broken decks

so i stayed up super late last night working on my design project. we were told to choose an object we could hold in our hands. i decided to do a truck off of a skateboard. the first assignment was to do about 60 different sketches . then after the day i missed casue i  was sick, we had another 80 to do. so i was up last night cutting  and pasting... i hate arts and crafts... :/ i havent been able t oget m yscanner to work yet so i am kinda behind in getting it all together but once i do i can up load a couple images to this blogg to show it off. For now i  can just put up a picture of a truck! :) cant wait to get into photoshop to get some of this done.

Desined out... to many!!

i am getting overwhelmed!!! I have done over 60 different concepts for my object, a skateboard truck, toward our final project. Now i have just been informed we get to do another 80! yeah! :( uhg i don't completely understand the assignment due to skipping class cause of a fever. well here goes nothin, gotta get it done :)

Designing some junk, yeah its the shhhh.h..

So i got the urge yesterday to get a tattoo after being told by our instructor, jeremy Shellhorn, that we needed to get some indian ink for class today. When purchasing the ink some girl commented that the ink was what people used to give home made tattoos. so well.. i got one!! :) tell me what you think abotu the "design"

Broken frames, broken hearts...

well now this blog is going to be in response to the crazy vid we saw last class that came straight out of the 90s. i have to admit i loved it :) the crazy "semi" hip hair styles and "cool" clothing designs. any way there were a couple ideas i really gleaned from the video that i hope to put into my own designing process. So the design company made it a point to show that within the design process there is no hierarchy of who is "over" who. Seniority doesn't come from time spent in the company, its based off of ideas. if someone brings good ideas to the table and continues to do so time and again then they will be recognized for their ability and given the attention they earn. Also i found how when first looking at an object it needs to be decided what are the key ideas the old design would need to become better. in the case of a shopping cart like they did the team decided safety and security were the prime ideas the needed to keep in mind when designing the cart.

     The team also talked about the "deep dive." it was described as "controlled ciaos." total emersion in the problem, being open to new and inventive ideas.By staying open individuals are able to voice the craziest of ideas which in turn lead to newer more practical ideas. One thing to keep in mind is that its very long hours to do the whole process, but it seemed like a very fun work environment. One where i would like to work :)


So our assignment for this week was to take a bad design, i my case a stupid hook that doesnt hold very well and is awkward to hang things on, and redesign it to make it more pleasing to look at and use. first i identified a couple major problems by asking a few different people what they thought was wrong with it. I did this to identify with my audience and figure out what the "consumer" wants to see. A few common things about the hook were:

-Kinda boring, a plain white design that is dull to look at
-Awkwardly shaped, "looks like a mouse trap."
-"almost to basic." looks simplistic but its very dull and boring
-A hook that is shaped awkward, hard to hang things on if its bent out. "you almost have to bend the object your self to ge it to work"
-Flimsy plastic, no back, the sticky is not sticky enough. ( that could pose a problem, i dont know how to do that)
- No backing for it, its just plastic to sticky to wall.

So here are a few things i saw majorly wrong with this product in action
Here is the result of the hook holding up one of my paintings. it sits away from the wall and kinda makes it look like the painting is about to fall on you

 

Then the hook that is a bit odd, why would you need the hook to swivel up and down? make the picture harder to get off the wall

Then pulling the sticky off it snapped in my hand, eventually it came off but the whole tab needs to be redesigned. 

  

the ultimate result...

The army makes bad designs....

so today is the first day the rotc program at KU is supposed to "dress up" in our ACUs. I walked out of hashinger my dorm, and was met with so many stares. Hash, as we hashies like to call it, is the artsy dorm with a whole lot of "alternative" individuals. so needless to say i was the odd man out. but the uniform gave me a good idea for a blog. the army sucks at designing clothing. this uniform is first of all hot! its not breathable at all, so at 4 am when your up about to start a ruck march your sweating already. The uniform uses Velcro as a major part of it's design. every pocket and patch are Velcro. The original design problem came from the BDUs, basic dress uniform. designers saw that it was to much money to have to sow every patch onto the uniform, making each one of the uniforms very costly. however in cutting costs the designers sacrificed function. After only a couple times in the wash the ACU's Velcro loses its ability to stick causing pockets to remain open and patches to fall off. Along with being poorly made, thne velcro is also very loud. when detaching and reattaching the pockets or any patches a loud ripping sound resonates over everything. not very stealthy when your are operating in the field.

Thank fully a new uniform is being designed currently, specifically for the destert regions we are occupying right now. it still uses Velcro.... :/