Portfolio 2023

Isabel Parker 2023 Portfolio

Aura aims to reduce the 543,000 infant deaths each year directly linked to poor air quality by informing parents with digestible data, actionable guidance, and insights on their current exposure levels as well as, providing an app-based community that supports and empowers one another as a catalyst for environmental change.

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The Problem

Regular exposure to high levels of air pollution significantly affects your chances of premature death, or developing a serious disease later in life.

92% of the world’s population live in areas that exceed WHO’s air quality guidelines.

543,000 deaths per year in children under 5 years are due to exposure to air pollution.

Opportunity

Reducing pollution levels requires collective change led by the public, pressuring the government to take action.

As infants are the most vulnerable to air pollution and their parents are natural advocates for their safety.

Providing parents with the knowledge to empower and inspire them to take action is imperative to create real change.

The Brief

Design an air pollution sensor and community platform that enables parents to take control of their child’s pollution exposure and empower a community of individuals to push for the government to take action.

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Form development

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Designing for manufacture & assembly

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PLA Injection moulded case

Overmoulded screw inserts

Particulate Matter sensor (0.3 - 10um)

3.6 V Lithium-ion battery

3 Step switch

LED

PLA Injection moulded switch cover

QI Wireless charging coil

PCB Temperature & Humidity sensor

Volatile Organic Compound sensor

Nitrogen Dioxide sensor

Cord connector

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App development

Specification, wireframes, brand identity, Adobe XD prototype.

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App visualisation

Home dashboard, Journeys and Community hub.

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British Airways Pride Float

Brighton Pride 2019 parade float for British Airways.

During my 9-month placement at We Make Stuff Happen, I led the design and creation of the British Airways (BA) Brighton pride parade float that was on showcase to an audience of over 300,000. The brief from Great Little Events company was for a pop-art, Roy Lichtenstein-inspired float, showcasing Brighton’s skyline as a love letter to Brighton and its citizens.

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Inspiration

Di-Bond panelling was selected due to the constraint of the client’s budget. To get a sense of scale and proportion, I presented sketch ideation laid over the top of a scale drawing of the parade vehicle to the team and client. After, I transferred the basic design into Adobe Ai and went through several stages of iteration, focusing on illustrative composition, incorporating brand language, evolving client feedback until the final design was discovered.

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Final design, measuring 12.9m x 2.4m

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TocaHive

A live project designing the casing for Tocalabs BPA technology.

TocaHive is Tocalabs’ first physical product, housing their existing Business Process Automation (BPA) platform Tocabot. This 4-week intensive design task was to design the surrounding enclosure housing the technology; ensuring the design captures the brand language of Tocalabs and provides suitable airflow to the computer hardware.

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Brief

A live project with Tocalabs to design an enclosure which houses their Business Process Automation (BPA) system hardware.

Client Interview

• Unique but not too imposing on the environment

• Aesthetically striking to reflect Tocalabs’ personality

• Large enough to allow for adequate airflow yet maintain a compact form.

• Conscious of automation function and the role that may play in users potential bias towards the machine.

Interpretation

To provide a softness to the device so that co-existing office users feel at ease and reassured, rather than intimidated by the presence of the new technology that may be perceived as a threat to their role.

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Inspiration

I experimented with numerous material combination, to achieve a soft and approachable feel, whilst still maintaining a perception of quality, aligning with the clients brand image and output. It was important to me to see how different material pattern, texture and reflectivity complemented one another as well as experimenting with the opacity of translucent screening such as glass and plastics.

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Through multiple iterations and client feedback, a solution was found using frosted glass, a mesh shell, and off-the-shelf components. An internal framing secures the pre-existing technology, whilst additional fans and heat dispersing materials sufficiently cools internal components.

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Materials and manufacturing

Internal structure

- CNC Sheet Aluminium

- Nuts and bolts

Centre case structure

- Pink powder-coated aluminium

- Mesh created with acid etching

- CNC bent and spot welded together to create main structure

Glass support

Frame stand-offs 8mm

Glass surround

Sandblasted glass to create a frosted effect Holes drilled at 8mm

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Humanistic feedback

The glanceable feedback provided is a pulsing light designed to personify breathing so if there’s an issue with TocaHive’s functioning, the light intervals will shorten, and “breathing” will become heavier. When TocaHive is healthy office users can breathe in unison to help reduce their stress levels.