tool Design

Ball pegs are clothes pegs that give a new aspect to this previously limited market. While its only real function is, like all clothes pegs, to fasten clothes to a clothes line; the ball peg also has physiological, aesthetic, psychological and social benefits that other clothes pegs do not. The target market are homemakers; typically women between 30-50.

Physiologically the balls are significantly heavier and sturdier than a regular peg which signals their sturdiness to the user. They are nice to touch, as the polyurethane is soft and squeezable as well as easy to grip.

Aesthetically the ball peg is much more pleasant than a standard clothes peg. Its spherical shape catches the light and the bright colours are fun and uplifting. The ball peg is symmetrical about 3 axis' horizontally, and symmetrical vertically which creates a balanced product.

Psychological benefits arise from using the product because it is easy to use and the chore of hanging the washing will seem more appealing. The aesthetic benefits of the product will also mean that the clothes line is no longer an eye sore.

The social benefits of the ball peg are that friends and family will be intruiged as to what "those balls are on your line." Thus they become a talking point. Further the intruige and playfulness of the product will involve the family in the chore of hanging out the washing. Even the kids can play with them when they're bored!

Design is in the Details: Video Reflection

Paul Bennet's design philosophy was inspiring, in that it takes a different approach to design solutions. Rather than always tackling a problem head on in a linear fashion, he looks to the "peripherals" and seeks to change the small elements, that often times are more important to our human interaction. A great example is his medical disgnostic tool which, instead of making it the most accessible tool according to the brief, they went and looked at how it was used and saw that the most important thing was to make it one handed so that the nurse had a hand free to hold the patients hand. Another interesting design solution was the ikea storage which involves hanging things from under tables. In this instance a design situation was approached with not only children in mind, but in some ways with a childs mind.
The possibilities that arise from this kind of philosophy are that it opens you to simple yet highly effective design solutions. It really is a nice way to work to look at little things that you can fix with the world rather than trying to change the world on a big scale. And often it is these small changes that people appreciate.
My opinions about design have changed in that i can see how it's not always important to have the most high-tech, flashy looking and functional product; it is sometimes more important to have a product that speaks to people on a deep level; a product that understands people.

Product Sketches

Avant-Garde Office Chair - Unknown: I like the retro/vintage look of this chair. You can tell it was made in the 50's or 60's. It is simple, clean, and the brown leather gives it alot of warmth and makes it seem comfortable, as well as prestigous.

Austrans - Laurie Bishop: I like the concept of this design, the video that went along with it was very interesting showing a whole new possibility for public transport in Sydney. The little carriages zipping around Sydney would be a great sight as well as a great convenience!
Track Chair - Ideation Design: I like the track chair because it looks futuristic and high-tech. I feel it would give the user a sense of being capable more than inhibited. The one arm mecanism was very interesting and a useful idea.
Paimio Chair - Aalvar Aalto: the lines in this chair are truely beautiful. Realising that this is an iconic piece and one that was designed so long ago it is amazing to see how striking the form is still, looking like a cross between futuristic and yet slightly retro as well!

Objects that tell stories: Video Reflection

This talk was not as inspiring in terms of design philosophy as the last videos have been. Having said that Yves gives an interesting insight in to his products and the way in which he imbues his products with certain philosophies or ideologies. He has an ideology about products that they should be stripped back to their essential form first, and then they can be made beautiful. His XO computer is an example of his ideology in design as well as his stripping back of products to their important components.

Yves products started as both conceptually and logistically challenging and thus it is inspiring to see him bring them to success. Its influence on my growth as an industrial designer is simply a sense of inspiration. Yves has an incredible skill at taking products to the next level; he does not merely seek to make a product more functional, simpler or better looking, rather he achieves all those things. To me that is a brilliant level to aspire to.

My opinions about design have changed in that I have learnt that it is probably better to design the best product you can according to your own ideologies, and then add your aesthetic twist or your own style once you have the rest perfected.

Organic Design: Video Reflection

Ross Lovegrove has a strong passion for organic design, and though he may be somewhat stubborn in his dismissal of other influences in design, it is easy to see why he has such a passion. Firstly, organic design looks good. One can see that Lovegrove shares author Stephen Fry’s belief that nature is intrinsically beautiful. Lovegrove’s design is a kind of mimesis, which is Greek for imitation, but more specifically refers to the imitation of nature.

Organic design has its other advantages also. In a similar way to how engineers would have studied bird’s wings to find structurally efficient shapes for plane wings, Lovegrove has learnt from the aptitude of nature for his furniture or other products. This largely translates to holistic and essential pieces, where the extraneous parts have been removed and the form stripped down in its entirety. In nature this is done for many reasons, for example increase surface area or improve aerodynamics; similarly in the case of his supernatural chair he refers to the ability to breathe through the holes, the added flexure it creates and also the smaller amount of material needed. It could be said that the laws that govern nature are just as applicable to our modern era as they were millions of years ago.

I found this video incredibly influential because it is striking to see how successful this type of design is. As a philiosophy it really works, and it is clear to see that there is so much to learn from nature, and further, nature never gets it wrong! An interesting example is the comment Lovegrove makes about the form of his chair. He mentions that the form of the backrest “goes with the flow of the polymer”. Perhaps nature is really the most successful guideline to follow and by using inspiration from nature, humans will have the most success because we have evolved as part of nature, as have all the elements we utilize and interact with.

The challenge then presented to me as a designer is how to take this inspiration to the next step, as Lovegrove does. It is about using nature as an inspiration for a product or the inspiration for solving a problem and then utilizing other elements; new materials or a new way of thinking, or adapting to a particular style to make something that works, looks good and is successful.