Wednesday 28 September 2011
Light design
Just one thing about my light..... I NEED A NAME! have no idea what to call it! Any help would be great :)
Final light product design
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| Spoon spiral |
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| Light during the day |
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| close view of spoon spirals |
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| light at night |
The concept for this light was inspired by many things:
1) other products from designers that use upcycling or recycling techniques eg. Heath Nash
2) form originated from shape of the protea (pincushion protea) as it is a plant that represents South African identity as well as expresses ideas of sustainability and conservation of the environment
3) the concepts used within my restaurant design: which is where the light will be used
- the restaurant is a space that aims to express the concept of transportation of objects and food production. I have conveyor belts systems installed on the ceiling that take food to designated stations. People can see into the kitchen to watch their food being made. The tables have conveyor belt systems in them that move your food along to your seat.
-and a concept i have used is all the furniture objects and other elements reuse objects from the food industry. Eg: Pedersen + lennard bucket stools, a wall mural of tin cans set into the plaster craeting a floral pattern. wine crates as shelving for the bar etc.
-so the light design had to use objects from the food industry that would normally just create large amounts of waste in the world. Hence the plastic teaspoons that would be collected from coffee shops and reused.
Monday 26 September 2011
Thursday 15 September 2011
Product design update
Our product designs have finally been finalised today and my light is in motion for production.
My light design is a really cool idea. The product had to be made from waste products from the food industry, i.e tins, bottles, etc. So my idea is to use plastic tea spoons to create a spiral flower which is fixed to a sphere. Very simple design but is inspired by Heath Nash and his Milkbottle handle light and his other light designs.
It is currently being manufactured by A1 plastics and I have to construct all the spoon spirals over the next 3 weeks, which is easy but rather time consuming.
Images of my bookshelf and table to follow.
My light design is a really cool idea. The product had to be made from waste products from the food industry, i.e tins, bottles, etc. So my idea is to use plastic tea spoons to create a spiral flower which is fixed to a sphere. Very simple design but is inspired by Heath Nash and his Milkbottle handle light and his other light designs.
It is currently being manufactured by A1 plastics and I have to construct all the spoon spirals over the next 3 weeks, which is easy but rather time consuming.
Images of my bookshelf and table to follow.
Sunday 14 August 2011
Term update
So, what have we been keeping ourselves busy with? CAD, CAD and more CAD. We've been getting our designs into proper CAD plans and busy drawing like mad to meet the deadlines. Its crazy how as soon as you start looking at things technically, how much stuff has to change. My floor plans have changed twice in one week! And that means drawing like mad just to be able to fix up and meet the next deadline for sections and elevation.
But things are finally feeling like they're progressing. And an upside to all these drawings is that things are finally getting solve din my mind that I was always feeling a bit unsure about. Like how would that structure actually just "hang in the air" like that?
So hopefully as design starts to draw to an end, we can start to do things like our 3d's, and then I can post some of these. Will be cool to finally see the end product drawn up in CAD or Max.
Although there is a lot of work ahead of us, we're now heading downhill now to the end. The hard stuff - the coming up with the design - is done so now its just the start of the slave-like drawing for weeks on end. But I'm ready for it, and keen to get stuck in so it can be that much closer to the end :)
But things are finally feeling like they're progressing. And an upside to all these drawings is that things are finally getting solve din my mind that I was always feeling a bit unsure about. Like how would that structure actually just "hang in the air" like that?
So hopefully as design starts to draw to an end, we can start to do things like our 3d's, and then I can post some of these. Will be cool to finally see the end product drawn up in CAD or Max.
Although there is a lot of work ahead of us, we're now heading downhill now to the end. The hard stuff - the coming up with the design - is done so now its just the start of the slave-like drawing for weeks on end. But I'm ready for it, and keen to get stuck in so it can be that much closer to the end :)
Saturday 6 August 2011
New find :)
Check out this awesome smoke detector! How cute!
Chick-a-dee Smoke Detector by Louise van der Veld
Monday 1 August 2011
Site video
Here's the small video we made of our existing building in 3D Max for June portfolio. This is the site for The Design Dock
Sunday 31 July 2011
Post-it stop animation
Check out this AWESOME stop animation artwork installation.
The video was made by 25 animators over a span of five months, using a staggering 350,000 of the sticky notes pasted on the walls of their building. 30,000 of them were love messages—in line with their “Power of Love” theme—written by spectators.
http://designtaxi.com/news/35273/One-Stop-Motion-Animation-350-000-Post-it-Notes/
Wednesday 27 July 2011
Someone is out there!
Ok this might be a bit lame for some people but I just got my first @mention on twitter by Dezeen, which is a design website I absolutely love! So feeling very chuffed with myself :) I promise I wont blog about every RT or @mention I get from now but I do feel the first one deserves some celebration.
The link above in the tweet is the article we were discussing. Love the concept and the sense of fun that some designers can get away with. So go check it out.
Dezeen Dezeen
RT @MyTwoCents01: Absolutely love this but dont know if they are very practical to sit on ;) RT: Dezeen 2D/3D Chairs: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/06/23/2d3d-chairs-by-yoichi-yamamoto-for-issey-miyake/The link above in the tweet is the article we were discussing. Love the concept and the sense of fun that some designers can get away with. So go check it out.
Tuesday 26 July 2011
We are now tweeting...
So the new term and semester has started and alongside blogging we have to tweet! The pages I'm following are all design related so hopefully we will be seeing some cool stuff that i'll put the links to on my blog and vise versa. For those who want to follow me on twitter my name is @MyTwoCents01.
Tweet soon :)
Tweet soon :)
Thursday 14 July 2011
Nearing the end of holidays... :(
Well the "holidays" have been rather average I would say. Not much holidaying and more working in my opinion. But i suppose thats the curse of Post-grad. So what have I been keeping myself busy with?
Well I have fixed up my thesis which is just about ready. Just have to add in the last three chapters which will happen over this semester, design chapter, product, and technical drawings.
Also been fixing up some stuff for design from the comments of the externals at portfolio. That went really well and they were impressed by the amount of work and the depth of thought in my work, so that's a really big relief! PHEW!
And now i've been working on my product design. We have to design 3 products from our space and have one made and make scale models of the other 2. So the first product i want to make is my bookshelf.
I went about town today getting quotes etc and its going to cost roughly R7500 to make (EEK!) so might have to go with product 2 or 3.
Product 2 is a coffee table found in my office
This is just the first draft of the table design so will probably change as i go.
Then product 3 is a light in my restaurant that uses products from the food industry that would otherwise be thrown away to make a unique object. So thinking of using metal tins to form a light but the shape or look of it is still pretty sketchy right now.
And so the work never stops and we just carry on doing what we're doing. Hopefully it will all be ok in the end :)
Well I have fixed up my thesis which is just about ready. Just have to add in the last three chapters which will happen over this semester, design chapter, product, and technical drawings.
Also been fixing up some stuff for design from the comments of the externals at portfolio. That went really well and they were impressed by the amount of work and the depth of thought in my work, so that's a really big relief! PHEW!
And now i've been working on my product design. We have to design 3 products from our space and have one made and make scale models of the other 2. So the first product i want to make is my bookshelf.
Product 2 is a coffee table found in my office
Then product 3 is a light in my restaurant that uses products from the food industry that would otherwise be thrown away to make a unique object. So thinking of using metal tins to form a light but the shape or look of it is still pretty sketchy right now.
And so the work never stops and we just carry on doing what we're doing. Hopefully it will all be ok in the end :)
Wednesday 8 June 2011
The road to portfolio, its never the scenic route
So the madness of portfolio season is upon us. The labs are quite interesting now throughout the day and night. Always someone who hasn't slept in a long while acting slightly crazy. Thankfully i haven't had to do an all nighter yet, bu t i think next semester is another story.
Design portfolio is in less than a week now, the 14th. Eek! Got a decent mark for dry run but you never know what the externals will say and how they will mark you. Also worried that tech externals will be in on the presentation, haven't had time to think about how things will work yet, just trying first come up with a design. Sigh, so much pressure to be perfect at everything really sometimes just gets too much!
Design portfolio is in less than a week now, the 14th. Eek! Got a decent mark for dry run but you never know what the externals will say and how they will mark you. Also worried that tech externals will be in on the presentation, haven't had time to think about how things will work yet, just trying first come up with a design. Sigh, so much pressure to be perfect at everything really sometimes just gets too much!
Wednesday 1 June 2011
Very belated post
So i know I haven't posted anything in a really long time, varsity has been rather hectic in May.
We have our dry run exam tomorrow so I've been designing like mad to try get everything ready. But here area some 3d's to show the spaces. Just sketch up so not amazing looking but at least its something.
We have our dry run exam tomorrow so I've been designing like mad to try get everything ready. But here area some 3d's to show the spaces. Just sketch up so not amazing looking but at least its something.
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| Entrance |
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| info centre |
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| office reception |
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| retail pay point |
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| retail displays |
Thursday 5 May 2011
Interactive wall, whaat?!
Check out this crazy new technology:
What a great innovation by Festo, the InteractiveWall. This new technology by Festo offers you a new form of architecture that is dynamic and interactive. This technology combines the bionic Fin Ray structure with artistic automation technology by Festo. This product developed to follow a program sequence of motion and making interaction with people in front of it. InteractiveWall transform the behavior of trade fair visitors to motion, music, and light in real time.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Imagine if this was your bank
Check out this article at The cool hunter:
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/article/detail/1934/raiffeisen-bank--zurich.-the-rise-of-designer-banks
Would be awesome to do something like that one day
The second leg
So holidays have come and gone and its now the 2nd term. We have a lot of work to do this short little one month term its crazy, but I'm sure I'll get through it.
On the last day of term we had a preliminary hand in for our conceptual design, and I think it went pretty well, which was a relief cause I didn't think my ideas were good enough. But maybe I should just have a little more faith in myself in future.
Although we had a "holiday" it doesn't mean your actually ever off and can take a break. When I got back from the 1st long weekend I set to work on our technology document where I needed to go to the municipality to get as much info on my building about its zoning, drainage, water, restrictions etc etc. Naturally my buildings are on a massive erf which means all that info isn't kept by the municipality because it is internally done by whoever owns the land, i.e. transnet. So a lot of that info which is everyone else will have for their buildings, I dont really have. Typical. But i'll survive and get it done.
So speaking of which, I better finish this document.
And the work starts again...
On the last day of term we had a preliminary hand in for our conceptual design, and I think it went pretty well, which was a relief cause I didn't think my ideas were good enough. But maybe I should just have a little more faith in myself in future.
Although we had a "holiday" it doesn't mean your actually ever off and can take a break. When I got back from the 1st long weekend I set to work on our technology document where I needed to go to the municipality to get as much info on my building about its zoning, drainage, water, restrictions etc etc. Naturally my buildings are on a massive erf which means all that info isn't kept by the municipality because it is internally done by whoever owns the land, i.e. transnet. So a lot of that info which is everyone else will have for their buildings, I dont really have. Typical. But i'll survive and get it done.
So speaking of which, I better finish this document.
And the work starts again...
Thursday 7 April 2011
So what exactly am I doing?
I have posted that I'm doing a harbour development as my project but haven't exactly gone into detail about what exactly is going on.
So to fill you in...
The Design Dock is a multi-use space that aims to create a design hub in PE. The space will serve as a transitional space between varsity and becoming established designers. It aims to aid in rejuvenating the public opinion about the city in terms of the opportunities for its young people, as well as start development in the harbour, for all of its citizens to enjoy. The harbour has an important history in terms on South African history and people overlook this or do not know about it. This is why the harbour has been chosen as this space reflects the heritage of the city and should be utilised by the people of PE.
So the Design Dock aims to create a sense of pride it the citizens of PE in terms of who they are and what they can offer on a national and internationl scale. Go PE Go ;)
*The retail space will sell the products made by these young designers, i.e. ceramics, furniture, decor items, fashion.
*The workshop will provide the equipment and the space the designers need to work without them having to push out huge amounts of money to start themselves up to buy all of this equipment.
*The office space will be a brand development and marketing agency that will design the branding, packaging etc for the young designers. As well as work to get their name out their. This company will also organise exhibitions, functions and workshops for the Design Dock.
*The restaurant will provide a more social interaction space for the designers, office staff as well as all of PE's citizens to come and enjoy the harbour environment over a good meal. This space will also provide the added revenue to keep the entire space functioning.
So as you can see, the functions are all interdependent and therefore will all have a similar aesthetic or atmosphere to reflect the space as being one brand.
Now you know :)
So to fill you in...
The Design Dock is a multi-use space that aims to create a design hub in PE. The space will serve as a transitional space between varsity and becoming established designers. It aims to aid in rejuvenating the public opinion about the city in terms of the opportunities for its young people, as well as start development in the harbour, for all of its citizens to enjoy. The harbour has an important history in terms on South African history and people overlook this or do not know about it. This is why the harbour has been chosen as this space reflects the heritage of the city and should be utilised by the people of PE.
So the Design Dock aims to create a sense of pride it the citizens of PE in terms of who they are and what they can offer on a national and internationl scale. Go PE Go ;)
*The retail space will sell the products made by these young designers, i.e. ceramics, furniture, decor items, fashion.
*The workshop will provide the equipment and the space the designers need to work without them having to push out huge amounts of money to start themselves up to buy all of this equipment.
*The office space will be a brand development and marketing agency that will design the branding, packaging etc for the young designers. As well as work to get their name out their. This company will also organise exhibitions, functions and workshops for the Design Dock.
*The restaurant will provide a more social interaction space for the designers, office staff as well as all of PE's citizens to come and enjoy the harbour environment over a good meal. This space will also provide the added revenue to keep the entire space functioning.
So as you can see, the functions are all interdependent and therefore will all have a similar aesthetic or atmosphere to reflect the space as being one brand.
Now you know :)
Monday 28 March 2011
So many thoughts, so little time
I know my blog template has changed like 50 times already, i just cant seem to find something I like, so changing my blog will probably be my pet project throughout the year when I should be doing more constructive work. Maybe one day I'll be happy.
So we've been working like mad trying to get everything done for this design and theory hand in on wednesday. What makes it worse is that we have a test as well in the morning, sigh.
We've basically been doing our floor layouts which takes forever and mine has 5 floors, so it gets really tiresome. Also we have to have conceptual ideas, hmm...about that. Not quite there yet, i'm still figuring out the space planning in my head so my expectations of marks for this hand in are not extremely high.
So i should really get to it then.
Ha ha this sums up my level of conceptual thought right now perfectly! Classic
So we've been working like mad trying to get everything done for this design and theory hand in on wednesday. What makes it worse is that we have a test as well in the morning, sigh.
We've basically been doing our floor layouts which takes forever and mine has 5 floors, so it gets really tiresome. Also we have to have conceptual ideas, hmm...about that. Not quite there yet, i'm still figuring out the space planning in my head so my expectations of marks for this hand in are not extremely high.
So i should really get to it then.
Ha ha this sums up my level of conceptual thought right now perfectly! Classic
Friday 18 March 2011
I love Pedersen & Lennard designs because of their simplicity and their sustainable focus. But besides that Luke Pedersen is by boyfriend's cousin through marriage so its pretty cool to see how well they are doing. And what's even better is that Luke is from Port Elizabeth, so big ups to the locals of PE!
I didn't know that they supplied the furniture to the new Old Mad Daddy in Elgin, which is the follow on from Daddy Long Legs hotel in Cape Town. So its good to know that they're getting big jobs like this.
So i'll be watching them and posting stuff throughout the year. Hopefully I can visit their showroom/coffee shop in Woodstock CT sometime this year.
Monday 14 March 2011
Project update
Well things are definitely starting to heat up and its 'getting hectic' in the words of Tammy. All our as builts are due on thursday and althought i've been working on them for a while now, i could only measure my 2nd building on friday. So having two buildings is quite taxing cause its double work for myself.
And while we are doing all of this we are expected to have grown a clone of oursleves so that we can do design. Yes cause thats possble...
whatever
I still dont have a logo completed but i'll post one when i do.
As you can tell I'm a bit over all of this. I think i just need to relax. Breathe in - breathe out
And while we are doing all of this we are expected to have grown a clone of oursleves so that we can do design. Yes cause thats possble...
whatever
I still dont have a logo completed but i'll post one when i do.
As you can tell I'm a bit over all of this. I think i just need to relax. Breathe in - breathe out
Thursday 3 March 2011
Headway or so I tell myself
Well it seems like ground has finally been broken on this monster of a mountain.
I have measured up my first building in a lightning fast display of laser usage. Only took me 4.5 hours to measure up 3 floors which were completely covered in fibre glass dust. My hand is still itchy!
But as builts have been started as well. Just have to edit, do my site plan, 4 external elevations, and add in my drainage. But that's next week's problem right now.
I've also been deciding on a name and so far THE DESIGN DOCK seems to be a winner, with the smaller functions having their own name, which all play on the name for boats or something harboury. Like YOT (young.original.talent) is the name of the young designers retail and workshop space. So the office will be something else, as well as the restaurant. I think its quite cute, but we'll see if it sticks.
So thats what I'm up to now, identity and thesis research. Bleh. Thesis is ok if I know what I want to say but thats sometimes the problem, not knowing how to get to the point quick enough. But i'll work on it.
At least I'm not feeling so completely aimless and lost anymore. I have weekly objectives that I'll focus on instead of the huge image of possible failure that is constantly lurking around.
Forward on I say.
I have measured up my first building in a lightning fast display of laser usage. Only took me 4.5 hours to measure up 3 floors which were completely covered in fibre glass dust. My hand is still itchy!
But as builts have been started as well. Just have to edit, do my site plan, 4 external elevations, and add in my drainage. But that's next week's problem right now.
I've also been deciding on a name and so far THE DESIGN DOCK seems to be a winner, with the smaller functions having their own name, which all play on the name for boats or something harboury. Like YOT (young.original.talent) is the name of the young designers retail and workshop space. So the office will be something else, as well as the restaurant. I think its quite cute, but we'll see if it sticks.
So thats what I'm up to now, identity and thesis research. Bleh. Thesis is ok if I know what I want to say but thats sometimes the problem, not knowing how to get to the point quick enough. But i'll work on it.
At least I'm not feeling so completely aimless and lost anymore. I have weekly objectives that I'll focus on instead of the huge image of possible failure that is constantly lurking around.
Forward on I say.
Friday 25 February 2011
The madness of this age
Sometimes I wonder how people get anything done anymore. We constantly need to be updating profiles, tweeting, blogging, e-mailing and following other people. I know I've been trying to do one small section for an hour now but seem to believe that what Kim Kardashian or Gareth Cliff say on twitter is so much more important.
If you aren't part of the internet/smartphone generation then it seems like your missing out on something, but what are we really missing other than useless opinions on stuff that has no impact to our daily lives. When did it all get so bazaar?
So I suppose the moral of the story is stop procrastinating and get on with it!
If you aren't part of the internet/smartphone generation then it seems like your missing out on something, but what are we really missing other than useless opinions on stuff that has no impact to our daily lives. When did it all get so bazaar?
So I suppose the moral of the story is stop procrastinating and get on with it!
Thursday 24 February 2011
And so it begins
I'm still unsure about the success of this whole enterprise, i.e this blog, and of course the madness I've put myself into, i.e. Btech. But I suppose there's only one way to get out of it all, carry on until its over.
So before its even begun I will try stick true to the course I've set out for myself, and that is finishing. But it has to be done with a sense of humour otherwise I might just go mad. Its only the start of my journey as a designer so I cant take it too seriously as this is the phase in my life where I'll be making the most mistakes. So by taking everything so seriously is just not the way forward.
So lighten up, the end is in sight (although very vaguely) and enjoy the time to be free to think and explore. Cause before you know it I'll be drawing up cupboard details all day and wont have time to do fun stuff like blogging and being creative.
But I will be getting paid...hopefully
So before its even begun I will try stick true to the course I've set out for myself, and that is finishing. But it has to be done with a sense of humour otherwise I might just go mad. Its only the start of my journey as a designer so I cant take it too seriously as this is the phase in my life where I'll be making the most mistakes. So by taking everything so seriously is just not the way forward.
So lighten up, the end is in sight (although very vaguely) and enjoy the time to be free to think and explore. Cause before you know it I'll be drawing up cupboard details all day and wont have time to do fun stuff like blogging and being creative.
But I will be getting paid...hopefully
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