Bill Moggridge - What is Design?

I think this video would be a good introduction to everyone what is design is all about and how the future of design would be like globally. Design will definitely go far as design is related to almost everything. As industrial designers, other than designing products and being innovative to think of new concepts, we also need to know more or less about marketing, engineering, manufacturing, photography, interior design, graphic design, psychology, science, and many more. On the other hand, engineers, businessmen/women, chefs etc are also designers themselves because in whatever profession that we are doing, we would most likely undergo design processes to make something into reality.

I do find that the Intel VMPC is pretty interesting as different kind of applications can be used at once and the visual design elements are incorporated quite well. What made it stand out is because of the application and the software provided to make the product more engaging and fun to use.

 The remote control which is shown in the video is a very common example of bad design and it is always better to make the product simpler without adding unnecessary functions. This has also reminded me that it is important to design products that are understandable and would encourage users to express themselves subconsciously in the way how they want to interact with the product but at the same time, the product itself is unobtrusive. I also thought that sometimes people are

After listening to Moggridge's explanation of design process, design process is something that everyone will go through which I've said it earlier. We learn by analysing information, researching and discovering new ideas. We try by asking people's opinions and observing people's daily activities. Other than thinking of new ideas, we also tend take inspiration from something that we admire. Then, we would experiment it to turn a vision into a reality. Thus, we can say that design process is a like a big cycle and we have the flexibility to reverse a step back to correct our mistakes.

Besides that, designers today are becoming more human-centered as human focus is always the number one criteria that we have to meet. In my opinion, human-centered design is not just about comfort of using a particular product and engaging the user, it also about the surrounding environment that humans are working hard to protect and also how the product would help people to socially interact with each other in a healthy way. Example, Sustainability is a very important topic because sustainable products are not just helping to take a good care of the environment, they are also encouraging us to be aware of the importance of living in a sustainability environment.     

The tangible earth is the highlight of this video and all credit to Shinichi Takemura. I like his approach and effort to truly understand the connections and relationships of people with the natural environment, living and non-living things. His earth globe design helped him to deliver his message effectively to everyone to learn and appreciate our earth. I noticed that the earth globe comes with a standing ipad-like device and it will definitely engage the user to understand how day and night works, ocean currents, pollutants, latitude, longitude, etc.  

Overall, design is always a global topic and how design can greatly affect us individually and our surroundings. Design process is helpful to understand ourselves better and the natural environment. It is always evolving as new ideas or discoveries will be achieved to solve newer challenges.

Peer comments on Project one

Peer comments on my talented fellow friends:

1.) http://janraymondgerardino.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment-pen-with.html?showComment=1315913690389#c1186304813029209721

2.) http://musaides1031.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-one-experience-enrichment.html?showComment=1315914237966#c6747643728130007028

3.) http://sunprit.blogspot.com/2011/09/e-xperience-e-nrichment-rationale-i.html?showComment=1315913080935#c5465582097764032281

4.) http://mfredrick.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment-kitchen-tongs.html?showComment=1315912147275#c8651220320119147969

5.) http://ocarabezides1031.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1.html?showComment=1315911564740#c8733314684491735268

6.) http://toishanchung.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-1-experience-enrichment.html?showComment=1316001301142#c7630118922237697933

7.) http://lovedbyee.blogspot.com/2011/09
/rationale.html?showComment=1316000460366#c1306052618288127913

8.) http://studio1-bee.blogspot.com/2011/09/emotional-design-hand-tool.html?showComment=1315999820890#c1809095732843973641

Project one: Experience Enrichment - Mortar and Pestle

Rationale

The streamlined shape and the organic, free-flowing lines that make up the structure of the mortar and pestle have their own purposes in terms of beauty and function. The design of the mortar and pestle is unique and distinctive because it encourages the user to use the pestle to pound the spices sideways onto a pounding area that is also facing diagonally towards the direction of the pestle head. This pounding technique is more controlled, faster and requires less strength to pound the spices. By holding the pestle sideways, the handle of the pestle weight is resting on the user’s palm which would make it feel easier and lighter to hold.

The pestle has a bulbous shape with a flat surface at the top and a rounded edge at the side which acts as a thumb cushion and for better comfort. Besides that, the structure indicates the handle of the product to differentiate with the round head at the other end of the pestle.

The outer shape design of the mortar also helps the user to hold the head of the mortar comfortably and more stable without the mortar moving around while pounding.  As a result, both application of forces of pounding and holding the mortar are balanced and can be controlled easily as two forces are acting directly against each other. The mortar comes with a pouring spout which fits the pestle nicely for resting. The inner area of the pounding surface is slanted downwards and curved at the end indicates the direction and welcomes the pestle to pound the spices.

The space provided by the inner walls and the slanted surface would help to keep the spices to stay at one place so that it can be pounded at one go without worrying of the fact that the spices would ‘run’ away from the pounding motion of the pestle head. The both top edges of the walls of the mortar are sloped down so that it will not obstruct the movement of the hand holding the pestle while pounding. Both edges of the walls are also structured to rest the pestle after pounding.

Both mortar and pestle are made up of bamboo because the material used is environmentally-friendly, cheaper and has higher hardness rating than most hardwoods such as maple and red oak. Bamboo is moisture-resistant and stain-resistant. The colour of bamboo is kept light to show its natural colour and not carbonised to a darker colour as carbonisation process would soften the material. 

                                               

The reason why I named it D.Mortle is because the 'D' stands for 'diagonal' (the ingredients in the mortar are being pounded sideways or diagonally). The alphabet D also resembles the structure and the inner shape of the mortar from the side view. Whereas, Mortle = Mortar + Pestle.