BECK KAO Industrial Design Portfolio
Data-Majikku Toy Lamp Shade 2017 April
CONTENT 01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack 02 Fotboll 03 Cane Can 04 Dedo Stool 05 Studio Photography 06 Traffic! (Bangkok Kit) 07 Stomiiformes
Mountain Rescue Splint Pack :professional rescue equipment
The splints are designed for EMT who could use easily and quickly in the mountain area, and highly improve traditional rescue equipment ability. All equipments are optional and can be used alone. They will not interrupt each other. Rescue team can change the using procedure to adapt to any harsh environment situation. -2012 Sliver Prize of Quanzhou Creative Industrial Festival, China -2011 Design 100 Cool, Taiwan -2011 Red Dot Award: Design Concept, Germany -2011 Soulangh New Designer Award, Taiwan -2011 Final List of 30th YODEX, Taiwan Team: Beck Kao, Yu-Kai Liao
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
Motivation Our idea is to re-design a better rescue equipment for professional teams. After concluding the information of each mountain accident cases, we organzined the most common and useful splints kit. EMT can select the most helpful splints that they will need for each case.
Concept The present equipments have the following objects: Spinal Board, Neck Collar, Splint for Limbs, medical supplies and Stretcher.In current mountain rescue cases, rescue team usually climbs to the scene. The traditional rescue equipments are too heavy, huge and complicated to be used in many situations. When accidents occurred on rouge terrain, they become very hard to use. To solve this problem, we need a set of equipments for rough terrain rescuing.
Stretcher
Fix Body Quickly Carry Easily
Top Important
Avoid Second Injury Take Care Patient
Second Important
Adjustable Intuitive
Less Important
Spinal Board
Neck Collar
Splint for Limbs Traditional Mountain Rescue Equipments
ONE PACK
Design Principle Level
Research Our research focused on three considerations: actual EMT's first aid, orthopedist's medical field and the mountation rescue team's experience. Based on such topics, we organzined each different but related considerations, and tried to use the rescue and first aid's SOP to plan our design strategy.
EMT Interview
-First aid SOP introduction -Each equipments operation -The importance and decision in emergency -Flaws of present EMT system and equipments' problems
-Patient analysis -Assessment and evaluation -Case study
Key Insights Fix Patient Quickly
Avoid 2nd Injury
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
Orthopedist Interview
Key Insights Bodies' Fixing position
-Splints analysis -Idea development discussion -Equipments improvement assessment and suggestion
-Practical and Medical method introdction -Case Study -Function model test
Avoid 2nd Injury
Mountain Rescue Team Interview Rescue Team SOP Timeline
Start Rescue
Search again
Search Patient
Make Plan
Evaluate
Carry Easily
Get Light Serious Death lost Injury Harm
-Rescue Work Flow Introduction -Flaw of equipments -Case Study
Command Spot
helicopter Turn to PD
Hospital
(red line: when the equipments use)
Paitent Caring
Opportunities Second, we also focused on the traditional equipments that the professionals were always struggle with. Improving the old equipments and useing it in a smarter ways were our design topic.
Traditional Equipments Flaws Stretcher huge hard to operate Spinal Board huge heavy didn't fit patient's spinal well Neck Collar hard to clean poor effect not good at adjustment Splint for Limbs poor effect need other equipment to use Air Pumped Splint take times hard to carry hard to clean easy to break
Combining interviews and equipments reviews, we organize those questions which we need to overcome: Fix Body Quickly, Avoid Second Injury, Carry, Adjustable, Patient caring,Intuitive Operation
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
Design Strategy Creating a formal and standard operation process is very important to our product. In order to let each rescue team operate well and fit in in different cases, we create a standard rescue flow and also make each sections independent. Second, we set different proportions on our design principles, which could let us understand our strategy understandable and clear more.
Adjustable
Fix Patient Quickly
Carry Easily
Patient Caring
Avoid 2nd Injury
Intuition
New Form
Top Important: Main Goal
2nd Important: Consideration
Durable
Less Important: detail, Enhance Design
Design Principle Pyramid 1st Phase: Top Important Make sure Patient's Life (Cervical Vertebra)
Final phase
Second phase
Move and search patient (Golden 48hrs)
Bring Patient To Hospital
Move Patient To Safe Area
Scene Condition Protect Patient's Body (Spinal)
Take Care Patient's Other Condition (Injury, losing Temperation..)
Rescue Timeline Related
Carry Easily Durable
Fix Quickly Adjustable
Carry Easily Fix Quickly
Carry Easily Avoid 2nd Injury
Avoid 2nd Injury Patient Caring Adjustable
Carry Easily Avoid 2nd Injury
Idea Sketch After research, we conduct the fundamental information and tried to create several new ideas which can support our purpose. automatically harden
Special Shape Neck Collar
Developed ideas from rough fundamental sketches. Some of them even were keeped in the final prodct.
Various Tasks
Single Champer
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
Form Exploration We tried to explore the organizing form of our equipments. In the mean time, we also need to think though the whole rescue process in order to use it in a riaght step. Backpack content
spinal board cover the backpack
bendable stretcher
could be pulled out
> Overall Shape and Basic Color Plan
Folderable Stretcher Container Spinal Board
Neck Collar and Its Container
Main backpack body
Folderable Stretcher
Final Solution Combining all the key insight and professional knowledage, we have a very compact and functional backpack design in the end.
DISASSEMBLE VIEW
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
How To Use
Patient lost consciousness, hanging on the hillside.
EMTs are carring MRSP to rescue.
BANDAGE COLLAR Begin Rescue Process
*STEP 1
BANDAGE COLLAR
HOW TO USE BANDAGE COLLAR
The first thing the rescuers should do is protecting the cervical ver tebra. Pull out a collar tank from the front of MRSP and draw out a piece of “Bandage Collar” .
B a n d a g e C o l l a r i s a p a i r of s p e c i a l s h a p e d splints. Which use plaster bandage which can be automatically harden. While using, just stick it to patient’s neck, break the anti-water film. After absorbing the vapor in the air, the splint will be hardened and protect the cervical vertebra.
1. Tear out the U shaped front collar. 2. By the pictures above, paste the front collar in order of ABC. 3. Break the anti-water film. 4. By the pictures above, paste the rear collar in order of EFG. 5. Break the anti-water film 6. The head's longitudinal, horizontal moving and rotation are fixed
*STEP 2
After protecting cervical vertebra, the spinal is the second important organ to protect. We untie the buckle in front of MRSP and pull the Unidirectional Foldable Spinal Board out to give first aid.
SPINAL BOARD
Can be folded to carry with MRSP. When patient is fixed on unfoldable side, their spinal can be steady and protected.
*STEP 3
After the whole vertebra is fixed, rescuers can move the patient to the nearest flat ground to give advanced first aid. Now rescuers starts to deal with the wounds and limb fractures, patient’s body heat preservation, water supplying…etc, to ensure the sign of patient’s life. All the necessary equipments can be storaged in the Backpack.
INSIDE THE BACKBACK Climbing equipment and first aid kits can be storage in it, like electric blanket or the splint for limbs. The "limb splint" for limbs used the same material as Bandage Collar.
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
*STEP 4
When all the aids were finished, rescuers now should transport the patient to a appropriate place for ambulance or helicopter. Pull out the Stretcher with Adjustable Handle from MRSP’s stretcher tank.
STRETCHER WITH ADJUSTABLE HANDLES
adjust and fix the angle of handle to adapt to current terrain. Protect rescuers from being injured, and protect the patient from secondary damage by unstable situation. Improve the problem of hard using on rough terrain. All of the equipments are optional and can be used alone. They will not interrupt each other. Rescue team can change the using process to adapt to any situation.
Move the patient down mountain
Prototype, Function Model We used the ABS material and steel wire to make the splint board foldable; also used PC plastic material as the backpack body, canvas and cotton as the backoack cover. All of the mechanics are functional and successful. Besides, our bandage collar splint was also an technology of 3M invention.
LOGO PATCH
01 Mountain Rescue Splint Pack
Comparsion Between Traditional and Our Design
Weight Carry (people) Operate (people) Rescue on cliff Rescue in unstable
Our Design
Traditional Equipments
<10kg 1 2 Yes Yes
18kg 4 4 No No
:IKEA X foosball table Based on aluminum extrusion production, every component in "fotboll" could be assembled with single screwdriver. Customers purchase the fotboll kit and its corresponding funiture. And easily turn their sofa or book sheff into a home entertainment equipment.
02 Fotboll
A 4 Days Workshop This is a workshop collaborating with IKEA, Tom Dixon and Parsons School of Design. We tried to bring new ideas and view of point into their Delaktig sofa and bed design.
Introducing by IKEA designers and Tom, we could see through the Delakting project's detail and design principle. IKEA would like to produce a platform and its changeable components.
IKEA's Key Insight Small space living Organize your living Live with children High requirements of function, form, quality, sustainability and low price. Thus, my ideas always tried to follow around such important insights.
Idea Exploration Began with some fun ideas, and then merged with the idea insights.
stuck with aluminum extrusion manufacturing
This aluminum extrusion based idea actually pretty fit with the insights such like "play with children", "cheap" and "sustainable." So I decided to develop with it.
Too pratical idea (pull blanket from sofa) Transformation Design
02 Fotboll
Quick Concept Fotboll would be a ready-to-launch product, which are sold in IKEA store. Customers can buy the kits or the whole set with options.
+
Or, buy a fotboll and one day it becomes your next furniture.
â&#x2020;&#x2019;
Buy a assemble kit and turn your furniture to a fotboll.
+
Foam, mattress
â&#x2020;&#x2019;
Form Sketch The foosball table units are pretty much already set down. So my main challenge was choosing to discard which unit in a basic foosball table.
Ideal width of men unit
Cute enough!
The possible solution of goal production.
men unit opportunites
02 Fotboll
Aluminum Profile The basic furniture were produced with aluminum extrusion. And the fotboll kit also basically used the same method to manufacture each parts.
Pre-drill hole for fotboll kit
Extrusion profile
Sofa frame
IKEA already used a lot of aluminum extrusion based products. They are cheap, recyclable, solid and light weight. This Delaktig product exactly used the advantage to manufacture with aluminum. I tried to extend this method, where can make my design feasible and believable. In addition, this idea also combine "living with children" and "organize and simple" principles of IKEA.
Joy of assembly The whole parts can easily assemble together with a single screwdriver, pretty "IKEA!"
951.215.1783
16X
16X
8X
1X
2X
1X
22X
02 Fotboll
Yellow and blue: the IKEA iconic logo color.
Final Deliverable
Handle (Rubber)
This is a sofa size fotboll example, which is a 11-men team standard soccer arrangment.
Game board (plywood, painted)
Ball (Wood, Painted)
Resist-impact Pad (Silicon, dyed) All other materials are aluminum extrusion, anodized process
02 Fotboll
A fotboll's book shelf version.
Cane Can
:Sugar addiction therapy tool Cane Can is a medical care related product which could help people to decrease sugar use and its addiction. This sugar dispenser is designed for everyday drinking such as coffee or tea. People use it at home, and progressively help them to get rid of the sugar addiction. In present days, sugar is more addict than any drugs, and easily get it almost everywhere. It seriously harm peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health, but it is so hard to get rid of it. Such a product provides users a comfortable way to achieve their goal, and provides different options. -2017 Red Dot Award: Design Concept Final List
03 Cane Can
Motivation According to statistics, United States has over 1/3 of population are considered overweight, and over 70% people consume over the sugar suggestion value each day. Fortunately, there are more and more people who notice this social problem. However, trying to get rid of sugar addition is so hard to achieve. Why we consider abstinence so hard? Maybe it's time to change the method.
Concept Let's think about that abstinence just like climbing mountain. We focus on the stairs or our steps pace by pace each time, and suddenly find out that we already step on the top of mountain. Same Idea, if we try to make a very little achievement in each day, days later, it could bring a significant outcome.
Idea Sketch First, I put the two ring combination into design. And then, started to sketch the product like a actual sugar dispenser.
Smaller, easy push button
notch for finger
Anti-slip function
Control sput amount
mechanism
03 Cane Can
Design Strategy Getting away with an addiction is a hard, long and pain process. In order to raise the user's success opportunity, I want my product could have less feedbacks but more trusting image on it. Making users trust the product is the key to the whole design process. And let users conntinuted to use product is another issue.
PSYCHOLOGY
understand use
Confidence
USER
feedback
re-use
USER EXPERIENCE
Approach
Cane Can
ACHIEVEMENT!
Trust
Reliable
Earn Trust
get reward
Form Desicion After decided to use the sugar dispenser idea, few sketches came up. I invited my classmates to test the perceptial evaluation ofeach model. Let them tell me about how such form indicates them thinking. In the end, I choose the most narrtived form as my product.
Ergonomic Testing In order to decide the final product size, the sketch model was tested by different hand size people. In addition, I asked about the intuition of how they use it.
03 Cane Can
Form Communicating People who try to get rid of addition need a lot of encourage and suggestions. I want to transmit that image by exploring different forms, and express an professtional and approachable image to users.
Time Period Ring Proportion Ring
Dispense Button
Finger Notch
Final Deliverable Combining all the key insights, the design form communicates a meaningful image by itself. The round button is fit as a universal design, and the aluminium shell transmit a clean image.
Sugar Dispense Hole
03 Cane Can
Mechanical Connection Part
PCB Board Chamber
Mechanical Connection Part
Sugar Collector & Volume Control
Non-Slip Channel Glass Container
Weighting Machine Chamber
How To Use
> The first time you use “Cane Can”, You can click the button to add your sugar in your drink. You can adjust your sweet favor by yourself. For example: you originally maybe put 5 spoons sugar in your coffee (about 20g).
> The first “Time Period Ring”, means how long you want your decreasing sugar time is. > The 2nd ring, “Propor tion Ring”,means what proportion of sugar that you wish your favor could be low.
So when you set the two ring finished. Which means “After
> Spin such rings to find your best combination. For example: 1 Month + 1/2 Sugar Amount
one month, your favorite sugar amount would be lower to 1/2 of it.”
03 Cane Can
Everyday, when you click the button and dispense sugar, the sugar spurt amount will drop a little bit. So, users even wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel the difference with yesterday. The two ring will slightly spin to the original position by time. After a period finished, the user can set their favor again. In our example, The first day every time you click the sugar out, it goes 20g. In the next day, the can will decrease 0.333g sugar spurt amount and keep going on in the following 29 days. After one month, the can only goes out 10g of sugar to your drink.
Yes We Can Based on such rings combination, Cane Can provides different speed could be adjusted by user. If user think the sugar drop too quick, he could extend the time period or higher the proportion. And it also use several times, even until user could totally get rid of sugar use. The goal is that providing them to train their daily habit in a comfortable and unconcious way.
03 Cane Can
Scenario Mary always worried Relly's health and wants him to lose some weight. However, although Relly work out more but still can't resist his daily diet and sugar addition.
Reilly Carpenter (42) Wife: Mary (37) Daughters: Jackson (4) and Tiffany (12) Habit: watch "The Simpons" series In the beginning, Relly set the decreasing rate too fast, so he extended the period and tried again. Finally, with "Cane Can's" help, Relly successfully decreased his coffee to sugarfree in eight months.
Dedo Stool
:functional working stool According to the stool's wooden slices, each slice has a different hole and be connected with an elastic rope. When people sit on this stool, the whole chair plate would formed as each person's body shpae. Once they leave the stool, the rope would formed the stool back to its original curve.
04 Dedo Stool
Design Process From hundreds of mood board pictures, I choose several inspiration to begin as my first module creating skill (morphological tools), which was using such picture inspiration created a seriels of 3D sketch modeles. In that exercise, the main module skills were, "Transcation + Repetition"
During the experiments of the module exercise, I used a lot of little wood cubes to represent the "Transcation and Repetition" technic as my model, create some fantastic monster as my sketch models. Then, in order to presented transcation well, I made a stop-motion movie. Using a huge amount of cubes, this film present a interesting story which tell a wizard, Gondalf, tried to create few monster from rocks.
The Stop Motion Movie, "Gondalf's Quest". (Check from Youtube https://youtu.be/_lTht8iHz8k)
After the film creation, cube unit idea made me head to furniture typology. I made five different furniture scenes, which were "Living Room", "Children's Playing Room", "Chinese Tea Room", "Office" and "Reading Room." In such scenes, the "Reading Room" had a interesting idea. The idea was that the cube units will pop up from the desk and become functional.
5 furniture topologies
Children's Playing Room
Living Room
Chinese Tea Room
Reading Room
Office
> The reading room's furniture is my topology choice.
After few more idea exploration, I changed my "pop-up" idea into "Pushunits-down" principle. I sketched more about "push-units-down" idea. And then, some sketch models came up and started to narrow down possibilities. Considering the function and ergonomics, the reading room scene also turned into working studio scene. However, I tried some different forms but didn't get good response.
04 Dedo Stool
Concept Combing by many slices of wood modules, this stool provides precise variance on chair plate; Elastic rope give a strong force to form the plate shape back to original curve.
HOLE ELASTIC ROPE
FUNCTION MODEL
used simple foamed core boards to demonstrate the function of dedo stool (different hole position in slices.)
symmetry top view
Stem and leg's proportiion
N o h a n d le a n d minimal interfere
Initial Sketches Used such a concept to sketch basic forms and possibilities.
04 Dedo Stool
X
The First Try This is the first dedo stool's form. However, such a stool is too thin and simple, and it can't tell the working stool's image very well. So I started to sketch again. Try to refine my form.
A-Ha Moment Dedo stool had changed its form several times, I keep revising new forms and collected from different opinions everytime. At last, I choose a bending wood as my frame, and it brought an concise and comfortable sense.
"This scrible almost beat up every other sketches. That is, a very accidently luck."
04 Dedo Stool
Structure Analysis The main stool frame is made in single peice of bending wood, which is bended in three different places to create structure and storage space. According to the pressure diagram, the body weight and rope tension will make the stool function and balance the forces.
body weight
Rope Tension Pressure
Considering the working enviorment, I discarded the formal chair legs to create a open storage space for users. Taking away the chair handle and back, dedo stool was designed as a working stool which make user comfortably, quickly stand up and sit down.
Wood Slice with Differenet Holes
Knot
Elastic Strong Rope
Bending Wood Frame
04 Dedo Stool
Hey! Right here. Dedo stool is designed for working studio or casual reading room. The compact shape and size would be easy to organize and move. The storage space could also put tools, books or clothes. No matter you put it in either places. Dedo stool would be a good part of it.
Studio Photography
:urban dog outwear project I can use software to control my shoot and set up a basic studio lighting and enviornment for photography with filter, lamp, tripod, mask, softbox and lighting diffuser. In a limited supply, I can also use simple material to set a light box for product photography. -2016 NYC X Design Week Exhibition
05 Studio Photography_Oliver's Armor
Oliver's armor is a studio project which was designed dog clothing in new york city. In this project, I learned from sewing, leather process, pattern making to studio photography. The photos' importance is showing that the craft detail and leather's texture.
"He can be hero, just for one day." ~David Bowie
05 Studio Photography_Oliver's Cloak
Oliver's cloak is a another project in the same time. By designing a warm outwear for fur-less or thin fur dog, Oliverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cloak is based on the research that certain dogs need to keep warm and remain the flexbility of their movement.
Function X Style On the left side of cloak, it is featured with two pocket, which could allow the master bring the dog snack or plastic bag to clean shit.
Exhibition This project was exhibited in 2016 NYC X Design Week at NYC seaport museum.
Traffic! (Bangkok Kit)
:traffic phenomenon board game Traffic!, is a board game which try to mimic the traffic phenomenon in a Bangkok city: players play as taxi drivers compete for passengers and stuck in lines. The form, including the buildings pieces and vehicles are designed by mimicking Bangkok's culture.
06 Traffic!
This mini idea can bring a biggeropportunity.
Start From Here In the begining, I had a chance to use many bamboo as material to work on this project. So I start to use bamboo poles and strip to make many toy cars. Though the craft exploration, I discovered the bamboo's charactersic and its form's possibilities.
Inspiration When I traveled in Bangko city, I had many chance to take taxi alone. The taxi drivers and I actually can't share each's language at all, but drivers always gave me a bitter smile and said, "traffic" to me. This is actually the only word we both know.
06 Traffic!
Rule Exploration Considering the different types of taxi, I thought that using car types to difference the game piece is a good start point.
Vehicle Characteristics smallest capacity, fastest speed in traffic
biggest capacity, slowest speed
Toc Toc Car Taxi
Minding
Van
IDEA
Mock Up
Test Play
Sizing
Discovered every possibilities of pieces, boards and rules which can be fun in the game.
Narrowed down all the rules, actual pieces and ideas which will use in game.
Though actual playing to find out and try error about rules, and different strategy.
D e te r m i n e d t h e f i n a l g a m e pieces size, cards size and board size. Prepared for prototyping.
Strip line feels great Higher wheels make stable
version 1 Key Insight: simple and durable
version 3
version 2
Car Form Piece Exploration The key insight of car piece is simple, communicating the form and durable. Thus, my exploration focused on minimalism shape but still told the vehicle type.
06 Traffic!
Game Piece Manufacturing Considering the game piece have to be very durable and strong, I decided to make my piece in solid form. By remaining the original element, I choose bamboo plywood to CNC.
Glue with plywood wheel which made with band saw
Trouble shooting the router speed and types Bamboo plywood on CNC, material testing
Ran 25 car bodies in one time Re-CAD the car shape; made it fit CNC test result
FINAL 3 TYPES OF MODELS
Building Piece Mimicking I made such pieces with traditional wood working skill. It made me to have more control about the form communication.
So, It's Bangkok! The building piece should be also related the Bangkok culture but keep some universal element. I mimiced some Bangkok city's locak landmark into my building. What's more, by combing the bamboo pole section into plywood, the factroy image shows up.
Straghted and sanded out bamboo pole's skin Used traditional wood working skill to make block module
FINAL 8 TYPES OF BUILDINGS
Processed modules, and combined with bamboo pole
Plywood's grain perfectly mimicked building's level
06 Traffic!
Game Cards and Board Findied over forty Bangkok famous travel spots for game's cards. Though playing, players can also learn the knowledge of Bangkok's local story.
SPOTS
DISTRICT
Avoid to make players remember the spot's exactly locations
But also remind players that it is Bangkok
MERGE
MAP BOARD Simplized the Bangkok map and districts. The passengers will show in the most popular area.
06 Traffic!
A Board Game Traffic! contains four elements: Car pieces, building pieces, game board and game cards. The material are bamboo, paper and canvas.
How To Play Traffic! is designed for two to four players. Players have to compete each other and try to block and stop other's car to win the passengers. The more players join this game, and the game will have more fun!
J.J Mall
8
J1
The shopping complex is located next to the weekend market. (J.J Market) The whole area has become one vast building site and all shop zones are interlinked, for more than 2,000 vehicles including open-air parking for buses.
1. Decide the player's playing order. Players first place the 16 building pieces randomly on the board.
2. players start to place their cars in the border grids.
3. Draw one card. The number of passengers and their location is shown in card.
Democracy Monument
4. Players need to compete to get the passengers. Who gets the passengers, who hold the card.
The car pieces carring passengers follows the following rules: Toc Toc: move 4 space max, and carry (up to) 2 people.
1
Taxi: move 3 space max, and carry (up to) 4 people.
E10
The Demo cracy Monument is a public monument in the centre of Bangkok, capital of Thailand. It occupies a traffic circle on the wide east-west Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, at the intersection of Dinso Road.
Van: move 2 space max, and carry (up tp)8 people. 5. Once the passenger be taken, players can draw a new card and keep playing.
6. Keep playing until the cards runing out. The winner hold the most cards.
SPOTS CARD
Wat Pho
Spot Name
Spot Image
Traffic! also provides some opportunities to educate people that taking taxi in smaller passengers number would harm the enviornment and cause problem. The game is not only about the emotion of road rage but also can be educational and meaningful.
2
K2
Wat Pho, is a Buddhist temple complex in the Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok. Known also as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The temple is first on the list of six temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of the first-class royal temples.
Overall spots in cards
Passenger Number Passenger's location on game board
Spot Description
06 Traffic! (Bangkok Kit)
More Opportunities Traffic! doesn't have to only have Bangkok city kit. It can also use the same idea in many other big cities. If it change some buildings and vehicle form, it can become a New York City kit or Tokyo City kit.
Stomiiformes
:executive desk toy Inspired by complex structure within biological form such within a seahorse tail and aquatic life in general; Stomiiformes is a stress releasing open-ended desktop toy which allow for physical play and mental creativity. By combining the two module sections, user can sense the difference between fidgeting feeling and conscious feeling. -2019 European Product Design Award: Honorable Mention, EU -2019 A' Design Award Winner, Italy -2018 International Design Awards: Silver Winner, USA
07 Stomiiformes
Origin: Seahorse Tail At the very beginning, I Used a traditional biomimicry design method called, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Biology To Design.â&#x20AC;? This method is a design process that looking for inspiration from nature. I paid attention to a range of features on animal that live in oceans. To that end, seahorse tail structure's feature was very interested me.
the structure creates several promising and functional advantages for product design, such as great grip ability, strong impact resistance and resistance to being crushed. These features result from a modular system of four bone plates that are connected by sliding joints and make up each of the 36 sections in a seahorseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tail.
Key Features Grip Ability
Strong Impact Resistance
Resistance to Being Crushed
Finding Opportunities After throughly studying the seahorse’s tail structure, according to the “Biology To Design” process, I tried to seek any applications that combined the main three key insights from this research.
07 Stomiiformes
Change Perspective However, finding a application to make seahorse tail structure a functional solution, that is a typical biomimicry design. Although this process was challenging, it had lack some original thinking in it. And I didn't feel satisfied and confident about it.
I turned back to the beginning of my interest with biomimicry design in the beginning: the ocean. I was obsessed with the weird and bizarre marine creatures in deep ocean. And the â&#x20AC;&#x153;bizarre fishâ&#x20AC;?, initial idea provoked me to change my perspective on this project.
Biomimicry Design looking for functional solutions from mother nature
Purely appreciate the beautiful form in nature
I decided to not look into biomimicry in a functional, industrial solution way. Instead, I chose to appreciate the natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s form and beauty for their own sake. Choosing the totally opposite end of the biomimicry design, discarding all the functionality, purpose and solution, I only want to appreciate the beauty from nature. To that end, there is one typology which fits this concept: An Executive Toy.
07 Stomiiformes
Executive? An executive toy would be a open-ended (some might say pointless) toy for wide audience, so I could pushed my interest in visual enjoyment idea to the limit of scope. And had my focus on the look and play thing on the design itself.
Key Insights 1. They have unmeaningful form. 2. They provide physical feedback. 3. These feedback are always surprising. 4. Most of them have pointless purpose. Such physical feedback and movement are the key trigger of executive toy. The whole experience about playing is based on the aesthetic movement. Thus, making my toy movement elegantly was one of the strongest criteria.
Starting from the seahorse tail structure, I took this structure as my starting point to continue my exploration.
07 Stomiiformes
Linear Array
Since I already appreciated the special and complex four-plates system, I started to use different materials and 3D printing to explore the possibilities of this form.
Circular Array
Sketch Model
Building block
Direction: Single seahorse tail bone layout
Rotation and bending
Array testing
Bending structure
First Prototype: Flip Developed from two interesting directions: linear array and circular array; Flip is the idea if arraying all the single plates which change forms when manipulated. The cone-like form that can be flipped so that the base turns into the top. I gave it a nickename: Flip.
Second Prototype: Dragon Holding with two end and playing with hand, Dragon gave users many interesting fidgeting feel and bring some mental entertaining. Sometimes it sparked some conversation in the studio.
Since this single plate model had potential, I duplicated the bottom plate on top and retained the column structure. And threaded a metal wire though ten or twelve of these plate modules. I created an object with a smooth and organic movement when people play with it. For this, I named it, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dragon.
07 Stomiiformes
Reference With these exciting breakthroughs, I wanted to use the two prototypes and bring-in more organic and aquatic meaning into design. I focused on the pattern in nature, texture, floating and swimming movement.
1. human bone stair structure 2. maple seed 3. maple seed floating path 4. deep ocean fish feature 5. fish skeleton 6. seahorse belly 7. deep ocean fish tail
Form Exploration
continuous degrading size
Bring the organic and aquatic creature insights from reference into rough sketches: only trying to capture some poetic feeling though drawing. I wanted to use the two prototypes and bring-in more organic and aquatic meaning into design. I focused on the pattern in nature, texture, floating and swimming movement.
ball-and-socket joint
angle
Smaller interlocke bone
uneven bottom
07 Stomiiformes
Adjust Quickly Using Rhino enabled me to adjust small detail and set up my ideas from sketching quickly and accurately.
Creating mutiple models with small difference in one place allowed me to think and compare in each design choice. And also, Rhino's powerful function allowed me to fix the model issue faster.
Third Prototype Although the final material decision needs more testing and evaluation. I thought the desk toyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final material will be metal. After a series of sketches, I created a couble of rendering pictures to demonstrate my decisions.
Questionnaire I tried to invite guests to play my two objects, and create a questionnaire for them. Thes questionnaires can basically be described as a scale of a organic versus mechanical perception testing, and fidgeting versus conscious.
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Any Comments? I collected the total 21 questionnaires from undergraduate students and guests. These questionnaires were shown that the guest’s perceptions were more likely bias to the organic and simple form. Besides, they thought that this toy is a more fidget toy than what I guess.`
Key Feedbacks 1. “Flip” is unclear and uninvited as a toy. 2. They needs some training and reward system which allows users want to play more time. 3. More material testing about magnet, object’s connection, wire and material weight. 4. The perception is organic but isn’t poetic. 5. Not clear about fidgeting or conscious. 6. Form is simple enough; maybe can be simpler. 7. Try to find a new explanation of the purpose, such as relaxing wrist muscle.
Derivation / Trouble Shooting I collected the total 21 questionnaires from undergraduate students and guests. These questionnaires were shown that the guestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perceptions were more likely bias to the organic and simple form. Besides, they thought that this toy is a more fidget toy than what I guess.`
Deletion of "Flip"
Material Test: Wire
Length Test
Rotation Test: Spine
A Circle?
Define User Group
Pattern Deco' Test: Revit
Shape Variation
One another important discover in the length test was that once the module amount are over 28, the model could array into a full circle. Trying out different possibilities of long section pattern and different decoration details, from the simple to complex shape, the module form finally came back to the midtermâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughtful pattern. The whole point in the development was that still making the design be a toy. To that end, the perfect full circle of this pattern actually had 30 pieces modules.
07 Stomiiformes
Fidgeting vs. Conscious Since one comment issued that it was a fidget toy, which can be placed on the desk or office table. This was also a issue that need to be overcomed. How to make the users notice the beauty and visual poetic feeling that became a important challenge. From the guests testing, I discovered that the longer the Dragon section, the more conscious users became of its behavior when manipulated, the shorter the section, the more users were likely to â&#x20AC;&#x153;fidgetâ&#x20AC;? with the toy in a distracted way.
Trigger Testing Once the pattern had been decided, I wanted the final model which can be sold as a 30 pieces object. It was tested with (10:10:10), (10: 20), (11:19), (12:18), (13:17) and (8:10:12) module ratio. Comparing the perception though playing and the overall beauty, 12 : 18 pieces is the best ratio in one product.
Less modules
More modules
Fidgeting
Force you to pay attention
Perception Changing Such a system can create from fidgeting meaning to consciously attraction, which match the criteria that users feel the visual poetry and appreciation of natural beauty.
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Pull Back The Form In order to push my design into more mechanical form side, I decided to make my decision toward manufacturing orientation. Considering how to manufacture the final product and material, plastic would be a fragile material to this organic and light structure. So metal (stainless steel, aluminum alloy, zinc) was still the most reasonable choice. To that end, I will use zinc or aluminum die casting to manufacture my work.
Flat side view but organic top
biomimicry
mechanical
Flat column aganist organic
Open-ended
An open-ended form should have a great blance between organic and mechanical.
Finally, it can be manufactured in open mold production with metal die casting. The cast tuyere pass in front of the body’s top. In the design of mold, they can be injected in multiple pieces at once.
Manufacturing Orenitation Stomiiformes’ body has draft angle on the arms at both side and on its column. In addition, At the body’s back, the module shared the same wall surface to prevent the module overlapping each other. At the body’s top and bottom plate, there are small walls which allow all the modules stay in the same plane. Thus, the final form was partly made on solving functional problem and production limitations.
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Final Deliverable Stomiiformes will be sold with three options: 12 pieces +1 tail section. 16 pieces +1 tail section. 30 pieces (two model adds up) section, which is a combination with Fidgeting and Untamed; I named it, Infiniti. Such sections can be combined together by their front and back magnet. Changing the product length can give the audience a different perception.
Magnet
Steel Cable
Ferrule
Magnet
Check Out How To Play
https://www.beckkao.com/stomiiformestoy Figdeting 12 units
Playful 16 units
Untamed 30 units
"I wish I have one on my office desk." ~Martin Seck, Photographer
BECK KAO Please check out more my works at
http://beckkao.com
Parsons School of Design, MFA Industrial Designer, Engineer, Comic Artist. Kao8855@gmail.com