Video: What is design?

In the video what is design, Bill Moggridge explains the definition of design. He defines design as anything altered by man, and thus alludes to how broad design really is. There is no one category of design, but rather, it design itself branches out to reach the fashion industry, interior shapes and even engineering. From architecture, to industrial design, to interior design, Moggridge really covers many interesting aspects.
In the first part of this video, the first lady talks about the education of students in design. She talks about how some children are “cut off” from America’s rich cultural life. She wants to open up new incentives for younger people to embrace the culture of design that surrounds them in their everyday life. Also she talks about achieving this through workshops and mentoring sessions like the one she gave her speech at to give direction to those interested and shape dreams.
There are good and bad designs in our world and Moggridge showed a few examples of good designs by the award winning designer Jane Thompson, the U.S. Design Research Company and the Green Building Council. He also noted noteworthy designs produced by the Bauhaus and the architectural successes by Frank Geary.
Bad designs are evident when there are apparent problems between interaction design and technological design, and the showcase example is a Japanese design organisation attempt to allow the function of mobile phones to purchase drinks from vending-machine, which proved to be very inconvenient to any users.
Successful designs should harness the subconscious mind; remember not to design for one; make prototypes and test things; design to understand people; design in contexts of personal, social and environmental matters.
Moggridge also talks about three expanding contexts relating to design. This would be the Personal, Social and Environmental aspects, each a crucial part of any designers mentality. Personal design concentrates on the consumer themselves. Social refers to the design for impact, to change something for improvement. Environmental looks at how the materials the object is made up of affects our world.

Peer comment

http://sunning3342435.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1.html?showComment=1316084128653#c1953150209471745080

http://renzihan.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-hand-tool.html?showComment=1316085346765#c2446031968059272615

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=900132149793940262&postID=8449409891561329162&page=1&token=1316086875794&isPopup=true

http://lizhaozhao3329407.blogspot.com/2011/09/projectone-experience-enrichment.html
The shape of the handle is quite different from normal scissors we can see in the market. It is very sample and unique. One thing need to be worried is will we use this scissors comfortably? And it is may not good to place it at anywhere with the blades split. It could be a problem for safety.

http://lovedbyee.blogspot.com/2011/09/hero-shot.html
I like the shape looks like a tear or a drop of water. The shape just follows the shape of the blade. One thing i think need to be improved might be the consider of ergonomics of the handle. I donot think it will be easy for users to use it to cut fruit because the tail is too thin and too small. In addition, the color of this modle makes it donot looks like a real product, it is better to consider the color of the appearance to make it more suitable for market.

Design Project 1

Rationale

This redesign utility knife is a retractable blade knife with replaceable utility blade. In this redesign knife, I changed the normal shape which is straight and flat to a round solid shape. In this way, I tried to redesign a modern knife with comfortable handle and extreme appearance. Utility knife is a hand tool commonly used in workshops and construct conditions. People like professional workers and designers who always use knife for cutting cardboard or other packing materials could feel hurt after long time holding. Thus, I decide to design a shape of knife that can fit hand quite well and feel easier to handle and use. For the shape of this knife, there is a horn head than can form a triangle shape with the blade, and the top line follows the line of blade. Therefore, it is clear for users to know which the sharp side of the blade is. For the handle part of this knife, the shape is designed ergonomically. The curve follows the hand shape when holding it. The round tail is exactly filling the palm so that the users could feel pleasure holding it. Furthermore, the incurvature part in the middle allows users to put their thumbs or middle fingers on in order to use human mechanics reasonably. Refer to the appearance; it might be the most character factor in this design. The knife looks like a bird when the blade push out. The whole view of this knife might be glossy formation of smooth and evasive. However, there are four cut lines on the back surface. The combination of smooth and sharp makes it modern and special so that it can attract consumer and may be more pleasure for them to buy one. In addition, there is a blank space inside the knife for keeping extra blades. The replicable of blades and the way of store the blade would be another pleasure reason for this knife. Comparing this knife to the normal one, it is easier and more comfortable to handle and cut. And the particular appearance is more modern and fashion. Nowadays, consumers are not only satisfied with the function but also individuality. This new knife satisfies the need of modern designers or young people who require personal character and be differ from others. If this product put into market, it would be made of die-cast aluminum. It will be firm and light. And there could be series of metallic colors like silver, metallic green, purple and blue so that consumers could choose their preferred color and show their own characters.