Personal Statement

Coming from an artistic background previous to University, I try to incorporate my artistic style within my creative design process. I’m interested in a modern style when sketching product and furniture ideas and I’m keen to use plastics metals and woods, as long as it creates a relatively sustainable design as the topic of sustainability is becoming more and more focused upon due to preservation of the environment and is something I’m personally keen on.

I also come from a very sporty background with cricket as my major sport. With cricket I’ve been on two major tours to theCaribbean, and it has shaped the way I know think when I’m trying to come up with design ideas. Witnessing poverty first hand really makes you think and understand how lucky you are, but to me it made me think, how can I use my designing passion to help? So now when I’m creating a design, I really think about sustainability, function, and whether it is cost effective.

When looking for design work that influences me, I look for something that’s original, outside the box thinking, and generally involves some sort of craftsmanship as I like to see personal touch to things. Max Lamb’s work is a big influence to me as he obtains a hand on approach to his work and this is something I share an interest in.

Max Lamb

A native of St. Austell, Cornwall, Lamb earned a degree in Three Dimensional Design from Northumbria University in2003. Inthe same year he was awarded the Hettich International Design Award and the Peter Walker Award for Innovation in Furniture Design.

Lamb worked for a year in between his degree and his Masters, and during that time he was lucky enough to be offered a job with an interior design company in London: the Ou Baholyodhin Studio. It was his first introduction to London and also the professional design world. While he was working there, he was still pursuing his own work outside office hours and he did a number of different exhibitions. He  even exhibited in Milan with a friend. He states, ‘I was always more passionate about my own work so I decided to go back to education’, so he applied to the Royal College of Arts, where he did a Masters in design products.

The famous designer Tom Dixon was one of his tutors at the RCA, which was a useful introduction. After his first year he asked if there were any internship opportunities for the summer.

In 2006, he completed his Masters Degree in Design Products at the Royal College of Art, developing a concise, process driven approach to design. But a couple of months before he graduated he asked Dixon whether there were any job opportunities. His words were: “We’ve got the best job in the world for you.” Lamb was made the designer in a new part of the company.

After a year designing for Tom Dixon Studio, he established his own practice, in which he had complete freedom. He didn’t have a typical day as it depended on what stage he was at with his work. There’s a huge amount of travelling in the build-up to exhibitions, getting projects finished and visiting companies, manufacturers and suppliers.

In 2008 began teaching on the Industrial Design course at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne.

            He has featured in many exhibitions, but the piece of work he produced that really stood out to me, was the Poly Chair he created n 2006. Such a simple piece of work crafted so quickly, yet having the imagination to do something like it has really inspired me personally, as now I am always looking for something new and inovative to design, but something simple using natural shapes, surroundings and environments to inspire my thought. Similar to the thought process Lamb himself uses.

Max Lamb’s chair designs suggest an aggressiveness that is characteristic of the atavistic spirit in design today. In stark contrast to recent ethereal and romanticised design, or designs that transfer directly from computer to machine manufacture without human intervention, Lamb laboriously chisels, buries, grows and smelts materials into rugged and bold forms.

Further work of the polystyrene series was displayed at the fumi gallery in London, as to where the next pice of work is located that caught my eye, the Rusty Sheet Steel Chair.

In his accompanying document Exercises in Seating, Lamb describes how his perforations along bend lines were conceived to make assembly possible by hand, without the need for specialist machinery. The whole structure is fixed by simply two lengths of hi-spec double-sided tape, the epitomy of design for manufacture that is manufacture by an unskilled person. This steel chair can be assembled by the user themselves. Lamb says,

“I liked the idea of incorporating an additional hand-process with which to reinforce the one-off or low batch potential of laser-cutting.

 

It is details like these that make the difference between designs that the user can embrace, and feel ownership of in a creative sense, and designs that exclude the user from the initial synthesis of the product and must be sold readymade – and all it comes down to is perforations.

D1.7 Professional Studies

D1.7 is a big module  made up of many smaller categorised tasks.

Desk top publishing on In-Design I achieved 58% which i was happy with as I hadn’t ever seen this programme before. I’d hope now that I would be able to achieve a lot better mark now I’ve had a bit of practice on it if I were to complete the task again. This section was worth 25% of the overall module.

3D Studio max was a programme I had seen before, but never got the chance to use it when I was on work experience at the Above & Beyond Architecture and Interior Design firm. I found it really hard as there is so much to know about the programme as you can create anything on it. I tried hard and with help from Andy I got there in the end producing my mouth wash tap adapter for module d1.2 as a 3D CAD model. I got 60% in this module and it was also worth 25% of the overall module.

The freehand drawing section is worth 8% of the overall module and a got 41% on this as I struggle with 2 point perspective. though I found the technical drawing side, which is also worth 8% overall, a lot easier and hope to have achieved a better mark.

The materials and Processes quiz was worth 5% overall and I did extremely well on this and achieved 95% on this so I was extremely happy with it.

The rest of the 30% come from this blog so I’ll have to update this post when I get feedback.

D1.5, Critical and Contextual Studdies

For the concepts in design history quiz we were required to attend lectures by Guy Julier and the go away and research wider into what was discussed. at the end of these lectures a quiz was undertaken challenging our knowledge and research skills, in which i obtained a mark of 88%.

The second half of the module was an essay based question which was meant to enable us demonstrate an ability to articulate a reasoned argument which interogates and interprets selected examples of visual and material culture. i chose to write my essay on the subject of Fordism basing it on the fast food franchise Subway.

Essay based questions are something I particularly struggle in, but non the less gave it my best, achieving a mark of 49%.

over all in this module I got 69%.

D1.3, Luminaire

It was a good project but my time management slightly let me down. I gained a lot of confidence from going in the workshop and if I got another go at this project I would look at doing a more complicated structure as I quite enjoyed the metal work and brazing stage. I put a lot of time into the research for this project, and I think I could have made it more sculptural by adding more curves to the structure.

Before we began work on this project we had to complete some workshop stations for research on materials and structures, which is where the majority of my ideas came from using a frame and elasticated fabrics.

This was my initial design of this concept, having two seperate shades, but completely surounding the bulb.

For this module I got 60%

D1.2, Contexts and Issues

The project was good as I enjoyed having the time to think more in depth about the product I was making. I didn’t enjoy finding out the length of the report a week before having to submit the project as it was a bit stressful, but it made me work like I never new I could. I also wish we could have used the workshop for this project to make the model as mine wasn’t tidy and hard to make with scissors and glue.

This is a Picture of my final Mouthwash Tap Adapter product.

Here is my first  sheet of design ideas using the daily routine activity of brushing your teeth for a brief.

This is just an idea of where the product could go in the future, crating different cases containing different flavours.

Folr this module i got 55%.

D1.1, Principals of Design

 

The project went well and I am happy with my work, but now looking back over it all I wish I could use further work showing my product in use and how the tent collapses so that it rolls up to be easily transportable. Through this project I have become a lot more confident in my ability on Adobe Indesign and Photoshop although my skills are very basic. Andy’s help took 10 minutes and taught me everything needed, and I like the way I can blend my two sketches together on the computer so you can see roughly what the finished product would look like.

This is just a basic sketch explaining how the pod system works. The heat from the users body is trapped within the cocoon like compartment and is recycled keeping the user warm. A flap folds down to the users neck so that the warm air is trapped inside the pod.

Here’s an image of how the tent would look with the four pod bays inside it.

For this module I achieved a mark of 57%

A Personal Reflection on my Design Practice

Over the course of this year I have had my choice within design confirmed as I am still keen to become a furniture and product designer, finding it hard to choose between one or the other. From the luminaire project I again confirmed that I prefer a hand on approach when designing and to get stuck into workshop activity and sketch work rather than sit in front of a computer screen all day every day. I like the aesthetic appeal of wooden products in furniture and the fact it’s a sustainable material makes it so much better. It does take time to grow, but you’re relying on the sun and rain, natural substances rather than environment impacting fuels. Shaping plastics doesn’t really excite me nor does it relate to my views of sustainable design. This is something I would do if there was no other way around it, as they do contain so many useful properties within manufacture, but it’s not a preferred material choice for me. Because of my interests in woods, and ways to use them, I’m looking to take on a wood carving course over the summer period, just to see if there’s ways I could use that experience within my design work.

Sustainable Design

Sustainable design is a kind of design meant to yield products that are made only of renewable resources. Furthermore, products made though sustainable design are intended not to seriously impact the environment either when they are being created or when they are being used. These products are also often designed to allow the users to feel more connected or to relate more closely to the natural environment.

Personally I see sustainable design as something that doesn’t seriously impact the environment through out its life span. Whether it be in the creation and manufacture of the product, using machines that need some sort of energy to fuel, or the end of the products life, whether the materials can be recycled or reused, or if the materials can rot away, rather than filling a landfill site.  I think it’s important to try and involve sustainable design in anything I may produce, but to also make use out of materials that are easily recyclable. For a project of my own, I’m planning to look at furniture making over the summer period, from bits of broken sticks and twigs found upon a forest floor. This is going to be considered as research, investigation and experimentation in sustainable design.

Folding Flat

Here the focus is elegance and effectiveness. – looking good and working well!

Brief

The vehicle for you to use the design activities covered so far is the design of a container.

The container can be for any product that you might buy in Leeds City centre from a street vendor or from a shop or from a food outlet or from anywhere else.

Things that might be contained in your container:

Flowers

Fast food – chips, burger, sandwich, drinks, sushi, peanuts, popcorn, pasties, donuts, raps, bagels, pastries, coffee

Speciality food – chocolates, pasta, deli food, nice food – (presentation box)

CDs, DVDs, books

Ice cream

Cakes, special cakes

Body shop/lush stuff

Sock shop, Tie rack, Knicker box, Accessorize

Milliners

Stationary, newspapers, magazines

Gifts, jewellery

Shoes

Photos

Money

Lingerie

Sweets – from those shops that sell loose sweets

Corn flakes  – from outlets where the food is supplied loose – i.e. without packaging

Chestnuts – in the winter

“When I get gifts in a box its always something special”

Criteria

      The container must start out as a single flat sheet. (Any gluing or tape or string or other fastening materials should be kept to the minimum. Use of such materials should be considered lack of ingenuity on your behalf)

      Complete a sheet of instructions to show how the package is folded up – no words allowed

      If you have time think about the visual “branding” of the package

      Maximum size of paper/card is A3

When folded the container must hold the required products securely and allow appropriate access.  So we are looking at sandwich containers that enable you to eat the sandwich but maybe keep the last few bites nice and fresh, or re-sealable sweet box or flower holder that doubles as a vase, or photo envelope that shows off your photos or underwear packaged to show how much he/she loves you!

Consider:

q       How and what to Package

q       How to Fold

q       How to Open

q       What to Display

q       How to Carry

q       Movement of opening and closing

Try to

Surprise

Reveal

Delight

Desire

Enchant

Amuse

Astonish

Astound

and

Amaze

While the focus of the project is the design and development of this elegant container the programme will include short exercises designed at looking at the process of design. Your attendance and participation in these is the reason you are here, so make sure you turn up.

Assessment Criteria:

• originality,
• elegance (which will include application of technical skill)
• effectiveness (could it do what you intend)

Here are some images of my design.

Initial Concept, looking at storing Money.

This is the net I created that would fold to make the money box and the draw.

This images shows both nets after being cut out.

Above are two images of the final product.