Comments

Andrew Bea
Gabriel ly
Henry Treloar
Aryetta Pazpinis
Rory Wilson

Project 2: PSS

Rational

The aim of this project for me was to design a community based product where the community members with the same interests can meet to socialise and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

The ‘Game On’ sports hire PSS is exactly what the name describes, sporting goods hire machine where by a user can sign up at www.gameon.com and enjoy the service that is provided. The machine provides a service of rugby, soccer balls and cones for game set out. The product contains 4 soccer balls, 3 rugby balls and 20 cones. The cones are accessed from the rear of the product near to the ball return doors. The cones are dispensed by a spring-loaded system where when a cone is removed another is pushed forward to replace it. When removing and returning the cones a push button on the end of the holding area stops the cones from all just falling out.

Another feature of this product is the compressor unit that is used to fill up the balls when collecting. This is operated by the user and has a pressure sensor in the nozzle to tell how much pressure is in the ball and the fills the ball automatically to the predetermined PSI level for the sports equipment.

This keeps the steps of using the product down to a minimum and makes it easier for the user to interact with the product. This eliminates the chance of damage from over inflation.

The system component of the PSS is the website/app where users visit to sign up and use the system. Consisting of a main page where you can sign up look at locations of product placement, about the product icon, and the sign in icon.

Once signed in users can search via a postcode for the closest ‘Game On’ product to that location and see what games are too play or book a time to hire.

I set out to solve the problem of too much hassle joining community sports based on the barrier of long term commitments and set days for training and games.

This system moulds around your lifestyle so users can chose the days that they would like to play, instead of fitting lifestyle around fitness through sport.

The product although incredibly complex in design, is simple and sleek from the outside. It gives reliable visual cues to the users on how to use the product.  This makes the product an easy to use and hassle free for users

With this product I feel I have accomplished my aims and fully met the studio 3B brief assigned.

Who killed the electric car

Who killed the electric car is an interesting film about the unwillingness for change over to electric cars by the manufacturers.
The film focuses on the californian area by providing the viewer with shocking statistics of the reality of  the poor air quality. This poor air quality is blamed on the high emission cars that company's like honda and GM produce. The government produced legislation to force companies such like the ones mentioned above to provide the market with zero emission cars. They were told that if they wanted to keep selling cars in california they would have to comply with this legislation.

The film shows the whole process of the electric cars design in great detail with an investigatory view, showing the design, manufacturing, speed bumps and set backs and the eventual destruction of the vehicle and the project.

I did find the film a little sad to see how big corporations have such a hold on what other people would call progress. It does show the bad side of the business world where they have the power to really change something and help people but due to what seems like selfish reasons refuse to do so.

Comments

Lukas Cubirka
Anurag
Andrea
Stephanie Hutcherson
Sarita Parto

Project 1: Cormack

Rational

The aim of this assignment was to find an issue with a certain brands packaging and solve the issue stated. The issue that I found was with the hard to open and use tin cans that products such as ‘Milo’ come in. The pressed on lid was a chore for small children and the reality of the situation is that more product is going to end up on the floor or bench then in the consumer’s cup. The packaging restricted the consumer to using a spoon to collect and transfer content from packaging to cup resulting in more opportunity for spilling.

I then set out to provide a solution to the problem of a pourable system that was kid friendly. While working with this concept I found that with a pourable system kids would find themselves over pouring and once again making a mess. So a restrictive pouring system became the focus of my project.

While completing this project I looked at hand comfort visual keys for successful communication and an easy opening and closing method for children. On top of that a design that is eye catching and compliments its personality and functionality as a marketable product. The solution became ‘CHOC MALT’ a fun and playful formed container designed around its unique feature, which is also used in such packaging as fuel stabilizers and similar products. The squeezed partition allows the consumer to completely turn the container upside-down without all the contents falling out.

The form of this product was creating to complement its intended use communicating a pouring action with its gentle curved sides. The slanted top was added to communicate the way in which the product is intended to be stored, as storing the product upside-down would result in ‘CHOC MALT’ not functioning properly as it is intended too.

Sealing this container also became a slight challenge due to its shape and purpose, so three layers of fastening tabs for a press on lid and the introduction of a heat reactive inner seal that fastens itself to the top of the bottle and the bottom of the cap when introduced to a heated environment. The .2-.5mm piece of sealer acts as a wedge for the tabs and acts as a means of tamperproof evidence for the consumer.

Overall ‘CHOC MALT’ is a reasonable and functional solution to the above problem statement that would be a successful product in the chocolate malt/milk market.

Disassembly assignment

http://rebeccawomersley.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/design-lifecycle-improving-product.html

Poster suggested improvements

-Problem can't be seen
-Doesn't look fun
-Can't see how it works properly
-Change wording on funnel description
-different open close -wider
                                 -less fidely
-looks like something you would want to refill
-nothing shows home use
-no indication of target market
-colour, fun
-really more for kids

An Inconvenient Truth

This documentary was incredibly interesting showing the influence of humans on global warming and in turn the planet. It covers all the details with factual information making it a nice educational source of study. The study done within the documentary shows the environmental impact over the last few decades, which reveals the 'inconvenient truth' about Co2 gas and its destructive powers.
Al Gore explains his research and findings on the topic of Co2 gas and its relation to the global warming issue.
The information and research that was shown was a large shock to me, showing a number of charts, graphs, photographs and many witness accounts. They showed a series of studies down in different parts of the globe such as south america or specifically Peru where large amounts of glaciers were just disappearing at an alarming rate. To prove it was a global problem the study also reveals the same problem happening in the northern hemisphere, an example of this would be Nepal.
The most shocking part of this video was not the fact that all this ice was melting but the incredibly alarming rate inwhich it was melting. This study was well argued and backed up cementing the view that this really is a global issue and not a serious of isolated issues, as it is happening all over the world.
This documentary is a wake up call for people watching and a means to raise awareness of this devastating problem. Providing ample amounts of research and evidence to the issue at hand, for people to believe that this is really happening is up to them. In saying that it is hard not to look outside and not think that there is something different in the world we live in now. This research is a great source of information of students or people across the globe to understand and learn how they are affecting the future. This will helpfully lead to the finding and implementing of a proper solution.
This has a key role in the study of industrial design showing that not only does everything you design have an environmental cost but also what that cost might end up doing to the globe.

Video Reflection: Cosmetics and Bottled Water

These videos were very interesting, by showing the impacts of items that are used in our everyday lives, such as cosmetics and bottled water. The information that the video provided seem to cover the underlying issues of these two products explaining that cosmetics use 12000 different chemicals in their products. A rather alarming amount of toxic chemicals that are being applied straight to the body and then washed off down your drains. When looking at this product it is a requirement to see the post purchase affects of the product, such as these chemicals reaching our waterways and harming our aquatic life. I found it surprising that i never thought of cosmetics in this light mostly as i didn't know how many chemicals are used in the making of them.

Bottled water has been really under the microscope for years now showing the false product that it really is, this has been shown throw marketing campaigns. Although the information shown about bottled water i had already found out from previous sources of information, it was still a confronting issue.

Video reflection: Recycling

After watching these short films, it is clear that industry in the past years have grown a great understanding of recycling. The techniques and technological advancements that are used these days in these processes are incredibly complex. I was most impressed with the optical separating equipment used when separating plastic and glass.

There is a clear understanding within the films that industries are slowly coming around to the realisation that materials won’t be around for ever if they keep using the same processes. Companies have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on producing more efficient techniques in processing of material and material recovery systems. In this way companies will be ‘future’ proofing them against the inevitable depletion of material within our planet.

Companies in these films seem to not only make products from recycled material but also create products that will benefit the environment into the future. This ‘greener’ thinking for industry is a much needed change for not only their image to the consumer and the world but also to the environment.

These changes are spurred on by constant advertisements and an environmentally informative society. Although these messages in are society can be confused with claims of ‘greener’ products the efforts of all industry should be to produce greener products and smarter material use.

Recycling in the long run first starts with the consumer of the product placing the product they have bought within a recycling friendly bin. In my opinion all suburbs should have a recycling system, if the recycled goods cant get to these companies what choice do they have but to buy raw material.