Extension-Illuminate - 25/10/2019

I did not have time to finish the second rectangle, but I came up with something new. While I was playing with my ring model, I noticed how the light changed with the swing of the ring. The movement of the ring made me think of pendulum. The shape of the light was in a semicircle, which reminded me of the sun. The idea of a making it into a timer came to my mind. It could be something like a sand glass that can roughly record time. I carried out some experiments. I found that from whichever angle I released the ring, the time taken to rest was the same, around one minute and thirty seconds. The great thing about this finding is that it makes the operation of the design simple.

However, there is a problem. The time taken for the ring to stop varies on different surfaces. It rests in a shorter time on paper, because paper is rougher and has greater friction than wood table surface. I could design a base so the surface for the ring to swing is fixed.

Nevertheless, I like the idea of a timekeeper. It can be used in dark. Furthermore, users are able to tell how much time has past only by looking at the movement of light (the rate of swing). They do not have to look at the timer itself. 

My final outcome was totally different from the idea I had when I started to make the model: from a modular lighting to a timekeeper. This project can develop even further following the idea of light and time. I should dig more into the social and scientific background of the two concepts. 

Extension-Illuminate - 23/10/2019

I decided to make only two rectangular blocks and add a ring. The ring was inspired by Memphis, where they often use basic geometric shapes. The curve of the ring also adds variety to the appearance. The three parts make up a modular system.

Each individual structure is a light itself, and the three parts can also be put together in various ways to change the shapes of shadow. I will put magnets inside each structure. This adds connections between the three parts. To make the process of playing simpler, I reduced the number of parts to three.

I did some experiment on the performance of light. Light is shaped by each structure, and they overlap each other. The light in rectangular shape is in yellow because it is reflected in the yellow brass surface.

Extension-Illuminate - 19/10/2019

I went to the design museum. I found Memphis. Its style is similar to the ideal of mine: colours, shapes and patterns. 

Extension-Illuminate - 15/10/2019

I quite like the feeling when the blocks of my initial models are laid out in a line. My tutor told me about an artist whose works have a similar style to mine - Donald Judd. I was particularly inspired by his use of materials: the translucent Plexiglas and reflective brass. I decided to change the material from wood to brass. I wanted to explore the shiny surface of brass and how light is reflected on it. A table designed by Bethan Laura Wood is also inspiring. I found geometric shapes and colours delight users' mood, thus making the design more attractive. 

I discovered some designs that apply the moire effect. However, it turned out not very helpful. When two surfaces that are covered with line pattern intersect, the image tends to move. I tried to connect it with movement in daily lives, but it was unsuccessful. For example, I had an idea of applying the effect on the dining table: a table covered with black and white lines, and a cup that has a bottom with a similar pattern. When the cup is sliding on the table, the images on the bottom of the cup move. I thought it was too 2D, so I moved on. 

Structure & Surface - 1/10/2019

I started to make the model. 

Asking technicians for help improves my progress a lot. Initially, I wanted to make the upper part myself. After talking to the technician, she suggested me to make the upper and lower part using vacuum form. Later I realized that this helped my final model reach a harmony of scale. I used vacuum form to create two identical plastic model, then I wrapped one of them using the mushroom material. 

I like the contrast of texture between the two materials - rough and smooth, natural and synthetic.

Structure & Surface - 29/9/2019

I found many designs that use the mushroom as a raw material. Many designers are exploring the potential of mushroom as a construction material because it is environmentally friendly. I have read an article on Dezeen mentioning a design student developed a technique where the mushroom mycelium is mixed with cardboard to make the final structure stronger (https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/20/aleksi-vesaluoma-mushroom-mycelium-structure-shows-potential-zero-waste-architecture/). Inspired by this and my previous experience of making paper mache, I started to make my own mushroom material. I smashed the mushroom into mud-like, mixed with ripped cardboard, and shaped them into pies. After that, I put the mushroom pies into the microwave to allow them to dry. I tried three types of mushrooms. It turned out that closed cup mushrooms and chestnut mushroom are stronger. Furthermore, I found that cardboard is essential. Otherwise, the dried mushroom will break into small pieces. 

Inspired by my research in contextual studies where I found out about the evolution of water bottle. From animal skin, plastic to stainless steel, the transform of material reveals human‘ s pursuits change from fast and cheap products to personalized and environmentally friendly products. It shows that "nonhumanity infects culture". Other than this, the vase Shock Proof also gave me inspiration. It combines two very different materials. Then I decided to use plastic, a material that contrasts with mushroom. Plastic is strong and synthetic, while the mushroom material I made is fragile and natural. The two materials demonstrate how "nonhumanity infects culture".

Initially, I wanted to design a rubbish bin. Drew inspiration from the shape of mushrooms, I made some sketches. Eventually, I chose the shape where the bottom and the top is large and the middle is thin. I thought about its capacity to load rubbish. At the start, human produce waste immoderately, so the bottom is large. The middle part becomes narrow. These days, we realize that we are making too much waste and it begins to threaten sustainability. The rubbish grows rapidly. The upper part is made of fragile mushroom material. It will break if there is an excess of waste. 

Illuminate - 19/9/2019

I showed the group my ideas and they all prefered the first idea because it looks more beautiful. I decided to develop my first idea more. I went to the library induction yesterday and I read the book Lux: lamps & lights. I found some designs that can help develop my idea.

A Piece of Forest is a lamp that is composed of many hexagonal pods. What I like about the design is that the shells can be arranged in various orders to form 'suspended, floating, or wall-mounted light fixture'. It involves users in the design. Users can play with it just like playing puzzles. The lamp can be personalized according to users' preference.

Another design I found is Big Bird. Uses have to replace the book with another item of similar weight to keep the shelf in balance. I think the design is enjoyable. It changes users' behaviour where they have to fill the bookshelf and cannot leave it empty. I like the interaction between the design and the users. 

Inspired by the two designs, and Silhouettes by Matt Delegate which I analyzed in the Research part. I fixed one side of the ring with a long cylindrical stick so that the structure will not be destroyed easily, while the rings can still be arranged as users' wishes. The whole design became more constructible. Each ring acts as a building block. Users can construct the shape of the lamp by themselves. To make the structure more stable, I added a base at the bottom. 

The block at the top is where the light comes from. Initially, I wanted to use a light source where the light is more spread out. Then I found the shadow produced is not obvious as the concentrated light source, so I decided to use a light source that is much smaller than the bottom area of the ring.

I create the design into a combination of two lamps. When the rings from one stick are taken, they can be put into the other one. At the same time, the shadow formed for each lamp is changing as the shape of the structure is changing. The shadow of the two lamps can also overlap each other. 

Illuminate - 17/9/2019

I summarized my research into categories - refraction, reflection, light passing through water and glass, shadow, natural light and artificial light. I was particularly interested in the last two. I found that when light travels through concave-convex surfaces, it forms dark and light areas. Furthermore, when light shines from a deep dark groove, it diffuses and comes out of the groove like water. I did some secondary research based on my discovery. A design called Filamento Light explores the way light passes through concave and convex forms. However, it doesn't fit with my exploration. I want to dig more into how light passes through lighttight surfaces instead of transparent glass. Nevertheless, I like the idea that each end of the light can be attached to one another. Then I found another design - Pixel. It is a structure that plays with light. The design is a modular system. It consists of many v-shape blocks, which can be put up and formed a screen. I was interested in the way it blurs images, which is related to the concept of privacy. I became interested in the concept of privacy because I found the curtain either blocks all the light or allows all the light coming through. People cannot enjoy the sunlight while keeping privacy. Natural light and artificial light is another area that I am focusing on. I discovered in the king's cross campus, there are electric lights placed in places where the natural light is sufficient. They might use solar panels to collect solar power to generate electric light. This leads me to another design - Little Sun. It is part of a project that is organized by Olafur Eliasson. Little Suns are solar powered lamps that can be held in hands. They are initially used to help people living in the world off the electricity grid. This gave me an idea of a lamp that is placed on windows, which uses renewable energy. Later I developed another idea - a concave-convex structure that can be attached on windows. Ideally, it can bend light and form textured shadow in the room. The structure can also blur the image of people inside. However, I gave up on this idea after I made some models. I found natural light is too weak and not concentrate enough. Furthermore, I came up with something more interesting during the model making. Inspired by Pixel, I started by making geometric shapes. I folded and cut out a few square-shaped rings, and build them together. When I shone light above, the shadow formed on the ground is beautiful. Another structure that I created allows light to pass through a thin triangular shape gap. The light produced is in a triangle. As I add more angles to the structure, the light became toothlike. I could place a number of this structure along the wall to create light that moves like a wave as people pass through. I prefer the first idea because it is more playful. 

Explore It - 9/9/2019

We explored different ways of displaying and carrying fruits. The time given was limited, so I sketched every little idea that came to my mind. Some of them were ordinary but it kept myself in a fast-thinking mode. Combinations of common ideas can produce new and interesting proposals. When I made models, I abandoned ideas that were too complex and chose ones that can turn into practice easily, because of the limited materials. These constraints helped me to make my ideas simple, and produce general ideas but not focusing too much on details. However, there was one idea that involves the use of water, which I think was worth developing. This proposal required a lot of experimentations which were not possible to do in a short period of time. 

I want to study product design. The PDC activity that we did today was what I expected. It is close to everyday life, and there were various approaches to PDC. The product can be purely aesthetical, or it reuses waste. Its relation to manufacturing was closer than I previously imagined. Affordability is important in PDC. That was why we were using limited materials to make models----to reduce types of materials and the process of production. I enjoyed primary research and making the most. Sketching the real objects makes me concentrate more on the unique parts of an object. During the process of drawing, I could think about why the fruit is displayed in that way. Making models help me to think in a three dimensional way. 

To finish the project, I will research more on problems involved in transporting fruit. What materials are used in packing while transporting, and which of those are recyclable? I will make more models and do more experiments with other materials. Furthermore, I want to know more about the process of transporting-how fruits and vegetables are load and unload and so on. As for lemons, I made a structure to place and display them. Lemons are usually used to add flavour, and a whole lemon cannot all be consumed at once. I could ask people around about how do they store lemon that is cut in half.  

Ideas Factory - 5/9/2019