The Story of Stuff Project, created by Annie Leonard, explained complex political issues into simple, accessible and visually appealing viral videos, it is one of the best educational tools on the net today. The project depicts the marketing strategies that promote overconsumption and waste. Moreover, it explains the environmental affects of our overconsumption.
The Story of Cap and Trade explains cap and trade schemes are not the best mechanism to deal with carbon emissions and climate change, it really just play around the edges, giving an impression that something is being done about reducing carbon emissions, when it really isn’t.
A new way of thinking is required, as The Story of Cap and Trade suggests that all emissions credits should be sold or auctioned by the government, who can then use the revenue to fund clean energy development
Yes as she said in the video ‘Get real! This is the biggest crisis humanity has faced’ This learning material is relevant in shaping the intellectual growth of an industrial designer, as we design we need to think about these issues, and develop clean energy.
The Story of Bottled of Water is another animared docoment on how the bottled water industry has convince us all to pay bucketloads for something we can get free. Also I notice that many recycled materials are not actually recycled, like most water bottles end up in landfills. It is important for us to know that drinking bottled water is a huge waste of environmental resources, so we won’t buy bottles of water, and support investments in clean, available tap water for all, design a solution that is sustainable and save our planet.
These bottled water industry gloss over the use of fossil fuels as simply costing “more to ship it around the planet”, so I guess the plastic are really made out of oil. The infrastructure that provides us with tap water must be one of the most efficient delivery systems of anything - and it keeps thousands of delivery trucks driving millions of kilometres off of the road, which can reduce carbon emission as well.
It’s the most ridiculous thing I ‘ve ever heard in my life that only 1% of goods produced in North America are still in use 6 months later. We only have one earth, so don’t be selfish, let’s treat it right.
Armed conflict, the World’s Deadliest War frequently has a disruptive effect on agricultural production and food availability. The Underground Food Storage is design to use in this situations, where human fight for food.
A few degrees can make a big difference when it comes to food storage. Foods can deteriorate and spoil, with major causes being incursion of moisture, oxygen, high temperatures, light, and animal infestation. But for many of the world's poor, finding a good way to keep food cool is difficult. Refrigerators are costly and they need electricity. Therefore storing food undergroun not only can keep food longer and secure (where when there is a shortage, people store food from others), also in some cases it can save spaces in refugees.
The Underground Food Storage comes with a shovel slided onto the lid, either for the first time digging the hole, or uses it as a ‘brush’ each times before openning it (aviod dirt falling in). Inside are airtight ‘food grade’ containers, common and inexpensive plastic polyethylene containers with sealable see through lids that mice won’t chew into.
Manufactue:
Use injection molded Polypropylene (PP), this type of construction offers maximum durability and strength. At the same time it’s cost effective.
The rubber gasket lid with additional wall thickness at the plastic hinge areas and corners, which enhances durability. The lid features tremendous stress crack resistance and impact strength, it has enough rigidity to withstand a reasonable amount of weight, providing strength, durability, and safety.
* Crowned rib design adds strength and durability.
* Lightweight lids supply good structural integrity
* Lids maintain impact resistance at extremely low temperatures.
Provided by The Food Aid organizations, instead of dividing big bags of dry food to refugees, they just give each family the Underground Food Storage, with dry food packed inside already by machines, which saves time and labour cost. As now in some armed conflict areas government send money to buy food locally, rather than unwanted produced food, this handful of essential pieces of food storage equipment can help it all stay organized.
Here's a list of some common grains, and key food items:
Wheat
Corn
Rice
Rolled Oats
Hulled Barley
Rye Buckwheat
Millet
Beans (mung, pinto, navy, refried, and so on)
Pasta (a variety of types)
Sugar, sault
Dry chilies
Fortified flour
Reflection
For this project, I had a deep look at armed conflict situations in Africa, especially in the areas of providing long term food aid to civilians in Africa. The World’s Deadliest War, Armed conflict frequently has a disruptive effect on agricultural production and food availability, therefore designing a long term food aid system may be helpful.
As available now, in Africa the food aid provide big bags of rice and other dry food like corns and beans, but it will take lots of time dividing them to each family, so the Underground food storage can solve this problem perfectly, all dividing process is done by machines, and this can be achieved as I asked people who work in factory. The underground food storage can avoid food been stolen by others, as well as keeping food longer.
I looked into areas like food container design method, and situations in Africa, where they don’t even have ‘food grade’ containers to contain food, also watched many YouTube videos about those as well, also found the cheapest material and method too.
As I put myself into the users shoes, I found that they will need tool to dig the whole, so I designed an slotted in shovel on the lid, where they will be slotted onto the rib design of the lid, then as I tried to carry more than one large containers, I found it will be slippering, so I made the bottom of the storage box just to fit onto the rib of the lower one when put them one on one.
After this project I found myself thinking things more carefully, and know many things about ‘food grade’ containers, and large rotationally molded containers, because I went to shop to look at plastic containers, how the lid is designed for holding food, and talk to others too, also went to look at the hinge of large rubbish bins, but used plastic hinge as avoiding dirt.
I also learnt something extra about keeping fresh food longer, as first I went too far, thinking of designer a non electric refrigerator for the world’s poor, vacuum forming is the best way, then there’s the old way ‘pot-in-pot’ method. Which I found interested and want to share about.
I challenged myself within the time line of this project, starting from knowing nothing about armed conflict and container design, but now I know so much, and really enjoyed doing this project.
This reality TV show is about Philipps Stark setting tasks for the twelve chosen contestants, the one who succeed all the challenges will be given the opportunity to work for him in the next six months.
I enjoyed watching the part how other design students’ process of design, and how they formulate and present their ideas. During the show I found out that in order to design a successful product, you need to put yourself in others shoes. Like the winner, because she had previous experience therefore made her know their needs, and came out a product that could really help people.
What really opens up my mind is Philipps Stark’s design philosophy, and how he thinks of future design for a better society. He believes that sustainability should be the main forcus of each design, and to make each product available to as many users as possible, also think about the after use, try to produce less rubbish to our land field.
From the six episodes of 'Designing for Life', it inspired me to take responsibility as an industrial design student too, that we should bring better equality to all demographic users, also bring equality and sustainability into the society and our next generations.
The key problem for this toaster is heavy and big. Therefore we try to reduce the overall weight by replacing material for exterior casing, change from Aluminium to ABS. In addition, we wanted to remove some unnecessary components and rearrange some of the buttons, as well as the heat intensity control in order to reduce the size and overall weight as well. Instead of using many parts for the base stander to stay in place, we stick rubber bases on.
The 11th Hour gives insight to what human did to the enviroment since the industrial revolusion 200 years ago, how much damage we did to our only home and we are still doing it now! However what we don’t realise is at the end the enviroment is gona survive and we are the ones may not survive, or we may survive in a world we don’t want to live in.” So we need to start saving ourselves.
In the video there were lots of new ideas and products that inspirit me, what new techonology can do is powerful, and now design is not only about mass production, but sustainable design as well. “The new design is invisible…not just about forms, it’s the structure…the performance need to be design.” Therefore, the tecnology behind it is much important than the visual form.
So as Thom Hartmann said the question is that “ how can we use our understanding of science and understanding of technology along with our understanding of culture and how culture changes to create a culture that will interact with science and with the world around us in a sustainable fashion.” Is the main focus for us in the future, we need to combine them all, not just redeign but to design.
“There are too many of us using too many resouces too fast”, and the natur already supplied us for a long time for free. Now it is time for us as a designer to use these existing new technologies to reduce our footprints and build our new economy before. I am so glade to live in this generation, where “we get to completely change the world”said by Paul Hawken. I really want to be part of it and make a change, so firstly by reducing my footprints, then by working towards an industrial designer.
IKEA IVAR chair Physio-attachiment: can write notes on the chair and stick pictures on as well, also can be a rubish bag holder, when you cut a whole in the middle of the seat. adding soft cusions, wheels and foot stand to make the patient feel like at home:
psycho/socio-attachment: storage
Group redesign:
The IVAR chair provides a cheap and versatile seating solution particularly for student living. To improve the attachment of the user to the chair, our team proposed:
- Strap-on cushion on backrest & seat to provide comfort for long hours of usage (eg. Studying, Dining, or Leisure).
- Storage space beneath the seat taking to consideration the lack of storage space in a student apartment (eg. Magazines, Books). could be physio or psycho/socio-attachment.
- Personalized Name Tag at the back of the backrest to provide emotional attachment to the chair.
This activity had allowed me to train my mind in quick thinking, expand thoughts, learn from individual strengths, and more importantly team work.
“Every design tells a story, if you know how to read it.” – by Henry Ford. I guess this is very true, designers play an impotant role in today’s society, more and more people purchase product not only because they need it, but also it’s a representation of them, to show themselves through the world by this emotional designed product.
As human, our mind are fickleness, that’s why a good design should “ stand the test in time” by Marc Newson. The best example is the Apple company, they not only forcus on the physical outlook but also the software and mass production. Eventhough MacBook Pro look simple, straight forward like undesigned, but when you look closely to those details, that’s where the product communicates with the user, so perfectly done that make the user want to take care of it. Also the software make people never want to leave it, just like Grid Compass with his machine, at the end was all to do with the software.
What I also found meaningful to me was what Dan Formosa said about design not only forcusing on the average people, but should “know and understand the extreme… because the middle would take care of itselfe.” Therefore designer “improve people daily life without them thinking about it.” And creates an appropriate environment where people feel good.
In conclusion and what I always need to keep in mind from now on is a quote by Dieter Rams “Good design should be innovative, good design should make a product usefull, good design is aethetic design, good design will make a product understandable, good design is honest, good design is unobtrusive, good design is long-lived, good design is consistend in every detail, good design is environmentaily friendly, last but not least, good design is as little as possible.”
