Bad Designs

Organic Teapot Shape

Original (read: rejected) Concepts

Mood Boards

My target market is a Female between the ages of 35-50, who would be balance her work during the week with her family responsibilities at home. She would be concerned with living a healthy lifestyle but does not have to time to cook for the family every night. Good design is something that she is concerned about, and may place it about functionality when purchasing a product.

Don Norman - Emotional Design

Don Norman, a Cognitive Behaviour expert, explains to us the relationship that exists between our emotions and our behaviours, and the relevance this can have to design. It also allows us to analyse objects in a way that can give us a better understanding of why they are successful and popular with their owners.

He begins by contrasting the idea of an item that works perfectly, but is ugly, with that of something that is beautiful but does not seem to work at all. As an example for the latter he explains how he purchased a special edition gold-plated Philippe Starck juicer, but does not make juice with it due to a warning label about citric acid tarnishing the plating. Instead, he places it at the entrance to his home for visitors to admire. Because of this we question whether or not the initial purpose of the juicer was in fact to make juice, or does it exist for the sole purpose of being admired (its designer has since confirmed the latter). Thus we come to the conclusion that a product can act upon us on several levels (physical, emotional…) and that it need not perform a physical task to be useful, because its intended use is to cause positive emotions.

From here Norman explains the three ways that we can analyse a product and its effect on us. The first is the VISCERAL level, which can be expressed in design by the use of colour, font, line, form and other characteristics that determine the way we perceive the object in question. It can also be thought of as the way we experience things and the ideas and emotions that we attach to them. An example that is given is a San Pellegrino water bottle. It could be said that people buy this item, not for the water that it contains, but for the bottle and its ability to evoke emotions. The next level we look at is the BEHAVIOURAL level, which is the way that these objects and experiences act upon us in a physical level. The feeling of driving a sports car, or standing underneath a shower are both good feelings and therefore are enjoyable to do because subconsciously our brain tells us that they are good. The way an something acts can also fall into this category, because if  it works in a new or interesting way then this behaviour that the object exhibits is something that we connect with on a positive level. The third and final level is the REFLECTIVE level, which is how we remember the object or experience, and what sort of emotions we are left to associate with it. If the experience has been a positive one, then our brain will remind us that we enjoyed it and want to use it again. Likewise if it was a negative experience then we will not feel motivated to take part in it a second time, or will be cautious if we do. It is also connected to the way we feel we should present ourselves to those around us, causing us to buy nice things or things that we feel will let people know more about us (or what we would like them to think about us). 

Design Excellence: The Slingbox 700U

For its design, the Slingbox 700U truly deserved to be amongst the winners in this years design awards. The idea of making the entire product a heat sink is innovative enough, and yet Sling Media also managed to make the product look amazing. Its solid aluminium body mean that its design is years ahead of other set-top boxes and is sure to be imitated by rival companies in the future. Its use of recycled materials and environmentally friendly processes means that it is also a product that manages to cause minimal harm to the planet, and because the body is made in such a way, it could surely be recycled again in the future.

I could not say that I really agree with the technology though. The idea of purchasing a product so that i could watch my own television whilst travelling seems a little absurd, however I can imagine that there are people that this would appeal to, like those who would wish to follow their sports teams whilst in foreign countries.

From this exercise I found the best way to approach a study of a product was to break it down into its simplest characteristics, like form, line, materials, texture ect. From there is was easy to assess all the details of the product one at a time and gain an understanding of why the it was designed a certain way.

Dave Kelley on Human Centred Design

In his lecture to TED, Dave Kelley explains to the audience the change he has perceived in the design industry in the last decades of the 20^th century. The change he is talking about is the shift in focus towards Human Centred Design that he and his colleagues have taken.

He begins by reflecting back to the 1980’s when he states that many people were focused on the “product” with relatively little thought towards the bigger picture of how users would eventually interact with the product at hand. Nowadays, whilst still focused on the products they are creating, the focus is more on designing human qualities into he objects, in an attempt to blur the boundary between humans and the items they surround themselves with. He also points out that when presenting a product to clients, 3D models and renderings were all that were originally, but have since found the need to incorporate videos into their demonstrations to further explain how newer products are intended to be used and interacted with.

In explaining his belief that design is beginning to have an impact in a different way, Kelley makes a reference to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. This suggests that he believes good design today not only succeeds on basic physical levels (i.e. colour, form, texture), but now is able to connect with its users on an emotional because of its ingrained “behaviour and personality.”

Included in his presentation are a series of examples of the work he has been involved in recently at his company IDEO. Starting with small products like handheld personal-assistants and commercial defibrillators, he then moves onto several examples of experience and environment design. These environments range from a Prada store located in New York City, to the Ideal Cubicle for Dilbert and other office employees, and show off how, as designers, the staff at IDEO were applying the new broader definition of design to create positive experiences for the people that would be using the spaces. 

Why do I want to be a designer?

I guess if I had a firm answer to that question then studying this degree wouldn’t be as interesting as it’s been so far. I can tell you now that any motivation I had for choosing this course at the start of the year now seems irrelevant having completed first semester and all that went with it. What drives me one week will, in all likelihood, be vastly different to the next based on what I experience in day-to-day life. Because of this, I cannot begin to imagine what might motivate me in three years time when I am (hopefully) nearing the end of studying Industrial Design as an undergraduate. If I had to narrow it down at all, I guess I could say that it is the variety and limitless possibilities of design that are leading me in this direction. To be any more specific about my ambitions would be, in my opinion anyway, somewhat naïve. That is not to say I believe having goals is unrealistic, just that following them too precisely can distract you from that fact that your personal goalposts are constantly moving.

What drew me to Industrial Design in the first place is kind of difficult to pin down. Before enrolling at UNSW I had studied Aeronautical Engineering at The University of Sydney for two years. I can’t say that I look at the time as wasted because it taught me things about both engineering, and university in general, that have no doubt helped me in my time at UNSW. It also taught me that 30 page maths assignments weren’t my cup of tea and that if I was to complete a university degree, it would have to be something more hands on and practical. It was then that someone suggested to me that I look into Industrial Design. Having originally possessed only a vague notion of what it entailed, I found that it seemed like a logical step from the Graphic Design and Design Technology that I had studied as school, plus ran somewhat parallel to my fascination with drawing things, building them and then discovering if they worked as planned.

At this point, I couldn’t say what I think my future in design might involve. What I can say however is that as a designer, I hope to work in an industry where being responsible with design is something that becomes as natural as colour schemes or production processes. Hopefully in the future, “environmentally friendly design” is something that can be assumed, and not some catch phrase that marketers have thought up to play on consumer guilt. I would like to think that by the time I am turned loose in the design industry, this can will be more of a universal mantra as opposed to a series of hoops and obstacles that need to be jumped through and negotiated. Whilst I am sure that there are many out there who already work in this way, for designers to remain a respected part of the community, it needs to be adopted by a vast majority to achieve the intended result.

Whilst much of it may seem like thinly veiled cynicism, I can’t help but feel myself that my decision to undertake an Industrial Design degree has been vindicated by the amount I have enjoyed myself so far. Each time I read, write, draw or make something involved in this degree, it seems as though I have found something that think I could continue to do for years into the future.

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