Reflections: Paul Bennett

I really, really enjoyed this video. Bennett provided much food for thought.

Particularly inspiring was his work with a hospital wanting to know what their patients experience was. Filming a dull plasterboard ceiling was definitely a response empathetic to the true patient experience, and would have been quite sobering for the client. it led to some lovely, creative solutions, such as installing a mirror onto wheelchairs so the patient can interact more fully with the nurse, and installing a white board wall in the room for family and friends to record personal messages.

the idea that people subconsciously design their own experiences on a daily basis was also very accurate - wrapping teabag strings around cuphandles, using a variety of writing implements and utensils as makeshift hair clips, assuming permission when disposing rubbish simply because a precedent has been set - these are all things i have done myself, and i daresay countless others have done before me.

what i gained from bennetts talk is that often the most innovative ideas are the most simple, the ones right under your nose. we need to design with empathy, observe our surroundings and see things afresh from anothers perspective. in bennetts words, "blinkered vision equals blinkered solutions."

Reflections: Yves Behar

according to behar, a designers work is never done.

he aims to bring values to design, and believes that these values create some semblance of a soul for the design, and by extension, the company the design is intended for.

with the jawbone headset, behar tried to streamline the technological aspects to make it as humanistic and beautiful as possible - for if something is not beautiful, it does not belong on your face.

i thought behar had some lovely ideas, about the role visual cues play in peoples interactions with design, such as in his work with new york condom dispensers, and the need to create from the inside out, but perhaps my favourite idea of his was to design a system of symmetrical drinking bottles that doubled as a stackable construction game, encouraging childrens enjoyment of a healthy new beverage.

behar believes that by shaping values in design and taking a more humanistic approach, we may  one day be able to shape and change the world - what a nice thought.

Powerhouse museum sketches

this was the lightway window and lighting system, designed by damian savio. during the day, it looks like any regular window. however, it uses OLEDs to absorb solar energy, so at night it serves a second function as a light source. i thought it was a practical design for sustainable living.

michael hirst chair, designed by clement meadmore.

this chair was in production from 1959 to 1965, with plastic coated steel as its primary material.

i found it difficult to choose just one item to sketch in the second exhibition, it ended up being a tie between this chair, another meadmore chair, and breuers wassily chair (ka

ndinsky is a personal hero).

i went with this one because meadmore is a designer i haven't encountered before, and i loved the curved lines of his designs. this

 chair reminded me of a teardrop suspended in mid air, its contours traced by lines of wire. it looked so inviting, the juxtaposition of the rigid wire w a rounded shape. 

for m

e, there was also a bit of nostalgia attached to it - at my parents house in tamworth, my mother has a hanging cane chair very similar in structure.

i have always liked marc newsons designs.

the embryo chair was designed in 1988 - the same year i was born. this design is twenty years old, yet it still looks fresh and futuristic. i suppose thats what earnt it its place in the inspired exhibition, its still an incredibly successful and relevant design. again, it was hard to choose just one thing, considering droog and gehry's wiggle chair were also on display.

this is the Vermitech worm farm. with both parents avid gardeners, and my dad enjoying the odd spot of fishing, there was always a worm farm around when i was growing up, so i guess this is a choice influenced in part by that.

however, what i really like about the vermitech system is that they build much larger models which use worms to treat human sewerage and waste from piggeries. vermitech have developed an ecologically friendly solution to the problem of waste disposal. imagine if this idea was embraced on a large scale, each city having its own worm sewerage treatment system? perhaps it may not be enough to treat all sewerage in major cities, but surely it would reduce the number of unpleasant surprises in the ocean, and deal with the problem of waste disposal, and there'd also be organic matter as a result that could be used on crops or as compost in parks and gardens.

Reflections: Ross Lovegrove

i really appreciated the way lovegrove incorporates the intuitiveness of impressionism into his work, particularly in his Ty Nant water bottle design - the rippled structure of the bottle based on a series of gestural strokes expressing the movement of water.

lovegrove expressed in his talk the darwinistic notion that "nature improves with greater purpose that which once existed". the concept of designing organically is set to take off in the future, considering the depletion of natural resources and the waste generated by man, hence his preoccupation with bio-polymers. 

of further interest was his design for a futuristic, solar powered car that functions also as a street lamp, inspired by an evocative image of a water droplet. though currently ridiculed/dismissed as a viable alternative to automobiles by car manufacturers, perhaps this truly is a vision of the future - sustainable, practical, and beneficial in the manner it would forcibly slow the pace of city life, making people take time and space to breathe.

what i gained the most from watching this video, however, was the evident passion of the man himself, the emotion in his voice when describing certain forms, the childlike fascination with dusty dinosaur bones in a natural museum. he is wholly consumed by his work, by his love of good design. designing, to lovegrove, is almost a physical need to express his ideas through moulding intelligent forms, rather than simply a means of income. he wants to create something of worth. furthermore, when he filmed the inside of his studio at 3am in the morning, there was still a designer there, working away. successful design takes dedication as well as skill. to design is to strive to emulate nature - to paraphrase lovegrove, improving what currently exists with greater purpose.

Reflections: David Kelley, Human centred Design

This talk given by David Kelley detailed the shift from a focus predominantly on 3D forms and prototypes, to one on human centredness, imparting behaviours and personality into product design. With the main objective now to convey the range of human emotion, promote empathy and communicate exactly HOW the design should be used, internal video production groups formed to create experience prototypes to assist in the design process.

A range of rather interesting ideas were explored, from a customised shopping experience at Prada to an intelligent work cubicle and the Spyfish, a device that allows you to virtually scuba dive without needing to get your toes wet. 

However, the designs that really piqued my interest were those that conveyed how beauty, human interaction and functionality can co exist and complement each other, in particular

the Greenwich Watercycle Pavillion in London, which filters run off through a series of fountains and waterfalls that promote a sense of peacefulness, the glass panels with frosted text rotating so passers by can glimpse the recycling plant concealed behind. This design is not only physically beautiful, which provokes a psychological, emotional response, but also instils a sense of wellbeing, and of having done something good for the community - by reusing and recycling run off that would otherwise go to waste and wind up in the streets, this design promotes ecological sustainability, a hot topic globally, in the loveliest of ways.

As an industrial designer, I could not wish for more - to create something beautiful, functional, sustainable and ultimately of great benefit for a number of reasons.

I was also quite enamoured with the vine like system of virtual emotion running like a tube network up the walls of a London museum, a literal train of thought. this design is really the epitome of human centredness, intelligent and customised to reflect exactly the moods and mindsets of those using the facility at the given time. it was also an object of great beauty, the slithering rays of light, the sparks and ideas, juxtaposed against the dreamlike quality of the rich dark blue backdrop. i could while away many hours in such an aesthetically pleasing, thought provoking space. Customised technology that promotes interaction, drawing in the user, can only possibly be a good thing for the design world.

Listening to david kelleys thoughts on designing for behaviours and personality was thoroughly enjoyable, and for me reinforced the idea that design is not limited to conventional objects, that it can both stir and convey a range of emotion, that successful design promotes a dialogue between itself and the user.

Good Design: The 4 in 1 Pharmacy Tool

4 IN 1 PHARMACY TOOL

Pharmadesign Inc for Ortho-McNeil Jannsen Pharmaceutical Services

Bronze Medal, IDEA Design Awards 2008

The 4 in 1 pharmacy tool is a versatile implement to assist in the performance of the monotonous, mundane, and necessary tasks pharmacists are required to complete on a daily basis. The tool streamlines the process of filling and refilling patient prescriptions; it features tweezers and a spatula for the hygenic handling and removal of pills, and allows for the safe breaking of seals and the removal of cotton wool from bottles, thus speeding up the counting and distribution process.

The ergonomic design fits comfortably into the hand, allowing for ease of use, while the plastic material used provides flexibility (allowing the implement to withstand the knocks that are the natural result of frequent usage), and economic viability, making a suitable tool for use on an everyday basis. The use of a purple/violet hue is appropriate given the colours psychological connotations of calm, good judgement and ritual, elements required in the task at hand.

VISUAL DESIGN ANALYSIS:

BALANCE: symmetrical, lending a sense of proportionality and balance

FORM: ergonomic - rounded, oblong section provides a comfortable grip when the spatula is in use, and also wen the tweezers at the opposite end are in use

FORM: versatility - the pointed tip of the spatula allows for precision in a variety of areas - the handling of pills, the piercing of seals, and the hook function in the retrieval of cotton wool from bottles

FORM: flat edged tweezers allow for controlled manipulation of a variety of pill shapes and sizes

COLOUR: violet, which imparts calm in a potentially frustrating, monotonous situation

TEXTURE: smooth, clinical plastic, appropriate for a pharmaceutical implement

LINKS:

http://www.idsa.org/IDEA_Awards/gallery/2008/award_details.asp?ID=652

Business Week

Good Design: The 4 in 1 Pharmacy Tool

woman in rose

shape of a scent