D2.1 – Child friendly city project

I have just completed the child friendly city project with a concept for a sliding, re-arrangable seating system. The basis of the project was to design an element for usage in Leeds city centre that would provide play opportunities for children. The design is based on play work principles such as moving parts, showing play affordance and multiple use. It also provides social seating in an inclusive manner – not just for children, but aimed towards play.

Overall I am pleased with the outcome so far and am seriously considering an offer to further develop this project in D2.2 making it a double module. This has a possibility of leading to further development, but thats not certain. I think it meets the brief in providing play and social interaction, but there are many ways I have identified to improve and add value to this idea. This could end up being a great feature, somewhere for teens to socialise, kids to play and adults to sit – and more!

David Mellor @ Design museum

Whilst at the Design museum I also learned of David Mellor (1930-2009) who was a cuttlery designer from Sheffield, but also branched out into designing other objects including a Square post box and the current Traffic lights.

He was a keen advocate of taking the process of design all the way right through to manufacture. He was therefore a designer and craftsman (particularly in the cuttlery field). Abacus municipal at a time when Mellor approached them with designs for lighting columns and bus sheters, had just stopped outsourcing their steel manufacturing which offered a great opportunity.

Working for the Ministry of transport, he re-designed the Traffic lights in the 1960′s. For the new design he proposed the frame which is brighter during the day but softer at night, and also considered the construction which is of Polypropylene or coated PVC. This removed the need for painting which saves on maintenance, and is also flexible enough for the units to withstand shock in bumps / accidents. These are still in use today.

The design of his cutlery was based on perfection in both design and manufacturing. Having control of both parts with Sheffield steel production at the time, his designs were well received and iconic. Everything was worked out carefully from the sharpness of prongs to the angles on the knife. He pioneered the usage of cheaper stainless steel and plastic.

Kenneth Grange @ the Design Museum

I recently visited the Design Museum in London where there is an exhibition on Kenneth Grange “Making Britain modern”. His career has spanned over 50 years and this is reflected by the amount of work in the room and its diversity.

Its interesting as everything in the room was a pretty much everyday item of some kind be it household, commercial or municipal. Many items such as his work for Kenwood in the way of food mixers and his Rural post box design were instantly recognizable. He designed a large range of domestic products in the 1960-70′s where he frequently set trends for the future form and function of many everyday products.

In 1972 Grange, together with Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes and Mervyn Kurlansky established “Pentagram” which is a multi-disciplinary design agency – well suited to Granges wide ranging design habits.

Notably he designed the interiors and exteriors for the Intercity 125 where its was noted that he was initially asked to design the livery for the train, but took initiative and suggested aerodynamic  and visual improvements to the form that were taken on. What was delivered was an iconic design representing the future.

Other notable products include : Venner parking meter, Adshel bush shelter and seating, London black cab “Taxi TX1″ and lighting for Anglepoise.

I am now interested in how he managed to have such a diverse career designing many different types of item during his career, and if this is still possible today? Its seems the cohesive theme is the attention to detail with his meticulous design of functionality (making models, testing etc), but also taking the initiative to change things and try new ways. These themes show in all his work.

Matt Gray – corian bench bike rack

This is a nice example of de-materialization as a sustainability technique. Materials are minimised by using the frame as both a bike rack and seat support. The seat is made from Corian which is a DuPont trade name, and is a material made from “some” recycled pre consumer materials. It also boasts low VOC out gassing which again is a positive. So far though I’ve found no evidence it can be recycled itself, so I’m not so sure about it as a green material.

Certainly a good design by American graduate student Matt Gray and a step in the right direction for encouraging cycling and sustainability. The usage of Corian was prescribed in the brief from the information I have. Personally off the top of my head a more traditional plastic might be  a better option for the seat? Or even well sourced wood.

Return to uni – goals, design practice etc

Design approach

• As per last year I wish to base my design on researched grounds with potential new benefits – benefits for the user, environment and manufacturer.
• I wish to gain some experience in user research skills – this can be at uni and potentially a bit in my new job maybe?
• I need to produce some meaningful, convincing and fully workable outcomes for my portfolio.
• I will focus on at least one lighting project as this is an interest area – this will not just be something that looks pretty. It will need to encompass benefits as above.

Skills to work on this year

• Research, surveys and the interpretation of such. Convincing rationales.
• Sketching skills generally.
• Refining ideas to a more detailed outcome that is production ready.
• Manufacturing techniques and materials.
• Solid works usage to a reasonable level

Of course other skills will be used in projects, but these are likely to be critical to my future.

I will also look to get involved in a project that is different to lighting as I want to branch a little this year to keep things more interesting, and keep my knowledge a little wider.

Lighting design

I’ve been looking around at current lighting designs on offer and although I’ve found many great looking designs, I cant help but think many are lacking “something”.

• There seems to be a lot of similarities in designs – this could be pushed I think into some new forms and placements.
• Style is the ruler and there is less innovation in luminaire concepts – innovation is in the light source really.
• There must be some more benefits to be gained – like the Philips day wave product.

I will be looking to follow my modularity ideas in lighting and my similar but different idea on lines of the Philips day wave.

In the meantime this looks nice and utilizes cold cathode technology around the edge. They are also cradle to cradle registered so this links superbly attractive design with sustainability…

FLOS USL 200 Pluto

Oldfield lighting Skipton – visit

I visited Oldfield lighting in Skipton in search of inspiration and chatting with the sales staff if possible. Oldfield lighting is a supplier of higher end residential lighting with an emphasis on aesthetic design and performance features. They offer a large range of quality products for indoor and outdoor usage, lighting design service and technical advice.

I managed to speak to a member of staff about LED technology and its potential in a residential environment :

• People are not only ready to adopt LED technology, but they are asking for it due to larger scale coverage of recent times.
• They are happy to pay a premium – especially if reminded of the energy efficiency and maintenance advantages.
• The technology still hasn’t infiltrated that deep into this sector – especially the high quality versions.
• He mentioned that some customers are getting more efficient lighting, but destroying the advantages by installing far too many lights in each room thus using more energy again – maybe there’s something I can do here?

I will go back sometime as the gentleman was very helpful to me, and invited me to come back anytime if I needed assistance.

LinkedIn – Luminaire design replies

Here is a transcript of responses to a question I posted on the “innovations in light” group on LinkedIn. I’m keeping it here for access.

Luminaire design – team structure and knowledge help

I am a product design student who is interested in Luminaire design and would like to ask for some advice please in this area.

In this industry, I would like to know how the teams are usually structured and the knowledge required.. i.e. are luminaires designed by a combination of product/industrial designers alongside engineers for the optical side of things or by people with a full comprehensive set of skills in all areas?

I ask as I am looking to learn about as much lighting design information alongside my product design education, but this will be a self taught extra. Do any of you think this would equip me for a career in luminaire design?

Hope all that kind of makes sense and many thanks for reading.

 

“as an architecture lighting design Educator that teach in Industrial Design programs I find it necessary to learn a basic course in lighting Design to understand the human perception some biology and some lighting history technology too.

Lighting includes watching the sunlight and the influence of light in space…
Than add some internship in a good Design department in the Lighting industry can be good.
In Israel it is a problem as there isn’t almost no industry at all…some very small Decorative Lamps manifestoes (some very good ) but no Industry for any thing else .. All is imported. The suppliers are much in sales and most of them don’t know much…
I send my students to take part at list in one PLDA workshop to put into use and get the bigger picture.
i can recommend that to you too.”

 

“I’d advise you to obtain as much knowledge you can get about ‘light’ in all it’s appearances as well as it’s behaviour in- and outdoors. Be it sun- or artificial light.

((Luminaries, radiate their beams in different wavelength (depending on the sort of burner) on a surface such as e.g.; walls,floors,ceilings,colours,materials etcetera which means a surface that reflects light. Mind that the wavelength is of utmost importance to produce the best colour definitions, when lighting colours and materials that matter.
Without reflection there is no visible light, the only thing you can see in total darkness is the source and the reflection of the beam on dust particles or other objects that reflect)).

Furthermore luminaries are to be designed for burners which in their appearances differ in wavelength, sizes (mirror size!), sockets, ballasts (if necessary) etcetera to produce where it’s all about: High Quality Artificial Light…with nowadays an accent on ‘Green’.

In short.
Designing a luminaire is not only about ‘shape’ it’s most of all about producing light with quality, quantity and efficiency coming out of a luminaire that is designed with knowledge; suits it’s purpose and is great to look at (if visible lol)

Of course a combination of an industrial designer, product designers along side engineers is efficient for the process and in that case it’s an absolute must to know where they’re talking about…

Hope this is of some kind of information for you. “

 

“Chris, it sounds like your on the right track. I’m an industrial designer that found my way into the lighting industry. Most teams are made of mechanical and optical engineers, designers and marketing. There can be variation from this but its pretty standard. You’ll find as your career progresses and if the industry doesn’t scare you off that you’ll pick up each of these skill sets and add them to your arsenal.”

 

Thank you for your comments – I’m going to take them on board and am also looking into the potential of an intro course. I am conscious that my main subject is product design, but can now look into some of the aspects mentioned regarding the quality and effects of lighting. I’m very interested to learn about lighting design but am also aware that its a big subject in itself, so knowing everything wont be so easy! But I like what Wim says where a good start would be to at least be able to understand and communicate on a level with the engineers as I guess thats part of what design is really all about.

 

“it is interesting to read all the inputs.
a product design team must have marketing representation (who would give inputs on the specification — what does the customer want, projected sale– this helps in defining the development investment), the designer (should have both optical,mechanical and electrical exposure—- if not seek input), a production engineer who would ensure correct translation of the design into a product, at a later stage (after the first model is ready, a quality representative — usually this is not the case).
you may also consider some exposure in material science. lack of knowledge there can be a serious handicap for designing a “green” luminaire.
if you need any further assistance or detailing keep touch”

 

“An experienced mechanical engineer – will handle also the materials technology, manufacturing, supply chain and quality.
An experienced electronics engineer – HW/SW software design and above all optics
An established in the industry sales and marketing.
Design, build and improve as you go.”

Evita at Leeds Grand theatre

I visited Leeds Grand theatre last night to see Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice’s “Evita” – a musical based around Eva Peron who starts life with questionable morals within the poor eventually becoming First Lady as the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron.

I found the story to be extremely engaging with a mix of ups and downs. The undertone was quite dark, but laced with tongue in cheek humour and some more uplifting music and dancing in places. It was amazing how the atmosphere changed throughout the entire show dropping you into emotional parts without warning. This was achieved by the great acting skills of all involved, but also be the lighting and set design.

The lighting was designed by Mark Howett and I found the usage of fog with bright white lights on the dark black background set some of the darker scenes in a mystical way. There was also a cafe scene where warm lighting from bulbs changed the whole perspective of the scene.

Another impressive part that added to the emotion of the scene involved a number of mirrors placed around Eva that threw light onto her glamourous outfit and all over the stage and audience – it lifted everything creating a sense of grandeur.

Overall I cant really put into words how it was – I’d struggle to find a way, but I have put some images of the musical here to give an idea.

This will definitely inspire my future design work in some way such as looking to understand more about the creation of emotion  by light and scene.

 

Philips lighting – daywave

I have been looking at the Philips lighting website and come across this great technology – Daywave. Its a lighting system for office spaces designed to improve peoples moods by emulating the change in lighting that would be experienced throughout the day if outdoors.

The  LED based cluster works with two sets that generate 2600K and 5600K. This covers from warm white to a very cold white, and by varying the mix of the two the in-between temperatures can be generated as the day passes.

 

I considered working on a variation of this when I got the opportunity, but have kinda been beaten!

My version was based on my experiences working in rooms with no windows – this after a few hours can leave you disorientated and I also found I could come into work with it cloudy and be shocked to go out and its sunny or vice-versa. So I considered a similar system with LED’s as in the philips system, but instead of a sequence controlling it, mine would use a colour temp measuring photocell to emulate the outdoors directly.

So it may still be worth me developing the idea somewhat, and I can also change the style and look for additional benefits.

Xicato LED – possible applications

I have been thinking further and investigating possible applications for a Xicato luminaire. As mentioned earlier, the CRI of this unit needs to be a factor in the design.

• I considered lighting for salons as they deal with colour and detail. This would be a great application for one of the higher colour temperature Xicato’s around 4000K as this is closer to daylight. This with the high CRI would be a key USP. Mine is the 2700K version and not so suited.
• I also considered shop lighting, but again higher colour temperature units are often preferred and the lower efficiency may be a drawback as they run long hours in large numbers.
• Restaurant, bar and hotel lighting is an area I’m now considering – higher quality venues would place a premium on quality of mood in their establishments. The 2700K warm white is similar to home lighting and would promote comfort. The increased CRI is a good selling point as it shows people in their best light, food in its best light and any bar products for instance.

I have chosen to operate the unit at 350mA as its most efficient at this level. The 400lm output would make it suitable for lighting small areas or accent lighting. I see potential for it working alongside other lights for tables in restaurants, serving areas on the bar, waiting areas and possibly room lighting in hotels.

It may also be interesting to consider:

• Designing a module that fits into a range of different reflectors / diffusers for a number of uses. This extends the usability and benefit of the concept into many scenarios.
• Considering the other fittings this will accompany in a scheme – they would likely be HID / fluorescent to make this viable for business premises because of the efficiency regs.

I will work on writing a brief for this part before proceeding further, based on the above.

  

Warm white light shown by daylight white balance – Beam cut-off angle – Untreated light creates hard shadows.

Solidworks – first steps

 

With regards to CAD packages there are a few that seem to be used in the real world of design, and its 3DS Max that we are taught at university. However I can’t help noticing from my research that Solidworks is one of the very important ones to know about. So in the interests of personal development, I’ve started to learn it with the tutorials – only a bit so far, but I can see the appeal to industry already.

• I love the way its geared up straight away to make parts based on actual measurements easily.
• Features such as filleted edges are easy to achieve with an accurate radius.
• Screw holes can be applied with countersink options easily.
• The system for creating 2D drawings is nice to use with some great features!
• And a few other features that made things work well once I’d learnt at least the “way” in which it does things!

I will be working more on this package as well as some other things over the summer so I’m ready for year 2 with a new skill set.

Xicato LED module – technical context

I have just received the Xicato LED module part number : XSM9027-700. Looking at the datasheet this is an Artist series part which differs from the standard parts as its CRI (colour rendering index) is 95 average compared to 80 for the others. This basically means that colours appear more accurate and balanced under its light.

Key specs:

• Power usage 22-23W @ 700 lm,    15-16W @ 550lm,    10-11W @400lm
• 2700K colour temp (equiv. to incandescent)
• Efficiency translates to 33, 37 and 40 lumens/W (comparable to above power levels)

The colour rendering figure is very good and close to halogen lighting which is almost CRI 100 and better than fluorescent which is usually between CRI 80-85.

The drawback to this high performance colour rendering is decreased efficiency – 40 lm/W at best. This is a little disappointing as Part L building regulations state that to be considered an “energy efficient” fitting, the overall system performance of a luminaire must be 40lm/W or higher. When taking into consideration the electronic driver losses and those from light modification its not likely to meet this spec. And definitely not when using at 550/700lm.

I therefore conclude that any implementation of this LED must focus around its high CRI, light quality and lastly efficiency as this is higher than halogen which is the only competitor in these terms.

For commercial usage the efficiency goalposts are even tighter, but the luminaire can be considered in relation to others in the same scheme and the lower efficiency offset by less critical lanterns being very high efficiency such as metal halide. This quote is from the Ray lighting website on this matter :

“For commercial buildings the regulations are slightly more complex. Rather than being based on number of fittings, an average overall light output of 45 lumens per circuit watt or more is required for the lighting scheme. In some cases (bars and hotels) this increases to 50 lumens. Essentially this means that most lights will need to be energy efficient.”

http://www.ray-lighting.co.uk/understand/why_choose_energy_efficient_lighting_/regulations/

Mamas and Papas – Cybex Aton

I first saw this product a little while back when I saw someone transferring one from their car to the pushchair frame outside a local shop. I was immediately impressed as I’d never seen one before and found it very clever for a couple of reasons. Its great as you dont need to disturb your child as much when you move them, so they get a decent sleep and its also good for sustainability – no need for multiple seats so acts as dematerialisation. This one product adapts into the car, pushchair, on the floor and is also carry-able. It also adapts as the child grows so again adding to its sustainability credentials.

The washable covers also make this good to maintain and also aids in selling it on after use so its not disposed of as soon.

 

 

Ross Lovegrove’s solar tree

On my travels around the web I have found that Ross Lovegrove has also designed a solar tree, but with some difference to mine. It directly supports street lighting under the solar panels. This is a great example of dematerialisation, but offers less flexibility with luminaire placement. It is visually stunning and I also like the way it is made from a bunch of tubes – this would ease manufacturing as standard pipes just need bending and painting I suspect. This minimises the number of different parts. On a negative there will be a large mass of material in the main trunk with all the pipes together?

Overall it is definitely an eye catcher and does its bit to make renewable energy and green matters something beautiful and to be embraced by all.

Norwich visit

I have just visited my home city of Norwich for a family wedding and am excited by how much I enjoyed going back. Part of the activities was a ghost walk round the historical parts of the city where a guide known as the “man in black” recites gruesome historical facts that were actually very interesting. The main thing though is that when I was a bit younger and living there, I didn’t notice how amazing the city actually is in terms of its history, people and buildings – this time I was noticing a lot more.

So I think I’ve learnt  a lot over the past few years about appreciating these details, but it also makes me think about how we as people see difference between the familiar everyday and that we don’t see as often or havn’t seen for a while. And here are some pictures.

Final meta object

The meta object project was very challenging to work out in regards to coming up with a final idea. I feel that I understand some of the theory quite well, but translating this into something that holds the correct message was hard. All in all I feel I have discovered that the semantics of an object are more appropriately connected with cultural aspects. There is the theory of different types of object and how these speak, but all of this has to access and reference culture in order to work. This also means that the message can be taken out of context very easily. In the future I will be considering as wide a range of possibilities as I can when working out the visual messages of my design work.

Meta object report PDF

Meta object slides

meta-object initial idea

We are now working around the idea of going out clubbing and then sharing the photos on social sites such as facebook and specific clubbing ones such as Dont Stay in and Tilllate. This is something from the last 10 years and we believe that people who have the Cultural capital of clubbers can share the experience looking at the photos. Others may not fully understand the images and events leading up to them.

Clubbing photos typology

• There is evidence of Habitus in clubbing photos. Across the thousands of images from different clubs, genres of club event, and people, there is a connection between the types of poses both individually and in groups. There are also common themes in the photos of DJ’s and clubs. This could be a Habitus picked up by clubbing.
• Flashes and lighting cause a certain type of image effect that isn’t found elsewhere.
• Framing is quite dynamic, and usually energetic in its language – angles, overhead perspective etc.
• The clubbing sites tag each image with a logo – a kind of branding and being part of the clubbers photo club.
• Lasers and lights often feature in photo sets.
• With the correct cultural capital, you can understand these images deeper and gain narrative and feeling from them.

Club typology

• Mood ambient lighting features in a few – often blue colours and green in one case. These are cooling colours.
• Industrial styled rigging and barriers in some cases. This can make clubs seem futuristic and also move the feel away from home and more familiar.
• Essence of luxury portrayed by comfortable, minimal seating, red carpet entrance and rope barriers with chrome stands.
• Dark backgrounds are contrasted by lighting, lit signs and bright colours. Dark blues and blacks make light come forward creating excitement and overstated colours.
• Metal finishes contrast with woods and textiles. This gives a theme of quality, luxury but also again futuristic/industrial.
• The overall effect is to take you into an atmosphere vastly different from home, work and outside. Its visually rich and immersive with an emphasis on material, contrast and colour.

Meta-Objects

Meta-object seems to be a term that is quite difficult to find referenced and also describe, so I’m kinda clarifying this for myself :

Firstly I suspect it derives from this meaning of Meta :

• prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, with the meanings “after,” “along with,” “beyond,” “among,” “behind,”

I find this likely because I know so far that a meta-object is an object that describes something else. So the meta is used to say that it goes beyond just what it is literally as an object – it tells you about something using visual cues.

So going to the DPI lamps that were shown as an example, this is how I interpret them:

• the lamps visually become more blocky as the DPI (dots per inch in graphics) reduces -

• this is referring to this which happens in graphics when pictures of different DPI’s are printed for instance :

…..So the products are literally just lamps “but” they go “beyond” that and:

• “Signify” the change in quality of images as the DPI reduces using

• the “Signifier” in the way the lamps are made of bigger cubes as the DPI reduces.

Phew!!!

The interpretation and its success however relies on many things such as age, education, cultural background and natioanlity as a few examples. A meta object could be interpreted in different ways by different people, but if done well the embedded meanings can be read even if only subconsciously.

Off grid solar lighting

I’ve looked a little more into the off grid solutions for African countries using kerosene lanterns and found this. It is a small, solar charging lantern that they are offering at low price to make it viable for devloping econmoies. It also boasts a higher quality and build which I know has been a major problem in the past. Poor quality products have been known to spoil the markets in Africa thus wasting money they really cant afford to lose when these products fail prematurely.

I do hope this unit is long lasting and does well. I feel that it does need to be long lasting as it doesn’t look to be as repairable as say the Osram system which is looked after locally. I feel utiliing local skills would always be a more useful addition to such a products.

These products do however assist in the locals working productively at home and work as well as socialising.

 

D1.4 – The solar tree

Use the solar tree to power the lighting system below