Sep 06

7 in 7: Day 2

My concept for today’s project was really basic, I just wanted to see if I could make a song using only Ikea parts. My first step int he process was to play with multiple parts and see how many different type of sound elements I could find. My goal was to create variety so there could be distinct ‘instruments’ heard. Everything I used is completely Ikea sourced except for a handful of rubber bands.

I decided to use my iphone to record since the internal mic is a little better than my computer. And I “produced” the song in the garage band app on my phone. Using 7 different Ikea made ‘instruments’ I layered 7 tracks to produce this (pretty terrible) beat.

 

I titled this jam “No Screws Attatched” enoy…

 

Here are a few examples of my ‘instruments’

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Sep 06

7 in 7; second day!

 

I use Photoshop to create a product, and this is a control switch of sink. In the middle of the product that is a red button, it can control the flow gate switch，and there are some mouth of filters around the button.

Why do I want to create this product? Because when I used the control switch of sink, it is very inconvenient.铝合金开关

Sep 05

7in7 Day 2- I am Animal

Today for my project I decided to do a study. I wanted to see how people react when they can see themselves or a loved one in an un-livable situation that factory-farmed animals endure every day. I set up a cardboard cut out of a scene from a factory farm to mimic the cut outs that one might see at a fair. There is an empty hole and the idea is that you stick your head through that hole and someone takes a picture of you so you can see yourself in a new environment, or as a different character. I knew that I would be taking my cutout to the park where there would be a lot of children so I wanted to make sure that I didn’t choose a picture that was gruesome, out of respect for people trying to enjoy a nice day in the park 🙂

I picked a very mild stock photo that depicts the cramped living conditions of some chickens in a factory farm. I printed this photo out over many pages and stuck it to a large piece of cardboard and cut out one of the chicken’s heads so that people could stick their heads in that space. I took this to the park to see if anyone was willing to put themselves in the place of a chicken for a photo-op. After the participants saw the photo of themselves I asked them a few questions regarding their feelings of seeing themselves in this environment. The questions included: “Do you eat meat?” “Do you think these chickens have enough space to live?” “How does it make you feel to see yourself in this photo?”

In general, people were reluctant to participate. Of those who did participate, everyone was a meat-eater, most of them thought that the chickens did not have enough space, and some of them said that they hadn’t thought much about it before but will consider buying non-factory farmed meat in the future. No one said that they would stop eating meat. In a further iteration I would like to collect more data in different neighborhoods in the city and create a data visualization.

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Sep 05

7 in 7- Day 2 Windchime

Not all natural materials are easily perishable.  Today I wanted to explore materials that are still organic, but also fit into the realm of “found objects.”  I used pieces of coral, a bamboo pen, and hemp string, which are all naturally occurring materials which have already undergone different ways of degradation.  The coral died long ago, along with its color and ability to digest microorganisms.  The bamboo has been carved and soaked with ink, and the hemp manipulated into string form.  The artificial objects I used are essential for the construction of other man-made objects and in including them I wanted to create an interesting mix of what is “real” and what is not real.

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Sep 05

7 in 7 1st- Project- ParkPedia

My constraint for the 7 in 7 projects is making a connection between our life to nature.

My first project is called: ParkPedia.

We all know kids like nature, but it is not easy for urban parents to find time to take their kids to the rural area or forests. So taking their kids to an urban park is the most convenient and common way to get kids close to nature. However, this does not satisfy children’s’ eagerness to learn about nature.They alway ask millions of questions about the plants and animals around them, but our parents definitely cannot answer everything about what is going on in a park. Not only small children, but also some adults like me who like nature want to know more about certain species when they hang out in the park. It is also hard to find the information online when we do not even know the species’ name.

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ParkPedia will help you solve this problem .

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ParkPedia is an app that provide species information. It is loaded with categories such as a birds list, blooming list and a butterfly list. Different parks will have different lists and information.  Pictures to help people find the species they see in the park are included in the app as is the background knowledge about certain species. Also ParkPedia helps people develop their own nature museum and digital specimen gallery to help people save and record what they have seen and what they like in a park.

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Also, ParkPedia uses GPS to detect your location and provide the species information to you in a certain park in a certain season. It lets children find a certain species in a small environment which can be very interesting and educational.

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Find the name of the plant and delve into the background knowledge.

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Another function of ParkPedia is that it can make a personal nature species data gallery for the user. People can take photo of what they see in the park and label their name by using the species data in ParkPedia and then add it to your own digital nature museum to record your experiences and interactions with local species. It also will become your digital specimen as a reference for the nature lover and biology students without killing any animals and plants.

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From now on every parent can be a nature expert for their kids and we can all be closer to the mysterious nature.

 

Sep 05

Seven in Seven: Day 1

My constraints:

Since moving to New York I have purchased and acquired an annoying amount of ikea furniture that has left me with bags full of extra and unused parts, with cardboard boxes, and packaging materials.  I also have a metal cart that came with a piece missing, and I have been figuring out a way to try and get rid of it.

 

So my first constraint is materials: I can only build my projects using materials from Ikea (with the addition of glue and wire to attach items together).

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Along with that I have a passion for music and everything having to do with music.

My second constraint is in concept: Every projects must in some way relate to an element of music.

Lastly to add a little extra challenge for myself, for my third constraint ever project must incorporate the number 7.

 

My first Project: 5 Finger Drum

When listening to music, as many people do, I often will be tapping my fingers to the beat. This inspired me to want to create a device that allows me to create different sounds with the tap of each respective finger. This way when tapping to the music, I can more closely resemble the song.  I used 5 different Ikea parts (screws,washers,etc..) and used packaging material to create finger loops, so each “drum” can be looped on to each of your five fingers. Then each loop is attached to wire that brings the five “drums” together as a meeting point at the base of a metal surface. Along with the 5 finger drums, there is also a floor pad attached next to the thumb position to create a muffled sound, and a plastic corner piece attached next to the index finger position to create a “record scratching” sound. So all in all the user can create 7 different drum sounds.

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Challenges: getting the loops and wire to line up to be ergonomically correct so the user can play with comfort.

Next steps: As a basic analogue “Drum Kit” the device is fun. But If I were to take it to the next step I would love this to be a prototype for an electronic device that has sensors attached at the end of each finger, with a MIDI connection that could be used for music production.

Sep 05

7 in 7 for 1st day

Constraint: Using design thinking to solve problem for each daily problem and explore how could we define design and technology, how can we use design and technology helps us to improve our daily life quality and the relationship between human and  interaction technology.

 

Motivation to do the project:

My first day project is a prototype for wearable interactive devices design for those unsentimental people. For example some of my friend is very shy , they are not good at deliver their feeling to other people especially strange people, they could only deliver their feeling through behavior such as some people become stuttered when they see someone they fancy.  And I think if there is an interaction devices helps them to deliver their feelings in a comfortable way or this idea could  even helps them to date someone they like.

 

 

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So I made a application prototype that it could control the a certain wearable devices (maybe it’s a T-shirt),

to convey the feeling status the users want to express.

 

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Thus, when the users press the each status button the logo on the T-shirt will correspondingly change

in order to help the user to convey his/her feeling.

 

Tired Status:

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See sth Amazing:

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If I could iterate the project , I want to deeply explore its function about how to help shy people to date with someone they fancy.

Additionally,  in this whole thinking process , I didn’t take the wearable technology itself into consideration at first,  like is there a special material for clothes to change the logo on it randomly? I didn’t take it into consideration because  I don’t want to set a limitation in my brain for myself to to create the original prototype for a project.

Finally, I am looking forward to create tomorrow’s project, I believe this is a good way  to practice my own thinking strategy of design.

 

 

Sep 05

Facebook Redesgin

facebook redesign

 

I redesigned a facebook page layout in order to solve two problems : Information Priority and Privacy edit privilege.

 

I changed the home page from  a double – column design  to 3-column design in order to change the visual navigation consequence.

In the right side I added a information subscription part  then users can classify the their own newsfeed subscription.

And secondly in the commentary part, the user will have privilege to edit their conversation whether open to public or not.

This design solution may have a problem that currently it is too similar to the current page design, if I could still hava a chance to iterate it  I would try to use flat design style to present the information and I think that would change the information messy problem of facebook.

 

 

Sep 05

7 in 7(first)

Constraints:  I want to make an animation about a lovely chick who called “Woody”. The animation combines some reality scenes in my bedroom with illustrate animal character.

So far I have made the title of my animation. I planned to spend 1 hour to finish the title , but it took me more than 1 hour to complete it…

To make such animation, first I need to take some photos of my bedroom, then import them to the Photoshop, and modify them, finally, draw the character(“Woody”) on the photo background. woody1

Sep 05

7 in 7. first day!

圆形图标1I use Photoshop to create a crystal ball. There are some drops on the surface of the crystal ball.

Why do i want to create a crystal ball, because i very very like this feeling from the crystal ball, pure，pellucid，and smooth.