Experience & Approaches
By Edward Locke
My experiences:
I won an Honorable Mention from 1993 GoldStar International Design Competition for designing a multi-functional food processor system. I worked for 7 years as a part-time instructor of engineering graphics and CADD (computer-aided drafting/design) at Santa Ana College Engineering Department while pursuing graduate studies at California State University Los Angeles and taking courses on 3D modeling and animation, digital arts and others related to product design and visual communication; and in the courses I taught, I included product design as final projects for student teams. I worked for many clients and firms on technical illustration, product design and drafting projects. I worked as full-time graphic artist and designer for corporations and institutions, and for local clients in the Greater Los Angeles area.
My approaches:
My product design projects usually starts with market investigation. I visit locally available market places such as May Company, Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, the Citadel, and many others, to investigate existing products and their outlook, ergonomic user interface, features and functions, and collected through purchase the best ones for further studies through "reverse engineering" process, i.e., I disassemble the products for thorough studies of parts, features and other relevant attributes, and tabulate all data collected from "reverse engineering" analysis. I also go online to visit the websites of the companies to collect additional information on the products I find in my visit to local market places, and to find those that are not available in local stores, and if necessary, mail-order the best ones for "reverse engineering" analysis. At the end of this process, I figure out what are the best things in existing products, which should be included in my new design, with new sizes, shapes, colors, etc.. Research done before indicates that 70% of all new products marketed by companies are actually redesign of existing products, a lot of them using parts from previous products marketed by others which patents have already expired. Thus, do not re-invent the wheel! Do draw reference from the successful experience of other designers! Innovation is not necessary something created from nothing; instead, it is a breakthrough in the continuum of creation, a result of the collective endeavors of all previous designers and marketing professionals.
The next step is "brainstorming" or generation of as much ideas as possible for new design, with some definite goals established at the end of the market investigation, but absolutely without any particular restriction with regard to sizes, shapes, features, etc., and certainly without any criticism, self-criticism, or judgement; the key of conducting a successful "brainstorming" session is to "go crazy," or simply let your ideas go "wild" and come out of your mind in a free flow; and draw quick sketches (do NOT elaborate or try to make them look "professional;" and take quick notes; number, not quality, is what is needed in the "brainstorming" session. Ideas so generated will be analyzed, compared, and combined to reach a more balanced strategy for the solution of the design problem at hand. Sometimes, several sessions of brainstorming might be needed; and the process might take from 3 days to 2 weeks, continuously as well as intermittently, because creativity depends on inspiration, and the outbursts of inspiration are by no means similar to mass production on the assembly line. Taking breaks to refresh the brain and coming back to previously generated sets of ideas will be necessary in order to come up with the best initial design strategy possible. At the end of the step of brainstorming, a "final" set of sketches for the initial design solution will be prepared for the "official" dart of design.
Occasionally, for more "innovative" design of new products, the "brainstorming" session could start before the market investigation process; in this case, market investigation serves the purposes of (1) analyzing existing features of existing products to draw reference from at a purely technical level; and (2) making the "innovative" design of new products inclusive of the best features and qualities of the existing design without repeating the same errors or shortcomings.
The next step is the actual design of the new products. In the old days, "mockups" or volume studies would be made from foam core material, and visual or sometimes working prototypes would be made with powered equipment (table saw, disc sander, polisher, router, etc.), and painted using spray booth; and a set of working drawings would be made by hand. The original SuniSea COMBO Multi-functional Food Processor that won an Honorable Mention from 1993 GoldStar International Design Competition has been designed this way. With new technologies such as CADD (computer-aided drafting/design) and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), 3D printers and 3D scanners, all of the above methods are becoming obsolete. Nowadays, I will go to my personal computer, launch SolidWorks or Inventor, design the new products with 3D part, assembly, and 2D drawing files, and transmit the files to prototyping firms to make 3D physical models of the product. The SuniSea Multi-functional Food Cooking System has been designed this way. The above-mentioned products involve mechanical, electrical and electronics parts; therefore, to fully develop the product, I would have to work in collaboration with mechanical and electrical engineers.
After the prototyping step, the working model of the design will be tested and analyzed; and changes will be made to design; next, a new prototype will be built and tested again. This process could be repeated several times until a workable solution (or a final design solution) is reached.
Design of mold and fixtures for the production of parts will then start. Product designers are usually not trained to do this job; instead, a manufacturing engineer would do this.
Th above steps are typical of the development of consumer products involving internal mechanical, electrical and electronic parts. For simple products that do not involve mechanical, electrical, and electronic parts, product designers usually could complete the design process on their own; and only one round of prototyping is needed.
I won an Honorable Mention from 1993 GoldStar International Design Competition for designing a multi-functional food processor system. I worked for 7 years as a part-time instructor of engineering graphics and CADD (computer-aided drafting/design) at Santa Ana College Engineering Department while pursuing graduate studies at California State University Los Angeles and taking courses on 3D modeling and animation, digital arts and others related to product design and visual communication; and in the courses I taught, I included product design as final projects for student teams. I worked for many clients and firms on technical illustration, product design and drafting projects. I worked as full-time graphic artist and designer for corporations and institutions, and for local clients in the Greater Los Angeles area.
My approaches:
My product design projects usually starts with market investigation. I visit locally available market places such as May Company, Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, the Citadel, and many others, to investigate existing products and their outlook, ergonomic user interface, features and functions, and collected through purchase the best ones for further studies through "reverse engineering" process, i.e., I disassemble the products for thorough studies of parts, features and other relevant attributes, and tabulate all data collected from "reverse engineering" analysis. I also go online to visit the websites of the companies to collect additional information on the products I find in my visit to local market places, and to find those that are not available in local stores, and if necessary, mail-order the best ones for "reverse engineering" analysis. At the end of this process, I figure out what are the best things in existing products, which should be included in my new design, with new sizes, shapes, colors, etc.. Research done before indicates that 70% of all new products marketed by companies are actually redesign of existing products, a lot of them using parts from previous products marketed by others which patents have already expired. Thus, do not re-invent the wheel! Do draw reference from the successful experience of other designers! Innovation is not necessary something created from nothing; instead, it is a breakthrough in the continuum of creation, a result of the collective endeavors of all previous designers and marketing professionals.
The next step is "brainstorming" or generation of as much ideas as possible for new design, with some definite goals established at the end of the market investigation, but absolutely without any particular restriction with regard to sizes, shapes, features, etc., and certainly without any criticism, self-criticism, or judgement; the key of conducting a successful "brainstorming" session is to "go crazy," or simply let your ideas go "wild" and come out of your mind in a free flow; and draw quick sketches (do NOT elaborate or try to make them look "professional;" and take quick notes; number, not quality, is what is needed in the "brainstorming" session. Ideas so generated will be analyzed, compared, and combined to reach a more balanced strategy for the solution of the design problem at hand. Sometimes, several sessions of brainstorming might be needed; and the process might take from 3 days to 2 weeks, continuously as well as intermittently, because creativity depends on inspiration, and the outbursts of inspiration are by no means similar to mass production on the assembly line. Taking breaks to refresh the brain and coming back to previously generated sets of ideas will be necessary in order to come up with the best initial design strategy possible. At the end of the step of brainstorming, a "final" set of sketches for the initial design solution will be prepared for the "official" dart of design.
Occasionally, for more "innovative" design of new products, the "brainstorming" session could start before the market investigation process; in this case, market investigation serves the purposes of (1) analyzing existing features of existing products to draw reference from at a purely technical level; and (2) making the "innovative" design of new products inclusive of the best features and qualities of the existing design without repeating the same errors or shortcomings.
The next step is the actual design of the new products. In the old days, "mockups" or volume studies would be made from foam core material, and visual or sometimes working prototypes would be made with powered equipment (table saw, disc sander, polisher, router, etc.), and painted using spray booth; and a set of working drawings would be made by hand. The original SuniSea COMBO Multi-functional Food Processor that won an Honorable Mention from 1993 GoldStar International Design Competition has been designed this way. With new technologies such as CADD (computer-aided drafting/design) and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), 3D printers and 3D scanners, all of the above methods are becoming obsolete. Nowadays, I will go to my personal computer, launch SolidWorks or Inventor, design the new products with 3D part, assembly, and 2D drawing files, and transmit the files to prototyping firms to make 3D physical models of the product. The SuniSea Multi-functional Food Cooking System has been designed this way. The above-mentioned products involve mechanical, electrical and electronics parts; therefore, to fully develop the product, I would have to work in collaboration with mechanical and electrical engineers.
After the prototyping step, the working model of the design will be tested and analyzed; and changes will be made to design; next, a new prototype will be built and tested again. This process could be repeated several times until a workable solution (or a final design solution) is reached.
Design of mold and fixtures for the production of parts will then start. Product designers are usually not trained to do this job; instead, a manufacturing engineer would do this.
Th above steps are typical of the development of consumer products involving internal mechanical, electrical and electronic parts. For simple products that do not involve mechanical, electrical, and electronic parts, product designers usually could complete the design process on their own; and only one round of prototyping is needed.
Edward Locke's SuniSea Studio
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