Treasuring Time

The concept of my project is based on creating a family tree, I believe, personally that it is a journey of sorts, where it is about discovering, searching and digging deep, looking to your roots. For many people it is somewhat a spiritual experience, one can understand where they've come from and sometimes they can find out some interesting facts about themselves whether they are related to someone famous or important; you never know.

Made from Pine, an easy to keep and a lasting timber. Simply by applying some beeswax polish can keep the timber's luster. Being made entirely from timber, it gives it a more authentic and handcrafted appeal; as timber is a lasting material it can go for generations. The product is a constructable, where branches - which represents offspring and the spheres representing a relationship or a family connecting to each other through the same means as a science molecules kit. Creating this tree could be a family project where they would understand more about their family, and through time, it could be passed on from generation to generation to further add to it. In a sense, the product could become a sculpture which can be a centre piece in a household as the extended family grows, so does the tree. Furthermore, being made from timber, to add a more personal touch, one can get the branches engraved with the name of the person, or other important dates such as birth or the day they passed away. Through time, the earlier branches and trunk would age and eventually the image of a aged tree with newer branches being made from new timber and the older generations of progressively older timber.

Designing Dream Machines

The video was quite interesting, where it takes the audience through the daily tasks of a industrial design firm; it really gives an insight to the viewer about how a product can be developed from the beginning, such as researching and analysis existing products in the market to nurturing and developing ideas and creating a prototype. Designing isn't really about what you think looks good, but in the real world, the end user is the client, and we must design to satisfy the client's needs and specification. There is a huge emphasis of the importance of communication with the client and as designers we must communicate with clients in order to understand their needs and let them know our aspirations and perspective of the project/product; and the only way highlighted in the video is communicating through sketches. As everyone sees things differently, sketching and presenting visually is the most effective way to communicate what you want and through this, the client may also interpret different things abou the ideas. However, during the design process we must also consider various aspects such as new technology, materials and aesthetics as well as the client's needs; with all those combined, we can then design a product that is suitable for the end user market.
The end result of creative and successful design is a collaboration of all the aspects mentioned above. There is without doubt that the bond between client and designer is very important to produce good design; the video has given me the message that communication with the client is above all the most important factor in the design process. They are there to lead us in the right direction and if we don't collaborate and engage in discussion as designers, we may never produce good designs

Bad Design: Vodafone Pre-pay Starter Pack

The pack has a fancy opening mechanism, in which when you pull on the indicated tab; the tab pulled is connected to another tab where when pulled comes out the other side of the pack. From first sight, it looks straight forward, simply pull the tab indicated on the pack and there you go. But naturally when one holds onto the product to open it, the hands are positioned in a way that obstructs the movement of the opening mechanism. So, it would appear that it wouldn't open because the other hand is blocking the way. In order to open the pack, the alternate hand must be positioned in a less comfortable alignment, but not awkward. However, once you know how the product works, this problem no longer arises, but the aim for my product is for it to be used properly during first-time use.

In order to ensure proper first-time use of the product I decided to include some sort of indication that a second tab does come out or an indication of how to hold the product when used. Thus i have devised 2 different ideas in which the product could be improved.