FRANCES CHENG INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PORTFOLIO 2014
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WELCOME
I’M FRANCES CHENG, AND THIS IS MY PORTFOLIO. PLEASE GET A CUP OF TEA (OR COFFEE, IF YOU WANT) AND ENJOY YOUR VISIT Tell me if you like it francesvcheng@gmail.com
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CONTENTS 01 MAIN COURSE 06 18 30 42 54 64 72 76
Ming Wander Amibot Orbit Blast Desk Minion Solidworks 1 Solidworks 2
02 TEATIME 82 Waffles 84 Eye Candy
03 FOUNDATIONS 90 94 96 100 104 108
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Rectilinear Flashlight Typography Pack Animal Space Vase Curvilinear
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MAIN COURSE
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MING
A better tea infuser that allows tea leaves to open fully inside your cup
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OBJECTIVES LEARN ABOUT KICKSTARTER DESIGN A PRODUCT WITH CROWDFUNDING POTENTIAL MAKE A KICKSTARTER PAGE AND VIDEO FOR IT
CONSUME LARGE AMOUNTS OF TEA
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TRENDS OF SUCCESSFUL KICKSTARTER PROJECTS POPULAR CATEGORIES
WATCHES
The reason is that everyone needs a way to tell the time. A watch also doubles as a fashion statement. It’s hard to go wrong with a well designed watch on Kickstarter.
PIGGYBACKING
These products are simply accessories of popular products that many people own, such as Apple products, cameras, phones, laptops, etc.
THE NEWEST THING
New and hot products that make you go “Wow, I can own that?” These can be simple or very high-tech, but no other kid on the block has one.
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VIDEO TECHNIQUES The video is one of the most important elements on the page. It must capture the attention of the audience immediately, tell a concise and engaging story, and showcase the product in its full glory. Some of the techniques used in the popular videos I watched were:
EMOTION
HUMOR
DEPTH OF FIELD
THE MOST COMMON PLEDGE AMOUNT: $25 There are various pledge levels for Kickstarter backers to choose from, but the most common one according to Kickstarter statistics is $25. It is important to keep this in mind when setting pledge brackets.
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CALL TO ACTION
PRODUCT DESIGN CRITERIA WITH KICKSTARTER IN MIND SMALL ENOUGH...
The product must be an appropriate scale that I could design and produce by myself or with a small team.
SOMETHING I LOVE...
I have to be passionate enough about the subject matter to keep working on it for at least a year, taking into account manufacturing, shipping, and headaches.
FULFILLS A NEED... Design fundamentally is about solving problems and making things better, so my product must not only fulfill a need, but a common one to succeed on Kickstarter.
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THIS IS NOT PORTABLE ENOUGH
THIS IS NOT SPACIOUS ENOUGH
LET’S MAKE IT BETTER
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WHY IS IT CALLED MING? During the Ming Dynasty in China there was a little tea bowl called the “Gaiwan� which was invented to brew teas with subtle and delicate flavors. The Ming tea infuser pays homage to this ancient art.
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FEATURES FOOD GRADE SILICONE LID This lid is perched on the rim of your cup while the tea is steeping
STEEL CAP Screw the cap onto the body to keep the tea inside, can be removed for cleaning
STEEL MESH BODY The tea leaves go inside the mesh body, which is large enough to allow them to open fully inside the cup, unlike many tea infusers on the market
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From top left to bottom right: Ming Vase Springtime Ming Ming of the Golden Pagoda Lucky Ming Winter Ming Crouching Tiger Hidden Ming
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BUILT IN SAUCER
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LET STEEP FOR 3-4 MINUTES
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WANDER
A temperature adaptable jacket that makes you look and feel like an adventurer
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EMILY BACKPACKER TRAVEL ENTHUSIAST PERSONA Age: 24 Sex: Female Occupation: Nursing student Location: Boulder, CO Status: Single Emily loves to travel because her parents took her on many camping and hiking trips as a child. Now she does it herself on the weekends and during breaks. Although she enjoys hiking with her family and friends, she also frequently makes solo trips abroad.
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THIS IS WHAT’S ON THE MARKET
The market for hiking/backpacking jackets is saturated with technical, bland, personality-less clothing. Furthermore, many of these jackets are only suitable for extreme cold temperatures and must be taken off once the weather warms up. And what’s with all the tight, face-hugging hoods?
MAYBE PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO TRAVEL... WANT TO LOOK THE PART
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ADVENTURE. TRAVEL. EXPLORE.
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Image boarding based on the themes of adventure, travel and explore. These images capture the essence of what people imagine and love about travel.
WHY ARE THESE STORIES SO POPULAR?
THE HERO’S JOURNEY These fictional universes all appeal to human nature to want to be the main character in a grand adventure. I also took inspiration from these aesthetic styles, including the old-world simplicity and ruggedness.
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WEAR IT ALL DAY Initial ideation sketches explored themes and methods of temperature adaptability and the idea of keeping on your jacket when you get warm to avoid the hassle of taking it off and carrying it.
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INSPIRATION FROM ASIA Traditional Asian clothing was designed with hot weather in mind. A layer of air between the clothing and the wearer helps insulate natural body temperature and keeps the wearer comfortable.
Nice large hood
Ninja Roomy sleeves
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KIMONO JACKET 01
I began building full-scale mockups which were helpful in pattern exploration and learning to sew. In this mockup I tested the idea of a kimono inspired jacket. 26
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JEDI HOOD 02
A second mockup tested the hood pattern which I took from the Jedi cloaks from Star Wars. I also experimented with large sleeves and the overall silhouette. francesvcheng@gmail.com 27
ADVENTURE MODE • Large sleeves allow airflow • Bright color reflects heat • Looks awesome jumping
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STEALTH MODE • Sleeves and jacket close to body • Dark color absorbs heat • Hood is 90% cooler than before
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AMIBOT
A conceptual game robot developed as a team project at ENSCI - Les Ateliers
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HOUSEHOLD ROBOTS EXPLORING THEIR POTENTIAL BEYOND DOMESTIC CHORES
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GAME ROBOT My partner and I decided to explore different ways a robot could participate in a video game experience. We hoped to expand the game platform beyond the limits of the television screen.
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POB-BOT The POB robot is a customizable and programmable robot which we took apart and learned from. All the schematics are available through the website, and we used it as a base to experiment for our own robot.
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MICROSOFT KINECT We also had access to Kinect technology which we took apart for the camera and motion sensors to incorporate into the gaming theme.
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FORM EXPLORATION I originally explored a very basic shape which would simply need to house the Kinect and POB motor. Then I went a more playful direction inspired by a penguin. It has also been called R2D2.
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GAMEPLAY My partner and I animated a video describing the gameplay and potential scenarios for Amibot, conceptually, the robot could play hide and seek, be a second player in a video game, or hide objects for the player to find with the disk slot on the back of its head.
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FUTUR EN SEINE EXHIBITION
The final prototype was 3D printed and put on display at the Futur en Seine exhibition in Paris
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ORBIT
Traditional clockwork reimagined to be an elegant and modern timepiece for your desk
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DESIGN OPPORTUNITY Redesign a clock whose internal components determine its external appearance
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CLASS. TRADITION. MODERN. francesvcheng@gmail.com 45
INSPIRED BY THE MOON I explored various ways to tell time, including the phases of the moon. However the final aesthetic direction is also inspired heavily by a crescent moon shape.
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FORM EVOLUTION The form went from very literally crescent moon inspired to a more modern and mechanical design composed of several concentric circles.
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GEAR TRAIN The gear train in the Orbit clock is powered by a regular quartz crystal clock mechanism because of its high level of accuracy. A central driver gear which turns two free spinning gears like a spur gear, which turns the two “hands� that run on a stationary rail and tell the time.
POWER CORD I attached a power cord instead of using a battery to maintain the slim profile of the clock..
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AFTER DARK Night mode on the Orbit clock: LED lights can be turned on to illuminate the ends of the clock hands.
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Hour hand Stationary rail Free-spinning gears
Motor
Minute hand
Back cover PCB
Screw
Power cord
Gear train Copper coil
Stand
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HOW TO READ Read the gold tab on the right edge of each “hand”, as it goes clockwise. The positions of each number on a clock are so well established that I did not see a need to put numbers on the clock “face”.
MINUTES
12:10
HOURS
3:45
4:40
6:00
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BLAST
A dynamic hairdryer that doesn’t look like bathroom clutter
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According to Dieter Rams, good design... 1. is innovative 2. makes a product useful 3. is aesthetic 4. makes a product understandable 5. is unobtrusive 6. is honest 7. is long-lasting 8. is thorough down to the last detail 9. is environmentally friendly 10. is as little design as possible Focusing on a few of these principles I set out to redesign a hairdryer.
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PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED
Existing solutions for storing hairdryers are all inelegant; the cord gets in the way or tangled, and the hairdryer itself is shoved in a drawer as an afterthought.
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FIRST, SOME RESEARCH What are the pet peeves?
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How do people store it?
Is it comfortable to use?
What does this button even do?
RETRO FUTURISTIC My sketch ideation was inspired by the look of a vintage sci-fi aesthetic. I also explored ways to make the hairdryer stand on the counter.
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HANDLE VARIATIONS Mockups ranged from testing form and proportion to a hairdryer handle that could also act as a stand.
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FEATURES The Rocket hairdryer can stand on your counter and not take up too much space because of its narrow profile and minimal footprint. The switch is in back where the air vents are, and the cord can be wrapped around the handle to save space.
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DESK MINION Designed to sit on your desk and hold small portable electronics or nuclear missile plans
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YOUR MISSION [should you choose to accept it]: Design and produce 50 units of a product which you will sell at the end of the year ATTENTION: Must be an office product. Project will be self-funded. good luck...
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[this message will now self destruct]
TOO TACKY AND CHEAP I chose to redesign a desktop cell phone holder because the ones existing on the market looked tacky and cheap. Furthermore, a cell phone stand is small enough of a project to produce and distribute by myself.
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FOCUSING ON SIMPLICITY Because we had to manufacture these all independently, I focused on designing an object that could be made out of simple bent material, and easy to reproduce en masse. Later I narrowed it down to the idea of a robotic looking figure.
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METAL VS PLASTIC I decided to go with stainless steel sheet metal instead of plastic because it elevated the look and feel of the product. However, the first time I cut them on the plasma cutter and they were all badly burnt (as below).
POSTURE In all these mockups the head is tilted upright with a bent neck. In the final I chose to go for a more relaxed position for functional and aesthetic reasons.
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MANUFACTURING Because I used stainless steel sheet metal, I couldn’t cut the pieces on the laser cutter and had to use the waterjet. I then bent each piece on the sheet metal brake and amassed a small army to take over the world.
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SOLIDWORKS I Introduction to SolidWorks where we designed and modeled a bike based on our individual body measurements
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CUSTOM MEASUREMENTS This bike is modeled to my height (5’4”); the length of my limbs and inseam dictate the length of the seat tube and frame.
ME
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SOLIDWORKS II Recreation of an “Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device” from the game Portal by Valve
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PORTAL GUN As an exercise in modeling and creative solution finding, we chose objects to model in SolidWorks. I decided to model an ASHPD or Portal Gun.
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TEATIME Personal projects and illustration work. Taken with milk and no sugar
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WHY WAFFLES ARE BETTER THAN PANCAKES
Pockets created by walls can hold honey or syrup inside, so when bitten it releases a flood of honey and crispyness. Pancakes get soaked and mushy and lose all the syrup onto the plate.
Waffles can be created in a mold or iron, ensuring a repeatable standard of quality.
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Walls have slight draft angle to them making them thinner near the top, when toasted, these edges become nice and crispy. Pancakes are just one lame texture throughout.
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FOUNDATIONS Essential vitamins for the growing designer. Part of a complete breakfast.
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RECTILINEAR
A fundamental exercise of design based on the hierarchy of Dominant, Subdominant, and Subordinate forms
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FLASHLIGHT This project was about designing a flashlight that can hold four AA batteries; an exercise in following design constraints.
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ENERGY SOURCE I was inspired by the TRON and Star Wars lightsaber aesthetics which feature an internal energy source glowing through a metal outer shell.
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TYPOGRAPHY A typographic pamphlet made of letter compositions playing with different types of contrast
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PACK ANIMAL A piece of children’s furniture created from a piece of 30x60� plywood and designed for easy disassembly
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MORE THAN FURNITURE I wanted to play to the instinctive imagination of children and their ability to interact with inanimate objects as if they had life. I made the Pack Animal as a child’s coat rack as well as a play companion.
[FLAT]PACK ANIMAL The Pack Animal is playful in many ways; it is composed of flowing lines and organic shapes, and the name is both a hint to its function and form.
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SPACEVASE
An exercise in 2D and 3D composition where we created two vacuum formed shapes which were joined by a 2D plane
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RETRO INSPIRATION Though I was drawn to the idea of a retro spaceship inspired design, initially all of my mockups were very symmetrical. I found an interesting solution when I incorporated a tilted shape.
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CURVILINEAR
Similar to the rectilinear, the curvilinear was a pure study of form composed of two orthographic projections
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THANK YOU
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