Design Week 18.08.09

In reference to our Nokia Project with kin, we managed to get a small mention in the magazine thanks to the lovely Matt and Kelvin.

Michael Sodeau Partnership

Just doing my placement at the moment for 2 months. I'll be back soon. 2 more weeks to go!

1st Year Stop Frame Animation

This is just a stop frame animation me and Matt West did for our Moving Image workshop. A little clip inspired by the news.

Revisiting Anti-Social Lambeth

4 Months has gone since my intervention in Lambeth and I decided to give it a visit. I was a pleasant surprise that people were sitting there on my bench and someone has made my temporary fixture attach to the wall properly, as I only hooked it on while I executed the intervention.

This was the result I wanted as my intervention has created a respond. Therefore I decided to push the idea forward by adjusting the campaign slightly. I have created these Renovation Tags where people would attach them onto the fixture every time they renovate them. This creates a ‘conversation’ between the unknown people within the community, giving the park what it once lacked, the interaction between people and people, and the interaction between people and space.

Revisiting Aquaphobia

U'n'-Brella Spillage Absorber

Cutlery Guards

During the design process of this project, there were a few different ideas we touch on. Upon evaluation, I realise the outcome was too generalised and somehow lost in all these unfamiliar ideas, resulting in a product that has lost its narrative and became lifeless.

In an attempt to produce a alternative outcome, I decided to choose a different route and create a narrative for my objects. What would an existing product look like or function if it was made for extreme aquaphobia sufferers? The new outcomes are a range of household products (prototypes) that allow the users to look at, and ‘enjoy’ their fear through a comedic alternative outlook.

Cutlery Guards: Stop the juices of meat and sauce leaking onto your finger while dining.

Spillage Absorber: It absorbs the spillage from glasses before it reaches your hand.

WashingUp Armour: Fully covers your upper body for washing up.

Hand Dry Tooth Brush: The unique design allow the water to drip away rather then leaking onto your hand.

U’n’-Brella: An umbrella that allows you to decide you the amount of rain you have in contact.

kin x nokia Interactive Seating Installation

After the midway presentations and feedback we received, we proceeded with an idea for a circular interactive seating area. We felt that the seating needed something extra in order to illustrate the whole concept of the Social Location technology, so we revisited our rejected concepts for elements we could glean. We decided to use the space within the ring to include an interactive floor to further attract and captivate the attention of passers-by.

· Initially the projection in the centre shows words randomly floating around.When a person sits down, the area around them illuminates and the words on the projection swarm towards them.

· When another individual joins them, the area around them also illuminates, as well as the space between them. Connecting them through light. The words are also attracted by the second person and form trails between them.

· The words ask and answer the question ‘What are you doing?” creating a fictional conversation.

The same principal applies when more people join the seating.

To quote Nokia:

“People want to be truly connected, independent of time and place, in a way that is very personal to them. And, Nokia’s promise is to connect people in new and better ways.”

Our idea captivates people’s attention by providing them with somewhere to rest in a busy exhibition, and an interactive experience which becomes increasingly interesting as more join in. By visualising connections through light and text it creates opportunities for interaction with unpredictable outcomes.

Creative Team:

NEAL, Clair

O'NEIL, Avril

RUPP, Jacquie

WONG, Desmond

Live Project: kin + Nokia (midway presentation)

Here are some sketches and images of the initial idea.

Last week we got our first taste of the real design industry as we presented our initial ideas for this Live Project to kin, a multi-disciplinary design studio. For this project we get to work with a real design company on a fictional project based on the company’s design realm and their clients. For us it was Nokia. We were briefed to design a stall for a trade fair that reflects on their new technology with their N series So-Lo (Social Location).

We were split into groups of 4s and asked to present 3 ideas. We feel that the most defining element that runs through all three ideas is the importance of one’s involvement in the So-Lo technology and the act of receiving something back. In order for the technology to operate successfully, one has to actively immerse themselves in this world of social networking. Therefore we relied heavily on the interactive exhibition technique, in hopes that it could illustrate the essence of social grouping.

The idea I was developing was the donut chair (to be named properly later), a circular interactive seating area. The seating works with pressure sensor. When and individual is seated, the area where the person is sat would illuminate. However, when another individual joins the circular seating, the shorter route between the two people would illuminate illustrating the realization of the connection.

On the exterior circumference of the ring, there will also be an LED text display, which will run random communicative feeds between the two interlinking individuals, illustrating the silent communication of ‘what you are doing’.

All three ideas are still left quite open-ended in how they would be executed; as we felt they all had certain aspects worth investigating more. Perhaps some attributes from each idea could be merged together to result in a stronger final outcome.

Curriculum Vitae

Our newest task is to design our own Curriculum Vitae. I decided to explore that nature and properties of plywood as part of the CV. At first I was going to use polypropylene instead, however I felt plastics are very overused for laser-cutting and environmental unfriendly.

It was interesting to explore the flexibility and limits of this particular route. The outcome is a flat-pack CV that is sent and assembled by the potential employers. I feel this a appropriate as I wish to have my placements with production houses and furniture/product designers.

This is only my first attempt and the cut-out are still to be confirmed as I am still deciding on what pattern to be used. The envelope is sealed by a thread and can be opened with a pull of the string. I hope with this CV I will be able to showcase the various skills I process.

Anti-Social: 2nd Year Project

This project is called Anti-Social and we were grouped in 2s with a designated area each. In our case, it was Lambeth. We were sent off to explore the notion of anti-social behaviors. As I started investigating the area, I discovered that there was hardly anyone occupying the area and most of them tend to merely just pass through it. I started to question myself that, could, rather a human, a non-living object like space be anti-social. I feel that maybe for the past decades, the local has been suffering from poor facilities in the area and the lack of community awareness, as a result of government heavy investment and emphasis on business sector.

I decided to concentrate on the communal park in Lambeth as I feel a park should be a place where both the residents and businessmen can share and enjoy together. However the park is neglected. Therefore I decided to do a fictional campaign against such act. One of the actions was Re-generation. It encourages skilled and creative locals to renovate damaged objects in areas such as the park. This campaign is both passive and aggressive as this could act as a protest to the government’s neglection.

I started this program and renovated 2 fixtures in the park in a week, but I had no response at all. This is probably because I initially wanted people to discover them themselves; hence I kept a low profile. Since this has made no effect so far I have decided to push in a bit further by attachment notes of my action and of this campaign on to the renovations I made in hope that I can generate some reactions, but this is still yet to be complete.

SMITHS ISSUE 2

Goldsmith student magazine SMITHS ISSUE 2 is finally out after all those bloody hours. It still has a vast space for improvement but it is definitely looking far better then the first one. It proves that sometimes 6 people are better the 26 trying to have a say on the matter. Admittingly I am not the best graphic designer in the group but I have learnt a lot from those guys. Putting a well designed magazine together is definitely not an easy task.

Unfortunately I think I would give the third issue a miss as it is time to get ready for my portfolio and CV. Maybe I will start again on the forth one.

Graphic Project: Lomography

Just a little workshop project we were having fun with. The brief was to design a 8 page spread with a given topic. Mine was Lomography as you can see. I focused on their "10 Golden Rules".

Birth, Marriage and Death: 2nd Year Project

In this project, we were asked to explore various rituals around Birth, Marriage and Death.

Our group were mainly focused on the cut of the umbilical cord, and how other cultures differ from ours in ways of dealing with the placenta afterwards. One of the areas I researched on was how people deal with detached body parts, from both medical and religious points of view. I looked into Egyptian urns, bio-hazard disposal bags and various rite of passage ceremonies.

However I didn’t feel that it would be as solid as a project starting point as the other area I had been looking at which was medical procedures in hospitals. I wanted to bring warmth into the operation room, as nowadays, the procedures are often criticized, as being cold, impersonal and slaughter house-like. On top of that, the mothers are often isolated from the process, as there’s usually a screen to block the mother’s view.

But some how, having these kind of births has almost became a ritual in our modern society. In the sense that it is a common practice that majority of the population just go to the hospital to give birth without having second thought. This is when I decided to look into the cold and alien-like surgical instruments. I looked into ways of altering their forms and materials, so that the baby and the mother can have a more welcoming experience during these dreadful hours.

As I feel wood is one of the warmest and most natural materials you can find on earth. I made a few drawings trying to examine how I needed to change the form and structure of them in order to carve it out of hardwood.

People who are expecting a baby can first visit out website which includes information on different types of wood and sandpaper, a gallery for people to upload pictures. And then they can order a semi-finished wooden template with a wood that they feel represents them the most. And during their 9 month pregnancy, they can shape their very own forceps and other surgical instruments to be used in the hospital.

The aboves are examples of how the instruments could look like.

Not only will the mother be able to take part in the procedure, the baby will also, be delivered with something especially crafted for him. And do you remember that I also tested the finishes? I decided to leave the wood as it is cos after the procedure, the blood stain on the instruments also symbolizes the individuality of each birth, and the parents can take them home as a momentum as well.

Summer of Love: 2nd Year Project

During my exploration in relation to postcards, what I found most fascinating was notion of users creating their own format. In my research, I notice that all postcards are designed with designated areas for addresses, stamps and messages etc. However, many users often disregard these boundaries and write outside these designated areas, destroying these predetermined formats. These subconscious actions I feel, whether they are the smudging of the ink or the accidental coffee stains, provide a more interesting and personal response than any imagery could.

These folding postcards explore the idea of deconstruction of predetermined formats by allowing the users to first fold the postcards into their desired shape and write on them. Creating a pattern which the message can only be comprehend completely once the receivers re-fold the card upon arrivals.

Phobia: 1st Year Project

For this project, the year was split into groups with various 'phobias' and ours was Aquaphobia, the fear of water. The brief was to design and outcome for people who suffer in such conditions, whether it relieves or worsen the experience.

At first I looked into the root of phobia, which had led me to areas such as urban myths and early memories. From there I explored the ideas of extremes and various treatments for these phobias. A treatment called Total-Immersion catch my eye.

The outcome of this project is a parka jacket with integrated water pouches. This garment is designed for people who suffer from aquaphobia. The garment helps the sufferers by creating the sensation of surrounded by water prior to the actual panic attack, easing the sufferer into the situation.

Hello There!!

Finally got myself to create this blog.