Disassembling Design for Disassembly by Priscilla Mok

a process book

PRISCILLA MOK GRADUATE STUDIO I , FALL 2011 CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS FRAMING

A Visual Explanation

Kinetic Typography

DISCOVERY

VISUALIZATION

Storyboarding: Visualizing through Images

Music: Visualizing through Sound

Finding a Story

ANIMATION

Visual Style & Timing

AfterEffects in 72 Hours

THE VIDEO

REFLECTION

Feedback & Revisions

FRAMING

THE

PROBLEM

Everyday, we are overloaded with information. Think of any topic to research and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re likely to get information on it from a variety of sources. Sources like articles, books, blogs, Wikipedia entries, status updates, presentations, videos, podcasts and more. Some of it is useful, some of it not. How do we sift through this information and make sense of it? How do we aggregate all this information and clearly explain it to someone else?

left: Graduate school, a perfect place to examine the problem of information overload.

It’s an interesting and relevant problem to try addressing, a problem that would make a perfect assignment in a place like graduate school. And that’s exactly the type of assignment we received: Our challenge was to take information, in all of its complexity and messiness, and distill it into a clear message. In class, we were given various topics that we would have to find information about--many revolving around environmental issues like the growing amounts of e-waste, food miles, and our over-reliance on oil and its products, like plastic. Slips of paper with these topics were distributed and when I got mine, I eagerly flipped it around and read it:

FRAMING

I’d never heard of the term, so the first image that went through my head was one of a robotic assembly line, but a quick Google search dispelled this fleeting fantasy. Immediately, it was apparent that I had a bit of educating to do myself before I could even begin to coherently explain this topic to my audience.

FRAMING

A Visual Explanation However, being able to explain the topic verbally in a coherent manner wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be enough for this assignment. We would need to explain this topic visually. What exactly does this entail? It meant an explanation using words, pictures, sound and motion. In other words, a video. The medium of a video actually makes a lot of sense; with the popularity and widespread adoption of easy-to-use video hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo and video editing software like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, effectively making people not just pas-

sive viewers but also amateur videographers. Companies and services have enthusiasti-

You Tube

FRAMING

cally adopted the medium as well, using it to communicate their brand or message in a matter of minutes. And almost every service you sign up for on the web now includes a video or two explaining its features and a brief on-boarding tutorial. But like any other medium, different videos have different intended audiences. Our audience would be the general public and our goal would be to inform them about the crucial issues from our topics, as well as suggest a potential actions to take or even something to think about after viewing the video. The latter part seemed like societal, etc) have the effect of making you feel guilty. Really guilty. Right from the beginning, it was clear that we had to be careful in the kinds of messages we were crafting with our videos. But how do you even begin to transform something verbal into something visual using video?

a lofty task already--many videos that discuss similar issues (i.e. environmental,

FRAMING

Kinetic Typography We looked at kinetic typography together in class as a way to get us started thinking about our explanation, which might normally have been verbal, could be described using time and motion. Kinetic typography is basically “moving text”, or animating text over time to convey ideas. Time and motion were the crucial

elements here that allowed text to transcend what it normally would be on a printed page. With time and motion at our disposal, we were told that now we had the power to control what viewers saw exactly when we wanted them to see it. Our professor, Dan Boyarski, showed us some early print examples of when people began experimenting with trying to add more qualities to type, making them more than just words on a page. For example, he showed us Lewis Carroll’s attempt at shaping the text in “The Mouse’s Tale” in the actual shape of a tail right: “The Mouse’s Tale” by Lewis Carroll.

for his book Alice in Wonderland (left). We also saw

FRAMING

video examples of kinetic typography and their

wanted to try making something like it. The first

same messages represented on paper. The effect

kinetic typography video Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d ever seen, a video

of time and motion was indeed captivating (if

titled Dot Dot Dot (above) just so happened to

properly executed). While paper might be able to

be a humorous, yet still compelling mix of audio,

represent quantity, we agreed from watching the

images, type and motion. It became a significant

video examples that it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t capture the quality

source of inspiration for me as I was creating

of what was being said quite as effectively.

this video; I knew I wanted something dynamic, energetic, and fast-paced to move the audience

After watching these examples, I began to feel excited about the project. I had known about kinetic typography before, and had always

along throught the content.

left: Dot Dot Dot, an animation that uses kinetic typography to visualize an epic reading of an angry comment about a game (the game was intended to be a satire of the role-playing genre of video games).

DISCOVERY

RESEARCH &

DISCOVERY

above: Mind map documenting research findings.

Since I didn’t know anything about design for

for refurbishing, recycling or reuse in the future.

disassembly, I had to familiarize myself with the

The strategy applies to all stages of the product

topic quickly so that we could share our findings

design process--from the product’s inception to

in class and receive feedback on our approach.

the product’s release and the fate of the product

I started with a cursory search on Google to

after its useful life has ended. What this means

see what kind of information was available, and

for a product designer is trying to minimize the

immediately I found an overview article from

complexity of the product so it needs less parts

Core77, an industrial design magazine. Design

and connectors in the first place, considering the

for disassembly, by its original definition, was a

kinds of materials used and choosing ones that

design strategy in which you take into consider-

have a minimal impact on the environment, and

ation the need for that product to be taken apart

designing the product so it’s easy to take apart

DISCOVERY

for repair and recycling. From reading this article and some others I found, it soon became clear that my topic was one that did not readily have applications for the average consumer. I found it hard to find information sources that were not intended for designers, architects, researchers or anyone with a vested interest in minimizing the costs and impact of creating a product. Although the sources I found were interesting, I intuited that the average public

would not consider it as a major decision factor when buying an office chair like the Herman Miller Aeron Chair (right) whether or not it was created with sustainable materials and less impact on the environment than other chairs. What they

would care about was the $700 price point!

A (Few) Principles of Design For Disassembly

1. Use recycled and recyclable materials when possible.

right: The sustainably-designed Aeron chair by Herman Miller.

2. Minimize the number and type of fasteners used.

3. Avoid using paint and hazardous chemicals, as it prevents recycling.

DISCOVERY

Finding a Story Because this topic was relatively specialized compared to some others in the class, I knew I had to find a way for people to be able to relate to it. What would be a good call-to-action for my video? Telling people to recycle more or donate to charity? Maybe urging them to start fixing their own things? All of these ideas felt a bit didactic and unrealistic.

While it is true that recycling, reusing and repairing things are ways that consumers can participate in design for disassembly, there was no avoiding the fact that much of it begins with policy. In other countries such as Germany and Japan, strict laws are in place which require manufacturers to take back their products for recycling and refurbishing. Strict targets put pressure on manufacturers to change old tactics like planned obsolescence and mass production by cheap labor. Though these facts seemed important to include in the video, it still felt challenging to craft a message that the audience would care about.

DISCOVERY

I decided that it might be worthwhile to start with a story. Or a few stories. The Core77 article had started with the author’s frustrating experience with a broken iron and how--after trying fruitlessly to take it apart for repair--he found that many of the internal parts were covered in epoxy--never meant for a single soul to take apart ever in its lifetime.

< above: Slideshow showing iron disassembly. (Alex Diener)

I decided then that similarly, maybe I could start with people’s experiences with products when they cease to be useful anymore. I began to storyboard these ideas out. left: Trying out the idea of telling stories of consumer’s experiences.

VISUALIZATION

Storyboards: Visualizing through Images The storyboarding process was integral to my video, since that’s when all the ideas that had been nebulously floating around in my head had to be concretely sketched out. It was during this stage that I had to also start thinking of transitions and animations for my viddilemma because I wanted my video to look impressive but I had no vocabulary for things I wanted to do or know-how on how to execute them. Still, I did my best trying to sketch out what I envisioned for the elements flying around in my video and morphing. Visualizing the dynamic and the time-based was not an easy task. My general plan at this point in terms of the story was to preesnt three initial scenarios showing when people didn’t want their products anymore, either because they were broken or they bought a new one. I would then show these products being thrown away, ending up in the landfill. I’d pose the questions--”What if there was another

left: Composited storyboards.

eo, something that I’d never really done before. It was an interesting

VISUALIZATION

View the

Storyboards Click through the slideshow to view the sequence of images I created for my storyboards. After watching the final video, you’ll probably see that during production the ideas I presented evolved quite a bit from the original vision that’s shown in these storyboards.

way?”--and from there I’d go on to explain the concept of design for disassembly, how other

Music: Visualizing through Sound

countries are implementing it and some of its

With a rough idea of the flow of my video in

basic principles. The final idea I’d hoped to leave

place, I turned my attention to audio. Since I

my audience with was to envision a world in

wanted to make my video dynamic and excit-

which many of the products you buy now were

ing, I knew finding the right music would be

not really products, but services. What this

critical. (Which was why I probably spent too

meant was that when each product reached the

much time at this part.) The right music can

end of its useful life, that the manufacturer of

set the tone and pacing of the video, as well as

the product or another service provider would be

determine the amount of visuals and text that

able to make sure it was disposed of (or recy-

would appear. The style of the music would also

cled, reused, refurbished) properly.

play a large role in determining the visual style

VISUALIZATION

instrumental and optimistic. After several false

I knew that I had to find the right piece of music

starts I ended up selecting The Octopus Project’s

because inevitably I would end up listening to it

Wooden Trumpet, which I felt had enough energy

over and over as I was working on this project,

and dynamicism in it. The track could also be cut

so I wanted something I would be happy with. Of

off neatly after 2 minutes or so where it naturally

course, I could always use background music that

faded out; this was useful because I wanted the

played steadily throughout my video, but without

video and the music to feel “complete” when it

any variation and change in the music that I could

ended. With my music finally selected, I dove into

time my video to, I was worried that my dynamic

the world of animation with After Effects, some-

animations and transitions would fall flat. I ended

thing I had never done before.

up listening to hours of music on Spotify, exploring different artists, trying to find music that was

LISTE

BOONTING H

I listened to many, many tracks before finally settling on one. Here are the tracks that were runner-ups (some which I even spent time editing and then changed my mind about them)!

Devotchka - The Winner Is Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Perpetuum Mobile Yppah - Never Mess with Sunday

of the entire video. For practical reasons as well,

ANIMATION

At this point, there was one weekend left before the project was due. My music was ready, as were my storyboarded ideas. I still

had to choose a visual style for my video, write a script, figure out how elements would be timed, and most importantly, learn how to use AfterEffects, fast. From talking with with my classmates and meeting with Dan, everyone had agreed that a simple hand-drawn style would work for my video, similar to what I already had in my storyboards.

ANIMATION

IDEAS IN MOTION

ANIMATION

Visual Style & Timing I looked online on Dribbble.com for examples of visual styles I could use for my video. I didn’t want to simply trace my storyboards because I thought it might be messy and I wanted a more distinct style than simply “handdrawn”. Mikey Burton’s work on Dribbble (left) was particularly inspiring--his use of simple shapes and subtle textopic which I felt was industrial, clean and simple but also a little grungy at the same time. A simple style also came with the added benefit in that it’d be easier to animate. I started sketching out the first character (previous page) in my storyboard using a style similar to the one used for the image of the socks (left, top).

above: Illustration styles that I was inspired by. (Mikey Burton via Dribbble) previous page: Initial character design using line art.

tures seemed like it would be an appropriate style for my

ANIMATION

After drafting out a character deisgn, I turned my attention to the timing of the music. I didn’t have a script, but I had an idea of what I wanted to say. To make things easier, I decided to make a “video prototype” in AfterEffects where I timed the storyboards to the music to mark out where the key transition points were. This proved to be helpful later because I was able to gauge how much time I had in the current scene

I was working with before I had to move on to the next scene.

above: Video prototype created for timing the storyboards to the music.

AfterEffects in 72 Hours I was excited about learning how to animate in AfterEffects, since it had been one program that I never had a chance to work with much. I spent a day learning as much as I could by watching video tutorials. For animating the characters, I had planned to use the Puppet Tool in AfterEffects (right), which is basically a tool for putting “pins” down on the articulation points or joints of your character and moving them around. I

above: The Puppet Tool in AfterEffects.

ANIMATION

AfterEffects

Sketchnotes For one entire day, I sat down at my computer with the sole goal of learning After Effects. These are my notes of the process. I started off by watching basic video tutorials (Video Training was particularly useful). After growing more comfortable with the software, I began watching more specific tutorials in anticipation of the techniques and effects Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d need to know, such as kinetic typography.

Copilotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s After Effects Basic

ANIMATION

< above: Simpler character designs and assets.

quickly had to abandon this approach because I

animate. Rinse and repeat. Oftentimes, I realized

realized my character’s design was too complex

there was something I had planned to do in the

to animate. I needed a simpler character, so I

storyboard that I didn’t learn yet, which made

eventually came up with very simple character

it a slower process. I made up time by learn-

designs (above) that could be easily manipulated

ing shortcuts like hotkeys and ways to “batch”

without the help of the Puppet Tool. From there

my work. Though the work was still tedious,

it was almost a two-step process: create a batch

it wasn’t long before I felt like I was working

of assets for a few frames of the storyboard,

more fluidly and efficiently in the program.

ANIMATION

< above: Animating in After Effects.

THE VIDEO

THE

VIDEO

By the end of the weekend, my video was mostly complete. The project was due, so I hurried to put together an ending by fading out the audio and assembling some closing text and images. I would still need to create another minuteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of animation before I reached the more natural conclusion to the music that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d hoped for. Regardless, I was happy with what I had achieved. I had worried about a lot of the details in my video while creating it, such as:

THE VIDEO

Timing and Transitions The timing and the transitions I deliberately kept fast-paced, timing it to the music when I could. I did this to keep the audience’s interest, and also because I was inspired by the kinds of dynamic animation I had seen before like in the Dot Dot Dot video.

Color Palette I chose cool colors because I wanted the video to feel clean, modern and industrial, since this topic is a product design strategy. However I added subtle textures to the colors so the video

Bell Gothic Std Light

DIN 1451 Std Engschrift

Bell Gothic Std Bold

Typefaces I used a friendly, accesible-looking typeface called Bell Gothic. I realized I didn’t need to worry about type too much as I only had minimal text in my video paired mainly with images, though.

Messaging

think about your stuff

While initially my strategy was to get my audience to start thinking of their products as more like services, I decided that the message of just taking inventory of things you own and thinking about what you would do instead of throwing them away was maybe more realistic and accessible.

didn’t look too pristine.

THE VIDEO

Feedback & Revisions We presented our initial videos in class, and I was impressed by what others had done. Later, I met with Dan to see how I could improve my video and to receive more specific feedback. We agreed that the videoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timing could be worked on--many times text would disappear befor ethe audience even had a chance to read it. I also brought up my initial plan to have another minute of content to the video so the music would have a more natural ending than the one I originally put together (above). After working on the timing of the text a bit and adding another minute of content about real-world examples of businesses who are practicing design for disassembly, I felt satisfied with the final version of the video (right).

THE VIDEO

< above: The final video.

06 REFLECTION

REFLECTION:

LEARNING FROM YOURSELF

The process of creating this video was an eye-opening experience into what it felt like diving into something completely new and unknown. The medium of using video had always been something of a mystery to me--I had always felt more comfortable creating interfaces, posters, and other things that didn’t involve time and motion. I felt that not knowing the capabilities of the software at first hampered and complicated the usual planning and preparation that I would do for a project: Because I didn’t know how something would be done I had no conception of how long it would take to do it. It’s probably a good idea to always start a little earlier the next time I plan to dive into something I knew little about. Also, there was the subject matter. Initially, I struggled with the topic, not knowing how to reach out to my audience with it. I felt

REFLECTION

limited at first, since it was a design strategy meant for designers and businesses, not something the average consumer would care about. Eventually, I realized I didn’t need to struggle--it was still effective to address the issue head-on in the video by asking “So what can an average consumer do?” and just prompting them to think. In terms of the final video, I’m quite happy with it, though there are things I could see improving as I use AfterEffects to animate more. I think it captures the basic principles of design for disassembly in the beginning and brings it down to the audience’s level at the end. I feel like there could have been a stronger story component to Because of this, I could see at times the video feeling slightly disjointed. Some things I would probably do next time for a similar project would be to start choosing music earlier and have a script ready. A lot of the text in the video I had written while I was creating it because I needed to know how it was going to be animated before I could see how much room I had for text. Nevertheless, I felt that this video helped me get my feet wet into the world of video production. With a better knowledge of the program, the process and its pitfalls, I hope I can use it as a medium in the future to express things that would be difficult to communicate in an otherwise static context.

the video, which I think I lost when I created more simplified characters to animate.