Christopher Barker Industrial Design Portfolio Volume II
Hi! My name is Christopher. I’m living in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and studying Design for Industry In my third year at Northumbria University. I’m excited by Industrial Design because every project is an opportunity to tell stories about users and how they experience and interact with our world. As I develop these insights I aim to innovate and create original solutions to real world problems and approach every challenge with a hollistic perspective.
REF Chris is an extremely likeable and approachable young man who finds it easy to communicate on a one to one basis and also within a group situation Having joined Penso earlier this year, Chris has been set a number of key tasks within the Design Department and once he has ensured that he has understood the brief correctly Chris has delivered each task and the associated information in an accurate and timely manner. Chris has worked extremely well with his peer group and has taken on board a number of new skills that have been vital in enabling him to complete the various task set I believe Chris is found his time at Penso extremely valuable and I am sure that once his studies are complete Penso will be very keen to find a position within the Consulting Team for Chris Well done Chris and all the very best in completing your studies Jevon Operations Director Penso Consulting 13th June 2016
AURA The distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing, or place.
Aura i s a concept I developed in responce to th e chal lenge set by Design I nnovation Plastics in 201 6. Thei r br ief was to create a product wh ich ful fi l led an i n novative solution in th e pet industry. My fo cus was to capture an element of th e evolvi ng beauty of nature in a product aimed at enthusi asts of exotic pets e.g. reptiles, amph ibians, insects...
THESIS NARRATION & MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun”.
A huge number of households share their space with some kind of pet, typically these take the form of a dog or cat. As a society we force our own image upon pets, making them wear clothes, giving them names generally humanizing them. However I believe that individuals who favour exotic animals, fish, reptiles, amphibians are tapping into an accessible doorway into nature. As we humanize domestic pets, a lot can been appreciated in a desire to commune with nature and celebrate animals that don’t conform to a typical urban lifestyle.
Wirelessly connect to a smartphone
Monitor your pets behaviour via webcam.
Digitally adjust lighting and temperature.
Track your pets development and growth.
Download environment presets optomized for your pet.
Feeding time alerts.
Learn from a network of experts.
Save/Upload content from webcam.
A N T I C I PAT IO N Regard as probable; expect or predict.
In l ate 2015 L EX U S released th e brief for th e 201 6 D esign Award, thi s brief simply read ‘A nticipate’ We had to i nter pret th is in our ow n way and discover i n sights around th e th eme. My fo cus was based on our perception of th e urban env i ron ment and how we nav igate it using our sences.
Insight When walking down a busy highstreet darting in and out of crowds of people I noticed I was highly dependent on my sense of sight. I realised that my ‘map’ of the street may appear very different from the perspective of some one who is blind. I anticipate my path through the crowd with my eyes but those who are blind rely on touch and hearing. With this in my mind, and a willing guide I navigated the street with my eyes closed and found myself darting away from loud sounds because they manifested themselves as larger or closer objects in my mind.
If we visualise the world as a series of reverberating sound waves how different would it look compared with healthy vision? To see sound I created an acousitic landscape based on audio clips from Northumbria street. In this landscape, loud sounds bulge more than quiet ones and sharp sounds are more pointed then deep soft sounds. For example a police siren would jut out a lot and appear jagged, where as the constant hum of people would be a subtle curvy reverberation.
Resolve My interpretation of the ‘Anticipation’ brief is a walk through installation which maps the acoustic landscape of a selected street or town. This installation represent ambient sound as topography which receeds and extends according to the pitch and volume of the ambient sound. These movements are also accompanied by lighting which glares and dims according to the same conditions. This concept is intended to help us visualise the obsticles and landscape that the visually impared have to navigate on a daily basis.
I nte r a ct i ve L i ght i ng For i nteracti ve l ighti ng we were to create a lamp wh ich was por table but al so featured an interactive element. For my project I wanted to encapsulate th e movement of a fl ame on a match .
TH ESIS NARRATION & MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light�. Traditionally candle light was associated with social interaction. Before electricity individuals would gather around a lamp whether it be at home, in a inn, bar or any indoor public space. This is where ambience came from and is today associated with establishments or rooms which have a vibrant atmosphere. When thinking about this I became curious with ways in which candle flame interacts with movement. I decided to observe and simulate this interaction within a minimalist modern casing.
Match ignition
YAW
H C T PI
ROLL
Flame Orientation
Rotate the cube around its Y-axis to turn it on and brighten the LED Panel facing up.
Light orientates to the top of the cube
Development Before fabr icati ng components, I designed every component i n sketch work th en refined th e dimensions in Solidworks. O nce I had preci se measurements I started to produce prototy pes i n a range of materials. T h is h elped me es tabl i sh exactly how th e lamp would come togeth er. I resear ched the elect ronics required to simulate a cand lefl ames behaviour to orientate th e light around th e cube as th e user h andles it.
Resolve The real i sation of my observation is F lame. A n abstract mi n i m al i st l am p which simulates th e movements of a trad itional candle flame. Rotate Fl ame on a fl at surface to turn it on and brighten th e flame inside. Rol l i n your hand s and watch th e light dance across th e faces of the cube alwa ys orientating to th e ‘top’ surface of th e cube.
OPEN DENTAL Open dental was a live brief working with the NHS to improve the community dental services around Northumberland. For a lot of people the dental experience can be very stressful so we aimed to relieve the patients while also streamlining the job of the dentist. Thi s woul d leave patients more satisfied and enable denti sts to com plete their v isits more efficiently and cover m ore land day to day.
OBSERVATIONS & MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS
While interviewing a local community dentist our group noticed a few insights which we felt complicated the dentists job and made their time with their patients ‘clinical’. The dentist is required to attend a minimum number of visits and record the patients oral health according to a strict set of questions. Between my group and the dentist we agreed this made the check up rushed and impersonal; alienating the patient. We felt that the check up would be better conducted in a manor which gives the patient the confidence to disclose any concerns. We achieved this by utilising a voice to text software paired with a patient database which the user updates rather than paper records which require storing for a minimum of 15 years.
Resolve Our solution was a ‘Talk to text’ app inspired by the autopsy recording method. We proposed a database style software which stores patient records for later referral. The critical infomation is attained from the patient via a fill in form, the rest of the check up is recorded via IBM derived ‘talk to text’ software which produces a PDF file which is then attached to the patients file.
PEACOCKS Peacocks is a company which develops customer bespoque knee braces and in soles for clients who are prescribed their services. This was a group project between Peacocks and Northumbria University. Peacocks asked us to research the market for knee braces and develop an aesthetic and form which wouldn’t carry the stigmas of currently available products.
USER RESEARCH & MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS
We discovered knee brace users felt singled out in public. Men especially felt that wearing a knee brace was a display of weakness or injury which they’d rather keep private. Our goal was to design a knee brace which was more comfortable to wear, could be fitted easily and followed the organic curvatures of the leg close enough that the wearer could wear it under joggers or baggy jeans.
Resolve Using acrylic we heat wrapped the knee brace components around a user leg to mock up the knee brace form. Our solution was an organic form which was lighter and less intrusive than market alternatives. The knee brace can be worn over clothes or beneath depending on the users choice.
DESIGN COMMUNICATION Whether it be sketching, modelling, rapid prototyping or CAD there is a wide repertoire of devices to communicate concepts and ideas.