GEORGE ORTON A DESIGN STUDENT PORTFOLIO Based in Newcastle, England
Intro // About Me My name is George Orton, 22 years old and an industrial design student currently living in Newcastle. I have a strong passion for creativity that leads me to apply myself fully to everything I do, in order to arrive at the most suitable but imaginative solutions quickly. I would describe mself as a very curious person, always eager to see what lies around the next corner.
Personal Skills // What I Can Bring
Design Skills // What I Can Do
- Creativity
- Product Design
- Team Work
- Graphic Design
- Organisation
- Sketching
- Flexibilty
- Solidworks
- Communication
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Passion
- Photo/Videography
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE TIMELINE
Design for Industry (BA) Northumbria University // 2012 - Present
11 GCSE’s A* - B including Mathematics, English and Product Design Boston Spa School // 2004 - 09
A Levels: History (B), Product Design (C), Physics (D) St. Aidan’s & St John Fisher’s Associated Sixth Form // 2009 - 11 Leeds College of Art // 2011 - 12 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Distinction
NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL // CYCLE BRIEF - ‘HAVE YOU HEARD?’
A project worked on with the City Council, the brief was to encourage the increased use of bicycles as transport as part of a long term plan to turn Newcastle into a ‘Cycling City’. Upon recieving the brief it was quickly decided that the large student population would be our key target market and the subjects of most of our research. They responded well to suggestions of ‘flash mobs’ and shared experiences. This lead to the development of the idea that people should be literally encouraged to ride their bikes. Cheering cyclists on up tough hills or playing motivational music as they pedal to work, the idea took shape as a range of motion detecting speakers each playing different sound clips. These speakers are to be positioned on certain cycle routes to increase ‘wheel-flow’ and get people sharing their experiences through a #haveyouheard campaign.
HAVE YOU HEARD? // CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO PASSWORD: H4v3Y0uH34rd
The video above shows that a considerable amount of hands on research went into ensuring the validity of the proposed concept. Before pushing the idea forward it had to be confirmed that people would respond positively to certain audio cues. This meant going out onto existing paths and roads to test the theory, all of which was useful and successful.
Maps were studied with the client and routes decided upon based on current and desired usage. Newcastle City Council took very well to the idea and are currently proposing for use across the city as part of their growing commitment to cyclists.
RSA COMPETION 2015 // CURIOSITY ANIMATION The brief for the 2015 RSA Moving Pictures Competition was to create an animation that would enhance the message of a given audio file. Research carried out into the subject of curiosty helped to identify one of the chief concerns which is nuturing it at every given chance. Comparing it with the nature of a seed then fell naturally into place and that became the metaphor of the animated short.
The importance of curiosity as an ingredient for for healthy relationships with others is highlighted by the growing of the tree at the end of the video. This also shows the continued effect nurtured curiosity can have as the seeds from one tree will fall into new heads and the story will contine afresh.
RSA COMPETION 2015 // CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO PASSWORD: Cur1o51ty
DESIGN EXCERCISE // NON-LITERAL FORMS
This was a sketching excersise to encourage the understanding of form and it’s relationship with consumer interraction. It posed questions about how we observe and feel about shapes without a heavy weight put on purpose.
ACTIVE FORMS // PROMOTIONAL VIDEO A video that helps to communicate the work of a client who has considerable insight into the subject of ‘active forms’ and is pushing the thinking behind their possible uses. The video is to be used as presentation material at talks and conferences and so needed to be explanatory without overloading the viewer with too much heavy information. It was kept free from any branding, loud text or bright colours to keep in theme with the ‘organic’ nature of the subject matter.
As interraction is at the heart of the matter, people and their emotions were used throughout the video to establish a connection between the viewer and the ideas. The ambient music, graphics and lighting were chosen for their minimal intrusion on the videos feeling, reflected in the minimal intrusion of active form interfaces on our own lives.
ACTIVE FORMS // CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
LEXUS DESIGN COMPETITION // UNREAL STORIES This project focussed on curiosity and a humans built in desire to know more, always trying to work out what’s going on as part of the bigger picture. Stories and interractions are what form a large part of our lives and in a world where everybody has second lives online they become increasingly important. Could these online personalities be brought into the real world to interact and build genuine relationships of their own?
Unreal Stories is a mass participation mobile game enviroment that uses existing smart glasses technology in order to create an interface between the user and the real world. The users can then project fictional versions of themselves onto it and use these to take part in brand new live action stories, all of which are influenced by theie decisions and the actions of other users around them.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYBODY HAS A
SECOND PERSONALITY ONLINE. CAN’T WE BRING THESE
TO LIFE?
HUD The glasses are continuosly connected to the internet. They recognise objects, environments and people around the user and utilise these to build an ever evolving plotline giving the user complete control of the plot by being free to make an infinite number of decisions. Characters in the story are taken from real life interactions. People met who do not have the tecnology could become minor characters, whereas others who do wear the glasses have the potential to play significant roles in each others stories. Wireless ‘Event Points’ will be guaranteed to have an effect on your story by introducing a new event or plot twist. Special events will take place intermittently. these points will then become gathering places for groups of characters. Points will be scattered across large areas, some easier to find than others. Making an aeffort to seek them out will result in a more immersive storyline.
NORTHUMBRIAN WATER // BLOCKAGE AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Drain blockages are a massive concern for Northumbria Water authority as they are responsible for the majority of flooding in the area. In response to this they set the challenge of coming up with a way to educate the public about the risks of putting the wrong things down the drain. They responded well to the idea of a widespread campaign of informative leaflets all using the same character family. It was a departure from the mundane materials they had been using for sometime but one which was still highly feasible. This campaign will cover all manner of social network sites, the Northumbria Water site and include leaflet drops and workshops across the city. Further to this, in order to improve customer relations a ‘care package’ was proposed which would supply any flood stricken residents with everything they need to chelp clean up along with leaflets from the same range as the educational ones. This package will be supplied free of charge to any Northumbria Water customers who do not have insurance.
PLASTICS DESIGN COMPETITION // VIBRATION EDUCATION It is still recommended practice to teach deaf children to speak orally rather than relying too heavily on sign language to communicate. The Vibration Education device expands on current methods in order to give the child a helping hand with word pronunciation. By matching the vibration patterns of their own voice with the correct pronunciation patterns on the screen, they can effectively teahc themselves with minimal input from trained proffessionals.
The product turns what can otherwise be an arduous process of repeating the same word over again into a fun, educational game. The idea of beating their own scores as well as comparing them with friends devices will help the child to push themselves to improve. This small help at a yound age can make a huge difference later in life.
3 out of every 1000 babies are born with hearing impairment. Therapy is considerably more effective the earlier it is started. Intervention can begin before a child is 6 months old.
Cochlear Implants and hearing aids can greatly increase a persons audio capabilites. Globally, 25 000 children per year recieve Cochlear Implants. The children must learn to speak in a very different way to the un-impaired.
Children are often taught to speak by ‘feeling’ the words. Vibrations of the throat and air on the hands are useful tools. Doctors are always encouraging the child and their parents to practice.
The child holds the sensor pad against their throat.
The information is recieved and displayed on screen.
The sensor pad is held infront of the child at mouth level
This information is recorded and displayed on the main console as ‘patterns’.
Vibrations are picked up by the device and sent to the main console.
Repetive practice will teach the child to match their voice with the correct pitch patterns as displayed.
The pad then records the pressure points exerted as words are spoken.
The child is encouraged to match the colour and intensity of their speech to the correct patterns displayed.
DESIGN FOR THE DISABLED // GRIP & GO WALLET
Designing for people with arthritis or restricted digit movement is a challenge when you have no first hand experience of the issues. Basic testing was carried out to gain some understanding of the challenges faced by sufferers when using a traditional wallet. It was established that there are two key areas that need addressing; grasping coins and manouvering notes/cards are both very difficult with weaker fingers. Therefore a hard surface wallet with a minor slope on the inside would be much easier to slide coins out of. On the reverse side it will have a fan pouch design that when opened, presents the consumers cards and notes with plenty of finger space in between so they can be removed with minimal fuss.
NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY // COURSE INFORMATION VIDEO Intended to improve Design for Industry course communication with prospective students, the video provides a considerable wealth of relevant information. It was felt that as a highly visual course the pre-existing websites and brochures did not do it justice and so a more engaging platform was required. This is a longer video that would be accompanied by a series of shorter, more specifically tailored ones, designed to give a glimpse into life and learning in the Design School at Northumbria University.
Providing an insight from the point of view of students and staff allows the viewer to properly gauge their own interest in coming to NU. The shorter videos include a number of in depth interviews with staff members about there current roles, past work and design philosphies. These are all going to be used on the Northmbria website and accompanying blogs in the near future.
COURSE PROMOTION // CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
CAD REPLICA PROJECT // SINGLE SPEED CHAIN TOOL
A Solidworks replica of an existing BMX branded heavy duty chain tool. Demonstrates a wide range of tools and processes used on the CAD program in order to create a fully working assembly model. Material specs and internal features were all taken into account. The final model was then rendered completely in Keyshot design software.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME CONTACT: Email: george.orton@northumbria.ac.uk Mobile: 07534189206