Video reflection:an inconvenient truth

An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate made in the film, he has given more than a thousand times.
One important point in this film is awareness. Through the boiling frog example, Al Gore playfully explains how humanity can easily be oblivious to dangers around us due to a limited perspective. In this playful illustration,the cartoon frog sits in a container of water which is
slowly heating up. Eventually the water is boiling, but the frog dies before it realized the danger. On the other hand, if the frog were to be in comfortable water, then jump into dangerously hot water, the frog would realize the danger and jump out. Gore relates this to our perspective of the gradually declining state of our environment. If we could step back and gain a broader perspective by looking at research and records of the past, we can see a clearer picture of humanity’s effect on nature.
Al Gore's concerns about our planet undoubtedly raised an immediate action from different parts of the world. World leaders as well as concern citizens should continue the act of humbleness towards our planet even from a simple use of recycling bins to promotion of paper bags instead of plastics.
This is a suitable film for designers, because it addresses the important issue of environmental responsibility. Actually,industrial designers would be leaders in bringing nature back into harmony by prioritizing sustainability in their design. Al Gore’s film brings up several important issues, and designers need to be aware of their impact on the earth. Moreover, industrial designers should continue to gain knowledge on environmental issues and take an active role in improving the relationship between humanity and the rest of nature.

project 2

Peer Comments

Kirstie Cocoliost

http://kirstiecocokiost.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcycling-lamps.html#comments

Luber Han

http://lubar-han.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-upcycling-utility.html#comment-form

Sun Ning

http://sunning3342435.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-light.html#comments

Daniel Hjlim

http://danielhjkim.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-2-upcycling.html#comments

Li Zhaozhao

http://lizhaozhao3329407.blogspot.com/2011/10/light.html#comments

Rationale
Assignment 2 for studio 1 is to make a lamp which can be flat packed and be made of JCdecaux advertisement posters. It is a big challenge because there are lot lamps designs already exist and the material is decided with no chosen. For the material, JCdecaux poster is a special paper. It is stronger than normal paper but still can be fold and fall able. So to make a lamp by this poster, two main ways to do with this material is folding and cutting. In my design, I choose to focus on working out a lamp with folding fan shape. I choose to use this shape because fan shape is orderly and simple. It can show a tidy and elegant sense. At the beginning I tried to make a continue line of fan shape without break. The problem with this design is it is hard to control the shape and connection to each other. Then I tried to discover a way to let the fan shape have a tidy shape and can be connected to each other. So I decided to make a few fan shapes from one circle and cut small notches to let them can be connected. For the final design, the lamp is decided to be a hanging one because it forms a round shape which can be used as a lamp-chimney. The tail of the lamp is a little bit upward which makes the whole form wont be fall down straightly. Moreover, the connection makes the lamp has a few hollow outs so there can be a few shadow formed on the wall when the light on. I think the overview of this lamp is good especially with the shadows. While I think the construction of connection could be improved to make the lamp more firms.

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.

Vido:reflection-the story of stuff

The story of stuff is an excellent film about the effects of products on the environment and the people. It is extremely interesting to know the steps that go into ever product from conception to disposal. She puts the ideas into simple, easy to understand language and visual imagery. And the main focus of the film is to inform about the things most people don’t know about their products of to put it into perspective for them.

 The Story of Stuff explores consumerism and the consequences it is having on our lives, our planet and our future. It looks at the production cycle of products that are: Extraction -Production - Distribution - Consumption - Disposal

Leonard claims that “Extraction is a fancy word for natural resource exploitation, which is a fancy word for trashing the planet” Basically this is chopping up trees, destroying mountains to extract materials. Sending the message that we need to change the world we live in, in order to sustain our current lifestyles. Production is the manufacturing of goods, this stage in the system puts toxics in and toxics out. Leonard claims that “We don’t know the full health impact of the synergetic chemicals we put into our everyday products and our bodies”, for example BFRS which are Brominated Flame Retardants are a neuron toxin (toxic for the brain) which we actually cover (some) pillows in and then sleep on every night. Distribution is where goods get shipped to “big buy marks” and the goal is to keep the prices down, keep the people buying and keep the inventory moving. Consumption is the next stage in the cycle. Americans are known as a nation of consumers, Americans consume only 1% of the products that are produced which means that 99% of all products are trashed within the first 6 months of its manufacture advertising is the main reason for this consumption and waste in America and cannot continue.

The Story of Stuff reveals the ugly nature of consumer products and as an aspiring Industrial Designer; I believe that we all need to be aware these consequences in the design, manufacture and purchasing of consumer products

Sketches