Industrial Design Portfolio 2017

GEORGE THOMPSON Industrial Design Portfolio 2017

w w w.georgethompsondesign.com gthompsondesign@gmail.com +4 4 (0) 738729370 0

Desig n Pract ice

Final Year Project

PROJ ECTS N O M A D

T E N M O K U HOME TOFU COOKSET

OUTDOOR TRAINING DEVICE

4 - 14

15 - 18

D e s i gn Week

Desi gn C h allen ge

Confidential

I N DU S T RY

I N FI N I T Y

A R C

PR OJEC T

ROTARY KITCHEN COMPOSTER

INCLUSIVE KETTLE DESIGN

19 - 22

23 - 26

IN PRODUCTION

REQUEST MORE DETAILS 27 - 28

T E N M O K U A U T O M A T E D H E A T I N G T O F U

S O Y M I L K

B O W L P R E S S

A N D

FINAL YEAR DESIGN P R O J E C T. TO GA I N EXPERIENCE IN THE DESIGN PROCESS FROM CO N C E P T G E N E R AT I O N TO A PPE A R AN CE MODELLING AND USER T E S T I N G.

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Composite Bamboo Lid Side View Nesting Bowl Set Open Tenmoku Set

TENMOKU - 0 02

RESEARCH AND TESTING

BRIEF

SECONDARY RESEARCH

RECIPIE

Enhance the user experience of making Tofu in the home by simplifying the process, and making it cleaner.

Water

Increase the consumption of the superfood tofu through its ease of manufacture and customisability.

Soy Milk

The kitchen products must add aesthetic value.

Materials and process fit the sustainable ethos of the product.

Project Duration - 8 Months

PRI M ARY USER

+ Soy Beans + Coagulent - Gypsum - Nigari

The In-depth secondary research conducted and recorded in logbooks led to the project direction and final outcome. Eco-friendly protein sources were researched and the disconnect was found between western culture and tofu.

Throughout the Tenmoku project, The chair of the ‘vegetarian and vegan society’ agreed to be the primary user.

She gave many insights into the vegan cooking lifestyle and suggested features and focuses which would specifically appeal to the vegan user and market.

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Tofu

INSIGHTS - Tofu is a superfood which is underused in western society.

- When tofu is made fresh, it is tasty, nutritious and well received by western people.

- In the UK there is extremely limited access to fresh tofu.

- No specialist consumer tofu making equipment exists in the UK market.

- The tofu making process is hard to perfect and needs careful monitoring.

- Tofu can be customised by infusing Ingredients at the forming stage.

- Tofu cannot be made from soymilk drinks such as Alpro Soy.

Deep understanding gained from a hands-on analysis of the tofu cooking process. This led the user experience design behind the tofu cooking equipment.

SKE TCH MO D ELLI N G

Tofu grade soymilk

Full cardboard prototype made to have a hands-on experience of dimensions and functionality within a kitchen environment.

S OYM I L K T ES T I N G Eight types of milk were blindly tested to see how distinguishable soymilk was from cow’s milk. Subjects with a meat-eating diet did not enjoy raw soymilk, but found products such as Alpro Soy, with a low soy content and additives, most palatable.

Electronic Prototyping - Mp3 output converted to 8 bit Analogue sound through Arduino Uno.

Blue foam and Hotplate heater

TO FU TESTI N G The tofu testing session showed that 100% of the subjects prefer the taste of fresh over long life tofu. Meat eaters who had previously disregarded tofu as a food changed their minds and said they would eat fresh tofu regularly. Fresh tofu can only be made from high soy content soymilk.

INSIGHTS - There is no market for producing raw soymilk for drinking.

- To create delicious tofu, there needs to be an available source of fresh high content soymilk.

FINAL PRODUCT TESTING

The final product was tested and evaluated with the primary user after the initial features were updated.

During the early cooking experimentation, a recipe was adapted for use with the Tenmoku. The tofu was then made in the semi-automated fashion using two litres of soymilk.

TENMOKU - 0 03 I D E AT I O N

CONCEPT AND SOLUTION

PROCESS

FUNCTION Improve the taste and texture of tofu by producing it at home in a clean, intelligent, semi-automated fashion.

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T E N M O K U I S A C T I VAT E D

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S OY P ROT E I N S D E N AT U R I S E

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Z E N S O U N D S A C T I VAT E

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TO FU CU RDS ARE FO R M ED

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TO FU IS CUSTOM ISED

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TO FU IS PRESSED

Pressed plate steel, Composite bamboo, Slip cast ceramics, Hand thrown stoneware ceramics, simple control system ‘place to go’ integrated lid to base connector.

TENMOKU - 0 04

POSITIVE FORMING

T E N M O K U

CAD data used to laser cut acrylic throwing guides.

Throwing guides used to form the positive out of solid clay.

C E R A M I C M A N U FA C T U R I N G SLIP CASTING After 2.5 hours the remaining wet slip is poured out leaving a flexible 10mm clay skin in the shape of the mould.

FINISHING Once dry the excess clay is removed with a scalpel and fine details cut by hand.

BISQUE FIRE The clay is bisque fired to give it strength and make it suitable for glazing.

MOULD MAKING The positive is boxed in and surrounded in plaster to create the slipcasting mould.

SLIP CASTING

The plaster is set and the soft clay carefully removed.

A ring of clay is used to hold excess slip.

PROCESSES GLAZING The final application of the Tenmoku glaze was applied with a spray gun for an even finish.

The plaster mould is filled with wet slip clay which will dry to the shape of the mould.

F I N A L A R T E FA C T FINAL FIRE Three of the final heating bowls were fired, In this step of the process all bowls were fired sucessfully.

TENMOKU - 0 05

T E N M O K U 0 01

Ceramic Benefits -

Glazed final products are fully waterproof and easy to clean.

Ceramics have a high thermal resistance, good for heating food.

Ceramic bowls distribute heat evenly when warming.

The slipcasting process allows for mass manufacture.

Most clays have a low material cost.

It is easy to recycle unfired clay so a high volume of prototypes can be produced at low cost.

Once the throwing skill has been learned it is a very fast way to produce round prototypes with a central axis.

C ER A M I C PROTOT YPI N G

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Forming Ceramic Weights Hand Throwing Tofu Press Positive Hand Throwing Test Bowl Tenmoku Final Bowl + Press Sets x 3 Hand Trimming Pressing Weight Pressing Weights Test Bowl + Pressing Weights

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M A N U FAC T U R E

TENMOKU - 0 06

KEY A - Heating base outer ring B - Heating base inner ring C - Heating base top D - Speaker grill E - Tofu Press plate

Water jet cut ting allowed the surface parts to be cut quickly from the same material in one process using a DXF file. These were brought to a high gloss sur face finish.

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To gi v e t h e a p p e a ra n c e o f a p re s s e d s t e e l c o m p o n e n t a mi x t u re o f steel plate and Prolab was used. The Prolab provided the shape whilst the steel plates were attached on top to deliver the detail and finish. The Prolab was then sprayed with a metallic finish.

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T E N M O K U PA R T S KEY 001 002 003 004 005

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Heating Bowl Lid - Bamboo + Plate Steel Heating Base - Bamboo + Pressed Plate Steel Heating Bowl - Slip Cast Ceramic Tofu Press Tray - Composite Bamboo Tofu Press Bowl - Slip Cast Ceramic

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006 - Tofu Press Plate - Composite Bamboo + Steel 007 - Pressing Weight - Hand Thrown Ceramic 002

C H O S E N M A N U FA C T U R I N G P R O C E S S E S CNC MILLING

WOOD TURNING

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Repeatabilit y accuracy Simulation End-use

manufacture option

G - Code Simulation

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To o l p a t h g e n e ra t i o n M i l l i n g Ti m e Machine accessibilit y 2.5D mil lin g c a n o n l y

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- Fast - Delivers a clean unique finish

- Dangerous process - Requires a high level of skill - Human error

work one surface at a time

Final Cut

Block Sanding

Finishing Par t

HAND FINISHING

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- 24h a cce s s - Can adapt and analyse - All surfaces can be worked

Hand Sanding

- Slow - Human error - Low repeatabilit y

Danish oil coat

The Tenmoku is formed from 7 main parts.

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T EN M O KU - 0 07

FE AT U R ES Internal Thermistor Simple User Controls 12v Heating Element Discrete Alarm System Internal 8ohm Speaker Easy to Clean Ceramics 12v Mains Power Supply

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A1 P R E S E N T A T I O N B O A R D F O R L O U G H B O R O U G H D E S I G N S C H O O L’ S D E G R E E S H OW DESIGN SELECTED AND CHOSEN FOR THE LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERITY’S DESIGN SCHOOL MAGAZINE ‘FORM AND FUNCTION’

N O M A D

An exercise in producing appearance models and design through sketching in an iterative process.

O U T D O O R S T R A I N I N G

D E V I C E

DESIGN PR ACTICE BRIEF Design a handheld product with functionality that cannot be replaced by a smartphone app.

Project Duration - 2 Months

Mobile phones are frequently used for D of E expeditions as emergency devices but are often distractions being used for trivial functions such as music or social media.

A task-specific D of E device is needed including a GPS safety function which can be tracked by the course leaders so that wrong decision making will not be turned into a fatal error.

2D SKE TCH I N G A N D I D E AT I O N

P R O P O S A L D R AW I N G S Nomad is also an educational device, which when training for an expedition can be Loaded with information such as how to take a bearing.

Design C took for ward

NOM AD - 0 02

FUNCTION The user downloads information packs relating to their surroundings or tasks e.g. Orienteering, Survival training, Mountaineering. They then use the device to teach themselves outdoor skills such as Shelter Building or map reading.

E XPLO D ED VI EWS

FE AT U R ES - Rugged st yling -To u c h s c re e n a s w e l l a s a u x ili a r y but tons for use with gloves.

-GPS enabled -3000 mAh long-life lithium batter y -Karina attachment built into casing

A PPER AN CE PROTOT YPI N G The appearance model of the Nomad outdoor device was made from Prolab using stencils from a b asic CAD Drawing. The Prolab was cut to size and shape with saws and blades. A metallic car sprayp aint was used to give an aluminium finish.

M AT ER I A L S - 2 part milled aluminium body - Anti scratch gorilla glass

I N F I N I T Y

R O T A R Y K I T C H E N C O M P O S T E R

Shor t design we ek challenge: ‘following a live brief produce an in- depth product proposal including research’

DESIGN WEEK BRIEF

DOMESTIC CHORE

LO W E N V I R O M E N TA L I M PA C T

Design a product to improve domestic chores whilst ensuring that the environmental and social impact is as low as possible.

Improving the domestic chore of vegetable food waste recycling by reducing the frequency of the task and controlling the odours produced through composting.

Built from recycled HDPE: the overall material impact is low. The product is easy to repair by replacing simple components such as bearings. Using durable materials the product has an extended lifespan.

Project Duration - 5 Days S to p th e b io d e g r a ding proc ess unt il you a r e r ea d y.

Em pty th e c o mp o st at your l eisure.

FE AT U R ES - Rotary Mechanism - Conceal vegetable matter inside the device when individual pods are full.

- Once all the pods are full empty the basket into a garden composting bin.

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Collect compost for longer Minimise your trips to empty compost Trap odour Easy to clean (soak in hot water and wipe down)

Compost bins are needed to be emptied too frequently, this results in them not being used and recyclable waste being sent to landfill.

M AT E R I A L S -

Stainless steel lid Nitrile rubber feet Recycled HDPE Body and outer casing Nitrile rubber gasket coating.

The Infinity kitchen composter makes composting easier.

Empty the inner basket once every 1-2 weeks without kitchen odours.

INFINIT Y - 0 02

P R ES EN TAT I O N BOARDS FOR DUNEL M

REFLECTION The Infinit y Composter was a successful project but has gaps w hich n e e d a d dre s sing: - A more detailed 3D model exploring the mechanics of the rotar y system - Research on the chemistr y of odour and biodegrading organic material - A functional protot ype needs to be produced in order to test its abilit y to rotate within the device.

-T h e a c tio n o f re m oving t h e lid f ro m t h e b ow l n e e ds to b e rethought.

A R C

Design we ek challenge: ‘Following a live brief produce an in- depth p r o d u c t p r o p o s a l i n c l u d i n g r e s e a r c h ’.

DESIGN CHALLENGE BRIEF Take a household product of your choosing that you feel fails to adequately cater for the less physically able and or for less cognitively capable users and undertake a redesign aiming at resolving the areas in which you feel that the existing product falls short.

Project Duration - 10 Days

RESEARCH INSIGHT - Patterns and textures are much easier to distinguish as they are perceived independently of colour.

RESEARCH AND MODELLING

USER TESTING INSIGHTS

A 1:1 scale model of the ‘Arc kettle’ was produced using blue foam, cardboard and plastic. This was then tested with an audience of people from different backgrounds and a spectrum of visibility. Subjects were to go through the actions of filling up a hot water bottle as this is a common use for a kettle which a hot drink maker cannot fulfil.

- The handle produced is overly large and can be reduced in size.

- The risk of spillages has to be reduced.

FOA M MODEL TESTIN G

INCLUSIVE DESI GN Designed inclusively for people with low visibility. Users will have more accuracy when pouring and more confidence with boiling water. The spout uses colour, texture and a groove to indicate where the kettle will pour. Kettle placement is made easier with the cone

FE AT U R ES - Conical power base for easier alignment - Large multi-grip handle - Precision pouring spout - Compact size - lightweight -1.25L capacity - 240v input - Steam vent - LED ring - Easy acsess filling - Drainage holes

M AT E R I A L S -

HDPE Injection moulded plastic casing High-quality Schott glass Rubber handle sections Enamel coated steel spout Copper plate for aesthetic detail Surface modelling using Creo Parametric and Keyshot 5

ARC - 0 02 I D E AT I O N

P R ES EN TAT I O N BOARDS FOR CO N S U LTA N C Y D2M

REFLECTION - T h e A rc Ke t t l e h a s b e e n a s u c c e s s f u l p ro j e c t. To f u r t h e r t he p roje c t it ne e ds: - Experiments with participants who have a severe visual imp airment and a robust aesthetic model.

- A Tr i g g e r s y s t e m t o c o n t r o l t h e r e l e a s e o f w a t e r.

- More time to be spent in research stage to find stronger insights.

SU CC ESS FU L I N D USTRY PROJ ECT PRODUCT NOW IN PRODUCTION

BRIEF - Redesign the casing for a powerful handheld spectrometer - Redistribute and reduce weight for better usability - Add an integrated on/off button with its own plastic part.

- Redesign the optical system to reduce weight, improve function and increase durability.

Project Duration - 6 Months

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

The first unit produced using SLS, later used to create the prototype mould.

Proposal drawings presented to company stakeholders.

P R O T O T Y P E M A N U FAC T U R E Two complete sets of parts were made through silicone moulding and two units assembled. 1 unit remained within the company whilst the other unit was sold to a company for quality control and checking in the food industry.

Each silicone mould is capable of producing up to 30 units before a new one is needed.

More details available on request.

I am an Industrial designer who is looking for an opportunity to work in design engineering, new product innovation or product development. I love technology and in the past few months, I have been pursuing my interests in CNC systems and 3D printing. I am a hard worker, fast learner and a team player. I can work under pressure, thrive with responsibility and enjoy seeing my designs come to life. If you like my work please don’t hesitate to contact me.

George Thompson

w w w.georgethompsondesign.com gthompsondesign@gmail.com +4 4 (0) 738729370 0

VOLUNTEERING

O V E R 10 0 P R O J E C T H O U R S , 3 AWA R D S

KICKBOXING

3 COMPETITIVE FIGH

HTS, 1 COMPETITION

INTERESTS ADVENTURING

S K AT E B OA R D I N G

S PA N I S H L A N G U A G E

SCULPTING

EXHIBITION VISITS

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