Final Year Minor / Major Projects

About me.

A BA (hons) Product Design 2021 graduate of Nottingham Trent University. I am a very personable, hardworking, and conscientious; demonstrated throughout my studies and work experience to date. Completed 9 months in industry at Mercia Garden Products, communicating across several departments, gaining indispensable core knowledge.

Engaged with contemporary social issues; understand that technology can often progress at such a rate that problems are often not solved in the present. Evaluatively, rethink design approaches, through systematic and meticulous practices, to tackle modern day social issues.

01 Citrus Major

02 Nite Minor

01 Citrus Major Technological Innovation ‘This proposal from Alex is very interesting, the function the fruit bowl serves is often purely aesthetic. This added function would certainly inject new life into a product that many see obsolete. It would be interesting to see if another product could be developed alongside the current form which felt slightly more ‘homely’ , perhaps using a different form and more craft materials. With this different form these could also be the potential to show the display in a softer way.’

Pete Sunderland Director Instrmnt Applied Design

The Brief

‘To design a future concept that can be designed

for the present market to help raise awareness of fruit waste, whilst promoting a healthy lifestyle.’

If food waste were a country, it would be ranked third after the USA and China in terms of greenhouse gas production.

China

USA

Foodwaste

Primary Research.

Primary & Secondary Research.

Smart Bin calculates food waste cost.

Worm composter / farm.

Kids worm compster.

Manual date change tupperware.

Unrefrigerated food groups all kept in one area.

Ethylene absorber tupperware.

Prevents food been forgotten.

Aero & hydrogel casing.

Ethylene absorber Fruit bowl.

Natural cooling systems - Zeer pot

Dispenser.

Individual sensor.

Sensing fruit bowl.

Small sensor to place by food.

Sensing tupperware.

Ideation & Development.

Alerts user when items are spoiling

What is Citrus?

As fruit spoils it releases a gas called ethanol. Citrus is home to an ethanol sensor; therefore, citrus has the ability to alert the user through colour coded LED’S when their fruit Is at optimum ripeness, and when it is no longer safe to consume.

Citrus is a concept to show the possible ways to tackle food waste in the near future.

Citrus is comprised of components that are affordable and available in today’s market.

Citrus will also help children understand how to be respectful of food waste. The traffic light LED light system will also be understood by children, motivating them not to let the Citrus containers flash red.

I will be using PLA for my product, especially because of its promising future and low carbon footprint. Due to PLA becoming more popular and my product been designed for the future I think PLA will be the most obvious choice. I will then apply a painted finish.

Costing.

Citrus will be sold at John Lewis in the electronics department from around £10-12 per unit, however individuals will be able to buy 5 containers for around £45. I have decided to sell them individually so the user can choose how many containers they want.

Larger fruit

Safe

Smaller fruit

110mm

Safe 75mm

Safe Safe Safe Unsafe

Communication.

Due to different fruit releasing different amount of ethanol I have decided to include two variable resistors which will change the current between fruit. The user will set the resistor to the fruit that they have in the container.

1. Vents 2. Cover 3. Variable Resistor 4. Ethanol Sensor

6. Battery 8. LED

5. AT Tiny

7. Housing

9. Cover

10. Button Adjust

Maintenance.

Cleaning.

I have considered how the electronics will be removed when cleaning the product. Unclipping the battery pack will also remove all the eternals. This will prevent water damage when washing the product.

Replacing sensor.

The ethanol sensor will need replacing around every 4 years. I have made the sensor easily accessible, and the user will be able to get into contact with ‘citrus’ to order a new one.

Fruit Bowl.

I have designed a fruit bowl for obscure shaped fruit like bananas and pears. This decision was made because they would not fit in a wall container. The fruit bowl however, only has one working sensor. For future development i would look to develop a bowl with 4 sensors. However current sensing technologies on the market would dramatically increase the size and costing of the bowl if there were 4 sensors.

Future Possibilities.

I have designed Citrus for today’s market despite it been a future concept, therefore I decided to look at future possibilities.

Looking towards the future, I decided to use nano sensors, these sensors will be more affordable in the years to come, therefore it would dramatically reduce the size of my product. I will also be using a rechargeable watch batterys. A clip on ball joint will keep the sensor in place and will allow for easy cleaning and charging. The small light at the side will alert the user when the sensor needs charging. Each sensor will individually connect to a smart phone allowing the user to adjust the sensor to the fruit inside.

Packaging.

I will use cardboard from the forest stewardship who source carboard from sustainable forests. I have designed the packaging to ensure no adhesives will be used, also reducing the box size. The leaflet inside informs the user about the product.

02 Nite Minor The Brief ‘To design a product that can improve sleep quality and quantity through curbing blue light, whilst keeping the user connected to friends.’

‘Young people are often blighted by the stresses of social media, adversley affecting sleep’ Neale Wood Talk ‘N’ Walk

Sleep Quantity & Quality

‘Nomophobia’

Melissa O’Shea Holistic Life Coach

‘FOMO’

Blue Light

Primary & Secondary Research.

‘Sleep abnormalities are often a consequence of an over active mind. We must find ways to wind down’

Remote

Dimming Light

Smartphone

Smartphone Holder

Storage

Remote

Ideation.

Removed light due to cost

Sizing.

Initials models were based around sizing so I could get a fullscale look into how they looked and how they would fit on a bedside table. Making a scale model of the biggest iPhone to date enabled me to design a model that would cater for most phones.

Phone Slot.

Creating a slot so that the phone fits in will prevent the user from been distracted by their device however it will not be locked away so if the user is in an emergency it is easily accessible. Using the same scale as an Iphone 12 (largest iPhone) enabled me to get a better grasp as the size of the product.

iPhone Sizing.

The model stood at 150x100x35mm with the largest iPhone coming in at 160x78x7.4mm. This meant that part of the largest iPhone would be sticking out by around 15mm, however when the user is in bed and lay down then they will not be able to see the bottom of the phone.

Stylizing.

Modelling.

Moving onto a more stylized look by separating the main body from the ground of the bedside table so that it looks like its floating from an isometric view.

35% of adults have insufficient sleep every night, night it is no surprise with the busy modern world we live in. Although there has been no direct research done on the “percentage of people sleep deprived due to their mobile devices” there is still a strong connection between the quality of sleep and mobile phone use before bed. bed Research presented at the European Society of Endocrinology found teenagers who had a screen time of 4 hours + a day struggled to sleep later at night. In addition, reducing night time exposure to blue light can improve sleep quality.

Why? The purpose of “Nite” is to improve sleep by reducing blue light before bed. Blue light from mobile devices before bed negatively impacts sleep quantity and quality. Modern day living makes it hard for us to put down our mobile devices when the need to stay connected means so much. “Nite” is there to support users when they may feel the need to text a friend whilst digitally detoxing before bed. This will prevent the need for a user to pick up their device and stare at blue light which will disrupt sleep patterns.

‘Nite’ is voice activated and has the abilty to send messages to friends and family without the need for a screen. Inspiration was inspired by individuals with impaired vision. Many impaired individuals keep contact through voice messaging systems. The device is not meant for constant texting, but is there to act as a support before bed, keeping the user connected to the outside world if need be.

‘Nite’

“Nite” enables a user to safely hide their phone from distraction, their phone is not locked away but is out of sight under the product. The product will promote the user to hide their phone whilst digitally detoxing before bed rather than leaving it down to the individual to hide their device. My product will be made from ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). I have chosen ABS due to its versatility, toughness and strength; this means that it can be easily moulded creating a desired effect. In addition to this ABS has a wide range of finishes and colours. ABS has relatively low product costs which will be essential for my target market as they have less disposable income.

1. Bedroom.

User prepares themselves for bed, approx. 1 hour before sleep.

2. Pair devices.

Pair smartphone with “Nite” through bluetooth. Syncs phone notifications to “Nite” so they do not come through mobile device.

4. Stay connected.

Notifications will appear through voice audio on remote.

Call, text, Fb message and whatsApp without a screen.

3. Hide smartphone.

Hide smartphone under “Nite” so that the user does not get tempted to pick phone up.

How does ‘Nite’ work?

1. “Nite” pings “Text message from Danny”.

2. User: “Nite read message” 3. Nite: “Message recieved 22:00” 4. Nite: “Are you going gym tomorrow?”

6. User: “Yes I’ll pick you up” 7. User presses message button to send, “Nite” pings when sent.

5. “Nite” pings so that user knows they can reply.

1. Buttons 1. Base

2. Panel

3. Screws

2. Transfer recieving Coil

3. PCB 4. USBC

4. Button board 5. Button pad 6. LED

5. Base 7. EPDM Strips 7. PCB 6. EPDM Legs

- TLV320DAC3203 - Bluetooth panel - Audio - Transitor

10. Remote shell

Exploded base.

Exploded remote.

8. Lipo battery 9. Reciver coil

1. Bluetooth

2. Power

- Sync notifications from smartphone to Nite (notifications only come through Nite)

- Turn off / On

3. Dial 5. Volume

7. Social

4. Hang up

6. Volume

8. Text message

- FaceBook message & WhatsApp

9. Voice automation

9. Charge