ZRL DESIGN PORTFOLIO for Product Design

RUILIN ZHANG zrlmike@163.com https://www.behance.net/zrlmike

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PAPER LAMPS GAPS SERIES

OTHER WORKS

Personal Craftwork Furniture Design Nov. 2017

Personal works Branding & Photography 2016 ~ 2017

C-CHAIR

PATERNITY

AID-TUBE

SMARTIES ANIMAL SERIES

Personal Project Product Design Aug. 2017

Personal Project Product Design Sept. 2017

Personal Coursework Product Design Mar. 2016

Personal Coursework Packaging Design Feb. 2016

Redesign of the kneeling chair for students

C-CHAIR

Research 83% of students stay in a sitting position for more than 10 hours per day in the UK; Students in Hongkong also sit a lot: between 12.4 and 12.6 hours on a school day.

Discomfortable sitting posture cause issues: In fact, the way many students "slump" over their desks for hours puts them at risk for neck and back discomfort.

SHOULDER

NECK

38%

53%

LOWER BACK

WRIST

63%

33% Most common pain area

Sitting

Kneeling

Existing problem Existing kneeling chairs are not easy to get on and off or too big to place in the classroom and cannot be folded or stacked to save space.

Case study The kneeling chair is meant to reduce lower back strain by dividing the burden of one's weight between the knees and the buttocks.

Design brief

Dr. A. C. Mandal's research from the 1960s and 1970s concluded that a forward sloping seat did effectively tip the pelvis forward, opening up the angle between torso and thigh, and thereby correctly aligns the spine, indicating a more suitable position for long periods of sitting.

The project is to design a brand new kneeling chair concept for students in order to adjust their seating position. The kneeling chair concept should be easy to get on and off, and can be folded or stacked to save the space.

Final idea drawing

Model making I made 3 clay models based on the final concept. Each of them has different measurements and shapes.

1. Bending the tin wires into the framework

2. Attaching the powder clay onto the framework 3. Cutting the loftdried model to ideal shape

Model 1 4. Polishing the model

Model 2

Model 3

The three models above focus on the shape of footing, chair seat and the seating structure & seating angle respectively.

3D printing & Test The 3D printing model was based on the clay models and 3D file built in CAD. The measurements are all base on the anthropometry data and the current student chair data. Its mechanism is the same as the final concept.

Ergonomical test This concept can deliver better waist position when kneeling on the chair. In addition, thanks to the pneumatic nozzle link, the kneeling seat will support but not oppress the thigh muscle when seating. Then, I tested the 3D printing model with the same scale manikin and defined the final measurements.

Final concept C-Chair is a kneeling chair concept whose target group is students. It can easily shift between sitting to kneeling. Users can easily kneel down from the back side of the chair, which is more convenient than traditional ones. In addition, it can be stacked with others to save space during transporting or storaging.

Easier to kneel down

Exploded view Soft Packs Kneeling Mode

Sitting Mode

Foot pats

Kneeling seat Spindles Additional weight Brace

35°

Connection Pneumatic nozzle link Main structure Foot pats

Stack on

Rotational limit

A set of bussiness supplies to redefine the relationships between fathers and children

PATERNITY

Interviewing

Grabing dustbin

Persona 1: Prof. Zhang in local university; with 1 yrs old ♀ "...I used to play with daughter at home after daily work. But sometime I am too busy to do that..." "...I'd like to stay with her more, but sometime I feel like there's not enough guide for fathers to support their babies..." "...she love to play my things after I come back home..."

"Control the spaceplane"

Mouse in cars

Playing cardcase

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Playing cards

Grabing glasses

Playing car keys

Persona 2: Mr. Li works in a big company; with 4 yrs old ♂ "...he always grab something unexpected to play with, like glasses case and bussiness cards are his favourites..." "...I think I showed less passion in childrearing when he was below 3 years old. And now I begin to do much more...I have to do extra work at home while playing with him sometimes..."

Installed glasses case

Interviewing

Research

Target group

U.S.

2hr 29min

France

1. 50% fathers are doing extra works at home while raising children in China

2hr 23min

2. Fathers have more involvement than before but still less than mothers''

UK

2hr 20min

Japan

Germany

1hr 2min

3. Fathers specialize in play, but few toys for fathers and children to play together

5. Asian fathers spend less time on daily cilldcare becuse of the heavier working stress.

My point is to make fathers and children's daily interfere with each other, which can cause more interactions after father coming home and before children going to bed.

08:00

At this age, children will imitate fathers' activities known as attachment behavior.

Time spent on childcare by men per day

4. Infants become attached to adults between the age of 6 months and 3 years. Fathers have unique impact to children.

Father's daily

2hr 44min

Asian fathers who have Infants between the age of 6 months and 3 years old.

09:00

without children (may) with children

Entry point 2: After father coming home, they can give children their things to play immediately.

18:00

6m

~

3y

Entry point 1: Let fathers play with their children first, and do the extra works after 21:00 baby sleeping time.

21:00

23:00

Mouse can transform to a car

Pen can blow bubbles

Lizard tie

Railway belt

Castle cardcase

Model making I selected three of my concepts to make massings to test their playability. Most materials are handy.

The final“Lizard Tie�model was made by laser cutted and painted plywood.

PAPA MODE

A set of hi-end personal business supplies for father to use in the office

BABY MODE

Can easily transform to toys that children and father can play together

Lighting edge

Press button to eject the wheels

Reverse side painted colorful lizard pattern

Reverse side got embossinig of railway

Blowing bubble part Screw to open

Wheel caps

Pen part Spin to protrude the nib

Origami castle attach to the reverse side of each page

Hook for hanging on the collar

Can be assembled into a long railway

Frugal medicine carrier and cooling solution in Sub Sahara Area

AID-TUBE

Design brief In SSA (Sub-Sahara Area), the weather is too hot to store diarrhoea medicine without any cooling system. But the current medicine carriers are all expensive and not very convenient for patients to carry with. "The last mile" to the patient is often the most challenging between hospitals (medicine distribution points) to their dwellings.

35%

Frugal Design On average, 45 to 50 percent of sub-Saharan Africans live below the poverty line. An estimated 40 percent lived on less than a dollar (US) a day.

47%

49% Under-five mortality by diarrhoea Children under five died in SSA Live below the poverty line

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Target Group Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in rural communities in Africa, particularly in children under the age of five. But the children at that young age cannot take medicines themselves, so their parents (especially their mothers) should be taken into consideration.

Types of medicines • Mainly pills or capsules • Sealed in tinfoil and plastic shells

Transport requirements • Mainly by car • Lack of transport infrastructures • 43% of the public transport malfunction

Local refrigerator A zeer pot is constructed by placing a clay pot within a larger clay pot with wet sand in between the pots and a wet cloth on top. The device cools as the water evaporates, allowing refrigeration in hot, dry climate.

Storage requirements • Do not store above 30℃/25℃ • Protect from strong sunlight • Water resist

UX requirements • Braille for blind people • Because the river blindness is very common in Sub-Sahara area.

Local frugal design by plastic bottles

Inspiration Design for "the last mile" between pills and patients

From pot-in-pot to tube-in-bottle cooling system

Aid-Tube The shape of Aid-tube is just like normal test tube, so it can be easily placed and stored in hospital.

When it be distributed to patients, they just need a plastic bottle to keep the medicine in the container cool.

It can be used for storing and transporting powder, pills, capsules and even injections.

Exploded view

Incorporated cap

Aid-Tube consists of a cap and acrylic capsule for medicines. The cap is specially designed for the most common bottled drink in SSA. The outer bottle and the inner acrylic container both can protect the medicine form crushing and extremely hot environment.

Seal for water Seal for medicines

Design details Red Cross and braille on the cap to let people know this is a carrier for medical use.

Medicines container

Braille words on the surface of the container. Information and some instructions can also be printed on this area.

Rubber sealing rings and sealing threads for completely sealed

Model making

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Be stored in the hospitals and be dispatched for emergency delivery from hospitals to patients' dwellings.

For patients' daily use from their house to their work place. Be carried with their carry-on bottle to remind patients to take the medicine.

Scenario 3 For nomads' use to carrier medicines during their nomadic trip or dilivery from one tribe to another.

SMARTIES ANIMAL SERIES

Design Brief This is a design project for 2016 Student Starpack Awards-Brief D. The challenge is to disrupt the category and create stand-out on shelf for any confectionery brand of Nestle. And corrugated paper or cartonboard should be used as main materials. And my target brand is Smarties, a colour-varied sugar-coated chocolate confectionery popular primarily in the UK.

Overall appearance

Cap design details

Market research

Top and bottom

Current Smarties product: • Symbolic hexatube shape • Recapable paper cap • Playful riddle with answer • Folded by one piece of paper

Benchmarking product M&M's: • Modern and funny • Smart structures • Easy to share • Colourful

Target Group Expanded view

The main consumers are children and teenagers. As the official website introduced, Smarties is playful, so it can easily attract someone to buy it not only for the taste but also for playing with.

20~30 10~20 >30

0~10

Comsumer age group

Ideation

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I generated 9 different ideas for this project. All of the ideas are detailed designed into 3D model and expanded view.

Some of the ideas are designed for improving sharing UX while the others are designed for playing. After evaluation, Idea 4 is the most playful one and was developed to the final design.

Paper Model 1 • Only upper half contain beans • Combining with animal shape • Define the LOGO area • Sticked by two pieces of paper

Model Making Then I made several models with papers and carton boards to test its feasibility.

The final concept is inspired by a very classical game-Pacman. The shape of it represents the yellow pixel Pacman eating beans. It is made from one simple carton board using creative folding ways.

Carton Model 2 • Both part contain beans • Change the measurements for thicker carton board • Folded by just one piece

Design details (clear view) The catch designed as the current cap of Smarties.

Upper part of the packaging is a little bit lower to ensure the "mouth" working smoothly

Carton Model 3 • Change the mouth detail • Add recapable catch detail • Define the infomation area

Smarties animal series Combining the pacman figure with animal figures is a good way to stimulate the desire for kids to buy them, collect them and play with them. And, when you pour the chocolate beans out, it can represent a rainbow coming out of the animal's mouth just like cartoon characters do.

Cut Fold Glue area

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Series The final design is not only about the packaging, but also about the new VI for Smarties. According to the different colors of the chocolate beans, different kinds of packaging in the shape and colors of different animals can be made.

Dinosaur

Grampus

Rabbit

Eagle

Frog

Dog

Ocelot

Mouse

Light up paper

PAPER LAMP GAPS SERIES

Inspiration Gaps is a series of origami lamps made mainly by sulfuric paper triangle units. "Triangle unit" is a type of modular origami that originates from East Asia. I accidentally found it can create quite unique lighting effect as a lampshade.

Combination 1

Combination 2

Combination 3

Then, I tested the transmittance of several kinds of paper, and found that the sulfuric paper, which has the highest transmittance, is exactly what I want. I developed two different sizes units and three kinds of combination methods, made three different types of lamps according to the shape of natural plants.

Pineapple

Sunflower

Pinecone

Video Link: https://vimeo.com/243009125

O More than product design

OTHER WORKS

LIUMANGJUN VI LOGO for LIUMANGJUN brand. "LIU" in Chinese means durian and "MANG" means mango. It is a high-end dessert and beverages shop whose main products are made from high-quality durians and mangoes. The green outline represents the shape of the durian shell. And the inner yellow parts not only represents the pulp of the durian but also represents two mango shapes. The three Chinese characters and Chinese phoneticzes below means "Mr.Durian and Mr.Mango", harmonious and impressive.

Mascots The two mascots are built in 3D software and all of their joints are moveable. Their clothes can also be changed by rebuilding the module easily, representing the vitality and meticulous service attitude of the brand.

Digital Photographs Foggy Eiffel Tower

by SONY RX10

PAPEＲ ＬＡＭＰ ＧＡＰＳ ＳＥＲＩＥＳ

PAPEＲ ＬＡＭＰ Digital Photographs - Leeds Victoria Gate ＧＡＰＳ ＳＥＲＩＥＳ

by SONY RX10

THANK YOU RUILIN ZHANG zrlmike@163.com https://www.behance.net/zrlmike