Product Design

For my final Product Design unit we were supposed to solve a problem with a piece of leather the size of A4 paper. A problem I had is that my current pencil case was a bit too old, so I decided that I will try to make a new pencil case.

My final product solves my initial problem by providing a new pencil case that is new, allowing me to replace my current pencil case. My new pencil case is also less bulky and smaller than my current pencil case, allowing me to simply put it in my pocket should I require it.

One of the most important features of my design is the zipper, allowing me to access my pencil case without having any of my pencils falling out with the usage of zippers or buttons. To add the zipper into the pencil case without making it excessively long, I made a zipper stop with my beginner sewing skills.

A skill I learnt and improved on during this project is sewing, in which I not only improved on using the running stitch, I also learnt how to tie a simple knot in sewing without peer assistance. I think this skill will be helpful to me in the future in the case I need to sew broken clothing.

I think one of the most difficult part of the ISB design process for me is the “Create” part, because I usually make a lot of minor mistakes that add up into affecting the overall final product. Even though I plan ahead adequately and reflect over the creation of my product quite well, I think I just need to improve on the making of the product itself.

For our second unit of Product Design, we were tasked to make a nonexistent item, a smell detector. By sketching out designs, making prototypes and improving from feedback, the unit consists of 3 phases: Define & Inquire, Develop & Plan and Create & Improve.

I designed so that my prototype has a similar hold as of a TV remote or holding a mobile phone with one hand. I designed so that the thumb of my right hand will control the buttons and functionalities of the prototype. The product also features a retractable “screen” that can be controlled by the left hand with touching it.

The smell first has to go into the nozzle, in which the product will detect and determine the smell. After that is done, it will send the results to a screen for the consumer to see. The operator can use the buttons to control the screen and the statistics of the smell.

For this prototype, I had a bit of inspiration from the blinds used on the windows, where you can control the position of the blinds by pushing and pulling. I also had inspiration from certain types of holds on mobile phones and TV remotes to design the ideal hold for this prototype.

I think I can improve my prototype by making the outside a bit more aesthetic. The nozzle is only made out of cardboard and the outer skin of the product is only covered in paper, making it look cheap and poorly made. I mostly focused on the functionality of the screen, hence I did not do much with the outside layers.

My first unit in Product Design is for something called a “Lightbox”, a box that I made to remind me of a location that I’ve designed myself. In other words, you can call it a “3D picture”. I decided to choose Singapore and two landmarks there because it has been my home for a big portion of my life.

Pictures of finished product

Although I had several obstacles in the process of making this Lightbox, my biggest obstacle to me is the painting part. I had trouble trying to thin out Acrylic paint, resulting in a rough texture on some of my pieces. To try to solve this problem, I decided to use my fingers to wipe off excess paint to smoothen the texture (which actually worked!). In addition, I did not properly plan out the painting while referencing pictures of the landmark in real life (In real life, the Merlion, statue with water coming from its mouth, is supposed to be somewhat silver colored and parts of the Marina Bay Sands, the building to the right, should be grey and not silver). Because of this, the colors in my Lightbox is not very realistic compared to what it is like in real life.

My biggest success in this unit is planning the layers in Adobe Illustrator. I managed to use complex designs, convert them from images to lines in Adobe Illustrator then matching them together to form the outline of my layers. I also tried to add my own additions to the complex designs. For example, the “water arc” from the mouth of the Merlion was added in manually by using the arc tool, scissors tool for it to combine with the bottom pieces and fine-tuning the direction of the arc so that it goes directly into the mouth. Although I have failed due not realizing that a portion of a layer is double-layered, leading to me needing to replan the layer, I have mostly succeeded in this phase of the unit.

One piece of feedback I’ve gotten on my Lightbox is that I should’ve been more careful when using hot glue to secure the wires of the LEDs to the back of the Lightbox. Once again, I did not plan properly enough and ended up covering my own name! Although to me this is a minor issue, this could have been easily avoided by better planning and asking feedback from my colleagues before I started to secure it to the back.

One of the skills I learned or developed includes the use of “spacers” and superglue for a feel that my layers “pop out” instead of it being a flat picture. To achieve this effect I used “spacers”, small wooden pieces to distance my layers. Combined with superglue to stick the spacers on, I added it to my layers. I like how that via the usage of spacers I managed to add distance between the layers yet it is not visible when looked from the front.