Sophia Ming-Hui Tseng Portfolio
2016-2018
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Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Everything feeds me, preparing me to bloom as a designer.
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Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Sophia Ming-Hui Tseng st.huei16@gmail.com
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+886920399358
Ni-Hao! Hello! Hello! My name is Sophia, currently an Industrial Design sophomore at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan. I am a vibrant learner always eager to explore what the world brings me every day. I am open-minded and enjoy various types of design but still looking forward to venture more! I am full of feelings, but logical and rational at work. I can think wild, but also go deep. I like all parts of the design process, but consider my strengths to be in the problem identification stage and the ideation stage.
Please feel free to contact me with any further questions!
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Projects
Works selected in this portfolio are those that I think represent my personality the most - warm and earnest, but also a little naughty and playful.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
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Project 01 Cookware Design
REO the Steamer 24
Project 02 Furniture Design
STOOLPHIA the Chair 32
Project 03 Speculative Design
MUTUAL Discussing Relationship 40
Project 04 Signage Design
WAYFINDING 52
for RISD Design Center
Projects05plus Other Projects
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Project 01
Cookware Design
Easy Steam, Healthy Eat!
Fall 2017 Indivudual Course Work 9 Weeks
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Discover Issue Nowadays, people call for "Healthy Diet", and "steamed food" are known as the healthiest diet, because it is oil-free and keeps more neutrient than boiled food. And when it comes to "steaming", the most commonly used cookwares in Taiwan are the Da-Tung Electrical Steamer and the traditional traditional bamboo steamer. However, both steamers cannot be used without coordinate cookwares: you have to place food in another bowl then place it into the Da-Tung steamer; and the bamboo steamer is just a holed container, you still need a pot-on-fire and boiling water in order to steam food.
Traditional Bamboo-Made Steamer
Da-Tung Steamer
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Define You can only steam one dish at a time
Need to use an extra container
Need to constantly check whether food is fully cooked
Lock-Down After analyzing the user journey of using a steamer, listing out all possible challenge that may occur at each stage, and evaluating all the problems listed, I came to a conclusion of 3 main target problems to tackle with.
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Develop
The process from ideation and sketching to a form decision, refining through rough model testing, and finalizing the design with 3D modeling.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
IDEATION SKETCH Discovering different kinds of possibilities through sketching.
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Design Outcome
Features
Stack-Up REO comes with a set of plate, disk, and bowl, allwong users to use the stack-up method to steam multiple dishes at once.
Material Usage Tangible parts are made with wood, to give users hints of how to use the product.
Sectinoal View The shape creates a space for steam to spread within.
No more extra container Bowls are hollow-shaped, creating more contact area for the steam to heat up foods. Moreover, from follows function: because steam needs to travel from the bottom successively to each layer, REO is designed to be in waterdrop-shape.
Water Measurement Redesign The amount of water poured in the water container determines the time duration that food is being steamed. Therefore, instead of using "ml" or "cc", I used "minutes" since it is what users want to know.
Mechanics holes are not aligned during the steaming process.
Easy to keep track of time The lid works as a timer. Users pushes the indicator to set time according to the amount of water poured, and when time is up, the pointy edge of the lid will be back in place and all steam will be released.
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Design Outcome
Stack up
Add water and stack up all layers.
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How to Use
Set Time
Push the pointy edge of the lid to trigger the timer.
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Steaming
Little steam is released from the hole on the lid to balance pressure.
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Cooked!
Lid tiks back in place when food is ready. At the same time, holes will align and steam will be released at once. This is to make a nitication and to lower down the temperature.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
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Pick up
Use the removable handle to pick up each layer to the dinig table.
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Feast!
You are all set to enjoy the meal!
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Design Outcome
Scenario
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Deliver
Model Making
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Hands-on Practice REO consists of a lid, several bowls (only one made to model), a water container, and a heating base. Materials d i ff e r f ro m p a r t t o p a r t , therefore, throughout the m o d e l m a k i n g p ro c e s s , I practiced 3D printing, surface mending, a lot of sanding, silicone molding, polyester molding, wood lathing, and vynl cutting.
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Deliver
Photoshoot
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Project 02
Furniture Design
STOOLPHIA Sophia's Stool
Summer 2017 Self-conducted Project 3 Weeks
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Introduction
Stoolphia is a self-conducted project I did before sophomore year started. It is an attempt to explore woodshop facilities and woodwork techniques, and I really enjoyed it!
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Process
I think it is an interesting idea to combine the leg and handle of the chair into one piece; despite the fact that it had made the whole build-up process much more complicated and difficult. Moreover, I felt that it would be rather boring if all parts look the same, so I rounded most of the edges and left two of them angled. And this represents the naughty inner me! Throughout the process, I learnt that the essence of woodworking is "patience", for instance, if you didn't wait for the glue to dry, all the constructing will be inaccurate. Besides woodworking, I also practiced wood-coloring and spray-painting.
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Design Outcome
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Project 05
Speculative Design
MUTUAL
About Human and Relationship
Spring 2017 Individual Course Project 2 Weeks
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Message Relationship Mutual love, mutual respect, mutual understanding, and etc. are essential elements of mutual interactions. The box of mutual has a mirror in the middle; when you slide a piece of "Love" down along the thread, you will see a reflection of "the same love" come towards you, as if when you give love to someone, they also give you love.
This perspective gives a clearer view of its whole outlook and the mirror in the middle.
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Design Process Mutual Interaction Taiwan is an collectivism society, and I have been told since young about the importance of mutual relationship. Therefore, I defined the 8 crutial elements of relationship based on Confucious' belief, and characters are witten in traditional Mandarin to emphasize the Taiwanese style.
Love
Companion
Share
Understanding
Trust
Knot The knot-shaped pattern in the middle is a metaphor of relationship tying people together. The graphic pattern design is based on the shaoe of traditional Taiwanese decorating knot.
Influence
Respect
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Red Thread According to Asian legend, god ties an invisible red thread around the little fingers of those that are destined to meet one another. It is also referred to as "the Red Thread of Fate". I think it is a charming imagery, so I applied it to my box of mutual since they are both strongly related to "Relationship".
Laser Cutting I am always willing to explore new things and learn new techniques, and this project is an attempt to try 'Laser Cutting'.
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Design Outcome
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Project 04
Signage Design
WAYFINDING
Signage for RISD's Design Center
Summer 2017 Individual Course Project 2 Weeks
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Brief This is a project I did for Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD's) summer course. The brief was to develop a wayfinding system for the RISD Design Center building that includes pictograms of 5 designated location which are: typeshop, lighting studio, information counter, computer lab, and lecture hall.
Collecting Data I spent some time walking around the building, taking pictures, and I also chatted with some faculty members. For instance, I realised that the elevator hall on each floor has a "theme color". Another really interesting thing that I learnt is about the buiding's history, that it used to be two seperated buidings hence there is a small level gap on two sides of a floor. That was a really special historical knowledge that I would have never known if I did not talked to the lady who worked there for more than 30 years!
The brick wall of the stairway used to be an outer-wall of one of the two combined building.
My inspiration board >
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Pictogram Design Developing Stage Referring to my inspiration board, I had a vision in mind that I want to design a series of signage that are playful, but clear as well. Then I immediately started brainstorming by drawing freely on my sketch book.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
These are more experimantal. I was trying to use hand gestures to represent each place
Concept After discovering over several ideas, I decided to go with the "out of the box" concept because I think it matches RISD's creative vibe the most, and also because I like them most!
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Pictogram Design Initial Design These are the initial designs.
Typeshop
Computer Lab
Lighting Studio
Information Counter
Lecture Hall
Iteration In consideration of consistency, I made all objects inside the box 2D nad things that are out of the box 3D. Based on that, there are still many detailed iteration of tweeking back and forth. Take "Lecture Hall" for example, even when the design is nearly done, there can still be 8 versions made that are just slightly different.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Final Design Referring to my inspiration board, I had a vision in mind that I want to design a series of signage that are playful, but clear as well. Then I immediately started brainstorming by drawing freely on my sketch book.
Lecture Hall
Computer Lab
Typeshop
Lighting Studio
Information Counter
This one is my favorite. I simplified the dialogue that would happen at an information counter into a "?" for question, a "." for answer, and a "!" for appreciation.
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Wayfinding Design
Floor Plan Poster In fact, I initially designed the background color in beige, however, there were some printing issues - it printed lime green, and it looks awesome so I used green!
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Visitor's Map on Smartphone
Instead of random buttons, I used the concept of speaking bubbles to keep up the sense of playfulness in my wayfinding system. Also, for consistency, this app has the same color palette as that of the poster.
Typeshop DC301 Hours 8am-11pm
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Scroll and Tap on Floor Number
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Tap on Room to get more Info
Technician 8am-4pm John & Dave
Return
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Design Applying
Used vynl stickers to apply my pictograms to real life!
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Projects05plus
Other Designs
MORE Various Projects from 2016-2018
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Interactive Lighting Feature Without lights coming out directly, the lamp's impression is more soft and tender. The display angle of all three cubes are adjustable, so users can observe how the lights from each cube interact with one another at different arrangements.
Difficulty The aluminium stripes on the base connect the electric circuit so that the cubes are lit up once they touch the base. This design allows the cubes to be flexible in positions of placement and can be displayed at any angle of the user's preference. I liked the concept and did not want to give it up throughout the process despite the involvement of eletric circuit made the whole process much more difficult.
Trial and Error
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Bottled Gum Packaging Redesign Problem Identify The issue of bottled chewing gum packaging is that when people want to spit their gum, they need to additionally find an extra paper and afterwards search for a trashcan nearby, but it's not always that ideal...
Design Goal To create space to store gum trash, but at the same time don't waste space. To combine wrapping paper with the package.
Wrapping Paper Concept 1
Adding small pieces of wrapping paper to the lid. They are easy to access, and won't make a mess when you place the bottle in your bag.
Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
Trash Storing Concept 1
Placing an adjustable plate inside the bottle to seperate the space into two - one for gum and the other for trash. There is a hole on the bottom surface where users tuck trash in. The volume of trash lifts up the plate gradually, making good use of all space, and this also makes remaining gum easier to access.
Trash Storing Concept 2
Users can easily seperate the trash storing part from the main body, hance making it easier to recycle after used.
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LOST - Travel App Concept “LOST” is a map app designed for tourists. We want to encourage an “old and nowadays forgotten” type of travel: To get lost and explore your own track instead of following the suggested route. Our ultimate goal is to let people disconnect from technology, interact with others, experience the area at their own pace, and enjoy a memorable trip! The core concept is to not define what is the “right” track, but instead, to leave it to the traveler to explore and experience!
Feature Shake phone, and our app will reveal an attraction spot nearby alongside a general direction to the destination, and it fades out in time. The more frequent the user checks his phone for direction, the shorter the duration of time the map will be shown.
How it Works:
SHAKE to
RE!
VENTU D A r u o y tart
s
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Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
This is a group project collaborating with students from Singapore and the U.S. for the ICPD workshop.
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Travel information appears on screen, then fades out in time. 59
Poster Design
Movie Poster Design: The Conformist The upper-left and bottom-right shadows symbolize the two women that the main character is in relationship with. Using a significantly different colour of smoke ( originally photoshoots I took for ink in water ) for the main character's face is to indicate the movie's core idea that the man tries to conform to every group yet he never truly fits in nor belong to any.
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Sophia Tseng 2018 Portfolio
I hope that through this portfolio, I was able to let you know more about me as a person, what I like, and how I think about things.
Sincerely,
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Sophia Tseng 2018©