Project 2: Group Dynamic

All group members provided critical input during the creation process of the whistle.  Mitch and Paige liked the idea of a whistle fastening onto the index finger for ease.  Sydney proposed interchangeable accessories, and  I worked on several conceptual sketches.  Paige took the initiative to go to the store and get all the needed materials, and Mitch and I organized the early think maps.  All members were compatible and dependable.  We each worked independently outside of class and then meshed well during brainstorm and work sessions.  The result was a better-looking, multifaceted product to be used by officials, hikers and children.

Oh boy that's some good design!

The pair of sunglasses is well designed because it shields the user’s eyes from sunlight while looking fashionable.  When not in use, it fills less space.  It’s simple, portable, and one size fits all!

Some additional renditions

These sketches were my best examples of each technique we've learned so far.  I used two different pairs of sunglasses in the beginning but settled on the wider-rimmed pair.  Gesture, contour, cross-contour, blind contour, tonal and value. What.

Have some sketches

My response to "Objectified" BAM!

After watching "Objectified" in class, I realized how little I've known about design.  I could see the volume of people actively changing our world by reinventing our stuff.  I admired how excited the speakers were about the projects they were working on.  Apart from the British designers, everyone was involved in something interesting and new to me.  I was extremely impressed with Apple and their ideas about product composition and human interaction.  They think the components of a product should only be apparent when  necessary, such as the battery power lights on the edge of the MacBook, only visible as a glow through a seemingly seamless metal casing.  The designers' goal is to slowly transform the machines they're selling us into sleek, shiny works of art with an organic flavor.  

Teams of industrial designers are working to simply tweak everything we already use.  Their

goal is to make our lives better through slight alterations in our tools.  They tried

lots of different potential handles for everyday gardening tools, hoping to decrease our

effort and increase our comfort when trimming the hedges.

One man is working to improve the objects we use so much we forget we’re using 

them!  He wants to accommodate us subconsciously by enhancing the things we have

trained our bodies to do through repetition. 

The British designers, along with the twins who make new and exciting chairs, weren’t very

interesting.  I don’t need an assortment of robots with weird, pretty useless abilities.  I 

did agree with the long-haired gentlemen who viewed objects as the stuff we attach to 

ourselves so other people will see us how we hope they see us.  I'm not sure what he had

designed, but I enjoyed his thoughts on our relationship with inanimate devices.  In his

view, even though we all keep buying things, nobody really cares what anyone else has.