Portfolio
Yi Wang Hi, I am Yi. In addition to my passion for product design, I have a great passion for naturerelated art such as ikebana and gardening. I believe that a piece of design work will tend to be consummate, gradually accompanying with the growth of the designer as well as the baptism of time. Each work is a seed buried with imagination, and has limitless future potential.
Contents Design of Modular Desk System 5 Design of Series Lamps 28 Design of Floral Package 36 Design of Sound 41 Design of Mini Air Quality Monitor 44 Interactive Design of Educational Product Based on AR 54 Other Works 57
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Design of Modular Desk System 2014-2015
6
backgroUnd
These days, technological entrepreneurship is global in nature. Despite the fact that many technological industry markets are dominated by multi-national giants, it is still a good time for innovation and entrepreneurship. A growing body of research has examined the emergence of ‘next generation’ entrepreneurs, the so-called digital natives (generally defined as people who born or brought up during the age of digital technology). These entrepreneurs have been associated with the self-employed workers, the start-up firms and the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose innovation and business strategies are based on the emerging transformative internet technologies. The size of their potential market is reflected by the approximately two billion people who are currently connected to the internet, with a further three billion people forecast to be online by 2020.
intended market Due to this cheerful professional prospect of technology entrepreneurships, the amount of these SMEs is continually increasing. More and more people especially graduates take part in this career domain.
Q2. Please choose your age bracket.
25-30 30-35 35-40 40+
The revolution of traditional office environment is imperative to the enhancement of innovation and the promotion of employees’ affective wellbeing, and consequently, their work performance. Certain forwardthinking organizations have taken innovative steps in the design of their office interiors; the Google office design is a well-known remarkable example. However, the workplace environment conditions of technology SMEs are limited by the actual conditions such as space and budget. Focusing on these nascent entrepreneurs, my intension is to create office-oriented furniture that improves the workplace by following advanced trends but also optimises space and minimizes cost.
questionnaire
18-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40+
Q3. Please choose your general satisfaction level
with your current physical workspace environment.
0.00% 0
9.38% 3
9.38% 3
28.13% 9
21.88% 7
15.63% 5
15.63% 5
324
.72
General Level
Q4. Please evaluate the demographic density in your workspace.
Questionnaire and photography are used in the research part.
28.13% 9
31.25% 10
37.50% 12
3.13% 1
0.00% 0
32
2.88
7 Q5. Please evaluate each dimension according to your workspace environment.
21.88%
28.13%
43.75%
6.25%
7
9
14
2
0.00% 0
40.63%
31.25%
28.13%
0.00%
0.00%
13
10
9
0
0
37.50%
37.50%
25.00%
0.00%
0.00%
12
12
8
0
0
12.50%
37.50%
46.88%
3.13%
0.00%
4
12
15
1
0
25.00%
43.75%
31.25%
0.00%
0.00%
8
14
10
0
0
46.88%
34.38%
15.63%
3.13%
0.00%
15
11
5
1
0
32
2.34
32
1.88
32
1.88
32
2.41
32
2.06
32
1.75
32
3.63
32
4.03
32
3.84
32
3.97
32
3.94
31
4.06
Q6. How would you consider the importance of each following dimension?
0.00%
9.38%
28.13%
53.13%
0
3
9
17
9.38% 3
3.13%
3.13%
9.38%
56.25%
28.13%
1
1
3
18
9
3.13%
3.13%
21.88%
50.00%
21.88%
1
1
7
16
7
3.13%
6.35%
9.38%
53.13%
28.13%
1
2
3
17
9
3.13%
3.13%
15.63%
53.13%
25.00%
1
1
5
17
8
3.23%
3.23%
6.45%
58.06%
29.03%
1
1
2
18
9
Q7. How would you consider the relationship between
workspace satisfaction and personal affective wellbeing?
0.00% 0
0.00% 0
6.25% 2
53.13% 17
40.63% 0
324
.34
photo graphy
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Ma and his colleagues work in Beijing Bilin Online Information Technology Co., Ltd with the main core of developing social Apps. They believe that innovation and execution are the key principles that need to be supported in their office and through their work. (Pictures provided by Ma.)
Through the investigation with my focus respondents, some typical features of this type of technology SMEs along with the exposed problems are mainly listed below.
Teamwork and communal space Technology entrepreneurship is truly a team sport that is contingent on the talents and contributions of multiple individuals striving together. At Beijing Bilin Online Information Technology Co., Ltd, Ma and his twenty-three colleagues are from different academic and professional backgrounds, working as a big group and sharing a big communal room without hierarchical barriers. Incidental and impromptu conversation between several people is quite common, Ma explains that “although we have a meeting room, we don’t use it frequently. Conversation just happens everywhere, which is more natural and spontaneous.”
9 The problem is, as collaborative interaction and co-creative work tasks happen frequently, the current immobile work environment actually does not encourage collaboration, but even impedes it to a degree. According to Ma’s description, it is physically inconvenient to have a brief talk with someone. The scenario often plays out with someone sitting behind his or her fixed desk while the other stands behind and is forced to bow to see the information on the computer screen or on the desk clearly. Also, the standing one tends to be in the way of others’ activities. Given that extra workspace is not currently provided, collaborative areas should be merged as a part of individual workspaces. Therefore, offering well-arranged and flexible space supporting collaboration in limited workspace should be considered as a main design principle. In order to encourage this type of productive interaction, the design should also be suitable for the frequent demographic mobility in the office.
Younger staff In Ma’s office, most of the employees fall into the Generation Y age bracket (those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s). In Top 10 SMB (Small and Medium Business) Technology Trends for 2015, conducted by Herman Miller research group, it was shown that demographic shifts are reshaping the makeup of SMB workers while millennials and digital natives are rising through the workforce ranks. Meanwhile, the ranks of temporary and contract workers continue to grow. More than half of Ma’s younger colleagues think of their workplace as a serious and monotonous space, lacking a sense of aesthetics and design. Similarly, a research report released by British Council for Offices (BCO) shows that younger staff members preferred a creative, casual arrangement. Also, rather than standard corporate design, 72% of the younger age group, those aged 18-24, prefer a design-led approach, with offices capturing this kind of imagination. The design of creative and lively working environment is a not a new trend and my task is to find ways to achieve these new creative environments at lower costs for SMEs.
Digital native As is common in technology ventures, a number of high-tech devices are employed in Ma’s office. The company also offers the opportunity for employees to choose their own work devices. “Basically, all of us are using personal devices such as laptops, tablets and graphics digitizer along with company’s devices for work purpose”, says Ma. In contrast, less traditional office equipment can be found as paper documents are being replaced by digital files, and in exchange, part of space is freed-up on the desks. However, according to Ma, the mess of power lines, USB cables and sockets, is a common complaint in their office and has been shown to occupy a lot of desktop space. Accordingly, office design should specifically consider the problem of tech-mess, which should aim to keep cords and utilities tidy, but also not impede regular use of these tools. Furthermore, better connections between new technology devices and physical spaces should be considered in design ultimately.
10 Heaven
Cove
Forum
Hive
Jump Space
Landing
Woekshop
Clubhouse
Meeting Space
Plaza
In order to study the design principles in the high-end market, further popularized in my target market, a workplace design solution from Herman Miller, Living Office, has been used as a case to extend my ideas around. Fig: Ten Distinct Workplace Settings in Living Office http://www.hermanmiller.com/solutions/living-office.html
The Living Office model recognizes that each business is different, and that “place can act as a powerful instrument to express an organization's unique culture and progress its unique ambitions”. Thus, Living Office is not a “one-size-fits-all solution,” but is based on “the distinctive purpose, character, and activities of its inhabitants,” making each Living Office unique and bespoke. It provides people with ten distinct workplace settings, each of which offers a spatial recipe to support various activities of individuals and groups. As shown, the landscape of each Living Office is composed of an optimized selection of above settings (one color represents one type of settings), just like a vibrant city. This approach enables a high level of adaptability for different office spaces.
11 By comparison, the original interior design layout of Ma’s office shows less diversity in spatial arrangement. “As more members join in,” Ma explains, “the original leisure and dining spaces are replaced due to the limited space. We have to give up non-workspace to make enough room for everyone.”
Apart from high cost, limited space is another gap that inhibits the Living Office model to be realized in many startups. Still, as inspired by its design approach, limited space diversity could also be achieved by modular furnishing, which should be collapsible, portable, could be assembled into various settings. Users could consider the optimal arrangement suitable in their workspace before assemblage. Instead of exploring various types of settings, my task would be to discover different forms of modular furnishings to support different work modes typical to SMEs. Designing modular furniture is not a new approach, however, in this case, it demands new definition.
reflection
According to the established research, we can infer that the new status symbol for today’s workers is autonomy - control and choice – to be able to control their work environment, to choose how they work, to control distractions around them, and to choose different devices and postures accordingly to support diverse modes of work. The ever-changing mix of resources, demographics, behaviors, attitudes and requirements within workplaces such as high levels of collaboration, is leading greater numbers of technology-focused small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to seek workspace design better suited to their needs. Traditional office furniture is generally designed in either one or a preset number of fixed combined forms, where the diversity of possible layouts is predefined and is often limited.
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design brief Transitional Space
Individuation / Custom Space
balance between communal space and personal space
emphasize individual personality achieve dynamic space
Alternative Accessories
Reconstruction / Sustainable Space
according to different requirements of storage
maximally optimise space for personnel change
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exploration
The initial idea developed from designing a series of modular office furniture components, which provided various ways of construction. Users would be able to explore and create the best-fit space according to their requirements and preferences.
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Given that sequential units are too large to handle and control, the collapsible units are considered as the deveploped configuration. Collapsible ones could achieve more ways for assembling.
conjunction
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Flexional structure shows good performance in bending, but as a desk panel the structure shows less stability. Tests also reveal that it is easy to be broken. Thus, this structure is not suitable for my project.
The original hinge is designed as attached part on panel. It shows good stability in two key angle, but it will complicate the process of manufacture. And for the user test part, the tightness of the structure should be reconsidered to meet the functionality but also do no hurt to hands.
16
Given that solid panel is too heavy to control, in order to reduce the weight of each piece, the structure of sandwich is considered as conposed of two thin panels along with the air cored inner structure.
honeycomb The honeycomb sandwich provides the following key benefits over conventional materials:
Very low weight
Durability
High stiffness
Production cost saving
17
This sample box of PMMA and PET honeycomb panels is from wacosystem, a German company. The honeycomb core Type Core Wave is made of transparent PETG films. When bonding the plastic honeycomb with the top layer by the formation of fillet welds a high-strength connection is achieved. Wave Core plastic honeycomb are useful if the rigidity of components must be increased, or when a high moisture load is given. As in price list provided by the company, the PMMA panel is a quite expensive, which will result in very high cost. Other material will be employed for the model.
initial prototype Detached hinge is considered for the conjunction part.
18
6.00
70.00
Soft attachment is developed to achive better user experience of conjunction part.
A framework is designed for not only improving the performance of support and also for the edge closure of inner honeycomb structure. Thickness: Panel (single) - 3mm Honeycomb - 20mm (Total 26mm)
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Plywood
Aluminum tube Aluminum
Sponge
ABS plastic
Honeycomb PETG (open structure) + Adhesive
20 Soft material (sponge) is developed in order to fix the electric wire against falling.
For the stability concern, the conjunction part is designed unable to be rotated (unlike original idea), but some testers tried to rotate the panel, this part actually result in ambiguity.
21
production process
Sycamore corner parts: 1. planing the parts into rectangle sections. 2. cutting a 45 degree angle on the edges to match the plywood edges. 3. spindle moulding the internal radius. 4. spindle moulding the external radius. 5. routing the dovetail slots into the edges.
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Birch plywood parts: 1. dimensioning the triangles on a panel saw. 2. routing the dovetail slots into the edges. 3. laser-cutting the pattern.
Walnut dovetail keys: 1. planing the walnut into rectangle sections. 2. routing the dovetails onto the edges. 3. trimming to fit with 0.2mm tolerance.
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A hybrid between furniture and origami, MEANDER is a highly flexible system designed to meet the needs of technologyfocused SMEs, offering an almost limitless number of possible configurations. The system’s components are easy to assemble, disassemble and reassemble, and provide enterprises and their employees with the ability to create a wide range of working and meeting environments to support different modes of work. With changing requirements over time, unwanted set-ups can be easily reconfigured rather than replaced, creating a more sustainable approach to office furniture.
final prototype
Three kinds of components are employed in the system. The panels are made of 23mm-thick birch plywood. The corner parts are made of solid sycamore wood, which is the same color as birch. And the dovetail connectors are made of walnut wood, as the dark color provides a good aesthetic sense in comparison with the light parts.
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26
27
exhibiton
The final prototype is displayed at the exihibition of 'New Designers' in London on July, 2015.
summary
A. The weight of solid plywood panels impedes the flexibility of the whole system when assembling. B. In order to sliding the dovetail components fluently, the structure itself is not very tight, thus, the desk is a little wobbling. C. A square panel could replace two triangle ones, in order to simply the system. D. The existing prototype is more like a domestic furniture than an office furniture, in terms of material and patterns.
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Design of Series Lamps One of the coursework is to design the series lamps, which should have the same characteristics of standardization and systematization. Through this special and important course I realized that design is a process and a system. What I have learned is to establish the product identify system, equipping the products with the function of brand building and advertising. It helps increase the efficiency of product development and marketing management. 2013
2013
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sketch Elegant Slender Curved
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sketch Balance Straight
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Rational Environmental Simple
Universal
product system Abundant
High-pole street lamp
Pole street lamp
Courtyard lamp
Lawn lamp
Wall lamp
Technical Female
Simple
Abundant
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Group A Extract different shapes of wings when wild geese fly in the sky as the main elements. Bionic forms will blend in with the surroundings, and dull sense of monotony can be avoided in different angles.
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Group B Extract the shapes of waterfowl and birds’ truncus and necks as the main elements. Two changing intersectant curved lines elicited from one curved line.
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Group C Extract stork’s curved shapes and graceful postures of the heads and necks as the main element. Two changing intersectant curved lines elicited from one curved line.
35
Group D Extract the dynamic state of stork’s stretching out its neck as the main element. Two changing intersectant curved lines elicited from one curved line.
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Design of Floral Package This coursework is to design a creative packaging design for certain fragile goods (this time I choose the flower), which should be accordant with sustainable concept. Through this course I have learned more about materials and the structural details of packaging. I get more chances to practice and explore possibilities of more changes. 2013
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design strategy
PROBLEM:
Most cut flowers are packaged with paper, it is not easy for the express to carry because the flowers will be damaged easily. In addition, the flowers sold at retail are not easy to place (easy to tumble), after taking them back, it is necessary to get other container to place them and prolong the bloom time. SOLUTION: This design is aimed at taking advantage of the outer package, protecting the bouquet when it stretches out, and taking it as a simple vase when it is folded up.
Paper Forming Collapsible Environmental Friendly
Size A This suits the bouquet with spindly stems.
38 Size B This suits the flower with short stems, large quantities and big size.
The effects after folding up (it can be folded up just by pressing tightly in the package, taking advantage of the resilience property of the paper.) The upper and the lower part are connected so it’s not necessary to paste and it’s easy to dismantle. When the item is in transportation, it will extend, and the upper part will cover the flower for protection; When user fold it, the bouquet will expose and be used as a simple vase. The fixed part can not be folded and function to prop up and stabilify the entirety.
The space at the bottom is saved for floral foam.
When the paper structure is pressed, it will frap automatically, and the overall length will shorten, showing the bouquet exactly (only there is some tensile force, it can stretch out).
The upward part can be dismantled when used as the vase.
details
summary
At first, I make the structure with thin paper in the experiment, and later considering the factor of material when I made the real thing, resulting in the brown paper of the flexible structure is a little thick to fold up. There are still some shortcomings in the vision elements. Besides, the structural part also deserves a further study.
41
Design of Sound One of the coursework is to design an audio electronic product with the theme of a self-choose song. I choose the song Moon rive, which is the film song of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and I attempt to convey the artistic conception through hearing and vision. 2012
42 Borrow the idea from the starry sky color, conveying the feelings of quiet, deep and remote and mysterious.
Take the Moon River as the subject of the design, and the overall appearance imitates the shape of water flowing. The design is symmetrical, imitating the two wild uninhibited souls of hero and heroine in the movie of Tiffany.
Control key is teardrop-shaped and it’s quite simple. The key will give cold blue color in working condition, having a sense of lightfooted and flexible.
43
Rose beige
Silvery grey
Midnight blue
44
Design of Mini Air Quality Monitor 2013-2014
45
backgroUnd
With the rapid development of economy and excessive consumption of energy, the problem of atmospheric pollution is becoming increasingly serious in China. In recent stage, as the air quality is deteriorating and shows no sign of improving, it seriously influences the way we live and may even cause disease, especially for the old, the child and the people with concern of respiratory disease. At the stage of information society, big data can be used in many fields. The related data of air condition can be well used to predict environmental condition from a macro level.
The map shows that the air pollution is a countrywide problem especially in fast-developing areas.
research
Existing Air Quality Monitor Foreign Product
Good command of precision
High cost
Low popularization
Native Product
Good price
Large size
Inconvenient
Existing Apps
Data from various platform
Convenient
Low precision
Data delay
Low cost
The purpose of product design is in order to meet the needs of people and to provide better service. My project is aimed at meet public’s demand of acquiring the complex air quality information of the personal environment through the way of miniaturizing the air monitoring equipment and combining with the App. The concept puts forward an idea of intelligent mobile product for personal use, to make the data more private and representative.
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design concept
Design is basically composed of two parts, an App and a mini monitor. While the sensor is working, the data will be instantly processed and be transferred. User could clearly receive the direct information on the App, where loads of data is well stored. An online city map of air quality could consist of the data uploaded by each user.
Low cost Accurate Mobile / Convenient
app process
47
tech part
For the tech part, Arduino is used to achieve the final working model. The monitor is consist of sensor, bluno, an LED light and battery. For the concern of mobile device, total weight is strictly controlled.
The work process of sensor.
48
development
The LED light is attached on the monitor, showing different colors which representing different levels of air quality detected by sensor.
49
final circuit
monitor 3d model
In order to make the device more sensitive and accurate, air holes are designed on the top and surfaces around, letting the air go through easily and sufficiently.
50
app model
Introduction Part
final app model
Test Retest
Instant Data
Settings
Data history
City map based on data uploaded
Sharing
final device
53
testing 118
78
Construction Site
Parking Lot
43
32
Construction site
Indoor
exhibition
summary
Due to the precision of sensor and other factors, the data detected is not as accurate as large professional device, but it can still meet the demand of personal use. In order to improve the system, more environmental data will be employed in the further develioment.
54
Interactive Design of Educational Product Based on AR backgroUnd
Transparent display screen promotion
The technology of augmenting reality is widely used in various virtual shows, but at present, people use the ways of projection technique most in augmenting reality, which has a relative terrible sense of reality. Transparent display screen manufacturing technique matures, and has been putting into the market gradually, which gets wide attraction. This application case maybe become the development direction of transparent display screen in the future, and full of business outlook.
Standby Enter into by clicking the floating bubbles.
2012-2013
Significance of education for children Teach through lively activities.
Aquarium management Offer a way of creative scientific popular mode of playing.
brief
In order to break the limitations of the regular educational products, this program is to design an interactive platform, which mix the virtual images and real scenes together, based on augmented reality technique. Our aim is applying the transparent platform to the aquarium, designing a series of interactive actions to promote its educational significance by blending knowledge in interaction and games, enhancing its entertainment. I was in charge of the design of use interface and assist IT colleague to achieve the final device.
Knowledge popularization close Settings love it forward backward
55
Put the parts into a fish Kids need to find the right parts of the fish which is introduced before by distinguishing the features. It helps them remember better.
(wrong)
(right)
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Activities
the real fish the virtual fish
After making up a complete fish, the fish will move around and the notice will show up, serving as a reminder of conducting three kinds of activities.
Say Hello
Kiss
Say Goodbye
summary
Some problems revealed in the test need further revision and practice. Due to the lack of repeated practice, it is obvious to feel the visual interference when the virtual fish in the transparent display screen criterion keeps eye contact with the real fish. The interactive design based on the transparent display screen lacks guidance criterion.
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Other Works This section includes some work aggregated in the undergraduate courses of the paintings, graphic design, handcrafted models and so forth.
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painting
59
graphic design
60
foam model of mini chair
chinaware
Thanks for Reading.