Proj3 Commenters

The semester is quickly drawing to a close, just one more week and it's over! Just to remind everybody that you have to post your Project Three for peer commenting after the presentations next week. Each student is required to have provided feedback to a total of 10 students throughout the course. If you have done 8 already during Proj1 and Proj2, then you need to do only 2 more, and you are free to choose which ones to feedback on.

Good luck with next week! Three designers have been invited to sit in with Anika, Ross and me for your final presentations. Dont forget to wear smart casual and to exude confidence in what you've achieved. We're all ready to get impressed!

Proj2 Commenters

Don't forget to post on your blogsite your Project 2 Postal Presents graphic posters and rationale. Note that this time you are supposed to comment on 3 student works (reduced from 5), and that they are not the same students you commented on in Project One. Check out this table to find out whose project you're supposed to comment on.

BTW ten students still havent made their blogsites accessible to all and commentable by anybody. If you've got these lucky numbers for your Student Number: 3187745, 3211563, 3224395, 3249741, 3253014, 3253909, 3254443, 3254644, 3255449, 3255629 -- please revise and update your settings to READ by anybody and COMMENT by anyone.

Project Three: Treasuring Time

You can download here the Project Brief. PDF or JPG and the Lecture PPT.

Postal Presents: cutting diagram

This is what a cutting diagram looks like. It shows the parts which are to be cut (solid lines) or scored for folding (broken lines). You dont need dimensions but they have to be in full size.

Postal Presents: instructions to receiver

Remember that the receiver of your Postal Present should be able to decipher how to transform the 2D sheets which came in the envelope into the 3D object that you would like to give him/her. Thus you should include a sheet inside the envelope which shows how to do it. A series of step-by-step images would be useful. For next week's assessment, if a random receiver of your package (such as your tutor or classmate) cannot understand what to make of the envelop contents, then your design will be considered less successful. Instead of bringing a smile to the receiver's face, you'd be delivering a frown! Of course good design is intuitive and needs little instructions to use, particularly if it is visible or obvious from the design how it is supposed to be operated. There is a good book in the library with lots of graphical examples on the art of instructional design: "Open It".

Peer Comments on Project

It's great to see students giving constructive comments to each other and supporting each other's work.

Unfortunately there are still some students whose blogspots are up to now inaccessible or unavailable for comment. If you are one of those, you need to change your settings ASAP and upload your work as soon as the project has been presented; if this situation continues you will be penalized for making it difficult for your peers to do their task of commenting. Also some obviously didnt put much to comment on (unclear images, no textual explanation, no poster, etc), making it difficult for the peers to give any feedback.

When commenting -- aside from praising -- please dont forget to give feedback on how the design could be improved. There's no such thing as a perfect design, everything can benefit from improvement.

Presentation Room Layout

The layout for the studio for Friday's Project One Experience Enrichment presentations as shown at the left.

Note that many of you wouldnt be able to mount your posters or drawings to a wall or to a glass panel. It's OK to have your works flat on the tables, but I suggest you put each of them inside an A3 plastic sleeve and insert some rigid cardboard to support, so that when you are presenting they are not floppy. That would make it look more professional too. DO NOT mount on foam core!

Another option is to get an A3 display book, or better, an A3 easel display book which can stand up by itself.

Project Two: Postal Presents

The handout for the Postal Presents lecture this morning can be downloaded here.

The brief for Project Two is here.

Modelmaking materials

In Marrickville there is a shop which sells industry offcuts, rejects and scraps at bargain prices. There are plenty of materials are useful for modelmaking: EVA foam sheets, PVC, polystyrene, wood, aluminium, etc. Check them out: www.reversegarbage.org.au

Some tips on Hand Tool Design

Here are some useful illustrations showing some principles and guidelines on hand tool design. These were extracted from standard industrial design references on human factors:

Etienne Grandjean. Fitting the task to the man: a textbook on occupational ergonomics.

Barry H Kantowitz + Robert Sorkin. Human factors: understanding people-system relationships.

Stephen Pheasant. Bodyspace: anthropometry, ergonomics, and the design of work.

Mark Sanders + Ernest McCormick. Human factors in engineering and design.

Four Pleasures Analysis

Here's an example of a design experience analysis using the Four Pleasures framework (one of the slides shown in class in Week 2).

1.Video of Dr Patrick W Jordan explaining the Four Pleasures framework
2. Open University article on the Four Pleasures
3. IEE Review article on "Putting the Pleasure into Products"

Experience Enrichment + Excursion

Click here for today's lecture on Experience Enrichment and here for the Project One brief.

For next week's excursion remember to bring your A4 copy paper sheets (several!), black pens and some rigid surface to support your paper as you sketch. We meet at 945am outside the Powerhouse Museum next week (the museum opens at 10am, I need to check attendance before we go in). Don't be late! If you get lost on the way call me on the FBE mobile number (0407 385 135). I suggest that you exchange mobiles with at least 5 of your classmates so you can let them know if there is a problem with you getting to the Powerhouse on time. I also suggest that you do a bit of practice with your sketching, and have a look at the handout provided on examples of good product sketching. Look here for the requirements for Task 3: Product Sketching.

For those of you who havent submitted your UNSW Fieldwork Authorization and Medical Certification, fill up the form and submit to me early next week, as well as your payment for the Powerhouse Museum admission fee for students of $5 (I'll be paying for the class in advance by credit card).

Detailed Course Timetable

Hi all, please find here a link to a detailed chart of the 2008 course timetable. It shows in colored cells activities or requirements that you need to accomplish outside of studio hours and which you have to either present to class on that week or post on your blog site as a submission for that weekActivities in non-colored cells are in-class that you don't need to prepare for. I hope this visual representation helps you keep track of our studio activities and requirements.

Task 1: Shape of a Scent

In your blog site, post images of your plasticine scent representation as well as the official poster (shown here) describing the scent so readers can understand which scent or sensations you were trying to depict in your shape embodiment.

Task 2: Good Design > An Example

Here is an example of a submission for Task 2: Good Design. Your product assignments are here.
ORCA MINI STAPLER

Designer: ECCO
Manufacturer: Hunt

Silver, Industrial Design Excellence Awards 2000

Ecco Design developed an animated form that gives the stapler life and attracts attention on the shelf, on the desk, and in the classroom. The organic shape of the stapler fits comfortably in the hand and gives it a strong presence and friendly personality. The baby killer whale styling of this stapler practically guarantees it will leap right off the shelves. Add the ability to lay flat or stand on end, a removable metal loop and a single-hole punch mechanism incorporated into the design and you get a whale of a product sure to grab its targeted youth and college markets. The humor and vitality of the form and color palette breathe life into the otherwise mundane task of paper organization.

BusinessWeek writer Bruce Nussbaum said "The Orca Mini Stapler fits easily into the hand and presents a funny, friendly face to the world. It's definitely not corporate but looks great in the SOHO - small office, home office - environment. Or at school. Always nice to have a little humor, especially when the product works so well."

Visual Design Analysis:

LINE: Friendly, flowing lines created by contrasting colour sections

BALANCE: Symmetrical halves enable lying flat or standing on end

CONTRAST: Light grey against vibrant colours

CONTRAST: striking distinctions between outer cover & main body

FORM: Organic, humour, fun

FORM: vitality breathes life to mundane paper stapling & gives product strong presence & animated personality

FORM: bulbous whale-like head & tail-like feet

FORM: rear volume comfortably fills palm

COLOUR: Tropical aquatic fish palette, appeals to young market
TEXTURE: Wrap-around rubber, palm-friendly padding & soft thumb scoop

PROPORTION: Bright colourful padding dominates overall form

Further information about the Orca Mini Stapler on these websites:
http://www.eccoid.com/item.php?id=6&cat=2
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_June_9/ai_62652696
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_24/b3685146.htm

User Centred Design

Videos of Donald A Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) Everyday Things.

Examples of Presentation Sketches

These examples come from these books which are available at the UNSW Library:

> Olofsson E. 2005. Design sketching. PQ 604.24/23
> Powell D. 1990. Presentation techniques: a guide to drawing and presenting design ideas. PQ 745.2/55

Suppliers of Modelmaking Foam

> Foam Booth > Cleveland St corner South Dowling Avenue > sells "A Grade Polystyrene Foam" in 300mm x 200mm x 200mm blocks for $16.
> Australian Urethane & Styrene > 25 Garling Rd Kings Park Tel 9676 8444 > they sell whole sheets of 2500mm x 600mm x 100 mm for $80.575 + GST -- they can cut it in half for you -- at no charge -- so you can fit it in a van or large car.
> Dynamic Composite Technologies > 171 Newton Road Wetherill Park FREECALL 1800 051 100 > also sell sheets of 2500mm x 600mm x 100 mm for $94.75 + GST -- they can also cut it in half for you, at no charge if you give them notice -- take cash only

Task 7: Peer Comments

Within a week after the final presentations for the 3 major projects you are to provide peer feedback to 5 of your classmates on two points: what is good about the student's design and how can the student's project be improved. Anonymous comments NOT allowed.

Here are the links to your peers for Project One, Project Two and Project Three. You will notice that your peers change for every project. Find your name on the "Student Assessor" column and the names on the Peer1+Peer2+Peer3+Peer4+Peer5 are the people you have to provide feedback on. Go to those blog sites and post a comment on their project postings. Due Weeks 7+10+13.

Task 5: Video Reflections

You are required to watch the following videos and write a reflection on your blog for each, due on different days. Specifically discuss: What are your major “take-home messages” from the video? What possibilities does the video suggest for your growth as an industrial designer? How have your opinions about design changed as a result of the video?

> Due Wk 2 > Aug 08 > David Kelley: Human centred design
> Due Wk 3 > Aug 15 > Ross Lovegrove: Organic Design
> Due Wk 4 > Aug 22 > Yves Behar: Designing objects that tell stories
> Due Wk 5 > Aug 29 > Paul Bennett: Designing Details
> Due Wk 7 > Sep 19> Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff Note: This is now due on Wk 8
> Due Wk 8 > Chris Jordan: Picturing excess Note: You do NOT need to write a reflection on Chris Jordan.
> Due Wk 10 > Oct 10 > Designing Dream Machines (This video is only available for viewing at COFA, UTS, UWS)
> Due Wk 11 > Philippe Starck: Thinking deep of design Note: You do NOT need to write a reflection on Philippe Starck.

Task 4: Bad Design

Carefully observe objects or devices around you and find ONE that you feel has significant design flaws. Choose either a

> Badly designed object

> Badly designed display/control

> Badly designed signage/labelling

Observe how people interact with the bad design and what problems occur. Document in photographs.
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE IMAGES FROM THE WEB: ONLY ORIGINAL IMAGES PLEASE!

“Badly-designed” in this context means that users misunderstand the designer’s intent, resulting in erroneous usage. The designer’s solution could have been seriously flawed or doesn’t follow human factors principles. Focus on communication and interaction problems, such as package designs which cause the user to open it the wrong way eventually causing the contents to spill, or confusing road signage which could cause a driver to make the wrong move. Choose objects which cause confusion in operation as a result of the designer’s ignorance or misjudgement of how the user would interact with it. Unacceptable cases include those that merely require “upgrading” or re-styling a seemingly old-fashioned product or graphic to reflect contemporary aesthetics. Lack of durability, wasteful consumables, environmental damage, unappealing colours, wrong fonts, old-fashioned logos, etc. are likewise issues NOT appropriate for this assignment. This project is NOT about badly designed shapes, forms or graphics.

Present the following analysis in your blog site by Week 10 (Oct 10):

> Before: Images of the badly designed case, with annotations as to the design errors present. Highlight how the design causes human errors.

> After: Scanned sketch of suggested improvement. Describe how your suggestion will reduce human error. (You may want to sketch on translucent paper and scan the tracing paper as an overlay over the original image. You may also use PhotoShop or similar software to edit the existing image).

References

Norman D. 1990. The Design of Everyday Things

http://www.baddesigns.com/

http://www.thisisbroken.com/

http://www.ease-of-use.org.uk/

Don Norman: Thoughtful Design

Don Norman: The Design of Future Things

Don Norman: Cautious Cars & Cantankerous Kitchens

Cartoon from The Born Loser,11 May 1986