Sense of Place : Peer Comments

The following are comments on my fellow peers projects :

Joshua Steven Hermawan :
http://jshermawan.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/project-3-sense-of-place.html?showComment=1370907171901

Jinbo Xiao :
http://jinbodesign.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/final-design-street-furniture-journal.html

Alan Jackson :
http://alansdesignblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/a-sense-of-place-process-journal-and.html?showComment=1370907020867#c5992181748316273755

Richard Pang :
http://richard-pang.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/assignment-3.html?showComment=1370906679730

Hyunjin Kim :
http://danielhjkim.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/street-furniture.html?showComment=1370906520531#c1304868307933346911

Sense of Place : FLEX Stretch Station

The following are my posters for this project :

Sense of Place : Design Process

Seeing a growing number of people wanting to exercise in groups at my local parks and lakes, convinced me to create a facility to aid them in doing so. From this I decided upon designing a stretching station. Looking at existing stretching stations, there was a lack of attractiveness, to encourage and engage users in partaking in physical exercise and stretching. So, I went out and thought of a design that would express joy and encourage people to exercise and stretch, and also expressing exercising in groups and community.

Here are my preliminary sketches that I developed :

 

I was happy about the sizes and proportions, that helped accessibility across a wide range of users. Having three different figures allows for many different stretching exercises and positions.

For a long time I considered having moving parts, like having the arms move. Although I couldn't find a good enough reason to justify this. Furthermore, it may bring in some injury implications, as well as potential breakages and higher maintenance and cost. Therefore I decided to completely weld the units to increase its durability, making it really strong and long lasting.

Here are some early Sketchup renderings I did with many vibrant colours, to express playfulness and joy :

I played around with the vibrant colours for a while, but thought it was too childish. Having it potentially childish looking may make people think that these are children equipment. Therefore children may be attracted to them, and end up using them, instead of the adults.

Trying to think of different colours, I decided the main colour would be the base stainless steel. The stainless steel gives a timeless aesthetic. The stainless steel also has :
- High corrosion resistance
- 100% recyclable
- High and low temperature resistance
- Durable, low maintenance
- Can be cut, formed, welded etc. with ease.

Using the base stainless steel, also allows to not utilise paint. Paint can peel and scratch overtime, introducing maintenance costs, and reducing lifespan of the equipment.

I then chose yellow as the accent colour. Yellow expresses happiness and is a prominent colour in the exercise and fitness industry. I utilised this on the head and body, which are to be the areas least touched, and therefore the paint is less likely to peel and scratch, in comparison to the arms and legs.

Here are some render models of the new colour concept :

 Different configurations were also experimented as well. Having the three figures in a circular or triangular shape, further personified the experience of stretching and exercising in a group. 

I then placed my renders into the locations I had chosen, which are parks and lakes in general, where exercise has grown. Here are my renders :

Initially I used V-ray in Sketchup for my rendering. However, I then switched to Keyshot 4, which allowed me to much more easily input my 3d models within the photos I had taken. The figures ended up being 2500mm and under; tall. This was to make the figures prominent at the scenes, whilst also being accessible for a wide range of users.

 

Weekly Progress Report 3 : Sense of Place

Peer Feedback :

(No tutor feedback, due to inability to attend class)
Keep the product simple, with no moving parts. This will allow the product to be highly durable with a long lifespan, and also make it safe for everyone to use.

Peer 1 - Joshua Steven Hermawan
Experiment with different colours. Yellow is a good colour though, and pairing it with the silver stainless steel gives it a timeless aesthetic. The figures look good, and seem that they could fit into any environment, due to its figure/sculpture like figure.

Peer 2 - I-Min Lu
The idea of having different figures, for a variety of different stretching exercises is a good way of accomodating all shapes and sizes of people. The ergonomics considerations that have been made are quite good as well.

Final thoughts :

The final concensus is that I will not be going ahead with moving parts. This is to avoid all the problems of safety and maintenance. This will make the design much more durable nad have a extremely long lifespan due to it being welded together. Furthermore, I have gone with the yellow and silver finish, instead of the multicolour finish design.

Weekly Progress Report 2 : Sense of Place

Peer Feedback :

Peer 1 - Hyunjin Kim :
Cool thought process. Having different forms and positions of each figure is a good idea in having good accessibility for many users. Having the loop shapes are also a good idea and how it is utilised is also good.

Peer 2 - Ronald Ng :
Nice concept and it's simple as well. Materials used a strong and durable and will be fitting for a long lifespan in the parks you have identified. No moving parts is probably a good move as well, due to safety and maintenance considerations. This design will look good in pretty much every park and environment because of its sculpture-like design.

Initial Concept : Multicolour design

Worked with different moving parts in the design. The arms will be able to move in different positions, so that users can have different stretching positions. This makes the design much more flexible in its form.

The major concern with movie parts, is making them safe and very durable. This has been a challenge in the past week, in trying to come up with a solution. Many peers have advised to not use moving parts to avoid those considerations, however at the same time more design has to be put into the solution.

Weekly Progress Report 1 : Sense of Place

Peer Feedback :

Peer 1 - Joshua Steven Hermawan :
Cool concept. Try to have the forms mold with the surrounding environments. Maybe don't have moving parts as they could cause injury and can cause breakages and therefore maintenance. Keep it simple and nice looking, so it can fit different areas instead of just 1 location.

Peer 2 - Richard Pang :
Taking note of the current social trend of people exercising in groups is a good starting point. Having a gathering place where people can meet and stretch in groups is a good idea in encouraging exercise.
Experiment with different forms and shapes.

These are the three locations I intend on designing a stretch station for.

Wattle Grove Lake

 

Chipping Norton Lake

Ernie Smith Reserve, Moorebank

Project 2 : Green Gifting - Peer Comments

The following are links to my comments on peer projects.

I-Min Lu : http://i-minlu.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/project-2-green-gifting.html?showComment=1368117408231#c1521244155632606311

Richard Pang : http://richard-pang.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/green-gifting-posters.html?showComment=1368117285064#c5566767995406441274

Ronald Ng : http://rtrdesigns.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/blog-post.html?showComment=1368117066800#c6297026299239007451

Sunprit Singh : http://2013sunpritsingh3378260.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/project-2-green-gifting.html?showComment=1368118045832#c3108212426495425976

Jinbo Xiao : http://jinbodesign.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/journal-process-green-gifting.html?showComment=1368118013102#c6877861002721966076

Green Gifting : RAZE Laptop Stand/Pencil Case/Holder

Green Gifting Process

Initial sketches :

Card Models: First I made a model to work out proportions and different angles of elevation.
Then I made the actual lengths of the casing, giving it different heights for the pen holders.

Aluminium extrusion : I decided to give it a brushed finish, to give it a better look, and reduce scratches. This was done with sandpaper in a straight motion.

The caps at the ends can be removed to be used as a pencil case. I tested how much could fit within the casing. The cap was hard to put back on, as it was only a strip of rubber. I would have preferred a moulded cap, but I did not have the time for it. This would have resulted in a better model and fit.

:
Final Model :

Weekly Progress Report 2 : Green Gifting

Peer 1 - Hyunjin Kim
Solid idea as it has a large market to serve to, since everyone uses laptops for uni and work. Provides several modes of use, which is good, because it means less products for several tasks that otherwise would have been done by purchasing more products.

Peer 2 - Steven Hermawan

Good product for having in the bag, since most students will carry a pencil case, it won't add anymore bulk and won't take up space that would have already been taken. All the materials have a purpose, and aren't chosen, just because. Maybe consider the middle joining mechanism to be different.

Tutor Feedback - Tom Marlay

Good idea as it has many environmentally friendly aspects, with its many electricity saving knock down effects. Which all starts from taking stress off the internal components of the laptop, therefore extended battery life, meaning less charging from the wall, and all the long term effects etc. Consider using existing aluminium extrusion off cuts to further emphasise the green aspect.

Weekly Progress Report 1 : Green Gifting

Peer 1 - Richard Pang

Solid concept. Likes the angle of the green thinking, of conserving the power consumption of the laptop. Also the idea of having it being able to be a pencil case, and can be converted into a pen holder, further suggesting the green initiative; as several products are made into one. The materials are minimal and environmentally friendly, while being durable as well.

Peer 2 - I-Min Lu

It's a good idea as everyone has laptops there days, and as a gift it will most likely actually be used be the recipient. Also as laptops get smaller, it gets harder to cool the laptops internally, so something like this is a good compact choice.


Tutor Feedback - Tom Marlay 
(Taken from email)

The concept as a laptop ‘cooler’ is good from a sustainability point of view in that it has the knock-on effect of making the laptop more efficient i.e. charging less often, reduced stress on components thus allowing longer lifetime – you should ensure this is conveyed well in the presentation. This aspect helps to cover the point in the brief that talks of helping the receiver (of the gift) to consider the reduction of impacts on the environment.

Aluminium, as you mentioned, is an ideal material to act as a heatsink. Are there other ways you can look to evacuate heat? Airflow? Structure? Surface area? Aluminium is commonly produced in ‘extrusions’, so could this be an area of opportunity to use waste offcuts? Excess stock?


 

Video Reflection 3 : Who Killed the Electric Car?

For this weeks video reflection, I watched 'Who Killed the Electric Car?" This conveys how the electric car, which is the future of the world; has never came to be. With the environment constantly deteriorating as the world gets larger, with a growing population, it is important as the inhabitants of this world to adopt methods in which keeps the planet alive. In this realisation, the electric car was thought of.

Cars are the main mode of transportation around the world, and in order to make them run, non renewable fuels have to be pumped out of the earth, and when consumed; releases gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, surely there must be another solution to drive people around the world. Even though there is the solution of the electric car, one thing holding it back is money. Unfortunately in our world, environmental sustainability and ecological methods are ignored only for the sake of money and profit.

This is where the electric car suffers. Oil is a major commodity and is worth wealthy amounts of money, with oil companies gaining millions of dollars and profit. With so much power and money we can understand why these oil companies don't want the electric car to emerge. This would mean that oil would be unwanted and therefore drastically fall in price.

As designers, corruption and money is something that can hold us back from creating new things that will actually benefit the world, instead of wanting profit over well being. In this case, designers and all the potential electric car designers have been held back, just so money for oil companies can be sustained. This is especially worse as the topic of environmental sustainability is at the forefront of the worlds problems, behind poverty and hunger.

Furthermore, this trend can be seen in other designs and technologies. In where large companies periodically release new technologies only when it needs to. This was seen previously with the light bulb. Where the emergence of LED lighting was slowed down, as companies would lose money due to the long life the new LED lights have.

Some take home points :

1. Design can suffer at the hand of higher powers, due to corruption and money gaining.
2. Unfortunately, the environment and ecological sustainability is not recognised as a higher priority in comparison to money making.
3. As designers, it is important to keep pushing new and innovative products that help the well being of the Earth and the environment we live in.

Sustainable Packaging : Peer Comments

The following are my comments on others projects :

I-Min Lu : http://i-minlu.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/rationale.html

Richard Pang : http://richard-pang.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/rationale.html

Ronald Ng : http://rtrdesigns.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/design-rationale.html

Jinbo Xiao : http://jinbodesign.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/packaging-design-booklet-chewing-gum_17.html

Joshua Steven Hermawan : http://jshermawan.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/socially-responsible-packaging-rationale.html

Green Gifting Concept

Socially Responsible Packaging : Peoples Aid

Socially Responsible Packaging : Rationale