Table of Contents Design Projects
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Rek 6 FleXC 10 12 Save & Dry Tile Design 14 Hugsy 16
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Design Process
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20 Finding an Unmet Need Ideation 22 24 1st Concept 28 2nd Concept Final Concept 30
Skills
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34 Sketch Photoshop 36 Web Design 38 39 Story Telling Graphic Design 40
About Me
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44 Contact Information Education 44 Languages 44 45 Experience
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Design Projects representative work 5
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Rek
by Miguel Guerra, Youp Boelen, Jan van Ackeren & Maurice Schil
“Rek” stands for flex or stretch in Dutch, this was the main idea behind this backpack. We wanted to create a bag which would adapt to the user’s needs no matter the context. This project was inspired by the Volvo XC60 and developed for the Volvo Design Challenge 2014, in which we were chosen for the top 10 nominees and awarded 2 500€ to further develop it. This backpack is aimed at filling a gap in the market. At the moment there are hard shell backpacks, favoured by some for their protection of the content, and soft backpacks, used by most and known for their flexibility. This rucksack brings together the best of both worlds. Additionally the backpack is coated with retro reflective paint, which stays black during the day and reflects light during the night. The aim is to protect the bikers in urban environments.
My contribution
Ideation, sketches, conceptualization, prototyping, photography and image editing. Bachelors: year 2, semester 1
2014 7
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FleXC
by Miguel Guerra, Youp Boelen, Jan van Ackeren & Maurice Schil
Thanks to Volvo’s support we were able to take Rek to the next level: FleXC. We kept the essence of the idea, but refined the concept and changed the design. FLEXC is made of neoprene, a flexible and durable material used in wetsuits, and polycarbonate, an impact resistant and light material found in car bumpers and suitcases. It has a light aluminium frame and a thin strong rope connecting the hardshells much like a shoelace to control the expansion. We also added a removable net which serves as an extension for more bulky, wet or smelly items. The back pack was showcased at the dutch design week and awareded the Public favourite award.
My contribution
Ideation, competition analysis, form and function refinement, conceptualization, vizuals and technical drawings. Bachelors: year 2, Summer
2014 11
Dry & Save by Miguel Guerra
Dry & Store is a foldable produce drier and saver. It can dry anything from leafy veggies and herbs to fruits and mushrooms. Also it is used to keep lettuce and other leafy veggies fresh for a longer period of time. For my bachelors graduation I was given the task of creating a space efficient salad spinner. Looking at the competitors I realised the product hadn’t significantly changed in 40 years. This solution was inspired by the traditional drying method of spinning the lettuce in a kitchen towel. However, some features were added to improve upon it. Features like the water proof layer (to avoid soaking the kitchen), the magnets (used to close the towel and hang it) and the storing function make this towel stand out from the average kitchen towel.
Bachelors: year 1, semester 2
2015 13
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Tile design
by Miguel Guerra, Pernille Karlsen, Sebastian Jepsen, Frida Eriksson & Charlotte van Diest
The aim of this project was to research three different markets and create a tile design for each of them for Torrecid, a ceramics company operating in 24 countries. The group choose to focus on Scandinavia, Indonesia and visually impaired people. For Scandinavia we wanted to create an innovative design which would redifine the word “tile� for Scandinavian people. Scandinavians like customizable, clean and simple designs. The triangular shape provides the user with a lot of possibilities for patterns, while at the same time making it easy and cheap for the supplier to mass produce it.
My contribution
Desktop research, interviews with experts and users, ideation, visuals, communications and branding. Bachelors: year 3, semester 1
2014 15
Hugsy
by Miguel Cabral Guerra, Sylvie Claes, Lisa Malou Smits & Jiachun Du
Hugsy is a multifunctional swaddling blanket used in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Hugsy simulates and facilitates Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) to reduce pain and stress of premature infants, encourage healthier development, and improve mother and child bonding. Hugsy facilitates KMC sessions, records mother’s heartbeat, and absorbs her scent. KMC is simulated in the incubator through optimal positioning techniques, playback of mother’s heartbeat, and the mother’s scent captured in the blanket. Bachelors: year 3, module 3
2015 17
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Design Process
step by step 19
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Finding an unmet need In this section I will describe my design process: from research to Ideation, then conceptualization and materialization. A critical part of the process is finding a gap in the market or a problem which the product can be solved. In this project I spent two months surveying, interviewing and observing campervan users to find an unmet need. I collaborated with WestCoast Campers, a campervan rental in Portugal, and visited many popular camping sites to gain access to my target group. Amongst other things, I found that space is a really valuable resource in campervans and a lot of it is used very inefficiently by cookware. Additionally people complained that dishes, pans and cutlery made a lot of noise when on the road. Some even improvised solutions to stop the rattling. from this research I created a design brief. 21
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Solving the problem Taking all the insights gained from the research into account I created a design brief and began ideating with the goal of quickly developed as many different ideas as possible. I became really interested in silicone and its material properties. And decided to create a line of products with a double functionality. Each of them would be directed at one type of cook ware and each of them would solve a different problem. 23
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1st concept
In the end I came up with a line of silicone add-on products designed for Ikea cookware. Because of the material properties of silicone these sound cancelling products could do lots of different things. For example, the sound dampener for pots could also be used as a pasta strainer, veggie dryer and heat protector for tables. After two months I had to present the initial concept to a jury of designers and businessman. Who chose my project aong with 5 others for further development. In the following semester I was joined by two colleagues to work on the conceptualization phase of this project. After some discussion we realized that silicon was an extremely unsustainable material and that it would make more sense to make an integrated design rather than add-ons.
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Back to the Drawing Board
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2nd concept For another two months we developed a new concept around the idea of fitting all the cookware necessary to cook and serve a meal for four people into a pot and pan. After a lot of sketching, we made a quick prototype for testing. We recorded the interaction between the users and products and concluded that most people understood the order of assembly, however they weren’t quite sure what to do with cutlery and the spatulas. So we had to make a few adjustments. Later we realized we had to distinguish ourselves from the competitors, which were in a very functional style and used rather cheap materials. From the research I had conducted previously we knew that users didn’t like plastic utensils, since they broke easily, melted when used for cooking and simply didn’t feel the same. For this reason we created a shape that seemed unusual yet still familiar and relaxing. Inspired by the organic shape of a pebble we created our second concept. Another one of the distinguishing factors for our products was the use of durable materials you would see in a normal kitchen like stainless steel, aluminium, bamboo and borosilicate glass. 29
Final concept During the last two months of the project we had to finalize the design, prototype a 1 to 1 scale model, think of how it would be produced and make a business strategy. At this point we realized that it would be very hard to produce or even prototype Tranqit, our second concept. Not to mention the organic shape was not very space efficient, which defeated the whole purpose of the product. So we had to make some major changes without ruining the essence and function of the product. We decided to make the design of the set more geometric to facilitate, the assembly, the production and reduce the price. Fortunately we applied for a fund and received 950â‚Ź to finance all the materials for the final prototype which was exhibited at the IDExpo 2014 in The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Which made it possible to buy the necessary materials to make our final prototype.
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Skills
one at a time 33
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Sketchs
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Photoshop 36 36
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Web Design 38
Story Telling 39
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Graphic Design 41
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My Vision on design
Above all I think products are tools to solve problems. This is why I believe it is crucial for designers to really dive into every project and becoming an expert in the topic. Which means reading a lot of material on the topic, talking to the stake holders, whenever possible experiencing the competitor products/services first hand and testing them with users, etc.. Basically doing a lot of user and market research. Personally I like a product when it solves a problem in an unexpected or innovative way. I believe collaborations between multi-disciplinary teams often produce the best results even though the education system is still catching up to this fact. My strenghts are user research, conceptualization and design methodology. 43
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