Gdes3003 Prototypes Session/Client Feedback & Glueless Packaging Nets Refresher

A good session last week in which we covered quiet a bit of ground including: 

1. Prototypes: All getting to see what each other had done to that point on screen and as mini 3D 'proof of concept' mockups. Then we had a wander around to look and a 'vote with your feet' on the most interesting progress to date..

2. Help and suggestions: Feedback on ideas/work to date from both David from UW Estates and tutor Andy.

3. Hands-on tasks: The chance to 'improve' the design of an old glued package via simple 'locking tabs' in a small/informal 'refresher' workshop around packaging nets.

Here's a few pictures from the session:

David Mourby of UW Estates looks over Scott's concept work.

A quick snapshot of Sophie's eHandbook on screen in development.

Jess' pizza portions concept underway.

Dawn's generic food container concept.

Be's measuring cup/plate concept at this stage.

Scott's ongoing ideas for his pizza portion concept.

Josh (actually sitting still) working on the locking tab task later in session.

Gdes3003 Visit to the Worcester Resource Centre (Scrap and Reclaimed/Repurposed Materials)

A huge thanks to Paul (and manager Kate) at the Worcester Resource Exchange who hosted a visit from our group of Green Design students late morning/early afternoon today.

Paul gave an introductory talk to a small group of students including: Scott, Leszek, Mitali, Megan, Be, Dawn, James & Liam. He talked about the way that WRE takes post consumer or industrial by product waste materials and re-introduces them back into society through re-selling in the store or via their range of 'new' goods made from re-purposed materials ('WRE mades'). Also on sire are art materials, papers and cardboards which WRE sell for a fraction of the price of any other art shop in the city.

Tutor Andy also added a short talk about the way that design and advertising services were now procured from larger companies who were commonly 'greening' their business models in line with their 'Corporate Social Responsibility' charters.. 

I think it's fair to say that all who attended weren't aware of WRE and what they did and wished they'd known about the materials and art supplies earlier on in their courses. All students left eventually with materials and goods of some kind which they thought they would experiment with in readiness for next sessions expected 'prototypes' deadline..

A selection of pictures from the visit:

Paul talking about WRE's methods and how they work.

Be and Dawn buying lots of cheap raw materials for artifact experiments.

Some of the group in store during the introductory talk.

Just some of the wonderful artifacts and materials on offer at WRE.

I wanted to add a caption to this.. But (for once) was lost for words! :)

A small sample of some of WRE's 'WREmade' goods.

Some of WRE's incredibly cheap art materials on offer at the site.

WRE are moving..
After a number of years at the present location WRE are moving their store to a new location at Blackpole: Unit F9, Blackpole East, Worcester, WR3 8GS.

They'll close at their present location on Sat 5th Dec. They hope to be up and running again in full flow by: Sat 9th Jan, 2016

Gdes3003 Visit & Lecture to the Centre for Alternate Technology, Mid Wales

We went on our annual day visit to the Centre for Alternate Technology this week with the Gdes3003 Green Design cohort. We were back to a small, but free minibus this year - but still managed to get there late morning and spend about 4 or so hours on site.. As we're now out of the tourist season it was quiet and we pretty much had the site to ourselves. Despite this, there was also a hive of activity ongoing with the sustainable development MA students up around CAT's new WISE building and Sheppard Lecture Theatre.

While on site this year we managed to have a look around some of the interactive exhibits and document, make notes/pictures of these (most of the design and info boards used were informal, dynamic and oriented to families - something style-wise that might be considered too in your own design work for this brief). Of particular note was a setup with a Cob Oven/covered social area (very similar to that planned at the University of Worcester's allotment and of course which your brief this year is oriented around).

Additionally, in sessions and via online learning, we've looked at a range of themes, research, refs and historical sources linked the genre over the last few weeks and some of these issues were touched on again in the afternoon lecture and workshop sessions.

To name but some of these themes (there were loads more):
Perceived obsolescence (phones etc), properties of materials, energy efficiency (inc Cob Ovens), climate change, Zero Carbon Britain, The Living Planet Report 2015, Hans Rosling/Gapminder/his mother's washing machine (TED Talk video), quality of life, decarbonising the economy, travel & food (the most contentious aspect?), Laura's Larder, the FairPhone (& it's sustainable packaging), the largest users of resources per person (countries, Living Planet report), the future viablility of air travel, Nuclear Power vs renewables - costings, government cuts/impacts, rammed earth buildings, the Sheppard Theatre/it's heating/cooling methods, locality of materials.. The list goes on..

A selection of pictures from the day:

The 2015 visit cohort. From left: Leszek, Scott, tutor Andy,
Beth, Matt, Mitali, Martin, Sophie, Meg, Kirsty,
Ally, Hannah, Fran, Josh and Liam.

CAT's own Cob Oven setup and covered social space.
Very much like the plan for the UW Allotment.

The incredible insides of the Sheppard Lecture Theatre on site where
the afternoon's lecture/workshop took place. The walls are all layered
and made out of rammed earth - local soil that has been compressed
to about  half of it's volume.

Some of the cohort catching-up and eating their pack up luncheon
site before the afternoon's lectures and workshops.

Boards inside CAT's veggie cafe.

Some re-purposed scrap and materials turned creatively into typography.

CAT's Education Lecturer Ann talking in the Sheppard lecture theatre
to this year's Green Design cohort.

Our cohort this year listening to discussions around
materials and sustainability.

Hans Rosling's 'Gapminder' - an excellent graphical tool for showing
the many stats around climate change etc.

Tutor Andy and lecturer Ann expand on one of the
points being made on screen.

One of the massive propeller turbines on site from a commercial wind
generator system. Behind it students can be seen looking over some of
CAT's many exhibits and information boards in situ.

A student's eye view of discussions ongoing.

Kirsty, Josh and Fran arranging some of the lifestyle cards in the workshop.

Some more creative re-uses on site.

Reflective questions to answer in your own CAT blog posts (Looked for on assessment):

1. Had you heard of CAT before you came on this module? If 'yes' then please give an idea where you'd heard about them.

2. Please respond to the points below. All aspects were raised/discussed in the lecture and workshop on site:

• Power: Decarbonizing our power generation infrastructure via renewables - can it be done, is it feasible? What will it take before changes on the scale suggested by Zero Carbon Britain could happen - government intervention or market forces? Or maybe you picked up on the the nuclear power options available - pros and cons/politics involved. How do you feel about this? Please explain your answer either way and any proactive suggestions..

• Transport: Decarbonizing our transport infrastructure - electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered - are they feasible/have you heard of them? Air travel - is it feasible to lower it to the levels suggested in Zero Carbon Britain (?) - please explain your answer either way and any proactive suggestions..

• Food: Decarbonizing our food infrastructure (according to Zero Carbon Britain) means lessening our reliance on meat and it's various production methods. When grazing land is freed up, it can be 'better used' to grow crops (which ZCB says is a much more efficient use of it). What do you feel about this? Is it feasible? Would you personally want to lessen your meat intake in the week (unless already a vegetarian)? Does the very thought of this annoy you? Please explain your answers and any proactive suggestions in as much detail as possible.

3. Please tell us your thoughts, concerns and/or proactive suggests on the 3x most notable things seen on site at CAT (i.e. it could be one of the specific exhibits seen, or maybe the clever use of materials with specific buildings to help reduce CO2 emissions, or maybe their Cob Oven setup/Covered social area or maybe the food on site etc).

4. Now you've had time to reflect, what 3x things gained from the CAT visit might you bring forward into your own ideas and developments for the sustainable packaging brief? Please explain your answers and any proactive suggestions in as much detail as possible.

Ask: Thanks all, I look forwards to seeing what you've all written. Can you complete this simple feedback by end of play fri 20th Nov please and e-mail me the link to your blog post.

Gdes3003 Roughs Deadline 2015

Some nice ideas starting to come together this week and also some nice early/broad research evidenced too. Of note: Ally's roughs (colourful and well annotated thinking), Sophie's research blog (excellent), Dawn's roughs, notes and thumbnails (excellent) and Josh A's excellent idea for a multi-use pizza platter as his 3D artifact - clever and well thought-through. Here's a few quick examples on this post re the above and client Katy says she'll also try to comment on these too.

Josh Ashley
"What you are seeing here is a Multi-use Pizza peel concept, this allows the user to unscrew the middle section to reveal/separate-out a mini rolling pin you can use to make your pizza with. At the peel's end you can also slide off a section of wood to reveal a pizza slicer, you could also use the flat end of the pizza peel as a plate if need be. I'm also thinking about adding a section on the handle where you can store small knife and forks too at this time".

Josh A' - reet proud/proper proud of his ideas..

Josh's multi-purpose 'pizza peel' idea for his 3D artifact..

Dawn Manning
"Here are some of my initial packaging design concepts - specifically focusing on individual portion sizing. I've been thinking about different sizes, shapes, folds and materials plus the user experience as essential considerations. Basic sketch drawings at this stage will enable me to later think about the development of shape, function and design once a suitable 'best' concept has been achieved.”
 

Selected examples of early sketches and notes from Dawn.. Some great early ideas
and treatments here - many of which could easily be developed further.

Ally Oliver
"For the Easy Maintenance Tips page I had the idea of a diagram, having an illustration of the cob oven in the middle with arrows expanding on different sections of the oven with a pic and tip. As for colour, I have started to think about using browns and greys to create an earthy, natural theme and also fiery colours to represent the cob ovens fire."

A quick section of some of Ally's roughs - looking at possible colourschemes,
layout options and early thinking on assistive diagrams.

Gdes3003 Zero Carbon Britain & The Living Planet Report

These are both really useful additional ref documents that we'll mention in today's session and will be linked to a 'while you wait' task (see foot of this post) while we're talking 'rough' deadline work in groups. Additionally, the 'carbon footprint' calculator -while not being an exact measure- is an interesting thing to look through in terms of your own personal footprint too.

Zero Carbon Britain

 
CAT's own cutting-edge research-driven document discussing the situation with the climate/oil at this time and one that will be referred-to next week when we have our lecture/workshop on site (in the new 'Rammed Earth' big lecture theatre!!)..

If you search for 'Zero Carbon Britain' then there are a few more 2015 refs on CAT's site too.

.Pdf Link: [ Here ]

WWF Living Planet Report 2015
An incredible, information-rich document that can also form a fantastic reference doc to what's happening to the planet and resources.

.Pdf Link: [ Here ]

While You Wait Task (During Roughs Discussions):

1. Please download the ‘Zero Carbon Britian’ document (.pdf) and look it through.
2. Please also download the ‘Living Planet Report’ (.pdf) and look it through. 
3. Please create a new post on your personal blog titled 'Zero Carbon Britain, Living Planet Report & Carbon Footprint Feedback', now please write a summary of what each document is about/is trying to say. 

Please Include: 
• Context – where is the document coming from in terms of background and context - what are your thoughts on this (2 or more thought pls). .
• Message – what it’s saying and what are your thoughts on this message (2 or more thought pls).
• Suggestions: Suggest 3x proactive ideas that are suggested in each document - what are your own thoughts on these points?

Measure Your own Carbon Footprint
While not an exact measure, this is an interesting talking point and may surprise you! We normally look at who in the session end up 'carbon footprint sinners' or alternatively 'saints' too and why this might be..

Link: [ Here ]
 
1. Please click the link (above) and follow the various steps to see what your own footprint (might) be.. We'll look at who scored what in session..

Gdes3003: 2nd Life Packaging, Packagers Research Task & Module Brief Q+A

Overview
After the virtual client meet last week we would have ordinarily met this week to discuss your initial thinking/research linked to the brief and to look at 2nd Life Packaging to name but some elements. I intend to achieve that in full or part this week - but as a final 'virtual' session (Thanks again for bearing with me folks, I'm now nearly 100% again). In this post you'll see the following:

1. A pre-recorded verbal commentary (.ppt) around examples of both commercial, concept and student-designed packaging ideas which incorporate 2nd life principles.

2. A linked research task to be covered on your own blogs as a new post.

3. A simple question and answer facility using blog post 'comments' and replies. We did similar with the yr 2 Children's Book Design group during their normal session time this week and they seemed to get much out of it.

In working through the above you'll have the opportunity to take in new content, get a related session-research task underway (we would have done this in session anyway) and have the opportunity to discuss/ask initial brief-related Q's..

1. 2nd Life Packaging

A. Please click (here) and download the Intro Audio (.mp3, 1:14mins, 1.8Mb)
N.B. This may not play correctly if you try to listen online (some browsers will play it, some won't). To be sure, after clicking the link, please click the 'download arrow' after it opens in a new window (or download in any other way prompted). This should save it to the desktop and you should then be able then play it ok.

B. Please click on the image below to download the presentation (.ppsm, 12Mb) Again, first make sure that you save the file to your desktop & then just double-click the file (you don't need Powerpoint open to view it). Please do not try to view online though (via Google etc) as the embedded audio on selected pages is unlikely to work correctly.

Tip: To navigate through the presentation, just click each screen to move on to the next. 

Alternate format for PC's
The Powerpoint show (above) downloads and plays ok on a mac on test. If you're on a PC you may need something simpler though - so you could try this standard Powerpoint file which you'll need to open once downloaded via Powerpoint/then play/show it. (.pptx, 12Mb) 

Tip: Once playing in Powerpoint just click the sound icons top left of selected pages  (in the PC format version) to hear hear the set of comments.

2. Blog Research Task
Please see 'SESSION CONTENT' on the blog's R/H side and click on 'Gdes3003 Wk05 (Blog Task)' (.pdf) and work through the various links, short videos and associated Q's.

• In this you'll be asked to create a new personal research blog post to follow the task on. 

Then there will be a set of useful references, videos and linked questions to answer as you look through the links supplied. As part of this process, you'll be introduced to companies and organisations that have a strong commitment to making packaging more sustainable. Not only that, you'll be introduced to more academic notions of 'The Circular Economy', 'Closing the Loop', 'bioplastics' and 'Design for Re-Use' to name but some.

3. Live Q&A to Tutor

 To ask a question to me (tutor Andy) between 2.15pm and 6pm simply follow these basic step by step instructions:

1. Locate the 'Comments link' at the foot of this post.
 
2. Click on it and a box will appear to type your question into.
 
3. Type in your (name) first and then your question as clearly as you're able to.
 
4. Look at the drop-down box below the comment box (it'll say something like 'Comment As' and once clicked will show a series of options).
 
5. Select 'Anonymous' and then click the 'Publish' button.
 
6. Now you have to prove that you're a human being and not a 'robot'.. Just click the "I'm not a robot' box and then the 'Publish' button.
 
7. Assuming you've followed these steps correctly your question should now appear in the comments list (after I've ok'd it as blog editor).
 
8. Your tutor will then try to answer all and any questions as best as possible so you will have 'live' feedback on the brief/your initial thinking still during this week's session from him. Additionally, your client will look through any Q's here later in the session time too and try to add any further clarification possible.

Good luck! Andy :)

Gdes3003 Natural & Repurposed Packaging Workshop

A big welcome to our new cohort of Green Design students this semester.. We've now spent a couple of weeks looking into the context behind the module and changes in industrial practices (CSR etc). This week we've started to look what is being done across different design genres while also looking into the past to see if there's any lessons that can be learned from past practices and cultures too. 
 

Josh & Jess wrestle with how best to protect the apples.

James and Be - with their own bespoke solutions
using one apple each.

Josh & Jess' eventual pack concept - which (I think?) survived
the destruction test too.

Tutor Andy quizzing the cohort on their ideas behind their packs.

Arch destructor Josh ties his level best to rattle or juggle the various
packages apart in his official role as 'destruction tester'..

Linked to this the group have been trying to use a mix of simple natural and recycled materials this week to create a Japanese-inspired glueless package to both display and safely transport two or more of the tutor's home-grown apples.. Here's a few piccies of how they got on and the resultant 'destruction tests' of each pack by (keen) destructor Josh..