Journal 09: Coleman Project

Group Member's Blogs

Alicia L 

Kelly B 

Wade C 

           

            Our group started off by discussing who we thought our client, Coleman, was. We thought Coleman was adventurous, active, outdoor, fun, quality and durability, safety conscious, and spaceialy organized. From there we tried to establish a target market that Coleman hadn’t already marketed to.

            Kids and elderly people were two groups that we were really interested in developing a product for. From here we tried to think of problems that each of these groups had that we could come up with design solutions for. For example, kids need organization and safety while elderly people have trouble with strength, height, health, vision, and technology.

            After thinking of a few target markets we began to brainstorm some ideas we could possibly develop to help with these problems. A few ideas we came up with were some type of easy to use universal remote for all indoor products, an automated object to help reach things in high places, or furniture that could put itself together with plates and utensils already stored inside.

            We ended up thinking of an idea to make storage space more fun and interactive for students. The Coleman revolutionary desk features our organizational wheel. Once we came up with our idea we started to split up the work that needed to be done. Wade did many of the preliminary product drawings and final product drawings, Kelly made the PowerPoint presentation, Alicia was in charge of the kiosk drawing, and I designed the packaging and logo. Everyone did a great job getting their work done on time and communicating with the rest of the group. Overall, the project went really smoothly.

            Along with brainstorming with the group and making a few preliminary product sketches like the rest of the group, I was in charge of the packaging for our product and the new logo. I drew up a few preliminary packaging designs and after approval from the group began the final packaging. I think I helped out the group by having my part of the projects done on time, giving options the group could choose from, and helping anyone else that needed it.

Course Reflection 5

           During classes 17 and 18 we presented our Coleman for the Home products. Products ranged from my group's organization product, an eco-friendly lamp with whiteboards surrounding the base, to a treadmill with an interactive nature video game. It was interesting to see all the different products, packaging, and kiosk designs all the groups came up with. I was also surprised how talented the groups were with rendering their designs on the computer. Seeing what other people did also helped me to reflect on things I could have done better or differently in my own project.

Journal 10: Final Thoughts on Course

          I really liked the Design 200 course overall. I think I learned a lot and built on previous knowledge. The way the class was formatted with lectures, guest speakers, videos, and projects didn’t allow the class to get boring for me. I especially liked the videos that were shown throughout the class and it made me more interested in design. I also liked the little tid bits about the design world that we were given such as different design programs, Prezi, and other events going on in the design world. I didn’t really dislike anything about the class to be honest.

Reading Reflection 04 - Chp. 9-10

Chapter 9

            Chapter nine focuses on the topic of Contexts. The first sentence states, “…three areas of contextual influence are relevant in to the design practice: the professional organization of design, or how designers view themselves; the business context in which a majority of design practice is located; and, in addition, the level of government policy…” Throughout the chapter the three contexts were explained more in depth and examples were given. One of the examples that stuck out to me the most was James Dyson’s vacuum. “Dyson has become a market leader in the United Kingdom” and has overcome companies such as Hoover and Electrolux. One of the most interesting quotes at the end of the Dyson example stated, “…big companies were once small companies with ambition.”

Chapter 10

            In chapter ten the future of design is focused on. Technology has already transformed design with all the different design programs and ability to create with such great detail. It’s exciting to think about where new technology and other developments will take design. The question of what a designer’s role would be was also brought up. For example, “…whether designers function as form-givers… or enablers.” The question of will the future products produced be determined by commercial companies or by users was also discussed.

            I liked the example the book gave about Fiskars and how they changed their product for the better with research on how the product was used so they could make it more safe and efficient.. They were so successful that they were able to expand to other product categories. I think other companies should follow Fiskars and try to design more for the user rather than being more concerned about money.

Journal 08

I chose to focus on the legal issues in design because I feel it’s very important to protect the work that you put so much time and effort in. The lecture briefly touched on contracts, patents, trademark, copyright, and liability. The lecture in general caught my attention because I never really thought about the legal side of design and now that it’s been brought to my attention I realize how important it actually is.

“Intellectual Property”

            The AIGA website defines copyright as “a statutory protection granted to “original works of authorship.” This category includes everything from “published and unpublished fiction and non-fiction” to “drawings and other designs” to “musical performances captured on records, tapes, disks, ect.” to computer programs. It is important to know “titles, names short phrases, facts, anything written or created by the U.S. government and utilitarian works” are not protected by copyrights.

            I think this is a great source since AIGA is a well-known and credible source for designers. It also laid out what was and was not protected under copyright laws.

The article talks about copyright, notice registration, infringement, and fair use. It also discusses trademarks, registration, duration, infringement and trade dress.  

http://cpm.aiga.org/content.cfm/intellectual_property

“Legal Issues: Intellectual Property”

            This article discusses more about designers working with clients and how they need to protect themselves in real world situations. The frequently asked questions section I found to be the most interesting. I like that the answers were to the point and easy to understand. Contracts were discussed and helpful hints of what should be included in a contract.

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/resources-and-events/designers/guides/legal-issues/

“Copyright Issues in Logo Design”

            The article “Copyright Issues in Logo Design” focuses on what the title states. It’s geared towards font design and copyright issues. For instance, “…we CAN NOT edit a font and sell it to a client as “mere lettering” for the font.” If you did you would be using characters from an already copyrighted font and it would then “exist separately from the typeface itself and therefore make it illegal to sell on as a derivative of the typeface.” Later on the article goes on to give tips on what you could to in order to no violate copyright laws.

http://justcreativedesign.com/2009/01/14/logo-design-copyright-laws/

http://www.dynamicgraphics.com/dgm/Article/28832/index.html

“Protect Your Legal Rights”

            The article starts off by talking about young designers and how many times they don’t have contracts with their clients. It grabbed my attention in the first sentence because no one wants to put in their time and effort to be ripped off in the end. I like that it was easy to understand and the legal terms that are used are explained fairly well.

http://www.dynamicgraphics.com/dgm/Article/28832/index.html

“Design Rights, Legal Terms…Learn Everything”

            The beginning of the article discuses the fact that many graphic and web designers don’t pay too much attention to copyrights and legal terms, but it is very necessary. It proceeds to define terms such as copyright, disclaimer, copyleft, royalty-free and may others. The article also discusses the importance of contracts and what to do if someone is using your design. I like that a real world situation where design plagiarism happened. It was really interesting to see the possible design plagiarism in designs. I also found the section on photographing and legal rights to be interesting because prior to I hadn’t really found much about it on the other sites. 

http://www.webdesignshock.com/design-rights-legal-terms

Course Reflection 4

Class 13

            During class 13 we were introduced to the Coleman project. We met with our group for the first time to start brainstorming ideas for the product we would be creating for Coleman. We started off by defining how we viewed Coleman, existing products, and current users. From there we tried to come up with a target group and some problems they have that we could find solutions to.

Class 14

            In class 14 we were shown an example of a previous group's presentation. We also ran our ideas by our teacher to further refine our project. We talked about our product, targeted customers, what problems we were addressing, and why Coleman would be addressing this need. We also began sketches for our product.

Class 15

            Our group continued to work on sketches for our product and fix design issues we had. We began our PowerPoint during class 15 along with kiosk ideas.

Class 16

            We had our last group meeting in class. We finished our product sketches and continued to work on our kiosk and packaging. At the end of class we set up a time for our last meeting outside of class where we would tie up lose ends before our presentation Monday.

Reading Reflection 03 - Chapter 1-6

Chapter 1

       The way of thinking that "...is focused on making a product and getting it to a customer quickly and cheaply without considering much else" is hurting our environment and us. Companies should be a little more worried on the bigger picture rather than trying to make a quick buck, since these products, that they most likely use too, will end up hurting them in the long run. 

       So many of the products today are designed for use during a short amount of time so new products would have to be bought. Another issue with the way products are designed to the “one size fits all” standard. For example the book talks about the design of detergents. Makers of detergent just add more chemicals so that in any circumstance the detergent will work.

Chapter 2

           “Recycling is like an aspirin, alleviating a rather large collective hangover… overconsumption.”

The scariest thing I think was that chemicals found in our plastics today and other products have endocrine disrupters that “appear to mimic hormones and connect with receptors in humans and other organisms.” Research has focused on these chemicals causing cancer, but little is known yet about all the other effects they could be having.

            I also was unaware that products to be made from the things we recycle have a lower quality because many of the things we recycle were not made to be used over and over again.

 

Chapter 3

            Eco-effectiveness was the topic in the third chapter and a topic that designers should take heavily into consideration. “…eco-effectiveness means working on the right things- on the right products and services and systems- instead of making the wrong things less bad.”

            I really liked the cherry tree analogy. Cherry trees create fruit for many organisms to eat; their fruit and blossoms decompose once on the ground and eventually turn to nutrients for other organisms and soil. If only humans could design products like the cherry tree where nothing is going to waste.

Chapter 4

            The first thing that grabbed my attention in the fourth chapter was when the authors talk about early on in different cultures people worked with nature instead of against it and how this has drastically changed. For example, the Nile River would overflow each year and leave a rich layer of silt after it receded to help fertilize crops. In 1971 the Aswan High Dam was built and the river no longer has a chance to flood and fertilize the surrounding area.

            “In addition to biological wastes, people began to pour all kinds of things down the drain: cans of paint, harsh chemicals to unclog pipes, bleach, paint thinners, nail-polish removers.” I can’t imagine how many chemicals and toxins are in our water thanks to all of the things we pour down the drain thinking were disposing of it. Of course if products were designed in a way the book talks about, so that everything can be disposed of or recycled properly we wouldn’t have that problem.

Chapter 5
"The vitality of ecosystems depends on relationships: what goes on between species, their uses and exchanges of materials and energy in a given place." I think all designers need to take this into consideration when designing. If products could be made to work with the ecosystem rather than against it the environment would be much better off. Not all ecosystems are similar and what may work in one may not be the best solution in another ecosystem.

Chapter 6

             My favorite part of chapter five was the beginning where the Ford River Rouge plant was discussed. The factory began their "disassembly" line during the Depression where workers would strip each car of it's products. The factory became so large that it overtook hundreds of acres, but over the years the facilities started to age and became outdated. Much of the factory became unused and because of this the company had the opportunity to incorporate eco-effective thinking. Rather than abandoning the factory and starting new somewhere else they chose to make their factory better by using eco-effectiveness. They used green plants to remove toxins and other harmful things coming from the plant in the soil. They also wanted to have a green roof and parking lot that could absorb and maintain storm water, among the many other things they did to make the plant eco-effective. I think it's great to read about real life situations where eco-effectiveness is being used. Hopefully in the future we continue to move towards this type of design and continue to better our environment.