Jon C Flint Design portfolio 2012-2013
Jon C Flint profile A current Masters student studying Interaction Design at Goldsmiths University, having explored the notion of interactivity using new technologies in the work he has done as part of Almost silent, a collective that recently exhibited an installation using a brain wave sensor to create sound visualisations on water. Reliable and hardworking on team and individual assignments, with an aptitude for presenting and explaining new ideas. Interested in the idiosyncrasies that emerge in new and old technologies alike and looking for ways to explore this fully in the research undertaken at Goldsmiths University and in this placement opportunity.
Contents 2012- Proverb project: Self initiated
Link to video
2013- Nudge: Ma design project 2013- Cinimod studios: Internship Link to website
2013- Subliminal reflection: Exhibition Link to website
Link to video
This project started with the idea of the proverb, I wanted to explore this in my hypothesis; ‘Old proverbs offered a belief of how we once observed and made sense of the world. How can designers utilise the proverb to demonstrate our hopes, fears and desires for the near future.’ These pages give an overview of my process throughout the project, and how this hypothesis became the moral wealth vessel. Click here to see a short video explaining the final design.
BM
What happens when you reimagine a future without monetary wealth,
Proverb project 2012
but instead one based on moral wealth.
How can designers utilise the proverb to demonstrate our hopes, fears and desires for the near future.
Find many proverbs
The money plant moral victim?
Create a fictional bank to carry idea
sort into themes
Choose one theme money selected
combine to form moral aspect
Final idea
Back to research more info on money
link theme to initial hypothesis
Project process
Research, starting points
When asked; what is a proverb?
52%
73%
Thoughts about the future because of: Hopeful: Global communications
33%
Fearful: Uncertain Economy/employment
{
selected it is ‘An observation of how we once saw the world.’
26%
Most known proverb: An apple a day keeps the doctor away
-How can proverbs better mirror society today, and the issues and advancements going on now -Proverbs evoke strong visual images exploring themes can be explored.
Brainstorming ideas by categorizing proverbs into different themes made it easier to think of varied ideas.
idiosyncrasy
mannerism eccentricity
Observation
clothing can dictate what subcultures people belong to and can constitute to how we act and behave. There are many examples in London could this be a possible lead?
money ignorance
reality illusion
Everyday we ignore and pass phenomena from fiction and stories, could there be a way to help us better realise this through the use of modern technologies? Going out to hunt for proverbs in action proved harder than it sounded. Instead different themes were observered to stem ideas from seven themes were observed. Here are some examples of two themes eccentricity and illusions.
Time and tide clock Inspired by the proverb “Time and tide wait for no man.” This concept is a freestanding surfboard shaped clock.
Jekyll and hyde credit card “What is got over the Devil’s back is spent under his belly.” This concept is a credit card with a hidden chip ,so bad things you don’t want anyone to know about can be acquired.
Feedback stated these concepts were too literal a change of direction was needed
Money smelling device A device that uses smell technology that emits an odour depending on how much money you have left in your account.
Reanalysing my hypothesis the keywords; hope, fear and desire, described the many ways we think about money. This nicely tied in with some of the proverbs written around the money theme. Below are some ideas around these keywords. 1) Account viewer: shows your balance 2) Wishing coin: displays where wishes have been made around the world.
1) The donation wand: A wireless device for ‘Chuggers’ (street fundraisers) to swipe very small amounts of credit from fearful people.
Hope Fear
Desire
1) Piggybank costume: For coin collectors to scoop up coins from fountains or wishing wells.
I wanted the visual language to reflect the money plant so i choose a design with a simple curved form. The liquid containers were similar in shape to the leaves of the pant, yet were also reminiscent of a glob of glass being formed. I liked the idea of it looking like a piece of laboratory equipment. Initially i wanted to use an I.V drip form, this made sense as the plant relied on your morals. But this form had already been explored by Vitamin design with their i.v plant pot and also previously by Driade and their pvc erbale plant holder designs.
Visual language for the final design. Simple
strange
familiar
Complex
Final design decision
A
Design A has the three types of water in the feet of the vessel this required a pump to transport water upwards. This was problematic as this could not be easily controlled. Design B is a development of the shape using gravity to allow water to flow into the plant. The water would be blocked by an electronic gate system, again this was complex and required motors and mechanisms as shown. A better solution was the use of a solenoid valve which can be controlled to open and close when needed. SMC pneumatics manufacture a series of valves in the VDW range, which come in different sizes and powers that can be integrated into the design.
B
Smc solenoid valve component
Solenoid valve Allows a gravity flow system to be used. Also can be controlled to open and close.
Final design decision points
Structure: The design was later revised, as the solenoid valves would shatter the glass if hidden inside the vessel shape.
The initial design may have worked as a block model, but when translated to glass it would be unstable. So a new support system was devised. To better support the borosilicate glass.
Making
Stability
Block model was made on a wood lathe from Jelutong.
The original design may have needed a extra support plate underneath, but this was later revised.
Components
From General arrangement drawing to manufacturing
Hopeful spending = good morals
Fearful spending = Neutral morals
What happens when you reimagine a future without monetary wealth,
Desirable spending = Bad morals
but instead one based on moral wealth.
Nudge was a brief that encouraged us to explore how a nudge effect could be used to change behaviours either subtly or more drastically. My starting point for this was stemmed around a fake owl pigeon deterrent used in an underground station. This sparked various territorial ideas, and I became more interested in noise levels, having read an article about how urban songbirds had to compete with the noise of the city, straining and altering their bird calls in the process. The project later explored how bird characteristics could be used to alter behaviours,
2013 Nudge: MA design interactions project did certain individuals display magpie like tendencies? Or are they more aggressive like a Robin? The designs generated were based around a remote control used to turn down the volume of loud electronic devices.The red robin remote was deployed in a neighbours house, on detecting loud noises a red LED flashed and it would send a signal to lower the volume of the TV nudging you to fight against the robin remote.The owl gun was more speculative yet still functioned, on detecting loud noises outside it would sweep and send out signals to lower noises from longer distances .
Starting points: Fake owl nudge?
EMF supernatural
Noise monitoring
Boundaries
Sensing/communicating like animals
Sound sample 0453. Ravenscroft Columbia Road morning
Collecting bird sounds in the urban environment Children playing
Car horn
Shutter press
Bird song
Sound sample 0447. Fordham Park new cross afternoon
Chatter calling dog
Overheard plane
crow call
Going out into the field to collect bird song as a form of data helped me identify the amount of other noses in the environment. Initially I wanted to design a nudge for birds rather than humans. Could I use their song to highlight the design of a nudge ? Leading on from this discussion I decided to focus on using birds as a vehicle for design rather than try to design for animals as this could be problematic.
Canary in a coal mine/ Canary killswitch idea
Placement would be in high visible ares of the site
Looking at how animals have been used as indicators throughout history, such as how canaries in coal mines detected dangerous gas levels. And applying this to an indicator in noisy building sights this imagines a bird killswitch noise monitor. The noise monitors are made visible so the building site workers can look at the bird for indication like the coal miners used to do in the mines. Resulting in a drastic power shut down this nudge reminds them of noise levels in suburban neighbourhoods. One peck to many and the power will cut off.
Annoyance nudges: Using bird characteristics to reflect human behaviour
Magpie pickpocket
Dodgy crow
Noisy songbird caller
Aggressive Robin yob
Scavenging Pigeon eater
Methods used in the process
Design methods are used to generate ideas, this method revolved around the use of processing to generate random images. I had two libraries of photos one would pick pictures of birds when clicked on the other picked pictures of house hold objects. I used this to think how some everyday objects would behave if they had bird characteristics.
If a __________ behaved like a ________ If a If a
Desk lamp behaved like a Song thrush Toaster
behaved like a Crow
If a Thermostat behaved like a Robin Decision page using processing method
1. Object integrated into bird like form 2. Bird characteristics integrated into object
Various stages of prototyping
1st stage based on killswitch idea
2nd stage looking into characteristics behaviours
Final stage Developing the bird remote
Placing models in a living room environment to get a feel for their potential usage
ir receiver
Code variables and circuit wiring diagrams
IR led
sound sensor
220 ohm
10 k slide potentiometer
Variables int NOISE_LEVEL = 300 ; // level of noise from 0 to 1023 #define REPEAT_TX 5 // Times the code is transmitted #define REMOTE_CODE 0xBD08F7 // Remote code
Wiring the final designs Owl gun parts and Inside Robin remote
Technical dimensions and CNC cut outs all in mm 140
180
60
12
47.832 R 25
97.871
59
13.017 111.3
16 40 154.507
40 17.056
7.565
85
20
60
Technical aspects
Reverse voltage VRM Operating temperature Topr Storage temperature Tstg Power dissipation PM Lead Soldering Temperature (5mm from body) for 5 sec.
■ Electro-Optical Characteristics
Parameter Radiant intensity Forward voltage Reverse current Peak emission wavelength OakSpectral used bandwidth as a housing for Breakdown voltage theCapacitance electronics and part of theSwitching Design times aesthetic and (Φe from 10% to 90%) language. Half intensity angle
5 -25 to +75 -25 to +100 170 260
o
(Ta = 25 C) Symbol Condition Min Typ Max IF = 50 mA 20 35 Φe VF IF = 100 mA 1.45 1.7 IR VR = 4 V 10 IF = 50 mA 940 λp IF = 50 mA 50 ∆λ VBR IR = 100 µA 5 30 Ct f =1MHz, VR = 0 25 tr IF = 50 mA 80 Grove sensor has built tf IF = 50sound mA 180 in To allow further IF = 50 mA ±25 θ½ potentiometer.
■ Outline Dimensions (mm)
V C o C mW o C o
adjustment to sound threshold.
Package body is water clear
8.0±0.3
25 1.5
Unit mW/sr V µA nm nm V pF ns ns degree
Servo acts as an indicator to noise allows Ir array to send out more signals.
1.5±0.5 0.
φ4.96 ±0.2
2.54
CATHODE ANODE
0.
Ir Led 940 nm most tv’s and remote controlled devices use this.
HIRL5040 Red led indicates when volume is too high, also represents the Redbreast of the Robin.
10 k Potentiometer allows for volume threshold to be changed.
CNC machine cuts out shapes and mills out the oak to allow for electronic housing.
Red Robin remote (model x31rty Eritha cus rubecula) Deployment of prototype Turns volume down in relation to noise level in the neighbourhood.
The first iteration of the nudge device is called the Robin remote. It is a stripped down version of a remote something that could easily be deployed in a household for feedback.The red breast of the robin flickers when loud noise is detected and sends out a signal to turn down the TV volume, to make people aware of noise in the environment affecting birds or other humans. A noisy neighbor may even trigger the device like in the case of this deployment.
This deployment lasted for four days with a battery change during the second day. Notes: neighbour noticed the led would turn on if you blew into the microphone and the volume would go down on the tv. Initially he had not noticed the battery had died until he checked the device in this manner. Comments: “It would have been handy to have it increase volume as well in order to be more practical.”/ “What is the final use for it would it be taken into market?’’ /“The battery life could be better” /“It is rather heavy if it was could it be made from a lighter wood”/“shape reminds me of a wood planner”/ “Can it reach next door my neighbour plays loud music on his sound system all the time.”
Owl gun (model Rst440 Strix aluco) Nudging behaviour through long distance manipulation.
Owl gun designed around a narrative rather than a deployable outcome. It is based on the tawny owl a nocturnal predator, the device in many ways acts as a predator by homing in on devices noisy neighbours own from long distances. Although speculative I designed it to function and work. The indicator of loud noises is a servo that turns on and enables the owl to turn 180 degrees sweeping for more noise in the vicinity. The user of this device is one of many hacktivists possibly angry at loud noise levels in his/her area, he/she may want to take matters into their own hands. Tired of sleepless nights and stress they may want to hear birdsong again to be more refreshed and have a sense of well being. They are nocturnal creatures like the owl preparing the gun with data codes collected from their neighbours remotes, how they get this no one know (there may be a possible connection to Tv repairmen and licensing leaks.) They then go out with Owl gun in hand lowering volumes to the confusion of neighbours and locals alike. No one knows who or why they do this do they have an affinity with birds? Is this some new form of antisocial vandalism? Are they part of the Tv companies making people believe their working obsolete devices are faulty, that it is time for an upgrade? We can only speculate.
Narrative of the Owl gun, firstly configuring the device. Then going out into the street to target disturbers of peace in tower blocks. The owl brigade would be the organisation that links owners of similar devices together, could rival organisations also exist?
This is a collection of some of the visual and 3D work I did during a three month internship at Cinimod Studios. Cinimos Studios is an lighting/ architecture studio, whose work focuses on technological visual interactivity. My role there was to add to project pitches and presentations by doing storyboards and visualisation work. I also got an opportunity to design there and was also shown how to produce simple animated installation mockups on Cinema 4D. Fortunately my internship coincided with Clerkenwell design week, so I got to provide
2013 Cinimod studio: Design internship on site assistance for the install of Eclipse at the Humanscale showrooms so got to experience a live install. I also fabricated many small samples, mock-ups and plinths for many of the art works and ideas in development. I worked with Ben Gander Cinimod’s senior designer during my time there: Email: Ben@cinimodstudio.com Tel: +44 (0) 7882 221956
Photoshop Visualisation work and story boarding
These visualisations and story boards were used in a larger presentation where the studio was competing for an installation pitch. The top is a cover image showing how free Led balloons given at the space would look through a long exposure shot of a street. The bottom images show how a sweeping motion using a trackable thermal camera would change the colours of inflatable spheres hung from the ceiling of the showroom space.
Shape development work for a hanging lift lobby light design
Starting with Rhino to produce some very standard array formations. But moving onto Cinema 4D (I was learning how to use it at the time) to make organic forms using the Mograph toolset which proved easier to experiment with. The decisions and shapes I made depended on the limits of the software being used. Cinema 4D allowed more room for organic arrays and random light fitting placements.
3D light designs
These are some of the lighting formations rendered in context. These were rendered in scale using LED planar lighting panels measuring 70mm by 70mm. These particular LED tiles would be lighter so crazier organic shapes could be designed around the aluminium framework structure. Formations were based on the larger central atrium chandelier design seen in the plan view.
Visualisation work for a project pitch
p.15
Technical visits to fabricators to discuss design ideas.
NOTES:
444.0 92.0 40.0 8.0
A
Top layer fabric such as suede.
28.0
12.0
B
314.0 X
10.0
34.0
14.0
High impact foam Chess piece slots laser cut out.
72.0
PART X-X
12.0
50.0
High impact foam base layer adhesive bond
X
10.0
B-TRAY A-PADDING
PMMA FLOCK FINISH HIGH IMPACT FOAM
PART
MATERIAL/FINISH
JON C FLINT ALL DIMENSIONS IN MM TOLERANCES +/-0.5MM CHESS PIECES TRAY 24.07.13
GA DRAFT SCALE 1:3.4
These are parts of a design for a chess piece case inlay so the pieces from the Chessblock art work can be stored away, I contacted various fabricators and visited some to discuss the options with them. The rendering is a simple laser cut high impact foam inlay. The technical drawing is a vacuum formed PMMA option which was to have a flock finish to it.
Subliminal reflection was an interactive art install I did as part of Almost silent collective (Hiroshi Ito, Katsuhiro Ito, Sung Ting Hsieh.) Many of the skills I learnt from the install work I did at Cinimod studios informed many of the decisions for this project albeit on a smaller scale. The project started initially with the idea of the moon and how it affects the tides, we started devising systems that would link both of these factors together. We hunted for suitable gallery spaces eventually settling on the Vyner studio that offered a small intimate space for the nature of the installation.
2013 Subliminal reflection: Interactive installation I was involved from the very beginning concept stage and designed and fabricated all of the physical parts of the installation. The exhibit ran from the 24th-27th of October. We later presented the idea at ShariShariShari an architecture organisation based in London.
Moon representation
abstract
Real
Graphical projection Generative 3D model
3D form
Human interaction
Animated
Initial concept used a larger area of water at floor level to show the patterns generated.
Scuptural Material Photographic/ Live video feed
Concept
Connecting the mind wave to processing
Fabrication/Testing Making a mount for the speaker
Site test and refining
Installation Transport/ Site installation
p.15
Technical view point
Projection of the moon bounced off a body of water.
More abstracted visualisation generated via a speaker mounted under the body of water.
Brain grapher data displayed on the monitor.
Neurosky brain wave sensor.
Processing and max visualise brain data in different ways
Brain wave patterns appearing on a bounced projection
Observing the graph visualisations and projected visuals
Interacting with the brain wave generated water patterns
Subliminal Reflection
Biography
We are born, live and die beneath the moon. It is as vital to human life as the sun. But with the advance of human society, urbanisation and technological development, we can often forget the power that hovers above us all. From the beginning of human civilisation, the moon has been revered and it has been worshipped, praised and honoured. It marks the passage of time and seasons, the movement of water and blood, it even controls our brains. The world of mythology is rich with stories of the moon and this exhibition take its inspiration from the story of the Greek goddess Selene whose moon chariot passes across our sky.
Hiroshi Ito (1985) is an interior designer based in Tokyo and London. He is an architecture graduate, and worked at a design company in Tokyo before gaining an MA in Interior Design at Chelsea College of Arts and Design. Currently he explores interactive spatial art within the team.
Selene is celebrated in the Greek pantheon as the goddess of the moon. She is sister to Helios, god of the sun, and Eos, goddess of dawn. But space travel alone is not enough for Selene. Like all of us, she yearns for love and one night she sees the mortal Endymion asleep beside a cave. Unable to resist her attraction towards him, she abandons her chariot in the heavens and descends to Earth to fulfil her desire. There is some difference of opinion on the next part of the story, but in order to preserve his mortal beauty and upon Selene’s request, Endymion gives permission to be cast into an eternal sleep by Zeus. Tales like this are mysterious to us now as they were perhaps back at the time of their first telling. We cannot know their meaning, if indeed there is only one. But there is constant interference between the world of the gods and that of the mortals. These worlds are not separated. They breed. This fertile ancient landscape is one we can recognise from our own dreams where the humdrum laws of causal reality are playfully flouted and disobeyed and where our desires are not contained by the tedium of social and economic circumstance. In this tale of Selene and Endymion, the earth and heavens are connected. This bridge hovers at the hinterlands of consciousness, between wakefulness and death, dreams and reality. Where possibility is unconfined and our mindful fetters temporarily released. These are of course lofty, if not highfalutin, aspirations for our work. We’ve been standing here for hundreds of thousands of years, longer even, gazing and reaching out to the moon and the stars and they seemingly back to us, let’s try that again by reaching into our minds and seeing what we can find to cast back into the night.
Jon C Flint (1990) graduated as a product designer in 2012 and has a strong interest in multidisciplinary subject areas and how they relate and apply to various design projects. Having met the members at various electronics workshops and exhibitions, he seeks to develop his skills as a designer into new domains using human interaction as a basis for imaginative installation pieces. Katsuhiro Ito (1981) has an interest in Art and Design and moved to the UK in 2012 to discover more about European Art and Design. Previously he had graduated in Japan with a degree in literature. Currently he works on; visual communication, online media, and interactive art with the members of Almost Silent. Sung Ting Hsieh (1985) is a designer with a graphic design background from Taipei, Taiwan. He completed MA Interior and Spatial Design at Chelsea College of Arts and Design in 2013. His working experiences are mainly in the field of graphic design, animation and urban colour schemes. Currently he focus on the sound and space art, interactive design and film editing. Almost Silent are an interactive art collective with backgrounds in interior design, product design and literature. This is their first exhibition as a group, but they have exhibited individually in the past at places such as: Kinetica Art Fair (London), Japanese Junction (Tokyo), BE OPEN Sound Portal, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and Shoreditch Town Hall. They started the collective to explore the themes and mythology of mankind's ever changing relationship with the moon.
Reference: Alvin Lucier – “Music for Solo Performer” (1965)
Special Thanks
Printed Ephemera
Patrick Knill Eric Schneider Riccardo Stecca Iker Garcia Barrenetxea - The Vyner Studio / http://www.thevynerstudio.co.uk/ Luna Bengoechea Peña - The Vyner Studio Sponsor moving image creations / http://movingimagecreations.com/
7YVQLJ[VY
Printed Ephemera
0THNL
:\IJVUZJPV\ZULZZ
)YHPU >H]L
)VYKLY
>H[LY :WLHRLY *VTW\[LY
+YLHT
:LSLUL
AL\Z
)VYKLY
4VUP[VY
*VUZJPV\ZULZZ
9LHSP[`
,UK`TPVU
Technology The primary item of technology being used in this piece is the headset, which is an electroencephalogram (EEG) that registers neural activity and sends this data to be interpreted into its audio component. This headset is a more convenient form of what can be found in many hospitals and other clinical environments. Brain activity is immensely complex, but the headset detects varying degrees of neural oscillation - what are more commonly called brain waves - in the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and theta frequencies. These are associated with different forms of activity like
concentration, relaxation, inhibition, sensation and so forth. It’s important to note here that the headset is not putting anything into your brain! It’s just detecting different forms of neural activity and converting this into data. Once we can start planting things in your head, we’ll let you know. The data from the headset is then being interpreted into an audio signal and this audio signal in turn comes out of a loudspeaker and
]PIYH[LZ [OL ^H[LY 3PNO[ YLÅLJ[Z MYVT [OL Z\Yface of the agitated water onto a screen. The basic operation of this technology is the amWSPÄJH[PVU VM `V\Y PU[LYUHS UL\YHS HJ[P]P[` PU[V an externally evolving and transitory visual and auditory form. What you see and what you hear is what you think. This work by Almost Silent is by no means the only one to utilise such technology. It’s perhaps not yet old enough to be a tradition, or even yet exactly a discipline, but the possibility of disestablishing the act of creation
from routine mental and physical habit and conscious process is obviously something that has fascinated artists for some time. This kind of brain computer interface offers one means of exploration and we hope that you will take this opportunity to explore this space also, between thought and action, stillness and movement, the moon and the earth. This technological explanation isn’t going to satisfy everyone. If you wish to know more, please do ask anyone from Almost Silent for further information.
jcsflint@gmail.com +44 (0) 7968638852 w w w. j o n c f l i n t . c o m
BM