Class Reflection 10!

I thought design 200 was very insightful for my future and becoming an interior designer. Gabe, you were awesome! I learned so much from you and what you had us do. I'll definitely use your advice throughout the next four years. It also made me look through design at a new perspective, what our generation needs to focus on, and how we can change the world through design. Overall, it was great and I'm so glad I took this course.

J10: Project progress continued..again.

Journal 8: http://afisk2014.blogspot.com/2011/02/coleman-project-progress.html
Journal 9: http://afisk2014.blogspot.com/2011/03/coleman-project-progress-continued.html
Group members:
Alicia: http://alwyatt123.wordpress.com/
Alex: http://dsgn200alex.blogspot.com/
Anne: http://sincerelyanne.blogspot.com/
Maria: http://katdesign200.blogspot.com/
Zach: http://bobich007.blogspot.com/

For the rest of the project work days, we focused on getting everything together on the PowerPoint and finalized any drawings we had to accomplish for the final product. We weren't the best organized but we got what we could done. Personally, as a whole, we did not work well together. Mine and other group members' intelligence was insulted too many times so I became tired of the situation. Our presentation wasn't the best and it showed. I helped with final drawings, commented on ideas for improvement but that wasn't enough for some people. I did what I could but I guess my personality and her headstrong persona collided and it didn't end as well as it could have. It's all done with now.

Coleman Project Progress continued..

Since the last update, we have finalized our product for Coleman as Thermoware, which is a line of products that keep food at initial temperature once put into the product. Our specific product we are using as an example is an appetizer tray because it is for more of a diverse audience. We finished our presentation and documented our progress as shown:

Packaging also was finalized to hemp plastic: cheap, environmental, and innovative.
We have definitely been successful in broadening our ideas a little more than being too specific which was a huge obstacle we had to overcome the last time we were working on this.
I think everyone will find what we have to present very interesting and different but still what Coleman needs.

Reading Reflection Number 8 son!

In chapters 9-10 in Heskett's reading, he covers material about context and futures. About context, I found the three contextual influences to design practice interesting. I think this is definitely the most important element of design because this could make or break a product or could even bring up legal issues. Now along with futures, I got that design and methods are evolving every single day.  Designers should remember this because if we don't try to evolve products then nothing would get better.

Coleman Project Progress!

Links to group members' blogs:
Alex Niedzwiecki
Alicia Wyatt
Anne Deis
Catalina Hernandez
Zach Bobich

For our design project so far, we have toyed with the idea of something for the home, naturally. But we also want to incorporate Coleman's products that can withstand extremities, otherwise being durable. We also wanted it to be something that families can use.
At first we thought of coming up with a lamp/flashlight combination product. But Catalina came up with a really cool and innovative idea to make something to keep food warm. She drew out one that looked like a shamrock to represent the coming holiday. It had sections that could be removed from the base so it was easy to wash. These parts also keep the food warm and cold.
We then improvised this product to make it look more versatile instead of seasonal so it can be used at any time. We are still trying to finalize everything but it's going to work like the shamrock design.
I have been contributing with research on what materials to use for the design. So far everything is going good except there has been some tension and people getting offensive (Sorry, I'm not trying to start trouble but it's true). Regardless, we have made a lot of solid progress. Pictures coming soon!

Reading Reflection 7!

In this week's reading, the idea of a cradle to cradle model was introduced. Basically, a cradle to cradle model is the result of when something happens then it causes another reaction and the process goes back and forth. Basically, when something dies it helps the environment in the long run. This makes sense to me because new things in the environment can grow from that. As the chapters go on, a point is made that all things should be designed differently. I agree since different designs need to be adapted to certain environments. Finally, I realized that as a designer, I am going to work to create things that are going to benefit my environment and the places I live so not only I can live a healthy life but so can the people around me. If we don't do something now, we are going to have severe problems in the near future and they will come fast.

Class Reflection number 7!

Since I wasn't in class on Monday, I'll talk about Wednesday and what I learned. We watched a few short videos by Charles & Ray Eames, learning the ways of design which was very useful because it was almost like these films were a breakdown of different aspects of the design process. Also, we broke up into our groups for our next assignment that is making me very anxious.