Project #3- Part 2

After reading the Understanding Comics passage I got the idea that less is more.  I liked the concept that the vaguer an item is, the more of our own personality we can see in it, or the more varied of a personality we can give it. I’ve always been able to notice the general tone or emotion of a piece of art based on things like the style of stroke, color, and texture, but I never really considered it very much. He explained how very simple marks, like with symbols and icons, can be representative of a much larger idea.

 

Project #3- Design as Communication: Representing Things & Ideas

With this project we are taking one object and exploring it in as many ways as we can.  The objective is to make a grid poster with 16 different representations that range from concrete to abstract, and iconic to symbolic, so as you move across the grid, the representations move from a realistic physical representation, to a more figurative representation.

But we have to explore each of the 16 categories more than just coming up with one example for each, because we have to have some sort of variety to chose from for the final poster, so that we are able to portray our object in the best way.

So by the end of the project we will have at least 20 examples for each of the following categories:

01  find or take a photo that best describes your object

02  must be gestural

03  must be painterly - system of thick and thin strokes, calligraphic

04  must be graphical: use only right angles, straight lines and

(once on computer use only two stroke widths)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

05  must use only circles, triangles or squares

06  you must use the photocopier + cut/paste paper by hand

07  use alternate marking tool, nothing traditional

(no pencil/pen, brush, marker)

08  must convey a specific meaning (use only one line)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
09  must convey a specific meaning (a functional characteristic)
10  must express the texture of your thing

11  must a hybrid: select best expression make "nirvana";

form that feels right.

12  must create an index of your object
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13  must convey a specific meaning

(an adjective symbolically attached)

14  must be radical an extreme abstraction of another; bizarre

15  must explore making marks on "another surface";

(no laser printer paper)

16  must be entirely typographic

(use a word that sums up your object, real or made-up)

Redesign- Part 3

This is the sketch of the final redesign and the actual construction itself.

And this is the lovely Katie, modeling our final product in use. 

Inside IDEO

This is part one but you can navigate on youtube and watch each of the parts that follow.

This documentary was really insightful because it really showed the process that goes into ‘real world’ projects on the jobsite in the profession of redesign. I liked how they showed every step in a project form start to finish; initial ideas, on-site detailed research, brainstorming, creating, critiquing, and modification.

Redesign- Part 2

After looking over the things that we wanted to change, we sketched out our new ideas.

 

And this was the initial prototype we constructed:

Group Redesign Project

This is my group:
Katie Klaras, Travis Young, Me, and Lori Novak

The object that we decided to redesign was Katie's paint roller.

The main problems we found with it were that it was uncomfortable, messy, created uneven coverage, and was exhausting to use.







This is the concept map that we completed during class:

And after organizing our ideas more, these are the ideas we had:

Out of these ideas, the main concepts that we wanted to apply to our new design was to make the roller more compact (including an extending pole to reach high spots on the wall), make it roll more smoothly, apply the paint more evenly, have a more comfortable handle, and have the roller be more mobile.

Project #2: PRODUCT REDESIGN

The object that I chose is a standard travel pillow. I think it's a good idea, but doesn't always work how it's supposed to and could definitely be improved. I interviewed 5 people to see what they thought of it, and this is what I got:
















QUESTIONS:
1. How would you use it?
2. How often would it be used if you owned it?
3. Do you think it would be worth the money spent on it($2.50)?
4. What do you not like about it?
5. What would you change about it?
6. What are the most important properties about it that you would want to keep?
7. Where would you use it the most?


Interview 1: TRAVIS YOUNG
1. To relax with, maybe as a stress reliever, but definitely not to sleep on.
2. Probably whenever I'm bored, so a lot, all the time, probably strange hours of the night.
3. No, I probably wouldn't buy it.
4. It wants to be soft but it isn't, it's unpleasant, and the styrofoam's noisy.
5. I'd change the outer material, reduce the noise, and make it bigger because I wouldn't be using it as a pillow.
6. The feel of the general squishiness, and the color's not bad either.
7. I'd use it for travel. It's small so I could move around with it. I'd maybe use it at home with my dog.


Interview 2: RABIA BAJWA
1. I would probably use it for a headrest or armrest because it's soft enough and 'cloudy'.
2. Every single day, lol. When I'm reading books or watching TV, I'd use it to relax.
3. I think it would be, it's not so expensive and it would probably last a long time. It would definitely change my pillow at home.
4. When you hold it lightly it's like sand coming out of your hands, you can lose grip easily, the foam separates so if you put your head on it there's nothing there anymore, and it's noisy.
5. I'd use a different material inside because you can hear the noise and that would bother me if I heard it every time I moved the styrofoam. 
6. The shape, the outside material, and it's a convenient size. 
7. Trips. I'd use it in the car as a headrest or neck rest and I'd probably use it at home while relaxing. 


Interview 3: SHELBY FRYE
1.  I would lie on it and use it as a pillow. If I were on an airplane id use it as a neck rest or a cushion.
2. Probably quite a bit, like maybe a couple times a week.
3.  Yeah probably.
4. It’s a little small, and it’s not that rounded or formed to fit your neck. The material could be softer.
5. Change the shape, the material. Make it look a little better, and use a different fabric to make it more appealing. Add an outer slip that you could take off and wash.
6. I like the beads inside it.
7. Probably to sleep on during a trip the most.


Interview 4: AMY DOUGAN
1. I would use it to sleep with when I’m traveling or as a cushion at home.
2. Not very often, only when I’d travel.
3. Yes.
4. I don’t like the shape of it, it’s too full, and I don’t like the material.
5. I’d make it a U shape, I’d rather have cotton on the outside, make it less round, make it more oblong.
6. I like the inside material, and the fact that it’s a dark material
7. Wherever I was travelling; on a car, airplane, train, on long distance trips.


Interview 5: KATHLEEN IRELAND
1. I’d use it as a footrest and as a time waster.
2. Whenever I maybe had something more important to do but didn’t feel like doing it. Like right now.
3. Yes.
4. It’s too plain, and it doesn’t serve its purpose very well because it’s more entertaining as a procrastination tool than as a pillow.
5. Make it bigger, more comfy (different stuffing material), and more exciting with design and pattern.
6. It’s playfulness.
7. Anywhere and everywhere that I’d have it, if I had nothing more entertaining to fill my time with.