Singapore Experience Design- Conclusion

OK so I have been somewhat lazy recently and haven't been updating this at all so here's to a new invigorated initiative, starting off with a couple of large posts finishing off what I did at Brunel.

After the progress shown in the last post (here) a number of projects began simultaneously. One of these was the finalisation of the logo for our 'company' (group). The idea we went with was the one above with 'rumah' meaning home in Malay, one of the major languages of Singapore. The logo references the 'pod' motif of the design with the pod formed by the union of the 'h' and the 'u' in the logo.

Another project I was involved with was the creation of a scale model of the design, made out of foamboard, card, plastic and lots of tape. This was done by myself and another group member over a number of days.

 The model featured a removable roof and top floor.

While this was being done others in the group were working on creating 3D CAD models in Solidworks on the computer, with the two groups in contact to finalise design details. When both these were done we began collating all the work to put together the workbook.

For the workbook I made some more graphics to go with the ones I had already made (Rig Graphics and Infographics) creating a hierarchy of needs with the bold text showing need particularly necessary for this project.

I also created a number of potential cover ideas based on different possible styles for the inside of the book

In the end a different idea proposed by someone else was chosen that we agreed looked better.

Before we could present the workbook we first had to give a verbal presentation to our peers on the course. The presentation went well and here are a selection of the slides from that.

 With the presentation out of the way we were able to concentrate on finishing the workbook, which was presented to one of our lecturers and a representative from Building Trust International. Again here are a sample of the pages.

After the small presentation feedback was given to the group and it was very positive. The Building Trust International rep said that we had exceeded both their expectations and the brief and the lecturer was equally positive.

Finally after the presentation some other members of the group put together a single board summarising our project on a single page for Building Trust International to use.

So a good finish to a fun, if stressful at times, project and a good end to the first part of the module.

Eco-Design Presentation Board

So the deadline for the Eco design critique was today and this below was my idea.

The ideas was to use new technology in harvesting Spider Silk to create reusable bags that can also be easily stored and carried about. This could be applied to other products and would reduce our reliance of natural oil plastics. However the main purpose of the crit was to evaluate our concept presentation skills, and as such a lot of emphasis was placed on the layout and graphics of the boards rather then the actual concept. As you can see I took a bit of a gamble as I decided against the normal clean white perfect background and grid based layout in favour of a more unusual layout. However I have to admit I'm not sure if it has payed off and I will be rethinking the idea for the final deadline in April based upon what was said in the critique.

Below is some of the content I edited and created for the board.

Made In Brunel Challenge Day

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Made in Brunel Challenge day. The aim of the day was to, in groups, answer one of five design briefs to make this years Made in Brunel exhibition better than last years. The brief my group was given was to come up with a idea to help transport the book that is made for the exhibition.

As a group we wanted something more unique than just a simple bag, so we after a number of ideas, we created the design seen below.

The idea is to have a wallet like object made of recycled card with a silicone strap that would both hold the book inside securely, and help advertise the show. Inside would be the book and an area where useful documents can be placed such as maps, flyers or business cards.
At the end of the day, we then had to present our idea, along with the other groups, to a panel of judges. We had a full prototype at this point and rendered images which we used to present our idea. Overall it was a good fun day and allowed the first years a chance to work and chat to the second and third years.

Product Decomposition- NERF Maverick

So for today we had to prepare a presentation for mechanics on the mechanical workings of a simple. The idea was in groups of five to take a simple product, take it apart, documenting the stages and each individual component, and then demonstrating how these pieces interact, facilitate the flow of energy and contribute to the overall function. We were in a three, and the product was surprising complicated.

 This was the item in question, one NERF Maverick toy gun. The gun is designed to shoot small foam darts and then have the barrel rotate a new chamber into position. So we set about disassembling it, removing the multitude of screws from it to reveal....

 A very complicated interior mechanism. We had chosen this because we knew it was completely mechanical, with no electronics so we knew it would be complicated, but still we were somewhat surprise when this jumped out at us (literally with some of the springs). 

 

 So as we deconstructed it we recorded our progress, neatly laying out all the parts and photographing them with their corresponding components, till it was completely apart, as shown above and below.

 Once it was in pieces we then set about photographing the different components, 35 varieties in total with some multiples.

Disassembling the mechanism.

From this procedure and the photos we had taken, we were then able to create a Product Decomposition Report. This involves labeling, and providing information such as how it was manufactured, on each component, detailing how each component interacts with other components and other objects, detailing the overall function, the flow of energy, information and materials and flowcharts on the function and subfunctions. Some pages from the report are below.

 

 Then from this report we (well...I) made this presentation (again only some pages shown below), presenting the information from the report with a mood board at the end, to be presented in class today.

 The presentation session was scheduled from 4pm-6pm, but ended up taking until 7pm, as groups required more time. Other objects chosen included two identical staple guns, four corkscrews, a stapler, a lighter, a garlic slicer and two tape measures, all with less than 20 parts total. So yeah ours was overly complicated. But the presentation still went well, and the lecturer seemed happy with our efforts, so a success, I think.
Anyway I now need to get on adding the finishing touches to the foam models as they are due tomorrow so better crack on.