Internship Report Softcopy

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Introduction Bureau CQ Hangar 36 Goals Project 01 | Gifts and Premiums Project 02 | Coffee Maker Project 03 | Toaster Project 04 | LCD Television

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Air-conditioners | Project 05 Ice-cream Maker | Project 06 Ice Bucket | Project 07 Sustainable Kitchen Ap-pliances | Project 08 Cotton Candy Maker | Project 09 Harvesting Table | Project 10 Side activities Overall Experience

“Your designers can apply the suitable culture in the product and they show their taste. They have a broad way of thinking and there’s no rope around them. I expect these are all young designers with great taste and passion. The focus on details makes a difference compared with existing designs.”

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Quote of producer about Eveline and me

Introduction | Doing an internship is the only proper way to get the first experiences in a professional working environment, which was of my interest. Therefore I deliberately chose to do an internship at a ‘small’ design firm instead of doing an exchange. After having several internship places to go to (incl. Philips and Well Design) I chose for Bureau CQ, a design firm in The Hague. They could provide me with massive amounts of practical (technical) knowledge and they could show me the bigger picture on how a design firm actually works.

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Bureau CQ Hangar 36 Binckhorstlaan 36 2516 BE Den Haag www.bureaucq.com

Bureau CQ | Bureau CQ is an international operating bureau with a main focus on conceptual design, product engineering and consultancy in production. Within these three product groups the produce ability and minimizing the time to market are primary goals. Within the process of conceptual design the deliverables are a summary of the market analysis (including analysis of trends, user and target groups and competitors) and realistic visualizations of a selection of different outer design and styles. These concepts are generated using 3D programs. This results in realistic 1:1 concepts that can easily be modified for engineering. The average lead-time for this stage is relatively short, namely two to three weeks.

Therefore intensive research is only applied if the complexity of the makes this approach inevitable. After evaluation of the conceptual design the engineering process will start. Technical features will be implemented in a 3D model and tested accordingly. Prototypes are used for

analysis and commercial activities. Since production is for 70% sourced outside Europe we spend maximum attention to specify production related details like tolerances, production techniques, quality level, materials, assembly conditions, certification, packaging, etc. During this stage there’s a lot of communications between the customer and manufacturer.

Since the beginning of 2008 Bureau CQ has opened its offices in Hong Kong and Guanzhou (mainland China). One of the activities is coordinating the production for their European customers. This presence makes it possible to speed up the production process by offering technical backup in the production facilities itself.

This immediately guaranteed a maximum control on the quality.

Bureau CQ is a company where three directors/managers have their specific activities in the company. Next to a general manager one’s responsible for the conceptual design, while another keeps his

focus on the engineering and production.

The conceptual design will be coordinated in the Dutch office under the name of Bureau CQ. Production related activities are coordinated in China under the name of Studio CQ. According to the activities within the project one of the managers coordinates the process.

For the Dutch office the design team includes two or three trainees under supervision of a senior designer. Per October 2008 this person will also coordinate the direct activities for the trainees. Next to these permanent employees Bureau CQ is working together with external freelancers and designers. This is depending on the type of projects.”

For the Chinese office (Studio CQ) has a joint venture with a Chinese company.

Part of the employees within this joint venture will coordinate local projects and activities. Depending on the availability one or two graduates do a project for this joint venture or one of Studio CQ’s local customers. (Bureau CQ, 2008)

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9 Dennis Goossens

10 Arvid Bouman

11 Matthijs Pot

12 Jenneke Buiter

13 Eveline Goudriaan Fellow Trainnee

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16 Birthday Decorations

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18 Entrance to Binck 36

Hangar 36 Building

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Hangar 36 | Hangar 36 is collective of creative companies situated in the old factory of KPN in The Hague. All companies in the collective represent different areas of the creative industry, as a collective they represent the entire chain from sketch to concept and from producing to product where each company has their own expertise.

Blik

Petra van Trigt

Pixel 8 Duel

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Bureau CQ

Uber Dutch

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Goals | In order give my internship some direction I setup some goals. These goals were used as guidelines for me during my internship.

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Ideas & Concepts / Integrating Technology | Concept development and appraisal will have a big focus during my internship. I want to develop at least one concept (till it’s ready to be produced). In the end I need to have a “done” concept. At a firm concept development has a much higher professional level, this experience and knowledge help me to create more professional concepts later on in my career.

In the Ideas and Concepts competency I want to get a more realistic approach to developing concepts with knowledge

gained in the Integrating Technology competency. Ideas/concepts get usually outrageous and therefore hard to produce (if they are produceable at all). This should be “incorporated” during your concept developing and idea generation phase where can eliminate the change of getting into problems at a later stage.

I want to learn some designer shortcuts.

Things like, “using this will always work” or “that is how it always should be” or “if you use this process, you’ll most likely get what you want” this is to speed up my design process, which is always needed because time is money.

Integrating Technology/Data modeling | While doing the project I want to focus on engineering the underlying system in the product (which can be further defined when I know exactly what I need to do) as well as creating the form. I want to know how different components in my design should work, model and build them accordingly.

Another theme in the integrating Technology competency I want to address is manufacturing and material processing these parts are somewhat underestimated at our education. Therefore I want to know how materials act while manufacturing parts for products and I want to know how you actually produce products.

Self directed & continuous learning | I want to see if a planning type like “Critical Path Diagram” works in practice.

For my internship I will map out the entire process for one project including all critical areas, which might occur. I’ll give those areas a time frame and in the end I will reflect on the effectiveness of such a planning.

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Designing business process | Experiencing how a small design firm works is a good learning experience. You see the whole picture (or probably a downscaled picture from big companies). You see every facet and touch every facet.

01 PROJECT GIFTS & PREMIUMS

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Intro | A beverage company was in need of new Gift and Premium material (relation gifts, goodies, gadgets, etc.). This in combination with an enhanced serving ritual. Tea is usually served with an extra cup where you can place your tea bag on, sugar, spoon and a biscuit. Coffee evenso. The company wanted a new ritual for serving ice (in extremes: they want to claim ice). The whole package should exist of: Stirs, bar-caddies, serving trays, coasters and a menu card holder. The first week was rather chaotic due to upcoming opening of the new office and the Work | I was assigned to re-designing the bar-caddy, coming up with new concepts for the menu card holder and thinking about the serving ritual. This was executed by sketching and implementing the sketches into SolidWorks.

Due to being a chaotic week I think not all of the potential was used.

The second week the new trainee arrived and we worked together on creating new

serving rituals and menu card holders which were implemented in SolidWorks.

Experiences | This was the first experience with the design process of Bureau CQ and working in SolidWorks (after some autodidacting during the holiday).

Although this first week was rather chaotic due to Bureau CQ was moving into their new office, it was a good week for bonding purposes. I got to know my fellow co-workers and see how they interact with each other. In the second week the new trainee started. We picked up, together, this project and we generated ideas for a new ‘ice-experience’. We soon experienced it was hard to come up with new and innovative ideas for this subject. We got stuck quite fast and our ideas were of an ‘average’ quality. A solution to this might be to ‘just let it go’ for a while, which we didn’t do. All in all this project was a good start in learning how Bureau CQ works and who Bureau CQ’s employees are.

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02 PROJECT COFFEE MAKER

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Intro | The goal of the Coffee maker project was to create a budget coffee maker, meaning this product should be sold for a budget price (around 10 euros). Although it needs to be a budget product it shouldn’t look like one. The new trainee also arrived this week which resulted in a cooperation between us on this project.

Work | It started off with creating moodboards of different design products which could be used for the ‘idea generation’ phase (which usually is an extensive sketching session). This moved on to the sketching phase where we need to bare in mind several technical limitations. In several days we sketched loads of coffee makers. After an idea selection session two coffee makers were selected and implemented into SolidWorks. During this implementation we need to keep in mind how the coffee maker should be produced (e.g. if it is possible to spraymold it, if all the volumes fit, etc.).

Experiences | This project gave me much more experience in SolidWorks, which is in my view now an essential designer tool. You can communicate your ideas, very clear and very fast. With SolidWorks you can create technical drawings and engineer your product. I’ve learned how you can render proper and realistic images with PhotoWorks, and I got more knowledge on materials and production processes (e.g. I’ve learned more on how molds are made and on how they work).

This project was the first experience in creating produceable products during the concept phase. This mindset allows you to come up with concepts which can be produced, instead of concepts which need heavy modification in order to get produced. Also a very useful tool.

During this phase I’ve also learned about production methods, especially injection molding, which is a miss in the ID education.

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03 PROJECT TOASTER

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Intro | A company contacted Bureau CQ to make new toasters designs for a normal version, longslot version and a deluxe version for a fair in China. The main limitation of this project was the already existing tooling, therefore the body of the toaster couldn’t be reshaped.

Work | This time we started with fieldwork, and looked for different types of toasters and different interfaces. Created mood-boards again and started sketching. We tried to search for new forms of interactions to use on the toasters which resulted in a total of 4 concepts with dif-

ferent types of interaction. During the implementation you need to consider everything in your concepts, material thickness, technical feasibility and ergonomics. It should be a product which only need detailing (tolerances, etc.) to be produced. Later during the internship I detailed two concepts further because they were sold. Meaning the two concepts should be moved from concepts to more realistic parts although still not ready to be produced.

Experience | This project gained me more experience in SolidWorks, an essential industrial design tool.

Again I’ve learned to think more practical about how things should be produced and if they could be produced. This way of thinking usually lacks, in my opinion, at ID which results in beautiful unrealizable concepts. The design cycle, in real life, is much faster and this create more opportunities to vary your work but also to communicate design faster to your customer.

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04 PROJECT LCD TELEVISIONS

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sions at a conceptual level which are different from current televisions.

Work | Again there was an analysis of what is already on the market, this was kept short on purpose to create the possibility to look beyond existing designs.

Only this time we worked fast and generated some new ideas quickly, although these were not enough we extended the idea generation phase. After a quick idea selection implementation of the concepts in SolidWorks began. Colors were chosen, renders and presentations were made.

Intro | This project focussed on creating new LCD TV concepts. The market currently only has piano black, high-gloss televisions with blue LED details. Therefore the assignments was to create LCD televi-

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Experience | The main experiences of this project were creating new and innovative ideas for televisions and creating visualizations (PhotoWorks and Photoshop), this all in a short time-span. Interesting was to see that, again, there was a time loss during the idea generation phase.

This project taught me you can get clients interested by showing them some fun concepts.

05 PROJECT AIR-CONDITIONERS

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Intro | All air-conditioners look like big white rectangles which is a shame. Bureau CQ wanted to show new possibilities for air-conditioners to a possible client.

Work | This work was more on a conceptual level. Meaning it should resemble the real thing in a manner while being a look into the future. We followed the same routine as the other projects with a little research, long sketch phase and then the implementation phase.

Experience | Again the main experiences lie within visualizing and modeling into SolidWorks. Although this was not a fulltime project (meaning that it was done in ‘spare-time’) it was useful and showed me the fun of creating interesting machines from dull air-conditioners. It was particularly interesting for me because of the variation the project brought me. I could now choose which project I wanted to, something I enjoy in designing (the variation).

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06 PROJECT ICE-CREAM MAKER

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Work | First was research done on how ice-cream makers work, what kinds there are and which principles work best. For inspiration in the sketching phase we looked at architecture, especially the organic and exciting buildings of Gehry.

Intro | All current ice-cream makers are ugly. The assignment was to redesign the ice-cream maker in order to make it more exciting.

Experience | The research part was interesting. We researched how machines work, what kinds there are and if there were some innovations. In my opinion this was the most challenging project, although it was set on hold, because an ice-cream maker is nothing more than a cylinder with an electric motor and two rotating blades. Therefore we found it hard to come up with new and original sketches. This problem could be solved by looking to more interesting and daring forms. Also a time-out could be beneficial to the project.

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07 PROJECT ICE BUCKET

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of the, four (later five), ice buckets and photoshopped them into appealing presentations, meaning that ice and lemons were implemented in the buckets and several renderings were combined to make a “frosted” look.

Of these renderings were technical drawings made with the functional sizes.

Intro | The beverage company, mentioned in the POS material project, also wanted a new ice bucket. Something different then the already existing round ones. This was a very fast project of only 3 days.

Work | Again the sketching phase initialized the project, followed up by choosing interesting sketches and implementing them in SolidWorks. Combining both technical aspects (material thickness, volume, etc.) and aesthetickal aspects.

This all went very fast, only a day.

The next day we made the renderings

Experience | This project went very fast and therefore it was a nice test too see if I’m capable of producing ‘quality’ work in a very short amount of time. In my opinion this succeeded.

A nice benefit of this project was creating the technical drawings, something I slightly touched with the Rhinoceros assignment. Also the combination of keeping in mind the technical and the esthetical aspects and combining them was a good practice.

I’ve learned more about photoshopping and creating different effects using different renders en different layers. All in all a good project to test my capabilities.

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08 PROJECT SUSTAINABLE KITCHEN APPLIANCES

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Intro | The Eco-project was a pilot of Bureau CQ to see if they can have the capabilities of creating sustainable kitchen appliances. Although Bureau CQ is experienced in designing kitchen appliances they never made them sustainable.

Work | First, and most important, part of this project was mostly research and summarizing the work of the previous trainees. The research focussed on materials, methods and examples for sustainability. Later grouped and categorized using morphologic charts.

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Experience | The most interesting about this project was the research part which involved extensive researching of all facets of sustainability design. All this information created a big puzzle which would create sustainable kitchen appliances when solved. In this part lies the fun of the project. I found it engaging to combine different pieces, based on quality research, in order to get the most sustainable result.

09 PROJECT COTTON CANDY MAKER

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Work | This project we started with creating mood-boards for the Cotton Candy Maker (color, context of use and atmosphere) and research on already existing cotton candy makers and how they work.

These mood-boards were used for sketching purposes and to define the color. We created 5 concepts with various possibilities for the chocolate liquefier (fondue, fountain and just a pan).

Intro | There was need of a design for a Cotton Candy Maker (which includes a chocolate liquefier and a popcorn maker).

Experience | I always find myself troubled with creating and using mood-board for idea-generation purposes. It seems that I’m not capable enough to create drawings in a specific style according to a mood-board. This was, again, the case in this project. However this project also showed me that I’m capable of getting inspiration from other things than moodboards. It was fun to create these ‘funcooking’ appliances. Nonetheless this project broadened my view on design for mass consumption.

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10 PROJECT HARVESTING TABLE

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tion phase two ideas were chosen to be developed in my spare time. The emphasis was laid on the harvesting table.

This project was mainly focussed on feasibility research and detailing the technical specifications and circuits.

Intro | Bureau CQ provided me the space to come up with my own input for their company. This resulted in three final project proposals where the ‘Intelligent Tables’ project had the highest priority to develop. The goal is to create the next, technology driven, step in the evolution of tables.

Experience | This project gave me much technical development in electric components and their relation with each other.

I learned more on calculating with power and power harvesting, which will be of big interest in the future.

This project taught me how to divide a project into elements and work them out according to relevance and importance on a long term scale. Although not fully worked out, the ‘critical path diagram’ planning was useful in a certain extend.

It provided enough insight in ‘developing’ areas to plan them.

Work | Initially the project was called ‘Intelligent Tables’ after some research to intelligent tables and a short idea genera-

Most of all this project pushed me to look beyond dogmas and to create a, possible, next step in the evolution of a product.

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Ordering samples | In order to get some feel for material appearance we ordered several samples.

Administrative work | Each project had its own hour administration which needed to be filled daily.

Side activities | As a trainee I also had several side activities. Activities which do not have a direct relation to the projects.

Photoshopping | Some general photoshopping was done on patent images, etdc.

Photography | I did some photography for some products in order to clarify how they work and from which material they were made.

Interview | I did an interview with Bureau CQ in order to learn more about how a small design company works.

Customer innovation Centre | We went to The Customer innovation Centre (a showroom of SABIC, an plastic manufacturer).

They taught us more about thermoplastics; development of plastic and production methods.

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Icon design | For the toaster project I created icons to match the function of the buttons, something I never did.

PCB assembly | To determine the space needed for a portable oscillator I assembled an PCB in SolidWorks.

Overall experiences | In general I’ve met all my goals for the internship in the different projects. Getting to know how a small company works was done by an interview and during casual conversations.

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Bureau CQ provided me regularly with feedback on my approach and attitude and also gave me more then enough room to come up with my own initiatives.

They were very willing to help and provide support when problems arise. Thanks to their positive attitude, unlimited effort and approach to trainees the working environment was fun, relaxed and created loads of learning opportunities.

My knowledge about materials and production techniques developed enormously during my internship. This knowledge is ,in my opinion essential, not taught in the Industrial Design course.

With this knowledge I got a more practical view on the feasibility of concepts production wise. I experienced designing

with practical and technical restrictions (toaster project). Plus I’ve gained experience in sustainable design and I gained experience in creating mood-boards, but this is still something I need to work on.

The way of thinking further than a concept was a very good learning experience, usually a concept stays a concept at the Industrial Design department. Now I’ve gained insights and experience about producing products.

I learned how important it is to create self explaining and clear visuals for clients in order to communicate your concepts, clients do not have a designers mind and are not always capable to look beyond an initial image. I put this in practice at every project by creating presentations with clear renders.

One of the most essential learning points during my internship is SolidWorks. This program allows you to create realistic visuals, make 3D objects and make your

concepts ready to be produced. The industrial design tool.

Especially my vision about industrial design changed. The Industrial Design eduction and students pushes, unconsciously, toward futuristic and exclusive designs which is actually not industrial design at its fullest. Industrial design is about mass production and creating feasible products which can be put on the market in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore the innovation factor of products should be directly linked towards the user in order to create a familiar experience and interaction between the product and user. It should enhance the product. Not every product should have, an overkill of, technology because it can make it more intelligent or just ‘because it can’. Intelligence can lie in material use or in the absence of ‘electronic intelligence’.

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The design process of Bureau CQ, and probably most companies, is different

from the design process at Industrial Design. Bureau CQ has different studies (trend, market analysis, etc.) at hand which can be used for multiple projects.

Bureau CQ has gained a lot of experience in the field their working with. Therefore their research phase is done prior to all their projects and this results is a shortened research phase during a project (time = money principle). The idea generation phase also differs from the phase at Industrial Design, we are used to create ideas by using explaining text and sketches, which later on need to be detailed. Bureau CQ mostly works with visuals and detailed ideas. They also work with mood-boards and we’re used to use creativity techniques. In my opinion both process can be merged together to create something better.

needed for a good designed product.

Research is also conducted at the start of each project. Although not as scientific as I would like.

Most decisions are based on anual research, experience or own vision. This are, ofcourse, valid and good information sources. User tests are applied when

During the internship I experienced my own and others their designs, I liked the more edgy and extreme designs. Designs that goes that step further, the ones that

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In general the pace of the process is much higher in practice. Especially at Bureau CQ where one of their selling points is creating concepts fast.

I must say that I find a good solid and scientific research phase, where you explore the problem to its fullest, interesting and fun to do. Although not always as necessary (redesigning the form of a product for example).

In respect to my identity my internship helped me to create a feel for my personal style. I found many examples of designers which I liked and I didn’t liked.

are just a little more clean. Also the flows of lines, different shapes which blend into each other and proportions are characteristics of designs I like.

Thanks to the many different project I’ve worked on I gained and put my knowledge into practice in different cases.

Thanks to that I could combine different competencies and develop them in different situations.

I found it daring to work in such a small company, because you find yourself more engaged in the daily business of the company. To see their daily activities and the variation of work inspired my to think about creating my own company in the future.

During the visit to Sabic Innovation Plastics I gained, beside knowledge about plastics, knowledge about trend watching. The automotive industry is one of the most trend-setting and innovative indus-

tries which can act as an inspiration and source for predicting trends.

Many different skills were tested during the internship which I enjoyed very much.

Especially my drawing skills improved by sketching that much. Also my working pace improved enormously which is a great benefit.

All in all I can say I had a very pleasant time and learning experience at Bureau CQ. It was very nice to see their ambitiousness and motivation to create new products. Most inspiring was their willingness to help and the way they handle problems (or challenges as they call it).

Also the working environment was very pleasant and creative, see the pictures in the Bureau CQ and Hangar 36 sections.

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A special thanks goes out to Bureau CQ for their unlimited effort and support during my internship.

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Push the envelope.

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