Product Redesign

Project Brief

This project started on September 30th with the task to look around the house and find some objects or spaces that do not seem to work correctly or could use a redesign. The mission is to work through the design process with a particular client in mind. I hope to work on my sketching and digital design skills during this project.

Process Journal

I started out by going around the house and taking a few pictures of items I thought could use a bit of a redo. I narrowed it down to the two items below.

After getting some feedback from my peers through a Padlet that we used in class, I decided that I would work on redesigning the spoon. I did a little research today and found the site below that is a pretty cool explanation of utensil design. It gets pretty detailed and is about fancy flatware. Some of it is pretty out there and almost looks like it might not be functional, but it does give a little guidance about standard sizes and shapes.

Copy of Target Audience

Target Audience

In this document, I created a profile of my user and created a point of view statement.

POV Statement:

Ryan is a middle aged family man who wants to do his part to protect the environment. He is a bit picky about my utensils so he needs a set of spoons that are comfortable to hold and also fun to use.

I jotted down some quick ideas after looking through the website just to get started. As I was coming up with ideas and looking for alternative materials, I found this cool product called GumTec. They actually make a plastic like material out of recycled gum!

First Design

For my first design, I decided to try to sketch a model. The spoon is standard size based on the measurements in the article above. I used a ruler and some graph paper to help make sure things were more or less to scale.

At first I thought I would make interchangeable handles, but then I decided there wasn't really any point in that and I'd rather just have one custom handle. I also decided I would like the spoons be made of bamboo so that they are more environmentally friendly, lightweight and easy to pack and carry around.

Next I headed to YouTube to refresh a few of my TinkerCad skills. I knew I wanted to add something to the spoons to make them more personalized so I watched a couple videos about wrapping text and shapes

Wrapping Text

This was a great video. I had found it in the past and quickly remembered how to do it. The creator speaks clearly and works slow enough that I could keep up with it. I watched it once, then let it play while I worked and followed along.

Adding Rounded Shapes

This one was pretty good too. It showed how to do some other things besides just text. It was helpful to see this done with different shapes. I ended up not using this too much though as these were more advanced skills and I didn't really need them. I'll definitely bookmark this for later.

3D design Spoon attempt | Tinkercad.webm

Second Design

Next I moved to TinkerCad to try to create a 3D model. This first attempt is pretty basic. I just wanted to see if I could make a spoon and customize is somehow. I kept it pretty simple, just adding "spoon" to the side.

Bison Spoon

This one is my favorite. It took a little more work, but I think it represents me as the user more than the others. The bison is a symbol of the outdoors and freedom. They are pretty amazing animals and I thought it would be a cool customization.

It was a little more difficult to add the bison and get it to look right. Once I got it, I duplicated it and rotated it 180 degrees so that it would show on both sides. I also added extensions to each side end in order to make the spoon long enough. At first I tried to just expand the segment, but it stretched the image too much.

3D design Surprising Snicket | Tinkercad.webm

Materials

For all of my models, I'd like the spoons to be made of bamboo, olive wood or acacia wood. I did a little bit of research based on what is available for retail and what others recommend.

I think that if the 3D models I made were made of stainless steel, they would be too heavy and expensive. I like the feel of Bamboo utensils and their sustainability. Bamboo is a fast growing plant and the products made from it are durable.

I chose olive and acacia wood, because of its durability and appealing look. It can be sustainably harvested and can allow for the spoons to be carved.

I'm not 100% sure about the addition of images or words on the handles using either of these woods, but I think that instead of adding a raised image, the images could be burned into the sides. That would create a cool, rustic look I think.

Reflection

Overall, I think this project was a success. I had fun learning a bit more about utensil design and seeing some of the ridiculous looking utensils that are out there. It was interesting as well to read a little about the different types of wood that can be used for spoons and their properties.

I definitely managed to improve my TinkerCad skills a bit. It was really hard to get the image of the Bison on the side of the spoon. The tutorials I found didn't really address the issue that I was dealing with specifically, so I had to develop some of my own work arounds.

It was also fun to do some sketching. Working with scale can be difficult, but I was lucky that I could draw my spoon at its actual size since spoons are not too big. It was a challenge though to work with correct measurements and be as accurate as possible.

I think I managed to create three prototypes that fit my Point of View statement. Each of the designs is eco friendly, comfortable to hold and I think they would be fun to use.

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