2008-20
ethan lee
I N D U S T R IIAL AL DESIGN
eetthanlee29@ho hanlee29@hotmail.com tmail.com
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ETHAN LEE
E D U C AT I ON
SKILLS
OC AD U
Dra wing
Industr ial Design; 2008-Present
Proficient with tr adition a l p e n / m a r ke r a n d
I’m cur rently pur suing my Bachelor of Design degree in a four-year industr ial design progr am at OC AD U.
SketchBook Pro
I’m interested in all for ms of product design, but my initial interest came from footwear design. Four year s later, I’m still dedicated to footwear, but my interes ts have expanded to wear ables in gener a l. The way in which ID can aid, improve and enhance the human body is extremely intr uiging.
Familiar with fabr ic , foam , p l a s t i c s ,
paper as well as tablet s ke t c h i n g w i t h
I have a keen interest in how things wor k, and am eager to continue expanding my field of knowledge . I am always wanting to improve my wor k, whether it be my design process, or the final physical output from concept and ideation.
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Model Making wood, cer amics, and var i o u s c i r c u i t r y
C AD Adobe Photoshop/Illustr a t o r Rhino Solidwor ks Keyshot
Ot her Arduino
INDEX
HEART RATE C AMERA 1
4th Year - Wearable Technology 4 weeks
BUSINESS C ARD 2
3rd Year - ID Core 1 2 weeks
SYMBIO O : INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS 3
3rd Year - ID Core 2 2 weeks
TEA LIGHT HOLDER 4
2nd Year - ID Core 2, (Revisited) 3rd Year - Small Object Design 4 weeks, 2 Weeks
MALE & FEMALE CUTLERY 5
2nd Year - Meaning of Language and Form 4 weeks
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+ During the day we go through a range of many experiences and emotions, and we end up storing moments in our head. These sequences may be joyful or they may be lapses of frustration; if they’re significant, we remember them. Over time, some of these memories will fade and we don’t have a way of getting them back. My solution attempts to translate these memories from our head into something tangible and lasting.
step 1 Moving from concept to reality was especially challenging for this project, given the complexity of the par ts. In addition to a Polar hear t rate monitor, I used an Arduino UNO, a small JPEG camera, an SD card + breakout board, and a wireless receiver for the HR monitor.
When everything was finally working properly, the next step was to slim down the entire circuit and find an appropriate garment to attach it too.
The most impor tant par t of the prototyping phase was writing the Arduino code. My goal was to capture a photo whenever there was a big enough spike in the user’s hear t rate. The photo would then be saved onto the SD card.
t s e t
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step 2 The jacket chosen was a good fit for two reasons: it had a placket to conceal the wires going from the camera to the circuit, and the seam from the pocket doubled as a compar tment to conceal the circuit. The most impor tant aspect of any wearable project is positioning. In order to be as close to a first-person POV as possible, the camera was sewn on near the collar. It was fur ther camouflaged by the colour of the jacket.
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The final build achieved exactly what I envisioned with my concept: capturing what the user sees the moment their mood or emotion changes. In opposition to a cell phone or a digital camera, operating this way is a bit more discreet, and definitely more honest. Goals for future iterations include: Integration with a smart phone (eliminate SD card) Better use of heart rate data Built-in HR monitor Slimmer circuit
AUGMENTED REALITY The goal with this project was to take advantage of emerging technologies. The brief was simply to create a business card, and augmented reality seemed like a unique way to enhance the designer-client relationship. Each card would have a marker corresponding to a specific project for viewing on my website. Using this technology as a means of promotion would allow me to create an interactive portfolio and literally put my work in the hands of potential clients.
process Adobe Flash was used to execute the augmented reality, and the 3D model was taken from a rapid prototyping project. Fur ther exploration with Flash would help expand the card’s possibilities, such as displaying 3D models with more detail, including sound, and activating shor t animations.
1 1. 1. Go Go to to my my website website 2. 2. Navigate Navigate to to the the project project page page 3. 3. Pick Pick the the project project corresponding corresponding to to the the marker and hold the marker and hold the card card up up to to the the camera camera
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INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS Being able to talk and share personal experiences allows us to open up and create better connections. One key component in conversations, especially for couples, is emotion. By not knowing your partner’s emotions you may feel out of tune, making conversation difficult. Factoring in the business of public spaces, these problems may progressively worsen. How might we be aware of our partner’s emotions while using our surroundings to improve the relationship?
context The brief for this project called for something that enabled or facilitated intimate conversations in public spaces.
Detailing the 5W’s helped to flesh out my goal before heading deeper into the concept
The first step was to look at a variety of relationships in which conversation was an impor tant factor. Relationships between people like parents and children, strangers, and patients and caretakers were all considered, but ultimately the interaction between two people in a romantic relationship had the most potential.
Who Who
Couples that spend Couples spend paraway ts of par ts ofthat their day their day away from each other from each other
What What
Wearable technology that allows you to experience your par tner’s emotions
When When
Points during the day where users will come together and spend time with each other
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Where Where
Location will depend on the users’ surroundings and their ability to navigate to a relatively quiet area
Why Why
It allows the users to be emotionally aware and pushes them to make an effor t to communicate with each other
concept Each user would either wear a bracelet or a ring. Throughout the day, symbio would track mood via biofeedback while the users are apar t. When they come together, the ring/bracelet would undergo a variety of physical changes so that each user can actually feel what their par tner is going through. In addition, there would be an indication system to deem whether or not the users’ surroundings are appropriate for an intimate conversation.
Red = Users apart; emotions are being tracked Red+Blue = Users together, but surroundings are too loud Blue+Green = Users together; conditions are ideal for conversation Blue = Users are relaxed; emotions are in balance
Anger = Tighten Sad = Cold Nervous = Quick contractions Happy = Mellow pulsations
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Though the brief did not call for any working protoypes, a set of experience prototypes were made with a series of magnets in order to visualize a user scenario. The next step would be to build circuit prototypes displaying the described physical changes as a proof of concept.
Lighting plays an important part in the situations we find ourselves in. Whether bright or dark, lighting sets the mood for the space that it occupies. In terms of candle light, tea lights specifically, I felt that they are especially effective in a dining setting. The forms created are intended to compliment the dinner table and also play with the light itself.
process While sketching with a dinner setting in mind, most of my ideas revolved around bottle shapes. Another challenge was figuring out how to change or affect the light.
When it came time to build, I wanted to work with vacuum forming for the first time. The mold was made from a block of basswood, and vacuum formed with styrene.
The final form was very similar to the shape of a bottle. The top opening was curved outwards to compliment the way light spreads. The perforations added a uniqe pattern for the light to shine through, and some more ventilation for the flame.
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revisted I had the oppor tunity to revisit the project over a year later in a different class. The objective was to use Rhino/CAD and some form of rapid prototyping technology to “reimagine� the form.
The form was first modeled in Rhino and line drawings were expor ted for cutting. Keyshot was later used for a final presentation.
While keeping the essential curvature the same, I took advantage of the CAD to bring about perfect symmetry, moving on to something tighter and more mechanical. I catered the form for laser cutting, resulting in a series of spines held in place by several rings.
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+ Many objects and products tend to be categorized as male or female, regardless of whether the association was intended or not. Lines, colours, and materials all contribute to an object’s “gestalt� or character. With cutlery as the target, this project was an exercise in form, in which the goal was to intentionally create gender-specific objects.
sketching For this phase, about five sets for each gender were sketched out. Each set began with an idea for the knife, followed by the fork and spoon. Perhaps the results may have been different if the fork or spoon were used as the star ting point.
For the female sets, I wanted to focus on the following details: Curves Little to no corners Tapering Overall seamless flow
With the male sets I tried to focus on the following details: Sharpness Tight, straight lines Angles
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After finalizing selection for a male and female set, the next step was to move on to foam models. For each utensil, a top and side view were pasted directly onto a block of foam and cut with a bandsaw. Sandpaper was used to refine them. This phase helped to get any changes out of the way before moving on to the final wood models.
The male set was made with cherry wood. In terms of form, the handle was extended a bit to exaggerate the straightness of it, and it was balanced out by its cylindrical shape.
For the female set I wanted something lighter than the cherry, so I decided on basswood. With the form, the main theme was making it as organic as possible. A conscious effort was made to round all the corners and taper all the edges and faces.
CONTACT Ethan Lee ethanlee29@hotmail.com el08ij@student.ocadu.ca