Photos from stalking:

People are always balancing their belongings to share with the table

He's happy, huh?

Mmm sharing the space like a true lazy champion

This man actually has two friends, it's hard to tell though. 

Gotta love society...

The stalker.

Throughout the past few weeks I've been a professional stalker in order to research different accessories for technology.

...And I generally despise this topic. I suppose, in my head, a handheld/high-use technology shouldn't need accessories.
Or, they shouldn't need more than what's already around.
As a designer, I know that I should always find a problem in any situation, but I honestly think there is a concept of "too much" when it comes to designing accessories.

Regardless of that sentiment, I also think designing something so common and pointless is a good lesson in business practice. This is a whole lot less of sharing my strengths as a designer, and a lot more "sell it and make it count."

On that note, everything that I've focused on has involved food (no surprise if you know me)
How do people interact with their technology in an open environment?
What comes first? Your sandwich or your boyfriend's text?

The issue is, people in public still consider the phone to be a completely taboo device.
One on one conversations should never be replaced with One on Phone.
Which leads me to my problem:
How are we going to comfortably incorporate the private texter/phonecaller into a public environment...

In my opinion, the solutions for this problem rely more in a system than a product..but a product is what my end result has to be.
Hum. 

On a side note: Here's the silver ring I lost.

Blah.

A few photos from the day

Like I said, I don't want to design just stuff. 

This is increasingly harder to research, since my easiest way of approaching/researching strangers is to take stalker photos.

Need some guts.

But for those people that smile, my interest is held much more:

They cradle their cameras and baby their headphones. They hold on to these objects to keep them safe and get through the day.

I spent the day photographing random citizens of San Francisco

I wanted to research the different ways people used the stuff they carried. 

And then my wallet was stolen.

What started out as a day of photographing random phones and cameras ended in:

1) Me considering what was really important (to me) in that wallet : A little silver ring I had made. The first piece of jewelry I'd ever created.

2) How I wish I had realized my missing wallet sooner.

3) My complete lack of motivation for designing accessories for technology.

This isn't me giving up...it's really a sign that I'm going to put more thought into this project. I have new incentive to make this more than just a product.

I'm interested in what really matters to people, and that's normally not something you can just make for them.

   I don't see myself making the wedding rings you've cherished for 20+ years. But how many artists really know the future of their work? 

There's still an opportunity here to design something that can harbor the same amount of appreciation as that silver ring I miss. 
Here's to hoping this motivation doesn't completely plummet halfway through the semester.

Before college, I never thought that you could sand metal. Silly me.

Belated final photos of my wire rack.

I dipped the copper hand in a patina to give it an aged black appearance.

Normally this holds all of my necklaces easily (the joints in the fingers separate the different chains)...but seeing as I've been moving, all of those trinkets are packed.

Coffee Siphon

So over this past semester I tackled a coffee maker design, and wanted to do something a little unconventional. (Superfluous if you'd prefer)

Everyone and their mother's uncle focuses on making a more convenient and time saving machine...and I focused on a performance.



Basically, I have an uncontrollable love for the local coffee-shop (an appropriate passion for a San Franciscan)
I wanted to create something that would intrigue the everyday coffee drinker; a machine that causes the Barista to visually captivate an audience. That's where the coffee siphon caught my eye.

Siphon 101: Fill the bottom with water, and the top with grinds. Heat the water until it evaporates and soaks the grinds in the top chamber. Turn off heat , creating a vacuum effect that pulls the grind soaked water back to the bottom chamber. Result: A beautifully clean cup of coffee made with an AWESOME contraption.
The basic look involves two clear glass chambers, a stand, and a burner of some sort. The combination of fire, steam, bubbling coffee and a little physics adds for a great show.

Anywho, I'm talking too much, here's the actual product I designed

The changes I made were based on material and function. A bamboo stand is a cheap and eco-friendly alternative to a stalk of ABS plastic or full metal. 

The top carafe is held in place with a bamboo steamer handle, shaped to easily hold. The bottom has a little headphone-esque shaped handle (I wanted to mimic the imagery of the siphon in the handle, two circles and a line)


I have a little step by step guide somewhere...I'll share it when I find it..
But this was a pretty awesome project to tackle. I took a step out of the norm and designed this like a mini gilligan's island piece, but I love how it stood out amongst other projects.

Some sketches I made in the process:

This is just a quick overview post. I might share a few more parts later :]