EXHIBITION TEXT
This alarm was created with the purpose of understanding the fundamentals of industrial design. This concept was explored with Murph and with his help this product was created. This alarm was also fundamentally inspired by personal experience which was explored due to Murph's guiding. This project emphasizes the creativity and crafting skills that can be develop through industrial design. It is a simple idea that was further developed to fit into the standards of a more specific goal. It's created to highlight visually appealing aspects as well as achieving the certain utility it is required to do. The audience this is directed to are specifically dog owners from younger generations due to modernized concept. The final piece was created mainly from cardboard and clay with the help of clear tape and hot glue along with other tools used to enhance detail such as paint.
INSPIRATION
As we worked with exploring our own mind I was able to become inspired by other sources linked to my own experiences. One of the other inspirations for this project were alarm clocks and their modernization. As I came to the conclusion I wanted to focus on an alarm I began to explore different ways alarms have been created to fit certain criteria. I came to be inspired by these tiny cartoon like alarms that implied figures and certain emotions to the object giving it a personality. I was inspired by the idea of giving an object a "personality" to allow the owner to become attached to it despite its actual utility which further led me to evolve my own piece.
PLANNING
First thing we began to explore were empathy maps. These emphaty maps explored 4 aspects of the project would focus on for its audience, which include "Think, Feel, Hear, & See" these different aspects of the empathy map were filled in to describe what we noticed based our own experience on the experience of having a pet. By being able to come up with different ideas under these categories we could utilize this knowledge and apply it to our finalized product. This was an important part of the process as we began to explore our ideas and who our audience would become.
empathy maps
The next thing we began working on with were the mind maps. These mind maps were maps where we wrote down our ideas and possible solutions based upon certain problems we observed through our emphaty maps these were edited by peers and family members to involve different perspectives onto the finalized piece and throughout the process. These mind maps are often messy and involve a lot of observatory and creative skills as we explore our observation and come with different ways we could create something based off these explorations. During class a peer added onto it as part fo the exercise with Murph.
mind maps
Once I had developed ideas of what to create I began to focus on the preliminary sketches. These sketches were in depth visuals of what it is we wanted to create and what these would be utilized for these came to be inspired by our mind maps. I came up with a total of 5 preliminary sketches with different ideas. The first idea I had was the dog alarm which was drawn in a whiteboard during class. After this we all developed different sketches outside of class with different ideas. However as I tried to develop different ideas I was still more focused on the first idea being a dog alarm. From the beginning I was more leading towards a target audience of busy owners as its is an experience I was more familiarized with. And I was fond of the concept of incorporating a personality within an object which would be developed from a pre-existing object. This being said once I chose my final and official sketch I began the process of the model.
preliminary sketches
DOG ALARM:
the dog alarm was the first sketch I came up with during class with Murph. This alarm serves as an alarm and a dispenser as well, it is focused on helping busy owners who are not able to give their pet the attention they require sometimes. It would come along with a mobile app and this would be focused for the younger generations. There would be certain controls on the device that would allow the owner to manipulate the device such as the volume, lighting, timer, dispenser etc. all of these implementations would allow the device to reach a wider range of audience within the target audience as it could be utilized for multiple reasons. this alarm would start barking to notify the owner of the dogs attention and a notification would pop up in their mobile device. They could manage the products production through their mobile device for example the dispenser, this would be located in the bottom in case it were to be hung and in the back in case it were to be placed in a shelf per say. The owner could control when the dispenser would dispense a treat perhaps and it would do that at a certain time from wherever the owner is at. All of these aspects of the product would serve for a specific purpose and would fit in the image of a dog.
the dog alarm was the first sketch I came up with during class with Murph. This alarm serves as an alarm and a dispenser as well, it is focused on helping busy owners who are not able to give their pet the attention they require sometimes. It would come along with a mobile app and this would be focused for the younger generations. There would be certain controls on the device that would allow the owner to manipulate the device such as the volume, lighting, timer, dispenser etc. all of these implementations would allow the device to reach a wider range of audience within the target audience as it could be utilized for multiple reasons. this alarm would start barking to notify the owner of the dogs attention and a notification would pop up in their mobile device. They could manage the products production through their mobile device for example the dispenser, this would be located in the bottom in case it were to be hung and in the back in case it were to be placed in a shelf per say. The owner could control when the dispenser would dispense a treat perhaps and it would do that at a certain time from wherever the owner is at. All of these aspects of the product would serve for a specific purpose and would fit in the image of a dog.
PET FRIEND:
this idea is focused on the goal to accompany lonely pets, it was created though the observation of lonely dogs and busy owners by having your dog be acoompnoied by something tah would not case more work for you thisobjectw would be created ti achieve the suatibality fo a friend for your pet while making your pet happy and not lonely. "GROWS TOO QUICKLY" BED:
this bed was made through the obesertaio fo quick growing dogs an deter among of moe sane to all the product. if one were able to buy a singular product for the rest of their growth hat could be more ebenficila for certain people allowing the dog to never ru out of space while allowing the owner to never ru out of money. |
PET ALARM/COMPARTMENT 2.0:
this alar was basically sth sam eocnept as the first alamr with a different design . blink the firstalmrs hi slam was more traditional and was a little more simple with less 3D incorporations. TRAINING MASK:
this product was based off un obedient dogs and wash one could rain them without the need of an instructor the would take up time and money. it would be attached to the dog until they became disciplined and it is to limit the amount of destruction the dog is capable of doing while teaching the dog what's right and wrong though disciplinary training. |
PROCESS
first model
To come with my final model I first had to develop a "rough draft" to experiment with the aspects of my piece and develop the finalized object. Since it was a simple model I decided to make it out of paper alone and include the details with some marker. I wanted to have a cylinder base which is why I came up with the dimensions of a circle first which were drawn onto traced from a cup I then created the "walls" of the base by cutting a large rectangle that would go around the circle base. once I had this I stapled it together and moved onto my top part which would be the dogs head. For this I simply took the remains of my paper and made a cone like shape that would be the size of the cylinder base. after I had the skeleton of my piece I just began to add some details that needed to be highlighted. I drew on the facial features and added some personality to it. I then went ahead to add al the technical details which included the screen/ dispensers/ buttons/ code. Along with the model fo the alarm clock/dispenser I went ahed and illustrated what the mobile application for this would function like in a separate piece of paper. I also made a remote control on the side to replace the mobile app if it weren't accessible for others without phones.
storyboard
the storyboard was a small thing we did in class after presenting our rough models to the class and to Murph. These storyboards helped us visualize situations and allowed us to connect with our own situations as we went over what we did/ said and how and why this wold be useful. Through this exercise we were able to practice our communicating skills and self reflected on our progress as we went through what we said and did in class.
final model
to begin the final model I had to think of what certain material I wanted to use to represent the real life product. I knew I wanted something of soft material as I would want the product to be a safe object if hung around somewhere considering its a self dispenser the would dispendse from the bottom. This would also allow more safety for itself as it would be harder to destroy by dogs. A silicon material would be used in the outer part surrounding a metal like material composing the actual object. To represent this I would utilize cardboard and soft clay. The soft fluffy clay would be able to represent the silicone and the cardboard since its a much thicker and tough material would represent the metal.
To begin creating the object I traced a circle onto a piece of cardboard from a cup, I then took the dimensions of this circle to create the walls of my piece like I did with my rough model. After doing this I took some tape and secured everything together. I moved on into creating the outer layer of my object with the soft clay. Since the clay was very hard to stretch without breaking I had to kneed it into a circle first and then roll it out into a thinner flat piece with a cup. I took the dimension so the walls of my object and cut them into the clay. Once I had this I took the clay and wrapped it around the cardboard base. After completing this I went on to create the top part of my object as I did with my rough piece. Unlike my rough piece with a cone top the top part would be composed as the bottom part with a smaller circular measurement, this would allow for more space and better stability. I proceeded to repeat the process of the bottom part onto the first part with dimensions that would fit snuggly into the bottom part allowing it to secure firmly without any clay. I personally wanted to differentiate the top and bottom and create a form of proportion with a smaller head and larger body. and I would do that by switching the material use from top to bottom.
After completing this I began to mold the smaller details of the object with clay that would be attached onto it. I molded the ears along wit the tail, hands, and handle once everything was dry I began to paint the object and draw on some details just like the rough draft. Unlike the initial model this model had a few additional and subtraction changes. One of the bigger changes was the subtraction of the remote control. As I thought more about my purpose I knew I had one goal audience and creating these extra pieces for and uninterested audience would be unnecessary which is why I decided to simply stick with the mobile app as it is a product directed to younger people. Along with that other additional changes were made such as the placement of the handle at the top, the control buttons within the piece, the dispenser placement, the puppy hands, etc.
To begin creating the object I traced a circle onto a piece of cardboard from a cup, I then took the dimensions of this circle to create the walls of my piece like I did with my rough model. After doing this I took some tape and secured everything together. I moved on into creating the outer layer of my object with the soft clay. Since the clay was very hard to stretch without breaking I had to kneed it into a circle first and then roll it out into a thinner flat piece with a cup. I took the dimension so the walls of my object and cut them into the clay. Once I had this I took the clay and wrapped it around the cardboard base. After completing this I went on to create the top part of my object as I did with my rough piece. Unlike my rough piece with a cone top the top part would be composed as the bottom part with a smaller circular measurement, this would allow for more space and better stability. I proceeded to repeat the process of the bottom part onto the first part with dimensions that would fit snuggly into the bottom part allowing it to secure firmly without any clay. I personally wanted to differentiate the top and bottom and create a form of proportion with a smaller head and larger body. and I would do that by switching the material use from top to bottom.
After completing this I began to mold the smaller details of the object with clay that would be attached onto it. I molded the ears along wit the tail, hands, and handle once everything was dry I began to paint the object and draw on some details just like the rough draft. Unlike the initial model this model had a few additional and subtraction changes. One of the bigger changes was the subtraction of the remote control. As I thought more about my purpose I knew I had one goal audience and creating these extra pieces for and uninterested audience would be unnecessary which is why I decided to simply stick with the mobile app as it is a product directed to younger people. Along with that other additional changes were made such as the placement of the handle at the top, the control buttons within the piece, the dispenser placement, the puppy hands, etc.
EXPERIMENTATION
experimentation was largely done through the models in the process. In my first model I really got to experiment what aspects of the piece should and shouldn't be incorporated onto the final piece, as I was able to visually imagine the final piece. I noticed that the cone like top part of the head didn't allow much space inside the compartment area which would limit how much utility it would actually hold which is why I switched to a more cylinder like shape.
Once I began using the clay for my model I wanted to make it simply out of clay but as I began the process of this I noticed it was very hard to achieve strong piece since the clay was really soft and had no form of support. In order to fix this I had to create a skeleton that the piece would be surrounded by with clay which led me to use cardboard as my support. Through this I was also able to experiment with the application of the clay, as I tried to simply stretch it and place it by patched pieces like traditional clay I noticed that it looked tacky and wast uniform throughout which is why I played around with the clay and figured rolling it out would allow it to technically and visually become a better application.
As I created my base as well I had to play around with the height, I had come up with a certain height but I realized the proportions of the base dimension with the height were off which led me to minimize the height allowing more proportional balance. Once I basically had all my clay and skeleton done and had to begin painting I experimented with the colors and textures I could apply and as I tried to place shades and highlight I noticed I didn't like the look which led me to choose a more vibrant and clean approach, making me choose one singular color for her entire base.
As I created my base as well I had to play around with the height, I had come up with a certain height but I realized the proportions of the base dimension with the height were off which led me to minimize the height allowing more proportional balance. Once I basically had all my clay and skeleton done and had to begin painting I experimented with the colors and textures I could apply and as I tried to place shades and highlight I noticed I didn't like the look which led me to choose a more vibrant and clean approach, making me choose one singular color for her entire base.
At first all the facial expressions would be made up of clay however as they dried out and as I began to apply this I noticed they looked ugly and I was not feeling the overall look which led me to just draw on the features. However other features such as the tail and paws were still applied with clay, the paws were also an addition to the final piece as I wanted to incorporate a utility that would be able to hang the piece up while giving it personality. this being said I also had to experiment with the applications of these additional pieces, at first I thought it would just stick onto the clay by itself however this did not occur which meant I had to take some hot glue gun to apply these on.
some additional things I played around with were the handle of the top part which was originally a leash but was broken down and thus became the handle. As well as the remote control which was part of the piece initially but was taken out in the end due to its unconventional functions towards the target audience. Something related to this as well were the buttons in the bottom part of the object that could be controlled manually however I decided to switch this and minimize the amount of buttons to allow a more simplistic style.
some additional things I played around with were the handle of the top part which was originally a leash but was broken down and thus became the handle. As well as the remote control which was part of the piece initially but was taken out in the end due to its unconventional functions towards the target audience. Something related to this as well were the buttons in the bottom part of the object that could be controlled manually however I decided to switch this and minimize the amount of buttons to allow a more simplistic style.
CRITIQUE
similarities:
the similarities between both the inspirations and my final piece is the incorporation of personality in an object. This can be seen as additional features to an otherwise tractional object are added to create the illusion of emotions such as the addition of expression and body features. The idea of modernizing a pre-exisiting piece is also seen within both ideas as my piece incorporates it as the dimply as well as the inspiration. There is also an incorporation of Digital management within both pieces allowing an even deeper sense of modernization.
differences:
one clear different is that my product also serves as a compartment/dispenser which my inspiration doesn't do, my product is also directed towards the target audience of young pet owners whereas the inspiration is more likely just focused on any group within the younger generations. Another thing that differentiates the both is that my product also comes along a mobile app to manipulate it and overall just has more functions that my inspiration would not be capable of doing.
the similarities between both the inspirations and my final piece is the incorporation of personality in an object. This can be seen as additional features to an otherwise tractional object are added to create the illusion of emotions such as the addition of expression and body features. The idea of modernizing a pre-exisiting piece is also seen within both ideas as my piece incorporates it as the dimply as well as the inspiration. There is also an incorporation of Digital management within both pieces allowing an even deeper sense of modernization.
differences:
one clear different is that my product also serves as a compartment/dispenser which my inspiration doesn't do, my product is also directed towards the target audience of young pet owners whereas the inspiration is more likely just focused on any group within the younger generations. Another thing that differentiates the both is that my product also comes along a mobile app to manipulate it and overall just has more functions that my inspiration would not be capable of doing.
REFLECTION
I enjoyed the process of this project along with the planning. One of the things that was different from previous projects was the process of planning. I was able to go through certain steps while planning which gave me a different aspect on how planning works and the importance of understanding your piece and its purpose. Through this work I was able to experiment with the concepts and techniques industrial designers work with which in the end interested me into experimenting with this concept in further projects. Overall I feel like my final piece could have been more visually appealing along with some of the technical concepts, however I feel like in general it was a decent product. I am not a really clean person throughout my process and i often improvise throughout the process which is why my products sometimes don't end up looking as clean as they could be.
One of the things I wish I could have been more careful with was the clay and how it meshed together, because I didn't know how to seamlessly connect the clay with each other it was very obvious and it just didn't look as clean as it could be this also goes for the tape I utilized for my connections. I also wish I would have been able to cut through the piece to represent the opening dispenser.
Another thing that I feel like could have represented a certain utility better was adding a different material to the digital screen, in my final model I only painted the digital screen on with paint but I feel like to best represent the screen perhaps I could have added plastic wrap or a piece of glass, along with that for the buttons that were present I could have created a more three dimensional piece that would pop out of the piece and wouldn't just be flat on the object. There's a lot more though put into a work to be considered complete and able to be put out to the public however as I got to experiment the fundamentals of industrial design I got to explore my own ideas along with others and how the perspective of each individual can affect the representation of a solution.
screen/buttons:
CONNECTION TO ACT
1)Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
the cause effect relationship can be see as the main concept of personality is implied in both works, through the implementation of emotion and a connection to the real world.
2)what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
the point of view Murph holds on the topic I would assume is passionate as he is an industrial designer himself and he holds the belief any idea is a good idea. Although some ideas might be better and more effective than others he strongly believes any idea comes from something making it a good idea.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration.
cultures, ideas, people, beliefs can all be seen through the prioritization an object holds. peoples perspectives on certain topics are implied within their own piece and their perspectives grow from these different categories.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
the central idea was a product for "busy owners" and a younger generation this can be analyzed as the utility of the piece was planned to fit into the problem of a busy owner and the implementation of emotion can be reflective of the target audience of a younger generation.
5)What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have come to the conclusion that many utilities can be implied onto on singular object allowing it to fit into a wider range of categories/solutions to a problem. By having these different implementations of an object one is able to control who it is focused on and how it could help solve certain solutions.
the cause effect relationship can be see as the main concept of personality is implied in both works, through the implementation of emotion and a connection to the real world.
2)what is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
the point of view Murph holds on the topic I would assume is passionate as he is an industrial designer himself and he holds the belief any idea is a good idea. Although some ideas might be better and more effective than others he strongly believes any idea comes from something making it a good idea.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration.
cultures, ideas, people, beliefs can all be seen through the prioritization an object holds. peoples perspectives on certain topics are implied within their own piece and their perspectives grow from these different categories.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
the central idea was a product for "busy owners" and a younger generation this can be analyzed as the utility of the piece was planned to fit into the problem of a busy owner and the implementation of emotion can be reflective of the target audience of a younger generation.
5)What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I have come to the conclusion that many utilities can be implied onto on singular object allowing it to fit into a wider range of categories/solutions to a problem. By having these different implementations of an object one is able to control who it is focused on and how it could help solve certain solutions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- “19.99US $ 30% Off: Youpin Xiaomi Cute Expression Pixel Alarm Clock Multi Function Digital Led Voice Controlled Light Bedside Thermometer Clock Home: Smart Remote Control: - Aliexpress.” Aliexpress.com, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001795218454.html.
- “Alarm Clock Sound Abs Plastic Cute Silent Funny Modern Unique Green.” HomeRises.com, https://www.homerises.com/alarm-clock-sound-abs-plastic-cute-silent-funny-modern-unique-green-p-hois52178_4625.html.
- Amazon.com: Liuhyun Alarm Clocks Children Cute Alarm Clock ... https://www.amazon.com/Liuhyun-Children-Creative-Classroom-Decoration/dp/B08JGHGSW1.