Yokai by Fred Wordie

Fred Wordie Redox - September 2014

YĹ?kai

Brief

What is a Brony

Initial Research

Interviews

The Meet Up

Design Ideas

Co-Design Kit

The Concept

Development

The Product

The Brand

My Thoughts

This project asks you to design a product that people can connect with on an emotional, intuitive and personal level, by â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;re-imaginingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 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? 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. 1

My Initial mood-boards on both phones and the word playful

Phone

Playful

Initial Thoughts After being given my words playful and phone, I started exploring every aspect of their meaning. After being given the words playful and phone, I started exploring every aspect of their meaning. I liked the idea of stripping down a phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s function to the bear essentials. Even though Apple would say that apps make a phone more playful, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the clutter of a modern smart phone; they cloud the phones true use. I decided to focus on making the only features texting and calling. After exploring the word playful, I came to

understand that its meaning was very broad. From nostalgia of child hood playgrounds, to the cheeky flirting, the essence of playful changed with the context. One thing that all my research showed me was that colour was important, specifically bright colour. Another thing I wanted to explore is how a phone could make your life more enjoyable by not becoming the centre of your world.

Initial phone concept sketches

Initial Ideas After exploring many aspects of the word playful, I decided to explore 4 very different ideas. After exploring many aspects of the word playful, I decided to explore 4 very different ideas. My first (top left) was an idea inspired by childhood, specifically the action of pretending you were an adult by miming a phone with your hand. The concept is was heavy with nostalgia but is modernised by using motion sensors to input commands into the phone. The second idea was another idea that derived from child hood. The idea is a phone made from Play Doh, where you can put the buttons and screen where ever you want to. However, as soon as you put this phone in your pocket it losses its form and encourages you to remake it. It encourages you to play with it and constantly use your imagination to make it better. The third idea (left page, bottom right) derives from a issue I constantly face, people using there phones when your out having a meal or even a drink.

Phones in these situations take away from the fun of being with friends. The idea is to make a phone you can split into two and give half to a friend, or who ever your socialising with. By both of you giving half a phone each, mutual trust is established and neither phone will detract from your time together. The final idea (top right) is inspired by how playful a puppy is, even though a puppy is disobedient, it is never annoying due to its personality. The basic idea was a phone that would run away when you get a call or just annoy you when your trying to work. However, in being so animated it would be playful, annoying yet endearing to its user. The final idea, is the one I decided to go with as I saw it as the most interesting and the one with the most design potential. There I decided to explore the concept more with models.

First Models A puppy is only as a endearing as a collection of its foibles. The next thing I decided to do was try and work out what makes a puppy or a kitten so endearing. One thing that became apparent was that it was a hard thing to pin down. A puppy is only as a endearing as a collection of its foibles. Things that would be annoying are justified and made endearing by a guilty stare or a funny action. After realising that form was very important to how playful this phone would be perceived, I investigated different forms which would give this phone movement. The original rolling orb idea had no traction, due its lack or personality and its inorganic way of moving. The snake design had the opposite issue, even though it looked and moved like an animal. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cosy, it

didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look cute and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it would of been seen as playful. The last two models all surfed from a creepy disposition but to a much lesser extent. Even though both had two many legs to be deemed cute, they both benefited from rounded bodies, wide set eyes and a form that really leant its self to a phone. One thing that gave one of these models an endearing expression was the addition of a charging port as a mouth. I decided that these were the models I wanted to take forward. I found it interesting how to use features of a normal phone to bring zoomorphic form to this playful phone 6

My first models, made of balsa wood mainly

Development I decided to continue with the idea of a animalistic form that would be an endearing companion though your days. I decided to continue with the idea of a animalistic form that would be an endearing companion though your days. I realised that it had to have no more then 4 legs, as that is the number of legs every mainstream cute pet has. I also came to understand that its gate was very important. It couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t creep or slither, but had to plod, stumble and be unsure in its own movement. This image of a clumsy animal lead me to images of turtles and terrapins. My first thoughts were to make the phones â&#x20AC;&#x153;shellâ&#x20AC;? be a touch screen. However, I soon came to the conclusion

that its belly could be the screen and a hard shell or case could cover it. So when using the phone you would be tickling it and therefore making the phone happy. I also decided that making its legs out of soft rubber, rather then of a hard material would add to a more silly, fumbling walk. Another idea I toyed with in this development stage was to make speakers in eyes, micro-usb port into a mouth and headphones would become the tail. Not only would this provide all the features of a modern phone but it would also add to the making the phone look more like a animal. CAD model inspired by my turtle idea sketches

Final CAD model with various different cases.

Final Design I decided to create my final design on CAD, as it gave me a lot of options to change the form as I created it. I decided to create my final design on CAD, as it gave me a lot of options to change the form as I created it. My final model was based on a minimal and abstract view of a turtle, with flipper like legs and a removable case that is reminiscent of a shell. I also tried to weave phone elements into the design language of the model. Everything from the charger (the mouth), to the screen (the phones belly), was carefully placed to be in keeping with the phones animalistic behaviour.

The idea I experimented with was that of having the phones logo hidden by the case. The idea behind this was to make the phones case integral to the design. The act of putting on your phones case was a way of claiming that phone as yours, personalising it, like putting a collar on a puppy. I also liked the idea of many different texture and colours of case, so that you could really make your phone yours and therefore find its idiosyncrasies adorable and playful 10

Exploded view of my final CAD model

YOkaI

YokaI YokaI Yokai Yokai Yokai

YOKAI

YOkaI

YokAi

YOKAI

Yokai

Yokai YOKAI

yokai

YOKAI Yokai YOKAI Yokai

Yokai

YOKAI

Logo Design The name Yōkai is taken from the Japanese word for a mischievous spirit.

The name Yōkai is taken from the Japanese word for a mischievous spirit. I stumbled onto the word after it was compared to a soot monster form the film spirited away and it seemed to fit the phones behaviour well. Wikipedia defines the word Yōkai as “bewitching; attractive; calamity” and “apparition; mystery; suspicious”. When creating a logo for the Yōkai, I decided to

make the accent over the letter “O’ to look like the Yōkai’s grinning and cheeky face. I wanted the logo to be reminiscent of the actual Yōkai, and visa versa. After experimenting with this concept and various different fonts, I settled on the font KarmaKasha, as it had the fun feel I was looking for, with out being silly. I then tinkered with the lettering till I settled on a final logo (above). 12

My initial logo ideas.

Right: Yōkai with a wooden case Left: Yōkai with a faux fur case

Right: Yōkai with a green felt case Left: Yōkai with a Photoshoppped red case

Final Model After finalising the design of Yōkai, I decided that as I already had a complete CAD file, It was probably best to 3D print my model. After finalising the design of Yōkai, I decided that as I already had a complete CAD file, It was probably best to 3D print my model. 3D printing would also allow me to imprint my logo onto the top of the base unit, as well as cut out its USB mouth and headphone jack tail. My finished model was printed on a low cost 3D printer and took a lot of sanding and poly filler to perfect. I also decided that I liked a standard white

gloss base for the phone, and then to have fun and colourful cases. I made 4 different cases for the final model, as well as experimenting with different colour cases on Photoshop. Each different case give the Yōkai a unique look and feel, from the straightforward wooden case to a more animal like faux fur case. The idea is that when you cover the logo, you making your Yōkai yours and therefore more personal. Final model with headphones

Video Prototype The main aim of my video prototype was to show how the phone would interact with a user in various situations. The main aim of my video prototype was to show how the phone would interact with a user in various situations. However, the most important part of the video was making Yōkai look adorable and something you would want in your life. The first act of the video was a example of Yōkai being its most mischievous. After receiving a call it runs away from its user and manages to fall off the table. By the time the user picks it up, he has missed the call. In the second example, the user is working hard

at his laptop when Yōkai, gets up and starts to annoy him by nudging his hand. The user gets annoyed and swats Yōkai away. As Yōkai is fumbling around on his back, unable to get up, the user realises that Yōkai was just running out of battery. So he plugs him and Yōkai goes back to sleep content. The footage hopefully shows Yōkai in a endearing fashion. The film was shot on a single camera and then spliced together with stop motion footage of Yōkai. The software used on the Yōkai’s screen was android, just for demonstration purposes.

Various screen shots form my video prototype.

My final product poster.

My Thoughts My initial thoughts on this project, were that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think I would enjoy it. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the fact that nothing appeared to be based in fact or research. However, after a while I decided to embrace the project for what it was and really explore both my physical modelling skills and develop my CAD skills. I also really enjoyed playing around with a 3D printer and learning how to design models for it. I was relatively happy with my final model, even

though I seriously struggled with getting a clean paint job on it. I found it a constant battle between repainting scuffs and then sanding down again to allow the close fitting parts to fit together. If I had more time on this project I would not only of loved to get a better paint job on the model but to play around with the phones software. This is because I think the user interface on the phone should work in tandem with the phones playful behaviour and endearing looks. 20