Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

10 Pen Concept Sketches



I'm leaning towards the lower far-left pen design. It was one of my last pens to sketch and I feel like I had a deeper performance design behind it rather than the others that mostly focused on symmetry and grip. This one not only features a comfortable area for the fingers to grip but also a similar contour in the back that would have the pen rest more comfortably on the user's hand.

G

Monday, April 5, 2010

PD370 - A1: Design Detective

Adaptations

Adaptations

Details

Details

Patterns

Patterns

Relationships

Relationships

Smile

Map

Friday, April 2, 2010

PD 199: Habits, Rituals, & Needs in the Public Restroom


Design Objectives-

Habit: Many users have a habit of using too much toilet paper or paper towels during their restroom visits. These materials could perhaps be rationed out in more appropriate proportions and/or the need for them could be lessened (i.e. users don't need to turn on faucets with a paper towel when it's automatic).

Ritual: No matter how conclusive the study in debunking the myth about dirty toilet seats, people will see them as disgusting and potentially harmful. Users will tend to cover the seat with some type of barrier (toilet paper or seat liner) and there should be an easier and more comfortable method of going about this.

Need: Public restrooms are often uncomfortable for users due to the lack of privacy. Embarrassing factors such as sounds and smells related to restroom activities need to toned down where possible.

G

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

PD 370 - Nike Epic 3, 4, 5,...?


One of the best Nike products that I own is a black/red EPIC backpack. It's as tough as nails and slicker than snails. Nike created an amazing item and then decided to stop the line after the second iteration. Hmmph.

Here's a description of it off of IDSA.org's website:

The EPIC Backpack takes the load off the user's shoulders. The bag structure allows for high-impact, but is still lightweight and protects key possessions. To allow for high-impact, an exterior frame is attached to the bag with a modular design created from seven discrete parts. Over-molded elastomer feet prevents jarring when setting bag down. The bag stands upright and is difficult to knock over. The back panel is perforated with EVA to allow for dissipation of heat on the back. A bottom pocket at bag's base is designed to store power cords. The product uses good textures and sculpting. The straps are hidden. [1]

This product was so good that it even received a bronze in the 2003 Industrial Design Excellence Awards competition! And so I ask, why did Nike stop there? Nike produced the Epic 1 and the nearly identical Epic 2 backpacks for only a short time and in limited quantities. As I imagine my backpack won't last me forever and on the unfortunate day that it does fail me, I hope that I can find a similar or superior backpack to replace it. If I'm so fortunate enough to gain a design position at Nike in the future, I will make an effort to rehash the concept and improve upon it. I'm thinking waterproof zippers and fabrics and taped seams and an adjustable exoskeleton shell and....

G

Thursday, March 11, 2010

This is what no sleep gets me...


My lamps are all finished! I just put the finishing touches on my metal lamp and the trio is now complete.

First of all, I hate my metal lamp. I think it looks fine and all, but it took far too long to make. What was I thinking? I had to cut my 10' steel bar like 80 times and then file each piece's ends! Oh, and the wood block that acts as the face gave me trouble. I chose a poor wood for my first one. Drilled it 80 or so times and then came to the conclusion that I needed a denser block of wood. This one was cracking and splitting all over. I went to the scraps and found some oak. That did the trick. It was a pain grinding the center of it out for the bulb to fit through though. Geez.

Oh, and the chrome-top bulb that I'm using for the lamp gets super hot within seconds. Good thing I bought a can of silver heat-resistant spray paint. That stuff worked mighty well and reflects the light well, too.
Room for improvement? Yes. Just as I was about to connect the face to the base, I got an idea. With the use of many of the shop's tools, I could form four wood blocks to fit onto the "steps" on the lamp's sides, one on each side. These blocks would extend outward a bit and have a lip for restriction. The face would then be able to slide back and forth, changing the lighting. I didn't have time to do it this morning, so I just may make them after the critique today.

G

ugh


After many somewhat-failed attempts to test out my paper lamp concept, I decided to just go ahead and do it. I knew it would work if the paper was better quality and I got the strips clean and identical. Anyhow, I cut the main paper strips sometime last week and then jumped on the whole project the other night and got it done.

Now, even though I staggered the cuts to accommodate the movement between the strips of paper when they're curved, I still got hit with some difficulty. It was a tight fit with the paper and many strips would sort of "pop" out of their proper position.

But, I managed to get it fairly straight after a while and the final product is pretty good.

G

agh


Been a bit since my last post, but I've gotten stuff done! For starters, my wooden lamp is finally finished. I treated the curved pieces with whitewash wood stain and the base with "Olde Maple Gloss" stain and polyurethane finish. I think these two have a nice contrast not only in color but texture, where the base has a slick coat and the top is a matte white and retains the wood's sanded feel.

The last piece to the puzzle was the felt bottom which I got from Jerry's Home Improvement. It's green, but whatever.

G

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Almost done with the first one...

With a bit of drilling and dowel-cutting, I've somewhat securely connected all of the pieces together. I still need to sand a few areas and lock the lighting fixture within the base, but it's turning out well.

Here are a few pics of the lamp with the LED bulb on and all other lights off:



I'm not sure what kind of finish I want to put on it. I have a half pint of stain & polyurethane in "olde maple gloss." I'm thinking about applying it to the base, and the outside and edges of the curved pieces.

G

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Metals Already?

Image presentations are tomorrow and here are a few pics that I've found interesting:
^Reel Light by Guy Brown
This one is pretty simplistic and would work well with the available materials in class. I'd have to transform it into a wall fixture and switch up the light bulb to something not as harsh, but I like the extension cord utility of it all.
^These are pretty simple as well but provide a nice mood. Layering of perpendicular bars could possibly recreate this look.
^Ogle Pendant Lamp by Form Us With Love
Clean design and useful at directing light. This would provide a challenge in creating this general form using only 1/8" rods.

^Pendant Light by Dan Black & Martin Blum
Awesome shape and structure. It would require a lot of the available material and cutting, but it would really build upon the aesthetic appeal if I made my lamp with this image in mind.

G

Friday, February 12, 2010

New Base


I have become too attached to the Oreo cookie base. I didn't want to drill a big hole in the center of it. It's now serving as a platform for my glass frog. Besides, I needed a taller base for my bulb fixture to rest in and so I created another base but out of two different woods. There's still a contrast between the two woods, but it's not as extreme as the last base.

The hole drilling was a little tricky since the base is so tall and so I had to drill both sides and also chip some wood away so the bit could go deeper. It turned out well though. All I need to do now is sand a little, lacquer the wood, glue the pieces together, and cut a little notch in the bottom of the base for the electrical cord to pass through.

G

Tuesday, February 9, 2010


The vacuum bag went well and Diana Lien was kind enough to share the bag with me both times. I didn't really run into any problems, just some minor shifting of the bendy ply strips but this was corrected when the six pieces were taken to the sander. I sanded off all of the visible glue and also sanded down the edges so there were no differences in the individual bendy ply strips. I still need to do some minor sanding to get all six pieces alike. I also need some extra fine sand paper to correct the appearance of the outside and inside of the curve.

As for my Oreo cookie base, it's coming along nicely. I still need to sand it down and then drill a hole through the center of the and also cut a space for the electrical cord to run through.

G