All posts tagged draft

  • December 4, 2013

    Product-Service Innovation research

    Seminar I // research notes

    — —

    Our next project for Design Seminar is to do a product-service analysis and write about some potential areas of innovation in the product. The analysis will cover the second half of the semester’s reading including:

    • The affordances of the components
    • The patterns of interaction among target audiences
    • The flow of the use experience (and it’s qualities as a focal object)
    • Theembedded knowledge in the human habits, desires, and inadequacies
    • It’s (and the user’s) anticipation of breakdown
    • It’s co-ordination of promises

    The product-service I’ve chose to analyze is my lunch box:

    (photo via amazon)

    It’s definitely not the perfect lunch box. It was kind of impulse buy. I spent hours researching containers in search of the perfect bento box and gave up. Then I saw this on at the nearby convenient store weeks later and just bought it.

    Now that I’ve been working on this project, I spent a couple more hours pouring over lunch boxes looking for the perfect design. I’m convinced it doesn’t exist yet. Some or the right size, but don’t have the right functions, some have the right functions but aren’t the right size, many aren’t made of sustainable materials, etc, etc. It’s not the point of the assignment to find your dream product, don’t be mistaken there, but now I can’t help thinking about it.

    My requirements are:

    • non-plastic material
    • microwaveable
    • leak-proof
    • not-too big and/or have compartments

    This doesn’t seem like too much to ask for, does it? But it is really hard to find all these things! Plus, for the longest time I was looking for something really well designed, stackable bento boxes that would possibly also be thermal and come with cutlery.

    However, I did come across this product by Frego which I think is really neat. That silicon sleeve just seems like a magical innovation. You think that burning your hands is just part of microwaving stuff–but it isn’t!

    Frego from Chelsie Lopez on Vimeo.

    I forgot that was a think because my current lunch box obviously doesn’t have any problems with that either since it has a silicon base. However, the lid is still plastic and warped. So now the little thing that holds the cutlery doesn’t stay in. Which obviously makes me more unhappy.

    I’m really tempted to buy it, but I don’t know where it would fit into my life right now since I have a tolerable lunch box as it. But I can’t help pining and thought I’d share!

    No Comments / Design Seminar 1 /

  • October 23, 2013

    Abstract > Concrete project work

    studio-p3-ideation

    For our next project in studio we need to help explain and visualize abstract objects in a concrete way. The final form these explanations will take is a 1-3 minute video. I’m really excited to use this project as a way to explore a new design style and work on animation.

    My initial complex topics were:

    1. Fukushima. The brief history, the after math/clean up attempts and failures, and the future implications. Pretty big, I know.
    2. WordPress.org vs WordPress.com as you go to set up a website. This is something I have explained (or attempted to explain) several times when volunteering and when helping out other people. I feel like to first time website set-er-up-ers it’s a really hard system to grasp. I thought it would be helpful to make something remotely in my field.
    3. Patents. Specifically, the problems in our current patenting system when companies have broken away from the spirit of the system as a way to protect and encourage creativity (not just make a bunch of money).

    These topics were fine and dandy, but after reading some of the other student’s topics they were approaching and what I wanted to do with my own topic, I re-thought it a bit. I wanted to do something more light-hearted to try out a different illustration style (I naturally tend to make things clean, crisp, and simple). These topics aren’t necessarily best represented in a light-hearted manner.

    So I sat back down at my desk and pondered my dilemma, trying to think of topics that I knew at least something about and that I really enjoyed knowing about. Miraculously, I remembered a conversation I had with my friend Grant almost a year ago about New Zealand birds.

    Context: I also really love learning about science and animals and had stumbled across an article about kakapos in National Geographic which reminded me of this hilarious video of a kakapo I’d seen earlier. I told Grant about it because he has studied and is interested in birds and actually did a research project in New Zealand. He ended up explaining to me why the animals (birds and lizards primarily) of New Zealand are so unique. Basically it’s because the islands broke off earlier on leaving the birds with no natural predators. For more details, you’ll have to wait for my end project.

    In the meantime, please enjoy this recorded lecture by one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams, in which he talks about his research with some unique island animals (including the kakapo, of course). Basically, I feel like the kakapos is one of the most delightful birds.

    No Comments / Design Studio 1 /

  • October 8, 2013

    Inter-things: Draft 1

    Design Seminar 1//

    This is the first draft of thinking about how objects in our lives relate to one another and influence us. Basically. This is just a starting point and my final will include a lot more of the interaction.

    At first I started with the area rug in my room because I am always so aware of its presence in dividing my room. I find the carpet in my apartment pretty gross, so I use my rug as a sanctuary in my room where I can walk bare foot. I feel like I have to take of my shoes before stepping onto it whereas I wear my shoes every where else in the house.

    Project1-01But then I realize it’s interaction is pretty limited because it I don’t really use the rug as part of a practice and it also doesn’t move into different spaces of my life. So I switched to my glass water bottle which I also purchased and use very intentionally:

    Project1-02

     

    Still not extensive, but it’s well on it’s way! I’m pretty excited to work on this more and really draw out the concepts we learned in class. Stay tune, folks!

     

    No Comments / Design Seminar 1 /

  • October 8, 2013

    Observer Portrait: Draft 2

    Narrative & Argument:

    I changed this from class after getting feedback that Evan was too perfect in the first one. I called Evan again and told him my dilemma and just talking to him helped me work out some of what I had gotten wrong. It was kind of like a therapy session too. This one is really choppy as I tried to get down some of my thoughts before they left me, apologies

    — —

     Evan sat to my right and there were three other people congregating around the other side of linoleum kitchen table with us. Though the average age of the people at the party was around twenty, the house was decorated in 70s-style décor complete with a floral print couch and macramé owl. The time warp was surprisingly fitting for the shabby basement apartment. I watched with guilty fascination as they lit up a joint. As any good host would, the girl holding the blunt looks at us and asks, “Want a hit?” I decline and her eyes move to Evan. She raises her eyebrows to silently ask the question again. I am aware of how hard I’m staring at him to see what he’ll do. We’re not dating anymore, so he can do whatever he wants. What does he want?

    Read more

    No Comments / Narrative & Argument /

  • October 8, 2013

    Observer Portrait: Draft 1

    Narrative & Argument:

    Typos and all!

    — —

    When we walked up the pathway to the house and I saw all the trendy Nebraska-bohemians lounging around the porch in their vintage dresses, leather boots, dyed hair, and loud prints, I had the burning sensation of being an outsider being brought in to display. I was introduced to the first person, a girl named Jacquie, could see her a flash of recognition in her eyes and then a distinct evaluation of my responses as she put together the pieces of stories she’d heard about me. This is what happened when you introduced two different worlds to each other.

    Privately, I mention my discomfort to Evan who shrugs, “I don’t think they’re judging you. I think they’re just curious.” I got the same feeling the first time I met people from the art the department, where Evan was already a much-loved figure by students and faculty. What was someone like him doing with a goody two-shoes like her? We didn’t even look like a good couple. At just under six-foot four, Evan was an exceptionally tall person and at exactly five feet, I am an exceptionally short person. My Vietnamese heritage has given me a petite frame, straight dark hair, and a slightly tanned complexion whereas he is an ideal Swede with his curly white-blond hair, blue eyes, a prominent nose, and fair skin that he himself has described as “impressively white.” And Evan did leave an impression on you. Even in the plain gray t-shirt, dark slacks, and brown shoes he was felt more special than the people on the porch advertising themselves as unique. On a shorter person, his muscles would have allowed him to pass for a lean man, but because his limbs were so elongated, he appeared more gawky than strong. Combined with the blonde curls that cap his head like a well-brushed sheep and no matter what he wore he’d be memorable.

    Read more

    No Comments / Narrative & Argument /

  • October 2, 2013

    Project 1 Process, kind of

    You’re probably wondering why I haven’t shown any of my work for studio yet. We just finished our first project which was a poster that designed information about the Pittsburgh neighborhoods. We critiqued it last week and are already starting on project two. So what gives?

    Project two is actually about how to show the process of creating the Project 1. So I thought I bring some sanity to myself and not do these things four times.

    Here is our first exercise, trying to map out our ideas and work process:

    studio-p1-timeline

    studio-p1-timeline-half1

    studio-p1-timeline-half2

    Considering our visual dictionaries:

    visualdictionary

    And this is the information I’m trying to organize. I’m not the most organized person when I work. Only you, dear reader, know this.

    studio-p1-drawer(

     

    No Comments / Design Studio 1 /

  • October 1, 2013

    Observer Portrait: Physical Description

    Narrative & Argument: 

    (Pre-draft, just setting up the physical presence of our subject)

    — —

    During one of those first-day-ice-breaker games, one of Evan’s 10 fun facts about himself was that he was “impressively white.” It was true that he didn’t just happen to be a person that was pale, but his lack of color became one of his features. True to his Swedish heritage, his fair skin and blond hair is rounded out by light blue eyes and angular features. He has a prominent sail boat nose, high cheek bones, and a square chin. At just under six feet four inches, most people would take notice of him anyway, but as look at his elongated monotone figure, he leaves and impression on you.

    The second thing people notice is his hair which is more white-blond than yellow. I most remember it as a wooly mass of curls, like a sheep. When he wears it short, it forms a textured wave. When it’s long enough it has these playful waves that make you want to touch the cloud-like shape or muss it up like a little kid’s. The longer it gets the more like a bleached Ronald McDonald wig it becomes as his tight curls really get start taking over. Right now, as it reaches down past his shoulders and gravity has pulled the ringlets of his once-fro down, it’s hard to compare it to anything familiar because even a janitor’s mop seems to be more organized. It gives you the same impression as the coat of the Hungarian Puli.

    Evan gives off a very disarming presence. This is partly because his lanky features make him look uncoordinated and harmless (which isn’t true, he’s actually quite athletic) and partly because he is very quiet when placed a new environment, again, not because he’s shy, but because he doesn’t feel the need to talk unless he’s responding to something. His smile is sincere and his beaming cheeks will allow the emotion to reach his eyes. He doesn’t hesitate to open up conversation with someone he thinks looks interesting and it’s that warm smile that I’ve seen charm whoever he was talking with.

    He’s always been very fit and lean, but his length creates the optical illusion that he’s gawky. Lately, he’s managed to put on enough weight (a uniquely male problem) in order to gain mass and now his arm and chest muscles easily show under a shirt. It’s still hard for me to remember these new proportions when I see him now.

    He can most often be found in a t-shirt with some bold graphic on it, either a drawing he’s made or one featuring an artist he admires. He has a slight curve of to his back and, compounded with his long torso, many of his shirts will form a small tent in the back and reveal his belt tightened as far as it can go in the front. The majority of his jeans have a rip in the knees, some of which have been patched up but most not. Inevitably there is a splatter of paint somewhere on him if he was trying to be tidy especially if he is wearing one of his dedicated painting shirts. Event still, he is quite controlled when he works and none of his clothes are ever coated in a paint like we’d like to imagine an artist to be. His hands, especially around the cuticles will sometimes have some colored residue left over or a smudge of black if he was working on a charcoal drawing. But most of the time he has a super natural diligence when it comes to washing all the paint or whatever off his tools and hands so they are usually clean but dry.

    315562_10150418977791613_1607076777_n

    No Comments / Narrative & Argument /

  • October 1, 2013

    Prototyping: Everyday task

    Project 1:

    For the first project we had to think of an every day tasks that were are “professionals” in. As in, sure do things every day, but we had to be really familiar with the process and know it in and out. I had been chewing on this for a while trying to pick something manageable. I knew later we would take the task flow we developed from this task and making some sort of technology to help this process.

    The initial ideas I had didn’t seem right for various reasons:

    • Emailing: This was just a huge beast that seemed like a lot  to tackle.
    • List-making: There are so many technologies that already do this and I personally like the process of writing lists in pen and paper anyway.
    • Taking the bus: This would be nice, wouldn’t it? But it deals mostly with trying to get the buses to have technology to tell you when it comes. That’s as simple as it is: you have that, and you’re happy and you don’t need an app that does 100 other things.
    • Reading articles and bookmarking: The problem I have is wanting time to do it, not the way I do either.
    • Using my alarm clock: I need something to wake me up and keep me up. But if I was completely honest an alarm clock is not going to make me happy about waking up and I don’t want to work on a project everyone is going to hate. (“But Jacklynn! You can make it a more enjoyable experience!” No.)

     

    TaskFlow-Notes1-recycling

    I decided upon recycling as an option.  I am silently frustrated with my the way my housemates recycle and as the new person am not prepared to step in an lecture 6 strangers about the proper recycling technique. Especially since I’m new to Pittsburgh. Simple things like not trying to recycled soiled paper or most pizza boxes. That’s right, pizza boxes! The oil in the cardboard is difficult if not impossible to clean and the box is unusable (according to past hearsay and confirmed through recent research). I know they mean well, but it’s juts hard to stay on top of information like this and I thought it would be helpful for their to be an app that can easily tell you what’s recyclable in your area or not. For instance, Pittsburgh is the first city I’ve been in that can recycle the hard plastic of bottle caps. It makes me worry about how much recycling is just thrown away because of contamination.

    I decided I wanted my app to…

    1. Tell you what can & cannot be recycled in your specific area. Recycling plants would have incentive to send their information to the company since it would be helping them at no extra cost.
    2. Have products be quickly searchable to see if it’s recyclable or not, or even if certain parts of it are. My housemates will frequently through saran wrap into the recycle bin and I’ve just never considered that recyclable. (I’m not sure about this though)
    3. Has a list of common myths. Short and digestible. Also just interesting information about the recycling process and best practices. Like cleaning out your containers before throwing them the bag.

    In my research I stumbled upon an app called iRecycle which actually did a pretty good job with many of these points (especially having local data!) and it was pretty well designed. It was so functional, in fact, it made me kind of think I should look for some other every day task….

     

    To be continued :). 

    No Comments / Prototyping /

  • September 29, 2013

    Self-Portrait: Draft 1

    Narrative & Argument

    Living without regrets includes both doing things you want to do and doing things you would regret not doing. Unfortunately, you never know if you’ll regret something until you do it. For me, this has included forcing myself to go to a bike carnival called Tour de Fat thrown by New Belgium Brewing Company despite disliking beer nor being an avid biker and joining a pick-up soccer game at the neighborhood park even after my friend told me they couldn’t make it. At the first, I ended up meeting my future roommate and best friend while I was in Colorado. At the second, I realized I should never try to participate in community athletics again.

    Read more

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