Monday 26 September 2011

What is Design

Bill Moggridge talks about what design is in general ranging from architecture to graphic design to fashion to interaction design and interior design. He talks about some of the processes and what is changing in design. Moggridge demonstrates how without bad design we wouldn’t be able to identify what a good design it. Examples of good and bad designs are shown as the video demonstrates how bad designers do not understand the design process. The key factors in the design process are understanding people and prototyping.
Understanding people: design starts with the people part of the design then come towards the solution for business and technology from a people pint of view to get good innovation. It is important to design for other people and not for one’s self.
>> Ways to find out the needs and wants of people include: 
-          Learn -analysing information that you have collected
-          Observational
-          Asking –engaging people
-          Try -experiment, build it yourself
>> Prototyping can be a sketch, an enactment etc
-          Inspire
-          Evolve
-          Validate
Moggridge talks about the way design has been changing also know as expanding contexts which include individual people, the built environment and the world that surrounds us all together. Designers used to be concerned with designing things and actual products, however, there has been a change in the context which has expanded to looking at people in a whole-istic way- thinking about health and wellbeing.  

Sunday 11 September 2011

Rationale

The product I have designed is a letter opener aimed for an office environment. Through it’s sleek and shiny polished aluminum look this product represents a piece of art. It is nice to feel, therapeutic and relaxing to use and beautiful to look at as well as practicality. This letter opener is luxury at your hands enhanced though the organic shape and polished aluminum shine.

This letter opener takes an organic form which was inspired by the many different organic forms within nature. After researching many letter openers and seeing the typical shape they all took I decided to change that shape giving it an organic curvature. With a sharp point and perfect curve this product provides comfort and ease when used. The perfectly curved handle allows the product to be held in several different ways depending on what the user find more comfortable. The letter opener is designed bulky from the handle, allowing it to fall perfectly into your hands, and narrows down toward the end giving it a sharp and smooth tip.

Aside from practicality these features allow the letter opener to become a sculpture at your desk adding an element of beauty and luxury.  This letter opener takes an organic form which was inspired by the many different organic forms within nature. After researching many letter openers and seeing the typical shape they all took I decided to change that shape giving it an organic curvature. This enhances the beauty and creates a product pleasurable to look at, adding a more enjoyable and classical dimension to everyday jobs. 

Luxury at your hands

Letter Opener

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