PROJECT 1: KITCHLET
"Design a product which will allow users to prepare and cook a meal without the facilities of a fully equipped kitchen."
This project was carried out during my master's year at university. I chose the problem area of a lack of functionality in existing small kitchens and kitchenettes because I am interested in kitchen design and improving the situation for users. I focused the project on the lunchtime, office market as I felt there was a need for improvement in this area. Because this was such a big project, I have included an overview of the key aspects of it here.
SOLUTION
The solution is a modular, compact kitchen that can be positioned in areas without existing cooking facilities; it does not need to be plumbed in to a water supply and is fully powered from one standard UK plug socket. Design for usability and design for functionality were key considerations throughout the project, and users were consulted throughout the research and design phases to ensure that the final product would suit their needs.
OVERVIEW OF THE DESIGN PROCESS
The following is an overview of the process followed during this project, from initial research gathering through to concept generation, prototyping and development and testing of the final design. For further information on any aspect of the project please get in touch!
PROJECT 2: RÖR
“Design an audio speaker that evokes a defined emotional meaning and demonstrates a novel approach to form”
This was a mini project undertaken in my fourth year of university which was focused on emotional design. I selected the emotion of trust and created two speakers which were designed to lean against each other to simulate a trusting relationship. A brief outline of the project is shown here:
DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN
PROJECT 3: REDUCTION OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE
Design a product that will help people to reduce their household food waste’This was a mini project undertaken at university. This was a human centred design project where human centred design principles including observations, experience mapping, interviews and creation of user personas took place. An overview of the project is shown below:
RESEARCH
An experience map was created based on the existing situation which was established through a combination of observations, immersion, diary keeping, and interviews. This highlighted 'problem areas' in the process of buying - and eventually wasting - food in the domestic setting. Several problems were identified including: the user not checking sell by dates, supermarket offers encouraging shoppers to buy items they don't need, contactless pay psychologically feeling less like spending money, and forgetting to buy everything on a shopping list and therefore having to return to the shop several times (where the same problems would occur again).
SOLUTION
The solution was a simple one: colour coded stickers that the user would write their shopping list on and transfer onto the relevant item of food at the supermarket - acting like a KANBAN and reducing the likelihood of the user forgetting items and having to return at a later date. Over time this would result in a colour coded fridge where the user could quickly identify high priority items and either use or freeze them before they get wasted.
The updated experience map is much simpler and shows how the stickers would reduce food waste, primarily because the user does not need to make several trips to the supermarket and because their fridge will be colour coded in terms of high priority items.
PROJECT 4: ORIGAMI HAIRDRYER
'Refresh the aesthetics of an everyday product for a contemporary market'
This was a short university project with a focus on form and aesthetics. I chose to redesign a hairdryer for the travel market. The project did not involve a large amount of research, more an exploration of form and potential themes for the design. The final design was based on simplistic Japanese design and its geometric shape took influence from origami.
SOLUTION
DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN
The following is an overview of the process followed to create the final design. This included rough sketches to develop the form and both hand drawn and digital renders of the design, as well as a paper model showing the form and size of the final design.
Project 5: T-shirt graphics
'Create graphics of key buildings in Barcelona for application on t-shirts'
This project was undertaken during an internship based in Barcelona. The brief was to create stylised graphic representations of key buildings in Barcelona in a Japanese style to be placed on t-shirts and sold to tourists across the city.
SOLUTION
A selection of the graphics produced can be seen above. It was important that the images had a consistent style but also that each one represented the character of the building or landmark in question. Adobe illustrator was used to create these graphics.
Project 6: Moon Collection
'Design a crockery collection based on a crescent moon theme'
This project was for porcelain company "Ariane Porcelain" and was undertaken during an internship. It involved a combination of paper model making and CAD work using Rhino. I developed a full set of crockery including plates, bowls, cups, and items such as a tea pot and milk jugs. The collection was based on a crescent moon concept.
DEVELOPMENT
This project was a joint effort; I was given rough sketches and asked to develop these into more firm designs. We did this by creating rough paper mock ups (shown above) and evaluating their size and form until we were happy with the final design, which was then developed on Rhino.
SOLUTION
A selection of the renders produced of the moon collection are shown above. Each different item is slightly different but has an element of a crescent moon within it to ensure that the collection was consistent.