David Kelley: Human Centred Design

Human Centered Design refers to the design of a product with not just function and aesthetics in mind but with an attempt to create a personal and unique connection with the user in society, thus allowing a product to behave and interact with a person rather than the person just using the object as a form of tool. In this film David Kelley reflects on the influence this new idea is having on modern designers giving us examples such as the Prada Magic Mirror- a mirror with a 3 second time-delay, allowing the customer to change the angle of viewing whilst still being able to fully examine the item) and Liquid Crystal screens (which allow the customer to change the state of the panel between opaque and clear to show friends whilst still remaining in the change rooms) as Kelley demonstrates modern design is "less about the hardware and more about the user experience".

Richard Seymour and Dick Powell: Designing Dream Machines

Designing Dream Machines reflects on the processes and methods of design; highlighting the variety of areas throughout the design cycle the designer has significant influence. A key point Seymour and Powell stress is the importance of understanding and experiencing your designs/ideas through r & d saying that it is through these such refinements that we are really able to see the capabilities of our innovations. They also remind us of the importance of regular evaluations and with that criticism; making sure we see criticism as a benefit and method for improvement. The film also reveals to the audience the designers pursuit to achieve satisfaction not only with his/her end users but all members involved in the design process.

5 peer comments

Alissa Sanders
Sam Whipp
Kate Barclay
Brett Rushbrook
Jonathon Biet

Upcycling Unwanteds

This is my apron made from old plastic bags.

Every year Australian's use 6.9 BILLION plastic bags with most ended up in landfill or our waterways. It is said that plastic bags take over 400yrs to biodegrade and kill approximately 100 000 marine animals each year. So it is time to UPCYCLE!

After a bit of testing and experimenting, i was able to conclude that plastic bags are relatively easy to melt using an iron. However this changed the form of the plastic bag adding new qualities and characteristics. For example, i discovered that once ironed, plastic bags become very strong and when melted together also form a strong bond. This lead me to realise that I now had basically a plastic fabric which also meant i had semi waterproof fabric. I also tested what type of plastic bags are best suited, i found that normal shopping bags (from Woolies etc.) don't melt to well because they are so thin, they tend to melt too quickly and shrivel not leaving the best finish. I then went on to clothes shop plastic bags which come in a variety of colours and tend to be a thicker plastic leaving a much better and more colourful finish. The next issue i had was how to maximise the use of the original plastic bag, that being working around the shops logo. So i created a pattern using stripes! Which meant i could cut out the logo very easily and use as much of the bag as possible. The other issue was creating a pattern that you could use with any plastic bags and not necessarily have to use to much of the one type of bag, because as you know, thats not necessarily how "rubbish" works!

So my final product, is a strippy plastic apron! Which is "lined" or reinforced on the back with white shopping bags. It has pink satin ribbon (which could easily also be made from the plastic bags) stitched on for a tie and neck strap. I have used 2 large Glassons bags, 2 large Equip bags, 3 small bra shop bags, 7 white "woolies" shopping bags and part of a large Just Jeans bag. Although my apron is a little crunchy, the best thing about it, its that you can so easily just wipe it down when you spill something on it, less washing!

Task Five

The Story of Stuff

This is a very interesting clip that talks about the real life cycle of the product and expands on its basic 5 stages:
1. extraction
2. Production
3. Distribution
4. Consumption
5. Disposal

It discusses the impact the governments and corporations have over us and our environment. The film reminds us of how we are a consumerist society and how easily we have been molded into becoming this. It encourages us to think more about why we are buying "stuff" and to think about we're it came from and its "externalized costs"

This clip is so important to the industrial designer, as it is us that can help make a huge change in the amount of consumption and waste of society. As we can design newer models that can be re-used from old ones, and we can design more recyclable objects that produce less toxins. The most important thing a young industrial designer can take form this is to think about not just the design and marketing of the product, but the impacts on society and the environment of the manufacturing process.

5 comments

Jennifer Widjaja
Alissa Sanders
Crhistopher Hui
Wawen Chen
Stanley Wong

Postal Presents

My postal present is a make-up organizer aimed at 16-25 yr old girls. The trouble many women have is that the most common place to store your make-up is in some kind of toiletries bag, which proves not useful at all, as you struggle to dig through and find your make-up, often resulting in ruining the make-up. With this coral inspired concept, contains your everyday make-up, such as mascarca, eye liner and lipstick in a way that makes it easily identifiable. The product with be presented "posted" semi-assembled however can easily be completely flat packed. The product is make from polypropolene and brass plated paper fasteners. It celebrates sheet materials qualities by is minimal use of "fasteners" or adhesion.