Update on goings on...

So Ponoko is going well. After brainstorming I decided to stick to the garden, this was because I felt it had the most opportunities regarding the brief. I sketched down 25 completely different ideas then filtered through them to find the gems. I’m currently developing 2 totally different ideas, one to solve a hose pipe problem in the garden and the other one is a (not so glamorous) poo picker. For part of my research I observed gardens and how they are used differently. I reseached

• A young family (young parents with young kids)
• A middle aged family (middle aged parents with teenagers)
• An older couple (with Grandchildren who visit a lot)
• An older couple (no kids)

I’ll upload some of my aerial view sketches tomorrow alongside my findings. Off to do some more sketching, will post some of drawings tomorrow.

The photos below are of each garden I researched – see if you can guess which is which!

Introduction to the project...

Open_source: Democratic design.

This project looks into restrictions on space, multifunction/collapsible products, and flexible living/work environments. Whilst solutions exist within the homogeneity of the mass-produced product, the dawning of new online communities are developing around the appropriation and sharing of user generated content and knowledge, allowing the mass audience to manufacture from their desktop. Consequently this has created new opportunities for designers to both ‘short cut’ conventional large-scale industrial modes of production as well as developing increasingly individual styles and markets.

So in collaboration with Ponoko, a New Zealand based manufacturing community the new project is asking o design, visualise, prototype and produce an ‘open-source design’ for one of the following markets: office, garden or design studio. My final design should serve some purpose, solve a problem or contribute to the well being of that environment. The design should be manufactured from 3 flat sheets which will be laser cut.