REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX REDUX REDUX
REDUX REDUX
REDUX
1
2
Product Design Year 2 Icebreaker
19.09 to 23.09
Redux
26.09 to 28.10
Fringe
14.11 to 9.12
Responsive Environments Live Project
9.1 to 3.2 20.02 to 24.03
3
4
CONTENTS 4-5 - Contents 5-6 - Brief Synopsis 8-19 - Discover 20-29 - Develop 30-35 - Define 36-39 - Deliver 40-41 - Reflections
5
Brief Synopsis
This project asks you to design a product that people can connect with on an emotional, intuitive and personal level, by ‘re-imagining’ the physical character of a familiar product to communicate one dominant characteristic. For example, what is an angry doorbell? What would it look like? How does someone interact with it?
6
Building on what you learnt about semantics in First Year, you will research your chosen product and character trait to reveal distinct aesthetic and behavioural definitions and explore the translation of these relative to form language, materiality, appearance and interface. With a focus on making, this project will develop your ability to manifest your insights and ideas as tangible, compelling propositions. The outcome of this project will be a high fidelity appearance model.
Menacing Vicacious Sensitive Awkward Soothing Whimsical Rugged Demure
Phone MP3 Player Doorbell Timer Torch
7
Soothing: in the context of design
In examining the place of the word soothing, I deduced that it meant to relieve distress, to calm and to relax in a period of unrest. This evolved into the idea of replicating human intimacy, of trying to, in physical terms, recreate the emotional feeling of security and contentedness Bulding up the context of the product was vital in it’s development. This phone was supposed to be used in a cosy and secure setting, as an item of comfort and relief. The user would be actively trying to relax and replenish emotionally
8
In the process of trying to define soothing, I asked my classmates to “doodle for me�. They were to draw without thought, as if letting their pen trail the page; what is it for them that passes the time? What movement do they revert to and how does this look on the page? Every doodle tells a story about the character; about how their mind works and what they see in the surrounding world.
9
I ask myself: How do I respond to emotions?
Music Silence Clothes change Idleness
happiness
Converse Dance Socialise Organise Work Shower Clothes Change Easy TV Eat Sleep
anger
10
sadness
Deafen with music Exercise Fidget
exhaustion
The Phone
The Archetype
The New Staple The consistent design component in these three handsets is the appearance of two pieces: the receiver (used to hear and listen) and the base (tying the set to the surface and staying grounded to landline). I chose to extract the bare core of this product and see the phone as a medium of communication.
The Oddball
11
12
Soothing, A Moodboard of Visual Language
13
A Moodboard by The moving image was the most accurate tool to convey emotion and feeling. These thematic scenes evoke a feeling of calm and rest. The sounds prove to be just as vital as the images seen.
A slow drip, a weight falling and seeping from one place to the next.
The Simpsons, a tap into nostalgia, viewed through a dream-like kaleidospocic vision.
14
Moving Image
The wind blowing through autumnal trees in suburbia, a car makes its way down a long, straight road
Water flowing, crashing, the sound of a moving waterfall.
15
The Manifestation of ‘Soothing’ in a phone
An aesthetic exploration
What matters: weight, feel, hold
16
Balance Harmony
I experimented with what it meant to be soothing in physical manifestation; attempting to translate its characteristics into tangible form
17
Context
18
Jumpers and blankets. It’s the folds and the layers that make them comfortable and comforting. In these photographs. I’m visually capturing this sense of emotional security and comfort.
Mia Cinelli’s Weighted Blanket This weighted blanket attempts to recreate the feeling of company; a physical presence lost by absence of a loved one.
19
Concepts
20
These design concepts center around collectivisation, with the common intent of trying to simplify the communication process of a phone. This would see a collection of identical minimal entities communating independently. It is hoped by reverting to simplicity and clarity the user might be soothed and comforted.
21
22
This design is inspired by two parallel ideas and opportunities. A song’s lyrics sing in haunting repetition “Holding you, never be alone, never be alone, never be alone”. A reaction to the crushing feeling of loneliness and the desire for another human’s touch. The second, a story of my grandmother comforting her bed-ridden elderly sister as she struggles to fall to sleep, holding her hand and singing her lullabies their mother used to sing to them as young girls and allowing her to fall gently to sleep. This design aims to replicate the feel of a human touch in physical form. A handeld opject with a trailing lead to manipulate around the arm at will.
23
Warmth provision
Gripping
24
Binding
How to translate the feeling of warmth and comfort from everyday items? Of being held and feeling soothed by a material or a form; in both the way that it feels and in how it touches your body.
Envelopment
Could it physically heat up?
25
Euan, the model seen here, provided the observation that the paper was most sensitive to his body when within his hands.
While a piece on the shoulders or arm may lay relatively dormant and unmoved, it is by playing with the trailing object in his hands that he feels the most satisfaction.
Paper Experimentations in form How big should it be? Could there be numerous parts to it? What parts of the body should it touch? Would it be permanently handheld or ornamental?
26
Manipulating loops of paper around the hands
27
With focus on the hands, the design settled on small, individual loops, to be worn loosely and manipulated as required.
28
These models constructed from clay, their objective was to see the handpieces as beacons of heat, emanating warmth under the human touch
29
30
The Story
31
How should it be activated?
32
“The movement should be an ignition, like sparking a fire�
33
I experimented with sound when looking for the best texture for my product. I wanted to capitalise on nature, recognising that synthetic fabrics could give off a very organic sound. For many, it is the sound of the wind, of waves crashing on the beach, of water running down a river, that provides relief and comfort. It is this that reminds us that we are insignificant in the world. I ruffled a variety of textures including felt, fairypaper, cardboard, distressed paper and variations, in order to find one pleasing and most suitable.
34
T E XT U R E S Stitching proved the best method of application for the chosen fabric: felt. Continuing with the same organic feel and capitalising on known homeware fabrics.
35
Final
36
Model
This product model designed on Autodesk Fusion 360 represents the final design.
box for white felt sample
3 Identical hoops, circular on one side and progressively stretched together to nip into a triangular join. Material would be a light metal such as aluminum, for a soft, smooth, more attractive finish.
box for aluminum wire sample
Lined with a 5mm thickness of felt for comfort and warmth. Thus the product would have rigidity and security whilst a warm and soft coating to be held and grasped without trepidation.
box for copper sample
The final product: an interactive wrist piece partnered with another; so that two loved ones need never feel alone. Activated by human touch, the product as a communicative tool, emitting heat and vibrations to replicate intimacy.
37
an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone
held
These posters reflect a number of recurrent themes used throughout the project.
38
an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone an interactive wrist piece to never feel alone
held
In the text, repetiition, creating a familiar texture and comforting security Simplicity in the geometric shaping of the logo, an easy and generic occurence The two posters as a pair reflect the partnership between the products, necessary to each other’s formulation and reflective of their existence.
39
Reflections This was a project in which I became infatuated by the Discovery stage. I found trying to exemplify the word soothing in digital form fascinating, the word being a strongly evoking emotion. The subsequent process of sourcing materials and existing products was a fairly natural step. Ideation of concepts was an exciting and interesting process also, it seemed to be tackling a worthwhile design opportunity. The disadvantage of a free and open first half of the project in which ideas could be explored liberally was in having to deliver a refined and conclusive final model. I felt this was a weaker side of the project in that I had a strong foundation of ideas and understanding but underperformed in articulating this in to the strongest possible outcome.
40
In a broader context, this project served as the first on return from the summer break. In this sense I felt I hit the ground running pretty well in enthusiasm. It was a term in which access to the workshop was heavily limited due to new student inductions, therefore one had to be resourceful in sourcing of materials and tools. It was an interesting development on semantics, as introduced in first year, as well as an introduction to anthropomorphy and playfulness in design. I left this project content and anticipatory for the next term.
41
42
43
44
Edward Allbutt Product Design Year 2 Glasgow School of Art 2016/17