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Designing for homeless??

Wesley — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:43:10 +0000

Hi all,

It is been a while since I last updated on this blog. I am embarrassed to say that I have been on a hiatus. Now for a currently project I am thinking of, I would like to do something different – coming up with a design idea for homeless people. Please take a look at the threads if possible and post your suggestions or comments:

Thread01

Thread02

Thanks,
-wes

Proxi Vest (initial concept)

Wesley — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:29:15 +0000

Design Statement: To design an artifact that integrates essential repair kit for bikes.
Q:What is going to be in the vest?
A:

Hex wrench (in back)
Screwdriver and driver heads
tire levers (in pocket)
spar tube (in neck)
patch kit (in pocket)
pump (in back)
minitool

-wes

Think Outside The Box

Wesley — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:44:48 +0000

Our product is tricky. How do we design so that it is not just merely a box like storage? I keep on falling into the trap of designing a storage box or a bike. Why would we design a box when there are many variations out there for bikes already? If we can’t think outside the box, then what is the purpose of our design statement?

-wes

Freeroll : Move Free and Effortless?

Wesley — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:17:24 +0000

I recently came across this article. It is designed by Finnish designer Heikki Juvonen. It got my attention because I also designed an elderly walker for one of my projects on aging in place. The design is certainly modernistic and futuristic.

-wes

Bike Links

Wesley — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:45:07 +0000

For general information about types of bikes out there

For more general information about biking (go to page 23 for info on bikes)

For what’s in a bicycle quick repair tools

For more about what’s in a quick repair kit

For some standards regarding bikes

For some bike standard dimension

For bike helmet standards

For bike helmet standards02

For some facts about safety helmets

To be continued…

-wes

Number 3

Wesley — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:08:12 +0000

The solution is simple, a simple preparedness kit for all bikers. However, people have already tackle such issue by having bags that attach to bikes. I also noticed that the designs that we have came up with individually are all very similar to one another, with a little bit of variations in the form.

How can we bring the idea of preparedness kit to another level of not simply being physical kits, but something more than that. There are three types of solution to this issue:

1). A simple detachable repair kit

2). A repair kit that is integrated into the bikes (this means we might need to design a bike or part of a bike)

3) Others

I have been trying to think about number three for a while because I feel if we can find a solution that falls under this category, then we have got it. This project can be simple or complex.

Below are some ideas that people have already done, which I thought is quite innovative. Perhaps they can serve as my inspiration:

P.S. Back to knocking out 60 brilliant ideas
-wes

Stumbled Upon

Wesley — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:07:27 +0000

Pacific-Cycles in Taipei Bike Show 2008

Subject

Wesley — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:53:05 +0000

Over the weekend, me, Lpei and a couple of her friends biked to Stone Mountain; we wanted to become the own research subjects and gain some firsthand experience. For me, I’ll be presenting from the novice’s point of view, and because I am coming from the novice’s point of view, a lot of what I say may not apply to people who are already used to the problems.

I encountered a few difficulties while biking through parts of Atlanta and along the biking trail to Stone Mountain, in which the roads are a little scary to bike through. While biking through parts of Atlanta, I discover the roads are not the ideal roads to bike on with all the bumps and holes as most people have already mentioned. For a frequent biker, this might not be a huge issue, but for someone that would like to get into biking and is a little fearful of motorized vehicle it might be a small obstacle to overcome, because of the fear of having to share the road with cars. I believe this is also an issue of the environment; the kind of environment we live in dictates what we can or cannot do.

While biking on Atlanta road is an issue, I would also like to complain a little about sitting on the bike seat for long duration of time. At least for the later part of the trail I began to bike while avoiding sitting on the seat, which helped a lot in easing the pain in my butt. Again this is not a huge issue, because it simply takes some time to get use to.

Safety is also an issue, I almost of hit one time riding through a stop sign. However, this can also be avoided if the biker is skill enough to avoid it. As for me, I got lucky. The fear of falling is also a small issue (reminds me of the aging project). I did not fall personally, but I did almost fall a few times.

One major problem I encounter on my first day of long distance biking are the holes in the tires. First it was the front tire, and thanks to Lpei’s friend, that problem was solved immediately with a new ring of tire. However, upon my return, the tire in the bike died on me; thus, I walked for some while trying to find the nearest Marta station, which isn’t so near. The particular bike I biked was one with the easy detachable front wheel bike, which made changing tires easy for the front. However, with the back, it is a little troublesome because of the chains.

Now, some ideas my group has been brainstorming: locks, safety helmets (detachable helmets?! not again…), multiple seating, carrying compartment, seating, brakes, and possibly integrate some kind of codes into the bikes…

P.S. For expert opinion, please refer to Lpei’s web blog.
-wes

AXE product promotional ideas (FINAL CONCEPT)

Wesley — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:05:12 +0000

For my final concept in designing promotional product for the AXE brand, I have decided to design a dart/poster along with a custom designed “AXE dart” that the company can give away for promotion. The poster features 9 different flavors and chicks in a kind of grid formation, which correspond to the “9 ways” on the AXE Effect official website. The idea of this product is so that males, when they wake up every morning they can shoot the dart to decide what variant of AXE to use for that day. The different variants also come with a short description of their own, again, took straight from the Axe website. To make the brand promotion more amusing, I added two additional steps to the Axe instruction manual.

P.S. images obtained from AXE Effect and DeviantArt.
-wes

AXE product promotional ideas

Wesley — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:18:20 +0000

During the trip I came up with a couple of ideas for my poster design. I did not play around with the dart itself as much. I know I want my dart to be somewhat magnetic, because I do not want my user to poke hole on their home walls. This means that I will have to implant some kind of magnetic material on the back of the poster. I would have to come up with a way so that the poster, as large as it is, can still roll up perfectly like a normal poster, or else I will simply have to shrink the size of my poster.

I have came up with a couple of designs for the poster; however, I can not decide on one single design. I had the thought of using all of the design and produce different dart-posters, taking the idea of a collection of dart-poster, because different people might prefer different styles of poster. However, that will all depend on if I have enough time to even come up with one actual, physical poster.

-wes