Annie Leonard. - The story of stuff:

Annie Leonard presents the story of stuff as a wholistic approach. She outlines the way things are made and consumed and shows the hidden story behind the manufacture of products and the way products we use affect our lives. Detailed in her presentation are many of the hidden processes required to create stuff and how people, resources and the environment, the world over are exploited in order to create this cheap stuff that many people in western civilizations take for granted and worse still actually feel entitled to. This cannot continue, too many toxic chemicals are employed in the manufacture of goods, many of which are neuro-toxic and systemic poisons that have endured no, or very little testing, on humans. The environment is under extreme stress and bio-systems are on the verge of collapse due to the nature of the one-way system  of production of stuff that is currently the standard mode of operation and the endemic mindset that is popular with manufacturing industries.

Leonard elaborates further, showing how the current model of consumer culture and planned obsolescence of the products that we use day to day has shaped our lives into one of servitude. This has happened as a result of working progressively harder year on year in order to get more money in which to buy more stuff, an endless cycle that is manifesting as wide spread dissatisfaction with our lives because of the pursuit of things that don’t necessarily make our lives any better and in many cases may actually cause us harm, in lieu of the things that do actually make our lives better, such as time spent with family and friends. In short more time for leisure and reflection and considered thought that can free us from the shackles of modern life.

Leonard proposes solutions that present us with a more realistic and sustainable model that involves closed loop production, this is a method of production where by the systems employed in manufacturing are mindful of the processes and how they impact on the people and environments in which they are produced. This is achieved through considering the total life of a product from “cradle to cradle’ and how the can dis-assembled broken apart and re used again and again.  These changes will end up being reflected in the price of the goods at the final point of sale where the user will get to understand the true cost of stuff. 

Peer Comments

http://robertvlahovic.blogspot.com/2011/10/light-design-paper-study-models.html?showComment=1318946775567#c5956793650908113076

http://patrickdunnindustrialdesign.blogspot.com/2011/10/normal_5359.html?showComment=1318947290678#c3941923519275997843

http://reza-sazesh.blogspot.com/2011/10/light-design-hero-shot.html?showComment=1318947646351#c1136131975276961318

http://ghinaali.blogspot.com/2011/10/hero-shot.html?showComment=1318948400528#c3673926271745315964

http://z3377160yvonneshaides1031.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcycled-usability.html?showComment=1318948892095#c7988557431991841311

Up-cycling Unwanted materials - Lamp

Experience Enrichment Peer Comments

http://patrickdunnindustrialdesign.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post.html?showComment=1316703024801#c6546197505859463316

http://pamablang.blogspot.com/2011/09/presentation-day.html?showComment=1316703525464#c5995030928787438761

http://darkblender.blogspot.com/2011/09/experience-enrichment-product.html?showComment=1316703814702#c7428242000860041391

http://robertvlahovic.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheese-grater-has-always-been-rather.html?showComment=1316704154946#c2720955006650276130

http://designingantheasworld.blogspot.com/2011/09/assignment-stuff.html?showComment=1316704793318#c1959517450622014472

Experience Enrichment

I felt a lack of direction on this project with regards to the finalised solution. Many of my ideas for the re-design of a hand tools was rejected by my tutor, so I ended up having to settle on this design and consequently rushing but what student ever is 100% organised...? My product that I settled on is an handheld adaptation of an industrial technology known as an Air Knife. These are only seen in the consumer market currently in the Dyson range of hand dryers and cooling fans.

Rationale:

“M4K” The air knife is a hand tool used for removing particles (liquid or solid) from other surfaces using a precisely controlled pressurized stream of air. The technology adapted for the “M4K” hand tool is adapted from larger industrial applications where Air Knives are currently in common use. The end user would likely find their experience enriched by having access to this technology in a handheld form and would likely result in novel uses being developed in the field

Air Knives are used for cleaning, rapid drying, rapid cooling, static removal and as a general purpose blow off tools.

The preparation of surfaces is vitally important to achieve high quality finishes on products.  Air Knives can be used to sweep and blast trapped debris and dust particles off a surface prior to finer grades of finishing, with reduced potential for damage from cleaning methods that requires physical contact like brushing or wiping.

When creating products and objects it is often necessary to wash and dry them after production. In order to avoid damage to delicate or intricately shaped products, air knives can be used to scrape the water or cleaning fluids away from the object, leaving surfaces free of potentially damaging residues. Usability as a drying tool is extended to the rapid drying of modern paints and coverings that use fewer solvents for environmental protection reasons and resultantly take longer to cure.

Air Knives are often used as an alternative to liquids when cooling down of heated materials after hot processes.

Static build up on plastics, glass, rubber and some textiles creates conditions where in can become difficult to work with these items by causing them to stick together, attract dust and deliver static electric shocks and arcing as the static potential attempts to find earth. Air Knives fitted with a negative ion generating bar can generate a sheet of ions that causes static build up to be dissipated.

The form of the “M4K” was arrived at as a result of many hours of thought and concept development

The “M4K” concept if manufactured, the body and nozzle would be constructed from cast aluminium with natural finish timber handle pieces to lend an element of charm and truth to the materials of this sweeping form 

Design Confusion Poster

Design Excellence Poster