assessment 5 continued - house product lines

TIMO GLASS

Timo glass is a whole range of glassware designed by Timo Sarpaneva. These clear, stylish glasses are specially made for any kind of beverage. While some glasses often crack when exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the same time. Timo are durable, heat resistant glasses that can withstand all kinds of thermal shocks. They will also not chip in the dishwasher. Timo's work is promoted through a variety of museums such as the MoMa in NEw York and the Timo glass is also featured in the Design Stockholm House.

BONO MUGS

These are hand painted decor bone mugs. I love how each one is different yet all are unified. This is fun for entertaining guests (plus no one gets confused with who's is what). They are promoted as well by Design Stockholm House. 

EVA SCHILDT

I admire this umbrella stand because it is both a functional design piece and a sclutpure. Eva uses a sponge (closely related to the theme of water) as a base. The frame is made of blue steel. This is also promoted through the Stockholm design house.

BLOCK LAMP

This block lamp is designed by Harry Koskinen. It is promoted through the 'Design Stockholm House' as well as the MoMa museum. It is a creative design light feature from scandinavia. I think it is a very unique way of lighting up a room and creating a creative ambience in a room.

DINOSAUR DESIGN

I lOVE Dinosaur design. They carry a range of products including jewellery, vases, kitchenware, platters etc. Promotion of their product is done mostly through word of mouth and through their unique packaging and specially designed stores located throughout the city. The design process and materials used is what makes dinosaur design so unique - specially processed resin. Also, every single piece is individually hand-crafted so every item is one-of-a-kind. 

DYSON

Dyson vacuum cleaners are a unique range of household products. It's patented suction technology and design makes it the leading vacuum cleaner in its range- however very expensive!!! I like how Dyson has not just settled with one design - he is continuing to push the barriers of technology to create new and greater products every year. Dyson promotes his products with the patented radix cyclone technology, its unique style and easy to use components. Dyson states "Design is not just about how something looks, but how it works. I don't see a difference between a designer and an engineer, and I don't want to see a difference. A designer should be both." 

 

assessment 5 continued

VIABLE LONDON

Go to this website:

www.viablelondon.com

This is a great webiste. It shows a room in like a monochrome steel grey with all of their products assembled in the corner. To find out the name of each item you just click on one.I especially like the colourfully highlighted coat hooks on the door at the back. I like how the designs think about different spaces. It seems it takes into consideration available space and making the most of the space you have. This is important to think about for the exhibit floor for ublo as well as its overall design nature. 

THOMAS BERNSTRAND

Thomas Bernstrand has a variety of products ranging from chairs, tables and sofas to other random objects like the tree and the ladder above. His designs are all very simple and aesthetically pleasing. I like the range of neutral colours clean cut materials. The only thing i dislike is the boring nature of the website. It is not vibrant and fun enough to catch your attention.

ALESSI

Alessi design has more of a classic feel. It's designs are more varied and it's name is very established worldwide. The one thing I don like about it is the simplicity as well as its clean lines. It holds a more established and classic feel to ublo, whose designs seem to break outside the box in their obscurity. 

MUUTO

www.muuto.com

follow this web address to an amazing website!!!

I love everything about it- the plain white background - featuring only the bold font which is highlighted to pink, blue and green when touched - it is so simple yet so effective. The pop-up windows are very different - because of the simple layout - the products can be uniquely highlighted and featured. In the product collection i like 'the dots' and 'the four flower vase'. I think a style like this would really suit ublo - event the font that they have used for muuto would suit the name ublo as well.

CHRIS GRATTAN

Chris Grattan's philosophy is "naked simplicity and nothing to disguise the design for what it really is." I see Chris's design style similar to Ublo's in it's modernistic nature and clean, simple lines. In some designs i feel the overtly modern/retro colour designs can look cold and uninviting in some respects. In observance of this I will try to maintain a warmer feel for my own designs.

TRENT DESIGN

Trent features in his work a range of table designs called 'Lok'. The designs vary in size, and colour. The simple, easy to assemble system has an interlocking system using no screws, nails or bolts. The tables are made from acrylic polymer, which is durable and weather proof. This design is inspiring for the fact that there are no attachment materials other than the materials themselves. It is particularly important to note for the design of the booth design.

assessment 5 continued

Assessment 5: response to brief and design audit

assessment 1, exercise 5 - doll shop

assessment 1, exercise 4- jewellery identity

Letterhead

Yellow pages ad

Sign

assessment 3, week 5

Find 3 doll related businesses and describe how they approach the feminine nature of the market they have.

Middleton Doll, Barbie and Bratz are all doll related businesses and which have a feminine market. Middleton Doll is aimed at the younger girl as well as the collector. The website is very simple using feminine colours – baby pink, white and light grey. It has an established feel to it, using simple graphics and appealing to mums with photos of products, photos of the designers, an online catalogue and easy access to newsletter. The easy flowing script font (Middleton dolls) as well as the soft shapes of hearts and roses all contribute to creating an all round feminine feel. Barbie and Bratz are targeted more so for the older girl/young teenager. They both have interactive websites targeted for girls with knowledge of the Internet. Barbie engages with its audience through a representation of a teenager’s room, with fun colours, music and games to keep them on the site. There are also video intros to different product characters. Bratz has adopted a similar feminine approach using fun, bright graphics, girly music and video clips of the dolls in action. Bratz is aimed at a slightly older age group again, however has stretched the age group even further with a release of the Bratz movie, broadening the interest to high school. The feminine nature created in Barbie and Bratz is in its projected brand and lifestyle there of. It is tapping into a lifestyle market – telling girls what to listen to, what to wear, what movies to watch etc. and they are providing all these things.

assessment 1, exercise 3 - Myer redesign

assessment 2- response to week 3 reading

Reading - How to Design logos, symbols and icons
This excerpt was an interesting snippet to the variety of briefs one can recieve in the design world. I found it interesting the difference in the two brief. The design process for the Pittsburg Children's Museum started off already with a strong direction. I can see this as being just as difficult. We have experienced a similar thing with redesigning the Myer logo. It has constraints but also holds the possibility of thinking outside the box and being creative with what you have. Smith clearly worked well to produce the series of trade-marks - it is inline with the brief but has a fresh and unique touch - that can be manipulated for both colour and black and white. The Metreon - another process again - and interesting in the outcomes from the initial results. This story speaks loud of the long design process that needs to be employed. There has to be many wrongs to produce the right.

assessment 2- response to week 4 reading

Week four reading by David Airey was on how you write a design brief. As much as it is simple the information contained in this document is vital for ensuring best possible results for both designer and business owner. I have noticed recently with a friend who hired a designer to do a brochure and there was a communication break down because clear guidelines were not set up from the beginning. I think one of the most important considerations in the design brief is the schedule and deadline. Being specific with - consultation, creative concepts, production and delivery - will save a lot of stress later in the design process for both the designer and the business.