Urban Tribes - Product Mapping

Urban Tribes. What is an urban tribe? Well, an urban tribe is a group of people  with a way of life which is not defined by geographic location or their heritage, but rather by their looks and lifestyles.

The aim of this project is to select a modern day urban tribe and to design a product to connect to the identity of the user in both a personal and communal way. The result should be one which has a soul and it's own special little place within the users chosen lifestyle.

The project began with the forming of groups of 4 people followed by some time to formulate which tribe we'd focus on for the remainder of the project time. After throwing around handfuls of different urban tribes varying from teen hipsters to flexecutives, we decided upon the Metrosexuals of todays society and began our research into all aspects large and small surrounding their lifestyle.

Our assignment for the first week of the project, was to investigate the lifestyle of the metrosexual and understand everything we possibly could about them. This was achieved through both creating a storyboard for a day in the life of a metrosexual as well as producing styleboards with the rest of the group to sum up a metrosexual in a few images. Both the styleboards and the storyboard are shown below.

Self Service User Interface - Automated Bus Ticketing Machine

This project aimed to produce a concept for a self service system and the interface to go with it. My concept was an automated ticketing machine, which passengers would use to purchase their own tickets after boarding the bus rather than purchasing the ticket from the driver. The touch screen interface was designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible as it could have potentially been used whilst a bus was moving. 

The final submission required for this project included a report along with two posters, both of which are shown below.

Southern Cross Package Design Awards - BRAUN Series 3 Shaver

The 2010 Southern Cross Package Design Awards were a fresh change from the briefs I'd become used to, as we were presented with a variety of real world industry set briefs. Each of which had its own set of requirements for submission.

My selected brief was one for Procter & Gamble and was one which required the redesign of an existing products packaging from P&G's wide range of existing brands. Having recently purchased a BRAUN Series 3 Electric Shaver and at the time noting the excessive use of material, it was my decision to redesign the package for the said product in order to give each piece of the packaging more meaning and a longer lifecycle.

The response to the set brief resulted in half of the packaging having an extended use as a wall mountable docking station which also organises all the other pieces within the products packaging while the other half of the packaging transformed into a sturdy, foldable instruction manual. The below images show the final renderings of the proposed packaging concept.

 Southern Cross Package Design Awards

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 - Modular Zeer Fridge

The 2010 Electrolux Design Lab competition required the thoughtful design as space efficient home appliances which would shape how consumers perform certain household tasks in the year 2050. My response to this brief was the Modular Zeer Fridge.

The Modular Zeer Fridge is a completely modular solution for various sized households as each individual compartment can be stacked or wall mounted. Spray-on solar cells on the doors of each compartment provide the small amount of electricity needed to power the enclosed induction fan while the circulating warm air draws moisture and heat from the core of the refrigerator.

This heat is pulled from the refrigerator core through two layers of porous ceramic along with the moisture obtained from the layer of moist Silica gel. The warm air then carriers the moisture to be dehumidified and reinjected back into the Silica gel to begin the cycle again. The outer layer of insulated ceramic is utilised to keep both the moisture and warmth within the refrigerator.

This process of evaporative cooling allows the Modular Zeer Fridge to keep a constant temperature in all conditions while running entirely off the air and ambient light within the kitchen.

Electrolux Design Lab 

Sheet Materials - Aluminium Knife Block

The aim of this project was to understand and express the essence of a chosen sheet material and the possibilities it can offer through the creative application of the design process. 

Despite never having worked with Aluminium, I was immediately drawn to the opportunity to experiment with the material and therefore began researching its current uses which lead me to be most inspired by its use in the sleeker, speedier designs of fast cars and planes. 

This initial inspiration lead to the production of a knife block which was constructed using layers of laser cut 4mm Aluminium which is shown below.

Technical Drawings:

 

Laser Cutting Diagram:

Isometric Drawing:

Finished Product: