Wednesday, 25 March 2009

For our newest project we were given the choice of a self-directed project or a forth client based project working with the first bus group to improve safety.
I have decided to undertake the self-directed project as it will hopefully give me a better understanding of what to expect in my forth year.
After looking at the design council website and reading up on current live issues within design I choose to base my project on design for crime.
This is a small project I worked on for a friend, it is a business sign for a door which I designed then cut using a CNC router. The material is a black plastic which has an aluminium layer on the top. As the router cuts away the aluminium it exposes the black plastic which makes the design visible.

Thursday, 5 March 2009


This is my final outcome for the Balmoral Group project.
It is my design for a portable temporary shelter for a domestic south east family affected by flooding.
The shelter is designed to allow people to personalise their own (temporary) home and hopefully full them with a greater sense of personal belonging, privacy and personal space indoors and out.
The image in the top left is a randomly generated shelter using a selection of the five different shelter sections.

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Above is an image which depicts how the different sections would be connected together.
This should be an effective, simple and safe means of fastening each piece together, a hasp is strong and quick and ought to apply enough pressure to ensure a tight connection between the seals.
There are three area on the inside of each section where these would be positioned ensuring full closure from the outside, once a padlock is attached the whole connection is completed and protected.

Monday, 2 March 2009

The shelter would be far more practical if each section was able to stack. This would also improve the logistics of the product and help to lower costs.

With a solution like this the floor then becomes a separate piece which could either be made in-house or sourced from another company.
These five sections are the basic pieces which can be used to create the shelters.

The problem mentioned below was solved by extending the distance the archway protrudes out from the cross-section.

Taking into consideration the market aspect of the product and the hierarchy and social status of Britain I have decided to break down the shelters into different components which could be coupled together to created shelters which will differ in size and shape allowing the user to customise their own (temporary) home and hopefully give them a greater sense of personal belonging, privacy and a delineated personal place indoors and out.

In doing this I have encountered a problem where one of the main sections (the cross section) has four weak points on the floor where the end sections where removed.