elan2jayDesign

There are alot of objects that have existed for so long, that eventually people cant imagine alternative forms shapes or functions a product could perform outside of their norm.

i believe this to be a rather dangerous disposition in design when taken into consideration result in some cases of this norrow mindedness. 

when we think of parachute's practically every one will have the same vision of waht it should look like and how it would attatch itself to a user 

even the common back pack approach has changed very little from its origional pre conception. from  the exterior a parachute just looks like a back pack. in it concealing a canopy big enough to bring a person back to earth safely, and that is pretty much waht this "back pack" structure consist of. 

there are no internal mechanisms and this leaves us with all the room for improvement in the world.

i have been intrested in these sports for many years and found that the most common cause of death due to a base jump or any other is crossed lines during the deployment.

and it really  is terrifying to see. 

it was with this in mind that i soon realised that this is potentially quite a simple problem to solve. by merely adding structure to the interior of the " back pack " design one could really prevent this mishap from occurring again. 

i designed a frame that released both the lines on the left and right side of the canopy at a controlled ever rate. that these lines would only be released through the tension between the open canopy and the falling user. and would directly influence the canopy to release in exactly that even manor. 

Stumbled onto this meme last christmas and it really evoked allot of thought in me. not sure was it the recycled sandle's made from empty plastic bottles or just the clear arrogance of the new world.

 seeing it sparked a trail of thought adressing teh fact that there are millions of people less fortunate than us who have problems far grater than any thing us consumers would   need assistance with. problems that no market exists for.

these products dont exist because there is no money to be made from them. why cant ther be design for the less fortunate as much as there is charity for the less fortunate.

this led me to look at building blocks that could be made from easily acessable materials to these people 

in shapes that would help assist in building basic but primative housing structures.

these simple plastic mold's can be used to compress mud and dirt into Brick shapes BLocks for building. the concept works by Placing a thin film of plastic of any marterial into the mold. then dirt is shoveled in and hammered down tighy into the area of it. when mold is removed hard bricks are left to be dried in the sun and used for construction

After our trip to ikea a few months ago i was troubled to find a fery obvious solution to an issue with one of their tables. 

the design and form of the table was more than perfect consisting of two standardized parts it was also cheap to manufacture. in further research i found that the table i had seen was the second release of an already succesfull table 

it was the line shown above that had caught my eye. still available in different colours it was the table surface that had changed. boasting childish graphix on the surface that i feared would only appeal to a slender majority of its over all market. 

i believe that if they had designed the table with a shelled surface about the same diameter as a transparent sheet of perspex that could be inlaid into the table top. it would give this product a far wider variety of customers to appeal to.

some of the simpler idea's are hard to come by. quite often not discovered through planing or conscious thought but rather clumsily discovered through personal experience. 

it is experiences like this one that leave a person annoyed enough to ponder what could be done to prevent that mistake/ accident from happening again. 

Last week, i made the mistake of putting my keys in the same pocket as my phone. i was gutted and irritated at myself for making such a simple mistake. with my phone screen now vandalized and my spirits crushed i questioned who's fault this obvious blunder was. Could it by my fault for combining two explosive compounds into the same pocket? or is it a matter of the phone company or even the key cutters failing to aknowladge that this problem could ever arrise?

I began to think of a cheap simple solution to the problem. a plastic mould that could make keys easier to use, and safer to carry. a few hours later after using my swiss army knife it hit me. the form and function all fell into play and led me to design a discreet rubber mould that would conceal all sharp edges of a set of keys

Holding all the keys along a single axis that can be pulled out for both the addition of new keys and the removal of keys from the product.it would hold all the keys along an aligned axis that would also be usefull for leverage when opening tough locks. and also keep the roughest edges hidden from that precious Phone screen.

i had a vision of safer flight whilst watching a documentary a few weeks ago. the documentary was on 4oD (channel four online ) it was called the plane crash. and it followed the crash testing of a beoing 747 air plane. 

it made me thing of the huge over complicated devices and the effort of analysing all this information in comparison to actual good that could come out of the million dollar project. a few days later i was watching this video on youtube and it clicked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_B--xSUxBA

if a safety device of this magnitude could be expanded to cater for jumbo jets the capacity for saving lives could be priceless.

when looking into how paragliders work for a different idea i had i began to wonder how many other applications there could be for this type of wing formation. 

we've al heard of explosive bolts and explosive hatches, in use in aero space and for military applications. punning the question would this be a fiesable method of saving a plane. 

by housing a parachute in the main hull directly between the wings of the plain and having a series of cables concealed within the upper surface of the wing. the pilot would have a safer method of controlling his decent. in case of engine failure or structural damage the pilot could decrease his velocity to a safe speed and deploy the emergency paragliding parachute. this wing formation could be steered through manipuating the tension on certain support cables, symilar to that of a base jumper caming in for a landing. 

Most people who see a flashy sports car choose to admire it. its because a scuplture of modern design of such beauty should not be hidden from view but rather observed for these qualities. 

quite often because of the value of these objects they are often locked away behind closed doors when not in use leaving no one but the owner to admire them.

it is under this light that i thought of an alternative security device that both puts the machine on display aswell as keep it safe and secure.

I originally conceived this idea when friend pointed out the loss of lighters on an almost daily basis.

It occurred to me that there might be a highly marketable solution to this issue.

By designing an injection molded piece of plastic that attaches itself to a cigarette box and clasps one standardized Bic  lighter.

Like anyone born in this era I have always been fascinated by the idea of interstellar space travel, But lately i have been questioning why its taking so long for us to begin designing such impressive crafts.

A few years ago the great Carl Sagan addressed the issue in his documentary series Cosmos. He expressed how we already have the technology to get us there, We are merely waiting on society to evolve to a stage where it is relevant for  humanity need to move out into the solar system.

In researching the subject i found plenty of concepts, but no real positive movement in a forward direction.

Project Orion looked like a promising project, with an immensely large shock absorber on its rear, It would have used thermonuclear explosions as a method of propulsion, however due to political sensitivity to nuclear weapons during the 70′s-80′s the idea was scraped, reportedly Russia has decided to re visit the idea pulling the space craft to a safe distance before its nuclear propulsion will be used, since initial reports of the project all media attention surrounding the subject has went cold.

There has been positive movement in research being carried out on the Icarus project, being led by the tau zero foundation and the British interplanetary society, a decade long research phase was launched  September 30th 2009. However any benefits from this project wont see the light of day for years to come, As a young designer all i can do is wait and hope for the best.

As Designers we are constantly seeking for a source of inspiration. It’s not always easy to get out of that “creative block”. Recently I discovered an excellent website that not only caters to such needs but enables one to upload their own work for feedback.

The website has over 2 million people from all professions uploading everything from concept design drawings-blue prints, down to children uploading their pictures. inspiration can come from any source whether its going for a brisk stroll to seeing something you are fascinated by.

When uploading your own work you can receive feedback on improvements and impractically’s that you other wise might have over looked, with the ability to make friends and socialize giving you the opportunity t make some pretty interesting friends all over the world.

Advanced medical research has been ongoing for almost a decade now. Trying to enhance the lives of the misfortunet through technology and integration. But how far is too far. There are many examples o these technologies helping the human race,producing miracles previously only heard of in the bible. thus far we are able to make the blind precive colour light and shape again

giving the blind a relatively fair quality of life.

In other examples we have given the wheelchair stricken an opertunity to walk again through the creation of HAL

“Hybrid Assistive Limb” a creation that has since been taken into development by the US military. 

The Venus project is the first of its kind in an ideal for societal change, founded by american futurist futurist Jacque Fresco. it is a model that looks to democracy and the monetary system as a problem not a solution and points out ways in which society could be better run. 

One of my main inspirations to embark on the study of product design was finding Boston dynamics, They have been revolutionising the robotic race now for the past decade. creating all kinds of interesting robotic creatures, however nothing compares to the latest pet man project. Shadily being funded by the military they have embarked on creating the worlds first fully automated humanoid robot. For what use? Not much is known about the project since it was announced, However we do know that the project consists of a 13 month design phase followed by a 17 month build, Installation and validation phase, With delivery of the robot taking place in 2011.

I find it awe inspiring that the terminator could be right around the corner. how ever i do find it very scary invisioning a world where somebody could commit war atrocities anywhere in the world from the comfort of an airforce base in texas. as hiddden from the mainstream media it is certain that drone attacks are commonly in use by the CIA over sea's. and even in the UK during the olympics weaponized drones hovered over head.

i strongly belive that this is a reality that society is currently being conditioned for in the last decade the popular rise of First person shooters has given people all over teh world a taste for blood. but just how long down the line will the controll screen an un manned robotic soldier overseas resemble the style of hud of any modern day shooter? 

Robotic spy drone:

currently popular Battle Field 3:

Truely leaves me questioning when scenes like this may jump off of the silver screen and into reality. 

How can you increase the value of an object with out improving on its functionality. Since the mid 1960′s deep thought was invested in exactly this ideal, making an object more desirable and thus increasing its cost/sales.

It’s almost like aesthetically pleasing objects appear be more sought after than bland products that give nothing for the eye to question. Because we are all human designers have aimed some sleek and provocative design to relate to our most human traits.

Emotion.

  The Eleanor gt 500 is a great example of such elegant design. the way in which its body interacts with a bystander evokes emotion. Someone who has never had the privilege of seeing this machine would know just by looking at it, that its a masculine machine that shouts power from the get go, yet with out prior knowledge to any of its specs.

Being able to convey such things just by merely looking at an object is n art in itself.

This type of trait can also be seen in other objects. Here is an example of an industrial object, yet by looking at it you know exactly what kind of tool it is and how dangerous it is. No warning labels needed.

another intesting example of mainstream media influencing society was the movie "V for Vendetta in its plot A shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from the secret police, he also finds his best chance at having an ally. together they manage to influence society to rise up and reclaim whats theirs back from the tyraniy. 

we’ve all seen technology in our favourite sci-fi movies that we wish we had, in some cases even wished we had. however are all these conceptual ideas really that for from reality? in my previous blogs i pointed out how close we are to a fully functional terminator being developed for the military in such a case one must ask who influenced who??

Many concepts raised in movies must surely inspire a bored industrial designer somewhere to do something about it. In either case it has to be said that a lot of the fictional ideals of sci-fi movies would certainly be enough to inspire their fans, and certainly inspire me. an example of this could be the movie ” no country for old men”, since the movie was release there has been so much demand for a silenced shotgun attachment  that a small time company called red jacket fire arms decided to take it upon their own initiative to go and design one that works

.

just an example of media influencing design. So whats next…. Only time will tell.

however i still find the ground breaking works Boston Dynamics are working on could top the list for excellence currently at the testing and developing stages of the pet man project funded by DARPA. it has been in development for over 4 years now and it is the rawest example of what a terminator could look like. 

origionally developed for testing military clothing under the simulated stresses of battle it is becoming increasingly likely that this machine will eventually make it onto the field of battle 

The M82 is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. in itself it is a deadly piece of engineering, with the ability to deliver a deadly round with an affective range 1.8 kilometers, it’s a force to be reckoned with. currently in operation around the world primarily used by the navy seals and the marine corps. all of its users bless the system as the bow and arrow of the future. With stopping power capable of de materializing anything the .50 caliber bullet comes into contact with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAta9yqp-x4

transportation is a huge aspect of modern society, its what drives us. it moves us. over the last decade there have been millions of revelations in this field. a personal favourite of mine has always been the skate board. its raw movement at its greatest, whilst still retaining an aspect of excersise.

in recent years new developments in this technology have been rapidly evolving. the long board is one of these recent revelations. it combines stability and feels allot more like surfing than it does to skateboarding. the stability lets you go allot faster than you might think. they are'nt cheap, the one shown above will cost you around 250 euro. this eliminates show boating tricks that could ruin your "deck" allowing even a beginner to feel at home in this sport. people invest allot into their boards. making it a very lucrative area to make money. 

The long board consists of about 4 main parts.

The “deck” being the body of the product usually made from a variety of different woods but in recent years the use of carbon fiber has been introduced.

The wheels come in many varying materials and will be chosen by the user to reflect the purpose for which they want to ride. There are different types of grip provided. A number followed by AUG measures this.

The bearings, these help with the spinning of those wheels. An abec rating often refers to their amount of resistance to spin.

Finally the “trucks” this is the part of a long board that attaches the wheels to the board.

Over many months I had been looking into purchasing a long board. It’s through this research I came up with my very own personal development towards the sport. Not long ago I stumbled across a top mounted truck for long boards. It struck me as an obscure evolution in truck design. Every skateboard truck up until now has been mounted at the bottom of the skateboard. And this has worked fine up until the advent of the long board. As these trucks are mounted to the bottom of the board it leaves the rider balancing his center of gravity over a central pivot point. This worked excellent, however for the purpose of long boarding it does not necessarily conform to the stability of a long board main attribute at high speed. this is Because the rider is constantly fighting that pivot point for balance. i would call this action the see-saw movement.

To me it makes perfect sense to mount them from the top as this reverses the need to balance on a central line down the board. Instead the board hangs down off the trucks. This completely changes the dynamic. Both making the board more responsive as well as reducing the chance of getting speed wobbles.

The only available product in this type of truck setup is called the “tarantula truck” as seen above. they where designed by Jack Kay, a young entrepenuer from America. he comes from an engineering back ground and focused his efforts on his version of this product he calls the "tarantula truck" made from airplane grade steel for durability, and ill admit its a very nice product. every new product has to start somewhere and to me this is the birth of a new family of trucks.

`

his design be it ground breaking, has still recieved allot of negative critisism from the skating community. in reality the only part he actually designed was the "hangar"  portion. as the mounting bracket (seen above in grey) is exactly the same as any other set of trucks one might buy. another huge point of negative critisism has been the extent to which the trucks extrude up and over the board. i feel that this feature is mainly due to the tarantula name given to the trucks. it is in this case that i believe the efficiency has been compromised in trying to keep to his spider theme. this feature impedes a riders freedom to move position his foot along the board, a problem many riders have gracefully pointed out. its dangerous and outright bad for the overall design of the product. this negative feed back shortly led to jack selling the patent for his design.

and so the vision passed on.

it was when discovering this product that i saw on open door. with my education in design i felt that i could propose a solution to this issue and in all design a more efficient stable set of trucks. i wanted it to be both practicall yet aesthetically desireable product that buyers would want to own rather than own out of neccesity. and so i went on to sketch my thoughts on a concept for a gull wing swoop makes as little of an impression over the board as possible.

early depictions where very simple to begin with, manly trying to establish a for for the product that was both beautifull whilst still retaining practicality. i researched everything from the standardized parts of a longboard to the mechanics of how trucks are put together and work in unison. 

this is something that at the start i found quite hard to get my head around. however there where a few usefull articles and videos that helped me comprehend this action which i will reference towards the end. 

as the idea slowly developed it became something i talked about quite allot with friends and family, i would believe this to be a huge factor in the evolution of the design as critisism always left me finding ways to improve the product and helped bring it into the final renderings.

in researching for this topic i looked at the history of the tarantula trucks through jacks old website which has currently went down since the acquisition of his company.

i did however find the silver fish longboarding comunity to be a very helpful form which can be found here : www.silverfishlongboarding.com

understanding the mechanics behind longboard trucks came from a veriaty of websites and video's on youtube explaining how they work. these are some useful links i found:

http://www.skateboardhere.com/skateboard-trucks.html

http://skateboard.about.com/od/skategearreview1/bb/TrucksCompare.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jQKcW4Bosk

this final link is of someone who helped me allot in this project. he is making bottom mounted trucks on his own in his workshop at home. this is something i would love to be doing. his channel on youtube really helped me to get a grasp of how trucks work, and he also has a few developments in how they turn that i found very interesting.

his channel is called longboard technology and here is a link to it: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/OtherPlanetsSkate

this project helped me re-visit the research i did for this product and in many ways gave me even more idea's on improvements that could be made to the sport. 

 other idea's regarding the sport with the thought of safety and finding the most common injuries in this sport to be of the pelvis.  a problem i feel i will be adressing in my journal. 

further reading material you may find intresting:

http://www.patentauction.com/patent.php?nb=5344

Paperback: 152 pages

Publisher: Webster's Digital Services (April 20, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1241610061