Tuesday, September 28, 2010

So far in Our Latest project.

So far I have drawn over 190 different makeup brushes:

I have drawn it out of circles, lines, photos, paint, charcoal, actual makeup and I have used make up brushes, twigs, leaves, photocopies, ink, crayons and almost everything you can think of. It has been rather difficult to devise several ways and sometimes I feel as though I am getting lost in my object. Some of my pictures are of pure muscle memory of drawing it so many times. It isn't all that easy to capture the beauty and elegance created by a makeup brush, a lot of my abstract drawings are obviously more edgy than elegant. However, I am only half way done with this project and hopefully by the end I will have my technique down :]





Process for Music Aide

Interviews: Typical Headphones
Max: Freshman, Male.
How often do you use headphones?
Every day, for music purposes.
Likes/dislikes?
They are uncomfortable, Easy to break, music quality sucks, cords can get annoying. However the all black is nice.

Nathan Strack: Freshman Male
How often do you use them?
Every day for music purposes, usually when sleeping and walking to classes.
Likes/dislikes?
Cheap, fall out easily, wires get in the way and are annoying. However the all black is nice.
Faith Bitterman: Freshman, female
How often do you use them?
Every day, for music when going to different places.
Likes/dislikes?
Too big for small ears, cheap, break easily, wires break, get tangled, really poorly designed.

Pat Monroe: Junior male
How often do you use them?
I never use the ear buds because it is horrible for your hearing.
Likes/dislikes?
Horrible sound quality, you could go deaf, no volume control, doesn’t block out other noises; just bad for you.

Rob: Senior male
How often do you use them?
I use them regularly.
Likes/dislikes?
Uncomfortable, don’t stand out, wires get annoying, they break easily, not long enough wires.
Design For Under 5 bucks

Project Brief:
            The project we were given was Design for under 5 bucks. This project required us to go out and find a poorly made object that was under 5 dollars. Then we were to figure out a way to redesign it to make it meet the dieter rams 10 elements of design. The class was split up into groups to design our object. My group consists of an industrial designer, a graphic designer, an interior designer, and an illustrator. After our groups were made we not only had to make a prototype of our new design but we had to make a poster explaining the object and our process and present it to the class.

Reflection:
            The project we were given was clear but difficult. At first I felt like I had it under control; the idea process is my strong suit. Although I have trouble conveying my ideas through sketches our concept mapping and planning went well. However, when it came to the building my group was stumped. We assumed a simple clay model would do the trick but we soon learned it was not enough. We made prototype after prototype until we were able to find the materials suitable enough to convey the right idea we wanted. Of course this is the problem most designers face when given a task like this. But I think it would have been nice if the directions said “don’t use clay and be specific”. In terms of mapping we all wrote what was on our minds onto a poster. Once they were on the poster we organized them into groups. That mapping process seemed to work well, another thing that worked well was writing down all of the likes and dislikes of each idea we had. Both concepts worked perfectly while working together in our group. We made sure every idea was shared.

What I learned about my object:
            I realized after this project how much head phones really bother me. They are constantly getting tangled and always end up hurting my ears. I also never paid much attention to what they were made of and how boring they were. I wasn’t sure if there was a way to change it.

Summary of IDEO Video:
            There isn't much more to say about the free spirited, outgoing creation that is IDEO. Coming from a hopeful industrial designer IDEO seems to be my dream come true. I can picture myself going to work everyday with fresh ideas only to be more inspired an airplane wing hanging from the side wall or my bicycle hanging above me.  As I watched the video on the recreation of a shopping cart, I thought to myself...The process is so simple, obvious, and natural but not a lot of people choose to do it. Everyone thinks to themselves about ways things could be better but no one ever changes them. All it takes is a good laugh, some sticky notes, and a sketch pad.


My Object: Head Phones
Likes:
          Many colors
          exchangeable ear pieces
          reusable
          works well
          labeled
          the wire is nice
          good quality

Dislikes:
          Gets tangled
          Ear buds don’t stay in
          easily lost
          wire is sometimes exposed
          Can be uncomfortable

NEEDS:
          needs to last
          form to ear
          sturdy
          Key chain?
          Metal retractor?
          flexible material
          not tangle
          stand out
          kid proof but elderly proof
          can’t get in the way of activities
          has to be comfortable enough to sleep in




The Group:
Sera Lanzer
Industrial Design






Caleb Butler
Illustration









Bailey Wells
Graphic Design







Lauren Lawton
Interior Design




Thursday, September 23, 2010

Industrial design

When I was in school all I wanted to do was come up with the ideas. I didnt want to do the math to make it work, I didnt want to paint glorious works of art (I am not the best artist); I just wanted to design.
The idea of architecture  made its way into my mind first, that was until I realized that I wanted more than just buildings. It wasnt until half way into my junior year that the word Industrial design made its way into my vocabulary. I had never heard of it before, but ever since, I have been in love. I cannot wait, the thinking process is my strong suit and im very excited to see what happens :]

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Music Aid.

Here is a sneak peak at a future of music:

We started out with this:


and we ended with this :


Music Aid. No wires. No problem.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Innovative Fun.

IDEO = Fun.
There isn't much more to say about the free spirited, outgoing creation that is IDEO. Coming from a hopeful industrial designer IDEO seems to be my dream come true. I can picture myself going to work everyday with fresh ideas only to be more inspired an airplane wing hanging from the side wall or my bicycle hanging above me.  As I watched the video on the recreation of a shopping cart, I thought to myself...The process is so simple, obvious, and natural but not a lot of people choose to do it. Everyone thinks to themselves about ways things could be better but no one ever changes them. All it takes is a good laugh, some sticky notes, and a sketch pad.
I tried to take as much information as I could from the video and tie it into my research of the highlighter. As i asked several people about the design and shape I more or less started looking at their reactions when i handed them a simple highlighter. The main reaction was "So What?" Not a lot of people think about the highlighter, they just use them. Some people use them daily and others hardly at all. However, even though they have never thought about it, I have. And I will devise a way to improve the poor design that is: A Highlighter.