What's better then chocolate for Easter? Legoland!

For Easter holiday, I took the train for a long weekend down to Denmark. Had a quick 1 day stop in Copenhagen, and then on to Aarhus, where I met fellow MA APD classmate from Umeå, Carlos. We toured ARoS - Aarhus Museum of Modern Art.
That evening we took the train on to Vejle, to then catch the bus to Billund - home of Lego!
Next day we went to Legoland!

Giant, life like statue - very creepy, and cool

Blue Powder - the whole of this artwork looked like a 3m x 6m or so metal frame, surrounding cobalt blue pigment on the floor

Kid with an axe - for some reason, I really liked this one, the cartoon styling, the life-size scale, the story it could tell

Rainbow ring - glassed in walkway sitting atop the museum - provides a great view over Aarhus, as well as some colours feeling a bit hard on the eyes

Legoland - the gates to where every child must dream of at some point in time!

Lego Amsterdam - a great hommage, I'm home

Ice Pilots School - for me, the highlight of the Legoland park was this ride, where you cue up in pairs, get a card which you insert in a machine; you then get to select from a touch screen menu the combination of movements you want to experience on the ride (more extreme if you're tall enough to be considered adult); it then spits the card with your selection out, you walk over to the platform infront of the large robot arms (like the ones used on factory assembly lines), insert it, climb aboard, and away you go - I literally started laughing like a giddy school child as soon as it started to go

Shape-shifting facade - the facade to one of the new buildings for Lego in Billund, with operable metal mesh shutters, to control the daylight

MA APD - Term 3, Part 2: Home Fire Safety Project

Falling a little bit behind again with posting, as with getting other things done.

I still have to outstanding (not in that positive kinda way) project reports to complete before my return to Umeå, as well as figuring out my thesis project before then as well.

But still, figured even though it doesn't feel as complete as I'd like, maybe posting this here will be some motivation to work on it to further complete my stuff and get it done.

The Autumn Term 2012 project was for 'Home Fire Safety'. My results more or less presented here in video. Still a work-in-progress.
I've made the video password protected since it does not really feel complete to me.
 If you'd like to watch it, just ask me for the password.



SAFETY+
Concept for a line of home safety equipment with a focus on fire safety. Through a strong product identity, simple and domestic design, the products maintain a dignity that encourages people to not just have these items in their home to be safe, but be proud to own and display them.

Term Project #3: Home Fire Safety Presentation, 2012.12.13
MA Advanced Product Design
Umeå Institute of Design

SAFETY+ my final concept design as presented at the conclusion of the project

Moved.... again.

On the 17th of December, I rented a car in Umeå, packed all of my stuff there into it, and drove some 9 hours south, south-west, arriving at my new home for the next few months in Örebro.

Bridge leaving Umeå, start of the trip - on Kolbäcksvägen (not sure if there's a name for the bridge or not).

For anyone needing my new digits:


William van Beek
Köping-Hultgatan 4/809
703 63 Örebro
Sweden

Very happy and excited to be starting my internship tomorrow with Atlas Copco.

MA APD - Term 3, Part 1: Visual Design Prototyping

Part 1 of the third term, was 4 weeks long - 'Visual Design Prototyping', a storytelling course where we are given the challenge of creating a 1 minute long video, telling the story for one of our previous projects.

Here are the results of my first real attempt in film:



Hydrologic is a closed loop laundry system that is not connected to the home's water infrastructure.
The water inside runs through a series of filters and bio-filters to be recycled in a continuous loop, thus preventing any harmful chemicals from entering the water system.

Visual Storytelling Course
MA Advanced Product Design
Umeå Institute of Design

Umeå Intermission Part 3: Summer (working) Holiday

The summer had me back in Canada, helping on the farm, and also occasionally visiting friends.

It was good to be back.

Super hipster Canada Day - in Almonte at Peter and Danielle's

Warm and Dry - I had but one word to describe the weather of the past summer in Ontario: Oppressive - this picture was taken in the shade!

Foodie Weekend - on one of my trips to Ottawa, Grace and I had a pretty unrivalled 24hr foodie experience

Home on the range - some nice cloud formations (I think this was shortly before something stung me in the leg - just my luck)

Behind the barns

Summer sunset on the farm

Moo - a shot of the girls just before I left for the memories

End of MA APD Year 1

The first year in Umeå was great!

Umeå is really a unique and cool place to live, and UID is a really really great school, delivering a great experience, great projects, all on a really high level.

The daylight, from super short days to super long really messed with me (and many other people I'm sure).  The days around the start of June were amazing, and to bike home at 02:00 felt like having completed an all-nighter and be biking home at 07:00.

00:06 in Umeå - May 15th

Umeå at 03:20 - June 1st

Umeå at 03:20 - June 9th

Midnight in Umeå - June 9th

MA APD - Term 2, Part 3: Strategic Design Project

Part 3 of the second term, was 11 weeks long - 'Sensing the Future', a strategic design project in sponsored collaboration with Whirlpool.

This was an interesting project giving the opportunity to test out my ideas and visions for strategic design - an area that seems to be interesting me more and more these days.

With the theme 'Sensing the Future', (one of Whirlpool's research and design initiatives to imagine solutions that would enhance the evolution of the domestic experience), I decided to look into laundry as a general topic.  For some background context:

Global Distribution of the World's Water - To give a little perspective on how precious and scarce freshwater really is

Levi's WaterLess Jeans - campaign where Levi's is making strides in production processes and technology to reduce their water consumption in jeans production - Shows how other major global players are taking pro-active steps towards tackling such issues as water consumption and pollution

Common Core - as one of our exercises into strategic design, in groups we made an abstraction of the current brand design language, interpreting a range of their appliances, into this 3D shape, including both logo sizing/placement, as well as a bit of CMF

Brainstorm Session - we brainstormed together in a group on the already identified project directions

Laundry Machine/System Concept - my initial concept sketch

Future Common Core - as part of the process to identify what the future design language manifested in the product we would create would be, we also created a future version of the common core

hydrologic - my final concept design as presented at the conclusion of the project

Idealism vs Realism

Came across these (among other philosophy posters) on the ISO50 blog.
Very nice.

Idealism - experience is ultimately based on mental activity.  It is contrasted with realism, in which the external world is said to have an apparent absolute existence.  The only things that can be known for certain are just ideas.

Realism - reality exists independently of observers.  In ethics moral realism takes the view that there are objective moral values.  Representative realism claims that humans cannot perceive the external world directly.

Mad Men Pub

To conclude the screwdriver project, we had a pub - initially the screwdriver pub, which we turned into "the Mad Men Pub".  (screwdriver -> cocktails -> hard liquor -> Mad Men)  Gave us a chance to dress up and act all classy while drinking and having a good time.

Mad Men - me and fellow classmate Stephie at the pub

MA APD - Term 2, Part 2: Parametric Modelling

Part 2 of the second term, was the course in product analysis and parametric modelling.

For the product analysis and parametric modelling, we were given a (cheap) electric screwdriver, and tasked with coming up with a new design for it, with the branding of our choosing.

Cordless Electric Screwdriver - External

Cordless Electric Screwdriver - Internals


I thought I'd challenge myself and go for an Ikea version, given they do sell some budget, Ikea branded tools, and it fits in the theme of their products and product line, but could maybe be branded better.

Quick Sketch, Branding reference, and Design Direction - trying to determine the styling of an Ikea product proved to be difficult enough to do

Screwdriver 3D Design - Modelled in Solidworks, rendered in Keyshot

Screwdriver parts - (we get funds from the school to print the parts for this project)

Screwdriver Internals - I made a sort of rib-cage support structure to assemble the parts and hold them in place inside the housing

Ikea Family 'Fixa' Screwdriver - Top view of model

Ikea Family 'Fixa' Screwdriver - Front 3/4 view of model

Ikea Family 'Fixa' Screwdriver - Rear 3/4 view of model (my idea was to have it charge in the toolbox casing, just like a cordless home phone charges with 2 contact points in it's base docking station)