ROBIN CHEN
PORTFOLIO
EDUCATION Shih Chien University College of Design, Industrial Design Cranbrook Academy of Art 3D Design
ACTIVITIES Taipei, Taiwan June 2009 MI, United States May 2016
WORK EXPERIENCES Internship Hua-Chuang Automobile Center -Car key design for potential new developed cars. -Market analysis process in order to recognize trend for the market Designer Frontpoint Design -Processed product design and presented proposals. -Managed and planned project schedule for the design team, and assigned the works to each designers. -Supported products went into production
New Taipei, Taiwan July 2009 – August 2009
Taipei, Taiwan November 2010 – July 2013
May 2008 May 2009 May 2015 Sep 2015 May 2016 May 2016
AWARDS 2009 Young Designer’s Exhibition nominated
Student Association of the Department -Organized activities during the term of office
SOFTWARES
EXHIBITION 2008 Young Designer’s Exhibition 2009 Young Designer’s Exhibition 2015 ICFF 2015 Detroit Design Fair 2016 Degree Exhibition 2016 Collective Design Fair
Teaching plans for the industrial design summer camps -Served as the planner, the camp staff, and the instructor.
May 2009
Creo / Keyshop / Photoshop / Illustrator / Indesign / Autocad / Windows Office
July 2006 & July 2007 2006 - 2008
Growth Series Category: Furniture Design Time: 2016 Dimensions: 500 x 450 x 500 mm (300 mm) / 350 x 300 x 450 mm (650 mm)
In our society, it’s quite easy to see the products which were made by fully well hand crafted like luxurious watch, car, and wooden furniture. However, those products for viewers are hard to realize that are handmade. To figure out, they are nearly perfect and the craft men put their effort to hide their finger prints. So once the designers like us trying to exploring the “craft design” by the limited techniques and skills. But in craft field, as a designer who are not the craft man, normally would try to explore something about imperfection, ugliness, or uniqueness. Craft, from my perspective, imperfection, ugliness, and uniqueness are not the familiar form to exist in our daily objects, especially in mass productions. The reason is clear, because the maker themselves didn’t have such good technique to accomplish and improve the quality of their works. It makes me to go deeper for it: “Practice makes Perfect.” When their skills get better, what is the purpose to keep making something imperfect intentionally? It triggers me to think about what is imperfection and craft? My answer is to invest a process which has been planned well by designer, and set up a platform to develop the object which could not be influence by human hands but still under designer’s “control.” In short, exploring uniqueness, ugliness, and imperfection by showing the material, object, and the form by natural elements.
Growth Series - Each layer represents the time the maker contributed. - Each layer represents the relationship between the time and the size. - Each layer represents the processes the object had been developed. - Each layer represents the connection of the artificial and natural materials. Using the stumps highlight the wood grain, and connect the resin graphic and the wood grain. This is the last practice for the topic: How can Invisible Process Become Visible? using the layers to reveal the process and the time designer tributed. Each layers are random and uncontrollable, but they were generated by designer's device. This is the achievement for "Control the uncontroled process." This is my vision of the imperfection, ugliness, and uniqueness by craft.
Growth Series Category: Furniture Design Time: 2016 Dimensions: 500 x 450 x 500 mm (300 mm)
Trees, overs thousands of years, turn to petroleum. Epoxy resin came from the same cycle. In my project, these two materials which came from the same origin met together again. The plastic continues the tree’s life to grow up by ring after ring. The inorganic compound grow like organic but the organic stop growing. Through simple pouring processes to ‘grow’ the furniture, then chop it into half, it turns out two samiliar but different pieces. I value this project as a sculptural abstract object. The project developed in a natural way so the process is part of the project as well. I hope to develop the process to let the material speak and by itself including pattern and form by organized production process.
MIX Category: Conceptual Design Time: 2015
Using soy wax as the mould to cast cement and resin to experiment and to track the natural texture and patterns. The rein will heat up when it solidfy, and the wax which is the mould will be melted. The liquid wax will float up and cause the random pattern and the texture. In the project Mix, I kept developing the idea about creating uniqueness through the design process I designed. Using wax as the mold then cast it by concrete and resin. The casting materials rise the temperature while they were solidifying, then melted the wax mold. So the casting materials catch the melting moment. When the wax transforms from the solid into liquid, it become lighter than the casting materials, so it going up and eroded the final form. Also, through huge amount of experiments, the graphic in the models had certain similarity. Those graphics were generated by using the oil pigment to drip in the semi solidifying casting materials. They track the heat flow in the casting materials. In this project, it’s a step forward to purify the idea: how can invisible process become visible? Setting a processing rule and let materials cooperate with each others without hand touching.
Layer Table Category: Furniture Design Time: 2007 Dimensions: 600 x 450 x 500 mm The concept of Layer Table came from the traditional Chinese paper-cut dĂŠcor for a window. Deconstructing the dĂŠcor into several parts, then reconstructed them with different height and transformed them into a three dimensional structure which viewers can use their perspective visual effect to form the reassemble illusion.
Pulp Table Category: Furniture Design Time: 2015 Dimensions: 650 x 360 x 450 mm
This Coffee Table was made by paper pulp and poplar with hand craft and CNC to explore the contrast. By paper pulp’s quality which is easy to keep people’s track, the table could be transformed by users’ habbit when the time goes by.
Roast Suckling Pig Pencil Sharpener Category: Product Design Time: 2014 Dimensions: 150 x 45 x 55 mm
Everybody needs a little bit of laughter in their hard working student life. What is more funnier than seeing a piglet getting rosted on your desk? You can simply put the pencil through its’ mouth then turn the handle as if you are roasting a pig. The shavings will be stored in its’ stomach and it is easy to clean. So hands up if you want to roast a pig while shaping pencil.
TONINO LAMBORGHINI ANTARES Category: Smart Phone Design Time: 2012 Dimensions: 145 x 63 x 11.5 mm
Tonino Lamborghini was established by Ferruccio Lamborghini’s son - Tonino lamborghini. Although Automoblie Lamborghini was purchased by VAG group in 1998, Tonino Lamborghini now still working independently. Tonino Lamborghini business coverage a spectacular spectrum including men’s wear, watches, jewels, perfumes and Consuming electronic products.
TONINO LAMBORGHINI ANTARES After analyzed the market of samrt phone, the target zone of price in this project is about 4000 USD, just between normal smart phone brands (such as
9000 USD
Apple, Samsung, and SONY) and the most expensive smart phone brands (such as VERTU and TAG Heuer).
4000 USD
At the begining of project, the newest Lamborghini super car which was named “Aventador� entered the market at the same time. Therefore, design a
749 USD
smart phone that its style is connect with Aventador and looks luxurious are the most important issues in this project.
Final sketch
The process of dekelopment by 1:1 sketch
TONINO LAMBORGHINI ANTARES The whole body is made by aluminum, excludes of the top and the bottom of the phone. Because those position are equiped the antennas, which cannot be covered by metal. The back cover is covered by several optional materials, such as carbon fiber and leather.
Entry-Level Earphone Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
Entry-Level Earphone Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
High-Level Earphone Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
Category: Consuming Electronic Products Design
Category: Consuming Electronic Products Design
Time: 2013
Time: 2013
Dimensions: 58 x 24 x 64 mm
Dimensions: 52 x 32 x 55 mm
Earphones Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
This project is assigned by Tonino Lamborghini to develop the series of earphones.
At the process of sketching, there are 2 major strategies, the first one is that both
The entry-level has a single speaker and the high-level has dual speakers.
high-level and entry-level have the same part of module and differs the level by some elaborative decoration; the other one is that using 2 different type of shape to seperate
In this project, the most important issue is ergonomics. However, it also has to match
2 products. Finally, because the first strategy has much lower distinction than the
the image of Lamborghini which is full of sharp angle like stealth bomber. Therefore,
other one, therefore, the second strategy is chosen to proceed.
it is a great challenge in this project.
Entry-Level Earphone Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
High-Level Earphone Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
Entry-Level Headphone Design TONINO LAMBORGHINI
High-Level Headphone Design
Category: Consuming Electronic Products Design
Category: consuming electronic products Design
Time: 2013
Time: 2013
Dimensions: 165 x 55 x 170 mm
Dimensions: 175 x 65 x 185 mm
Headphones Design for TONINO LAMBORGHINI
This project is assigned by Tonino Lamborghini to develop the series of headphones that has 2 level of products. The entry-level one is a on-ear headphone, and the high-level one is a over-ear headphone. design with sharp edges, monolithic and sculptured volumes and precise surfaces, which are the classical Lamborghini’s images to restructure the traditional headphone, and make both class of products have connection with each other.
Desk-Top Heater Category: Household Appliance Design Time: 2012 Dimensions: 300 x 60 x 195 mm
Desk-Top Heater This Desk-Top Heater has a patent which can enhance the temperature by the core that is made of ceramics. Because the core of the heater is quite smaller than tranditional product, this heater can be minimized the size and can be set on the desk in the office for individual. According to the client, female consumers has much larger number than male consumers. Therefore, the numbers of buttons are diminished to make the it easier to use.
Speaker Dock for iPhone Category: Consuming Electronic Products Design Time: 2011 Dimensions: 420 x 165 x 150 mm
The concept is that this speaker dock displays music and user’s media device like display standas or a decoration in the living room, just like a vase or a tray. And because this product is base on the technology which can make surround sound by simple speakers, therefore, the size of the speaker dock can be smaller than other conpetitions and keep the same quality of sound effect.
Speaker Dock for iPhone
Net & Part A
Part B
Part C Control Board Part D Drivers Main Board Part E
CAREFREE Category: Lighting Design Time: 2008 Dimensions: 350 x 150 x 350 mm
Product exists because of the needs. And product is produced for the convenience. The originality of this product is to functionally meet user’s needs, so we can use the product right away once we need it.
CAREFREE The initial concept of style is based on the sign which when the lamp turn on, it will show the shape like tranditional lamp that has a lamp screen. Therefore, the part of the lamp was designed to be transparent.
Blackout is always an annoying but unavoidable incident that every household would prepare a flash light just for it. But people can never remember where they put their flash light. Once the electricity is out, people would then start to look all over the places for the flash light they put last time. Carefree provides a suitable solution for the emergency lighting in incident like blackout. When the electricity is out, Carefree will still be on to let user know the location of the light source that he or she can just pull out and use it right away. The creation of Carefree is to let the emergency lighting to be neither an unexpected incident nor the partner in crime of user’s anxiety.