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