Fourth Year: Fixing Some Issues

As mentioned in my post last night, there was a fairly significant issue with the width of the MDF pieces in relation to the acrylic block. The problem was, I thought, that the layers of spray paint added too much width to the product. It turns out that it was partly because at the end of last week I skimmed the bottom of the main body off. I didn’t realise it was tapered as much as it was so hence it was 1mm larger than what I wanted it to be. In all fairness it doesn’t really help that the acrylic block is 79mm and not the 80mm that I wanted it to be.

So with the joining edges to the acrylic block fixed and now repainted, there are still worries with the project. A lot of worries…

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#169 I still need some baffles…

The impending electronics drive is soon to start as soon as a soldering iron with a fine tip makes its way to me. Practicing PicAXE programming is the order of the day when it gets underway. One thing I would need for all this prototyping is wire, and to save it from getting tangled up in a big mess I made this… and I say made, all I did was make some holes in the plastic bit of this coffee jar and there you go, a wire dispenser.

The only thing I might end up doing is to make some baffles or rearrange the way in which the wire is wound just to keep them separate and not get tangled up, but for the time being it is very simple and works. What more do I need.

#153 Helveticat

The second in my series of Helveti… 

The Helveticat

#148 Little Planets

I like little planets I do.

By taking a regular panorama and turning it into a polar panorama, you get something that looks like a little planet. Having completely forgotten all about them, recently whilst stopping off in South Queensferry and not having my normal camera to play with, I recruited the use of my iPhone and some photography apps. One of which was 360 an app which automatically creates and stitches together a panorama. One of the options once it has been created is to make a polar one and here you go.

The output straight from the application was this:

But with a little quick tweaking in Photoshop, I got this:

And in case you were wondering, my last foray into little planets was a few years ago and here it is (made using a panorama on Uist):

#117 D&AD Draft Boards

Draft boards for the D&AD project. A few minor changes are yet to be made but it is nearly there.

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#111 Design Products D&AD – IP32001

Three weeks into this semester seems like an ideal time to talk about this modules project. After the shambles that was last semester, it is refreshing to be back on a project where you are not put under as much pressure. This should mean that the work produced should be better.

The project for this semester is based on ones set by D&AD for their student awards competition. We had a choice of 4 set by different companies who sponsor the competion:

1. Michelin: Create a unique product for MICHELIN that would provide real life assistance to high risk motorists in a roadside emergency situation.
2. The Body Shop: Design a contemporary range of packaging for The Body Shop that unites their brand values with the premium nature of the products.
3. Oxfam: Present an idea that engages support for Oxfam by triggering shared values and concerns in a wide range of people.
4. E.ON: Engage generation “Y” in a relationship with E.ON that champions new ways to use energy in the home and empowers them to enlist others in an energy revolution.

Of the four briefs, I chose to do the one set by Michelin, as it was, in a way, about cars, which I like… very much…

Week 1: In the first week of the project, we sat down in groups, depending on the brief that we had chosen, and discussed the brief. What were they asking us to do? What sort of situation might you be in? Have we been in an accident or other roadside emergency ourselves? After this we were given a week to carry out as much research as we possibly could regarding the company and what sort of area we might like to focus on. I contacted a few roadside emergency services, such as the AA and the RAC asking numerous questions, from which I got no response*. A questionnaire was also constructed and posted somewhere where I knew I would get numerous responses and I was not disappointed. The results given were rich in information and provided a deep insight into what people thought. This along with masses of secondary research gave huge amounts to work with, which was useful for the following week.

Week 2: At the start of week two, we went into the groups once again and discussed what we found out. This then led onto the brainstorming of various different ideas to get us thinking. Different insights and scenarios were also thought of so the idea generation could be continued on as we saw fit. Group discussion over we were to go away and in the style that is synonymous with the product design course here, we were to come up with 100 ideas (which I don’t think is the most effective way of idea generation) for the following week, but this time in the format of an A0 sheet and not a sketchbook as this was thought to make the process easier. In fact it made it a little more awkward. I had the sheet stuck on my wall in my room, and was planning on recording it just to show the process of the 100 ideas but the time it took, eventually led me to scrap that idea after only a small amount of time recording.

Week 3: The 100 ideas were whittled down to 3 and the sheet was handed in. The three ideas (shown below) had to be decided and developed over the course of this next week. This along with a first draft of a scenario board had to be completed in the short space of time. As of this moment in time, I am quite far on in the development part and have pretty much completed the scenario board, which says how the product might be used by the user, and this is, as far as I am aware, at a further point that most other people on the course. The idea which was chosen after receiving feedback from a number of people, was the idea of a high visibility flag or flap which hangs down from the bootlid of a car. This would make the car and driver much more visible when they are broken down at the side of the road.

*The no response was in regard to that week that the research was needed. Today (February 4th, and well into week 3 of the project) I received an email from the RAC with their responses to my rather hastily put together questions, so thank you to them greatly, albeit a bit late.

#95 NCR Boards

Part of the main product design module this semester was for the NCR Student Competition, held with a number of Product Design Courses at Universities in Scotland. Having been one of the ones chosen to go through and present at the final event, I pulled out due to the amount of other work that was needing to have been done for the course at that particular time (amongst other reasons).

The following boards show what my final idea was. The basic concept was for those living in rural india to be able to record, share and view other videos on a device aimed at helping those with their own small business advertise themselves to try and increase their income. It was called RECORD.

#92 Quattro is done

In a push to get all the fun things done on my to do list before university work becomes just a bit too much, I managed to get the Audi Quattro I was working on finished, and in good time too. It took a bit longer than the Escort, but this one was much more detailed.

#91 Fire up the Quattro

My next side project as requested by a Mr Lynch is an Audi Quattro. It wasn’t specified if it was to be in Group B or Ashes to Ashes flavour so I opted for my favourite of the two, the Group B monster. I am putting in more detail into this one compared to the Escort and it is looking quite good so far.

#70 Back from the Printers

As I mentioned in post #61 I was in the process of putting together a book called the Principles of Driving & Racing, which was done as a personal project. It was eventually completed after a few long days of hard graft. Once it was uploaded to the Apple Printing service, and a week passed whilst it was being printed, it arrived on my doorstep and looked fantastic.

This of course was the first version of the book and there are changes which I am going to make to it eventually and get another book printed. This may hopefully lead to selling it to people as the general opinion I got from tweets I made on Twitter were generally positive and a few people showed great interest in it.

Just can’t get away from cars can I?