Product Design Portfolio Sam Herbert Nottingham Trent University
The brief is to design a portable concrete speaker for Rega that could potentially be viably produced in small-medium sized batches. The speaker must be no larger than 150mm3 in volume. Your final design should show understanding of all materials used and all design decisions should be backed up by research into materials and manufacture, relative to your own outcome. Whilst the majority of your product must consist of concrete, you may use other materials in moderation.
Rega shape - created by one large speaker system at the top and one smaller underneath both connected by plastic shape. Our product needed to link to the company, and this is a consistent through their loudspeakers and easily adapatable
Dark wood veneer - another common feature of Rega’s products and one we looked at including to again give that link between our product and the company we were designing for
Rega green, although not used in many, if any of their more recent products, is quite an unusual tone, and having a slightly grey tint could lend itself well to being linked with the compulsory concrete material
Here we have a CAD Model of our final product, this was a project completed in pairs. You can see how we have replicated the ‘Rega’ shape of two circles, one larger than the other connected in the middle. However we have adapted this into two speaker units, large one angled on top, connected to the smaller one on the front and joined together in a space filled with the three required buttons, bluetooth and volume (+/-) Furthermore you can see the metal, gloss trim around the top of the speaker and also around the base of the model on the ‘kicker’ giving a ‘floating’ effect to the product. We feel this clearly reflects the ethos of Rega and links in to the current range of products.
Top View (close-up)
Orthagraphic View (Front Detail)
Front View (full body)
On this page we have further images explaining our product, showing the overall shape with the flat sides as well as a close up of the front and rear details, including the top, central power button, the angled top surface as well as rear space for charging and AUX connections. Our product is made from hollowed out concrete to keep the weight low, thus making the product portable, and would have a smooth, smart finish which combined with the metail trims contrasting with the matte black buttons, again fits in with Rega’s brand image as welll as meeting the specifications of the brief in every department.
Front View (close-up)
Orthagraphic View (Full Body)
Rear View (Detail)
To design an innovative, gender neutral educational toy suitable to be sold in a Wilko Store. The concept should consider physical, cognitive or emotional development of a child within an age group. The concept should be supported by in-depth research into this area of child development. I chose to design for the age rnge of 3-4 years specifically looking at graphical learning as this is something that interests me.
For this brief depth of research was key, as it was not an area i had designed for before and one i have very little experience of. Therefore my ideation was fed from a variety of Primary and Secondary research sources
Top World Cultures
Primary Research - Interview with a Growing Family James, what ages are your kids for the purposes of the readers. And what are their main interests in terms of toys and activities? I currently have two kids, 18months and 4 with another one the way in a few months. I try to get toys, which along with your product, have alternative benefits as well as fun and time consuming, so Henry my 4 year old currently has a huge train set filling the house as well as the learning toys for ‘Jojo Maman Bebe’ for early numeracy and literacy, but main interests outside of that are cricket and trains
Would you buy a toy which helped Henry (for 3-4 year olds) gain a basic understanding of the world, aspects such as flags, landmarks, people? It depends on the product, the majority of toys I buy are quite simple and have multiple outcomes so he can understand it himself and it takes time for him to ‘complete’, for want of a better term. But yes, there isnt a lot out there, there is the simple world map puzzle but other than that, we have recently found a book where this character travels to different places and Henry quite enjoys them but yes, if there was something more educational than a puzzle and simple enough for him to understand yeah absolutely.
Do you have any other suggestions for products which would interest both you and your child?’
For me, the educational aspect is an obvious benefit and would make me more likely to buy it than say a basic teddy and for Henry anything that catches his eye on the shelves, with pictures and colours will take his interest. For me I would like to see the ‘traditional toys reinvented more, Connect 4, the kids play mat, and the really old school stuff like Brik Blocks, Duplo, and even more technical stuff like Tamogochi’s etc, if i liked it as a kid I would buy it to give my kid the same enjoyment.
Is cost a key issue for you, and safety too, do you look into standards etc?
In terms of the product, im not going to spend extortionate amounts but i don’t think “that’s cheap that’ll be alright” I look at what the product does, quality and how much interest/enjoyment Henry will get out of it. Safety is again key, small parts are a no,no as he puts nearly anything in his mouth. Specific standards I don’t know but the basic level of safety I do look for, in my head I think if the big retailers are selling it it is safe.
Child Development Theory With all the current changes which are occurring in the world, and a wide variety of views on every matter I chose to focus my product on teaching a basic understanding of the world with the aim of the user becoming interest in the World, therefore resulting in an interest at an older age and a capability to have their own views and understand other. The 3D World Puzzle teaches the Global View as a metaphor to give the user a basic understanding with a view to a wider knowledge, preventing the insularity of seeing a one dimensional world.
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Basic Global Knowledge
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Shape recognition – in relation to countries
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Colour matching (into continents)
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Main flag recognition
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3-4 year olds
Interviewee Profile: James, 23, Oxford Sales Manager at an Electricals Company. James has a growing family, although he is slightly out of the suggested 25-35 age range for my project his family is the definition of growing. He also has a healthy income and job.
My product has developed from small individual figurines with their own books of their travels, into a fully interactive 3D World Map Puzzle which is easily storable, safe and educational. The product has 10 key country puzzle pieces and on top of these the user can insert 20 ’Cultural Item’ pieces which secure into slots within the key countries. Each continent in a different colour, with the key countires having their flags printed on top.
For this project, because Wilko is known for its family value we had a very strict cost to abide by. With the maximum retail price being £10 this meant that at most, realistically, our product should cost no more than £4-5. Here i have mapped out a rough estimation as to the cost at each stage of the manufacture process, from sourcing materials to the actual processes themselves. This helped me to understand where i needed to save money, with the plastic pieces for example, but also learning how much certain processes cost.
Print World Map onto board 40p
A2 Wooden Board £2
Lathe out key countries (for puzzle pieces) 20p
Finish, plastic case, foldable system 40p
Cultural Items/Pieces (plastic) £1
My final idea consisted of an A2 wooden board, which had the world map printed out onto it. From this map i have converted ‘key countries (taken from my research) and convered them into puzzle pieces with the flags printed on. Then on top of this there are further pieces, 3D, which slot into the puzzle, things such as landmarks of that country or foods, or maybe an indigenous person. All of this leads to multiple breadths of learning for the user, from something as simple as graphic learning with shapes of puzzle pieces and recognising where they go, to the more detailed learning about key countries, giving a strong basis, and hopefully a start up interest in the world, which i believe is key in todays world.
Puzzle piece, country shape, flag print on top.
Foldable system for easy storage, folds into quarters, monopoly board style
Piece storage, split into continents, finished product presentation, plastic container to hold pieces in.
Through primary and secondary research our task was to observe and identify key insights / opportunities within the Chinese athleisure market. We should review the quality, accessibility and experience of existing facilities / products / brands and consumer trends proposing a new to world product or product range for the fitness swimming consumer in China. In our groups we then focused this brief to design a product targeted at kids to encourage them to either start swimming, or maintain their interest in the sport once they are capable swimmers. I chose to focus on capable swimmers of age 7-14 and keep them interested in continung to swim
Product Interaction This board shows a typical experience my consumer would go through demonstrating how the product works at each stage. From putting it on and the strap being tight. Then powering on and selecting the scene so you can dive in and enjoy the coral reef from your own local pool. Meanwhile you can change scene during swimming from coral reef to arctic to many others. After use dry off and store then take home to charge on the modern, wave shaped charging dock
Put goggles on, adjust strap to fit
Power on (use as normal goggles or AR)
Touchpad, select desired scene
Swim around the life-like scene
Dry off, store in packaging
Charge ready for use next time (wireless)
Augmented Reality Goggles - Bringing Technology into the Aquatic World - Don’t go to the Coral Reef, bring it to life in your local pool
We were tasked by the BBC, through Innovia consultancy to create the VR future for their company. For this proejct there were very few limitations, it could be as futuristic as we wanted within current known technologies. For this oppurtunity we were put into groups and rather than the standard method of A3 pages of ideation and development, we got all our initial thoughts down onto post it notes and used them to generate concepts which we woiuld then research futher and develop. Below i have documented our process and our final through our group boards.
Here we worked as a group to generate, study, assess and refine our ideas. Furthermore having them pinned up allowed us to refer to them through all stages of our process. Our final concept was a fully immersive dome for the BBC Bitesize service to revolutionise the way visual learners learn, with the use of 360 video, holograms and ambisonic sound.
Product Features
Ambisonic Sound - a system whereby the sound grows/fades based on where you are/whats happening. More immersive experience. On moving tracks in between the two dome layers to allow for movement of sound and concealing to make a clean aesthetic.
Interactive Screen - screen reacts to your body’s movements, allowing you to change the scene, lesson or experience with just the movement of your hand. No goggle experience for fully immersive, healthy and unparallelled experience.
BBC Channels - Once established would be spread across the channels. Bringing sports experience festivals and live news feed to the world. Particularly aimed at the less fortunate who are unable to do things others cant. However this would be a mass market product revolutionising the VR experience.
Immersive Dome Our expereince will initially be used for BBC Bitesize as a pop up at events, schools and conventions, it would then be rolled out across other channels such as Sport and Music to bring oppurtunities to those who may otherwise be incapable. The dome would be a screen itself, with the use of ambisonic sound and interactive holograms. As an object/thing approaches you and gets closer on screen and through sound it would convert into a hologram which you can interact with, pause, study and look at in detiail.
Herman Miller, through Matter Design Consultancy gave us a brief to extend their brand into a further capacity. By researching into openings and presenting our finidngs they gave us five areas to design within. I chose ‘Working from Home’, specifically looking into small London studios for upcoming, young businessman. Storage, space saving, as well as health and flexible work space were key aspects to consider. My final concept was ‘Scale’ a fully flexible and adjustable stool for a standing or seated workspace. It can then be fully collapsed and stored out of the way. A mechanical concept which would fit into their recent product ranges, specifically alongside the ‘Ratio’ table
SCALE
- ADJUSTABLE, COMPAC
FOR YOUR FLEXIBLE WO
MY FINAL CONCEPT IS A WORKSPACE. A COLLAPS EXTENDS OUT INTO A H IN WITH HERMAN MILLE CREATING A FLEXIBLE W WORK.
CT STOOL
ORKSPACE
A FULLY ADJUSTABLE CHAIR FOR A FLEXIBLE SIBLE STOOL THAT CAN BE EASILY STORED AND HEIGHT AND ANGLE ADJUSTABLE SEAT. THIS LINKS ERS ADJUSTABLE DESK SPACE BUT FOR THE HOME, WORK ENVIRONMENT FOR SEATED OR STANDING
SCALE BREAKDOWN OF THE FEATURES WITHIN MY FINAL PRODUCT, ALL THE ADJUSTABLE ASPECTS FROM THE ROLLER-BALL, COLLAPSIBLE TUBES AS WELL AS THE WEIGHTED BASE FOR SUPPORT
Contact Information: shdesign97@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/sam-herbert https://www.instagram.com/sghdesign