BRANDED PRODUCT PROJECT Mini projector - Lamy Week 1 7/12/18 Starting point- I received the task of creating a new product for an existing company that they don’t already sell, in my case it was a mini portable projector in the style of the company Lamy. It was important I knew future design process I would be using before starting the project and began to plan initial guidelines to my design process. To initially start this process, I looked at starting information for the brand/company that will help me in designing the style. I needed to be aware of: • Aesthetic • Function • Branding • Materials • Prices • Colour schemes • Other company products After looking into this it was important to show my sources of inspiration clearly and know what I would be collecting ideas from when drawing. Initial ideas – I used my mood board which featured the variety of pen styles that Lamy has as well as gift boxes and accessories available to buy from the company. This gives me a larger option for shapes and forms I might create or how my product might need to be packaged which are all considerations before designing. To begin with I wanted to recreate some of the shapes or forms such as curves used in the pens and mimic this in my initial ideas. I also felt that the ethos of the company was important to included, I wanted my initial sketches to represent the sleek look of the company as many products of theirs are designed mainly for the form and aesthetic over the function, so I feel the product I create needs to be a high-quality aesthetic piece in order to fit in. I next created a range of ideas targeting small areas of the pens that I felt would make an interesting product. Once doing this I then chose several to model the form and see which works best and aesthetically and ergonomically. I first modelled a range of ideas as I am not decided on one. My next steps in this upcoming
Upcoming week is to develop my current models and modify some areas to see a physical representation of how they could be improved for example making them longer, adding or taking away parts, curving edges. It was also important that I referred to my sources of inspiration strongly and had them all in one place for references therefore I created an inspiration board and circled all the aspects I found to be interesting within my designs. Week 2 14/12/18 Modelling and development - For the next week of this project I have spent time focusing on 2-3 of my best designs in my opinion. This gave me a more narrow spread of ideas such as in the double diamond design process. I then took these ideas and create several versions of each for example with the curved shaped projector inspired by the curvature within Lamy’s pens, I experimented with the scale as well as changing some of my developments into a vertical design instead of horizontal. This helped me take a simple concept that I had started with and make it into a more exciting desk pieces.
This week I also considered the journey that the product would undertake when in use. When looking at the life time of the average mini projector there are various potential problems that I thought could occur and could be solved by adding features to my product. I also created the average persona for my target audience of the product, so I know the type of person I would be designing for and I can create a design appealing to a specific audience. The main issues and resolutions I found from this were… • Being limited to one software/device – multiple ports and connecting cables could be added to make it compatible for more devices. • Transportation of the devices could be difficult – the projector could be folded or transformed into a more compact version to be transported. Handles could be added. • Could need projection in more than one place – more than one lense to be added to projector. • When not being used as projector might need be sat on a desk, need to do desk functions – look sleek and fitting to a desk, could feature extras such as pen holders, could also be a desk light, hold other stationary to support the desk. Design constraints based on company and my target audience – ✓ Sophisticated ✓ Suitable for desk, small in size. ✓ Portable ✓ More than one way of projecting e.g Bluetooth and computer lead ✓ Strong links to the company ✓ Similar materials – stainless steel, plastics.
Week 3 21/12/18 To begin this week, I evaluated my two main routes that I would want to go down and considered ways of developing these further. At this stage I feel the initial concept of each idea was strong however more incremental l changes could be added to the product that might make it different in terms of improving quality, function and overall aesthetic of the product. This week I focused on creating client facing sketches from my ideation pages. After looking at the positives and negatives of all my initial ideation I decided these wee the best product concepts. Route 1 Route 2 My client sketches don’t follow my original ideation exactly as I have used models to create improvements. An example Is route two as I created the curve for this product out of foam which allowed me to see that it looks sleeker when the curve is to one side and not evenly spread. From this model I also realised the effect that the curvature in route 1 has from foam modelling also as well as pairing it with other designs to create this one and ensure the design as a whole is completely unique as well as being a different concept from the original design. Route 1 I feel has a more technical look as well as the use of plastic on the ends which perhaps indicates a larger impact on the environment however more direct references to the company have been introduced here. Route 2 is more futuristic looking and is based more on the sophisticated pens which I feel is best related to the persona I created for this product to be aimed at. Next week I will be looking at developing ideas for each route and seeing how I could add or take away from the design to make it more aesthetically pleasing. I plan on ding this through the use of sketches and experimenting with different form or curvature with paper. Week 4 28/12/18 This week I began to sketch out variations of my current two routes I have decide between. My aims before sketching were to… ✓ Develop the products further without straying from the original concept ✓ experiment with different combinations from my previous designs ✓ add or take away from the original design idea in order to see what works best aesthetically ✓ add more functions to the design
Route 1- With this product my favourite aspect Route 2 – When developing my second was the curve that lead from the larger sized route further I again looked at the circle to the smaller one, this is something I direction and created some vertical wanted to include within the end development versions of the design using the same of the design however felt I could experiment curve however, I felt it looks best when with other aspects with the curve to add more looking at it horizontally. I also used this to the product as a whole. Changing the opportunity of development to add in direction such as making it vertical or adding different surface pattern, textures and more curves etc makes the product look more split lines that would perhaps improve the interesting as well as aesthetic as I need the appearance of such a simple design. I felt product to give the feel of a desk piece. When more experimenting with the head of the developing the product, I liked the vertical projector and where it might go should be standing products better than the original flat done. Thickening and thinning the curve version as I feel it would catch a consumer’s was also something I experimented with attention better. here. Next week I will need to decide on one route based off of my development sketches and look at pushing that design even further as having one focus will allow me to create the best design I can and potentially allow me to take inspiration from my other ideas and incorporate parts from all. Week 5 4/1/19 This week I needed to decide what design I want to focus on and take forward, from analysing my developments that involve variations of incremental changes it allowed me to see which had best scope for developing more as well as which best reflected Lamy the company. I chose to look at going down route 2 as I feel it gives the best representation for the company as its sleek and sophisticated much like the majority of Lamy’s pens. The curve I feel would replicate the way in which their pens curve as well a the material being one of he most common materials used by the company (stainless steel.) in order to develop this further I looked at adding more functions to the design to make it more than just a projector on it’s own, one design I considered was using it as a pen holder as shown in my development sketches as this would add extra functions that also relate to the company. I also considered various ways in which the lense could be presented within the design. My first sketch shows the projection being produced from the side of the product however when developing the function ability of the product against the form of the product I could see that it would be more beneficial
the product as this showed me that the adjustable lense would be most beneficial for the overall performance of the projector while also keeping the same sleek effect as the original design with the angled lense at the top. This week I used the time to focus on adding incremental changes to the design however after modelling and considering the logistics of some of my developments such as the pen holder I feel it might be too much for the design and might need to be pulled back in in terms of the practicality of the design. I feel a similar design function would be most suitable as the design its self is aesthetically pleasing and it might be over powering to have both strong. To add to the aesthetic, I also considered a surface pattern that wasn’t used on Lamy’s pens specifically however does represent the sleek curves and edges that the company’s products have as well as Lamy having several other surface patterns that are similar which supports the representation that the product has of the company and brand. Next week I plan on looking at testing of the shapes and surface patterns for the new design to support how well it works in 3D and not just view my idea on paper. Week 6 11/1/19 This week I looked specifically at modelling and testing before I went forward with the manufacturing of the product. As you can see in the image I looked at using softer plastics that are able to bend for the surface pattern and created the right shapes that suited the curve of the shape using a Stanley knife. I did this by eye however when considering the process, I feel I could potentially make it using the laser cutter if I were to find the correct dimensions. I glued the small pieces on using a hot glue gun as it made the main body from softer foam however when I create my final model I will use a harder form and therefore a stronger glue will be used to ensure the shapes bend with the curve. I also looked at testing how well the spray paint went onto the model as I was concern due to the shiny finish on the plastic however using the grey without any primer the paint seems to have stayed on therefore shows that with a few coats it should look good. I do feel however, that I would use a metallic silver spray paint instead for this product as it is used most within the pens and also makes the product look less dull and boring. I feel I will take this forward with the actual manufacturing of the product however next time I will increase the gap size between each shape to ensure it does not fill with paint and the full effect of the surface pattern is captured. Next week I plan on starting manufacturing out of hard foam and creating the main body for my product.
Week 7 18/1/19 This week I began to consider my manufacturing out of hard foam. Once creating the main body using the band saw as well as sanding so that the include curves inwards and creates a larger aesthetic effect, I then worked on the projection aspect. After considering my original sketches I first created the lense form the side of the top section of my project however after re-evaluating the size of a mini projector lense I then looked at other ways in which the projector could project similarly to this as this current style is too small and impractical. I feel to avoid this problem I could of created each model out of soft foam first and re considered the design and looked at scale more in detail at this point to reduce waste of hard foam. As you can see from the pictures below I made some changes. As you can see form the images the second version is more practical in terms of projecting and the quality of the end result, the second result is a slight development of the original design following the same shapes however increased the size and added the aspect of being able to move the lense to the angle you want which is an increased benefit to this product from the original as it makes the projection side of the product more appealing as well as keeping the aesthetic and feel the product has. The main advantages of this new design would be: ✓ Multiple projection angles ✓ Similar sleek aesthetic ✓ Bigger lense=better quality projection ✓ Larger design feature to make the design stand out After creating the top section in soft foam, I then began to consider how the curve and overall shape of this would be made from the hard foam as its harder to match due to being difficult to sand down as well as cut to an exact curve. When considering my plan for next week I feel I need to consider how this curve would be fixed, one option might be filler as tis would ensure the curve is directly printed
onto the projection piece. I also want to look at making tis fully and perhaps start on creating the surface pattern, this means sanding the surface down so its smooth ready for priming and spray painting. Week 8 1/02/19 In this next week I looked at ensuring the top projector fitted perfectly onto the main body of the design perfectly, after considering the technique last week I decided to go with car body filler and create the curve perfectly from this. To do this I created the top pieces as accurately as possible using sand paper to sand the curve down. After this I then needed to mix the filler together and apply to the bottom of the projection piece, the main body of the design was covered using Sellotape as this stopped the filler form sticking to the actual surface ensure I could peel it off after it had hardened. After the filler had hardened I then cut around the edges to get rid of any spillage caused by squashing it downwards this made it neater and set it ready to glue onto the top piece properly. I also took the time this week to drill the ole for the lense to go which was 16mm in diameter as this is the standard size for a lense for this projector. With this I had to cut into the top piece as show in in previous pictures, I was unable to use the inside piece from this for the lense as it would be hard to drill the hole due to being angled as well as getting damaged while cutting out the middle. For this reason, I created a straight square and drilled the correct sized hole into the piece. After drilling the hole, I measured the square correctly from the centre and cut this using the jigsaw cutter due to the miniscule size of this piece. Once I had the square fitting perfectly into the top piece I then rounded off the edges using sand paper to give the product more dimension I also added angles to the product to ensure it fits with the angles of the main body. My next lessons I plan on: 1. Gluing the components together 2. Creating and gluing down the surface pattern 3. Sanding and priming the product 4. Spray painting the product (several coats) 5. Creating the lense with the laser cutter out of acrylic and gluing in place
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