Portfolio Design
Wout Verstegen
Table
Hi!
My name is Wout,
I’m an industrial designer currently getting a master’s degree in textile development. I have a huge passion for the outdoors and that which gets people outside. This relates to my passion for sustainability. I care about making durable, responsibly made products that people love using.
In design, I am constantly busy with ideating, solving problems and getting to the root of the problem. Solving the right problem is what makes a design work.
To get to a good solution, it takes much iteration. Then to build a prototype, which helps you understand your idea in a whole different way.
Above all, I believe design is about how something communicates its functionality to the user, whether that be a technical jacket or piece of furniture. Insulin Pump Carrier 19
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wout-verstegen/
Medicine Dispenser 13 Furniture Making 15 Soda Bottle 11
Composite Making
From spinning to weaving to consolidation Nov 2023 - Feb 2024
A composites research group within my university approached our textile development studies to develop a composite made from commingled yarns. Using commingled yarns has advantages for recyclability at the end of life, which is a problem for common composites. As they were mechanical engineers, they lacked expertise on fibres and yarns to make a such a composite. So, we set to work to spinning our own yarn made from PLA and Flax. We mixed fibres at the carding stage to then ringspin our yarn. We wove that yarn into a plain and satin weave structure to eventually compare the mechanical properties of either structure as a consolidated composite. We are proud to say we achieved mechanical properties comparable to market available composite products.
During this project I was heavily involved in prototyping, testing using ISO standards and process analysis.
Composite Making
Public Seating
The assignment was to create seating at a specific square in Rotterdam. I was assigned Square 1940. After being at the square for a while and observing how people used it, I noticed people used it more like a crossing. I thought this was a shame, as the square had lots of sunlight and was located at a nice harbour.
My main goal was to create something people would seek out to take a break. Part of the assignment was also to get people to socially interact, so I curved the bench. This meant people would be in each other’s field of view and interact more. I designed the bench and built a scale model. The design took ergonomics and manufacturability into account. Turning a crossing into a place for people to take a rest June 2019
Growing my skillset as a maker
As a Textile Development student I learn about the manufacturing and engineering textile materials, as well as sustainability in the textile industry. However, as a product designer, I also want to make and design with fabrics.
This has led me to pursue gaining skills behind the sewing machine. Thus far I have been making small bags. Each bag is made with a use-case in mind. The red bag serves as my pencil case and the yellow bag holds all supplies for leather maintenance. Besides learning the sewing machine and different seams, I have been learning how to make patterns.
The next step is to make a bike bag. That project will also involve patttern drawing in CLO3D.
Vera Sundown
This assignment came from a random combination of ‘Aloë Vera soft drink’ and a target audience of ‘Rock festival visitors’. So, I used mood boards and personas to get to the idea for Vera Sundown.
I wanted to bring the bright lights from festivals and the rock ‘n roll identity to the image of the drink by using neon on the label, but I used the round shapes of the aloe vera plant for the design of the bottle itself.
Many aloe vera products use round shapes. I used that in the shape of the bottle as well to create that relation. I learned to use surface modelling in Solidworks during this assignment.
Aloe Vera Soda for Music Festival Visitors
March 2019
Medido
Solving a stigma through redesign
Sep 2019 - Feb 2020
In 2019 I did an internship at Medido. I was part of the development team of the new Medido Medicine dispenser for elderly. In collaboration with design studio Bananagun I built and tested many prototypes. I was also responsible for communication with manufacturers. I worked together closely with many involved stakeholders and the design team.
The new Medido wanted to get rid of the stigma “medicine dispenser.” With a drastic redesign Medido wanted to be an addition to the interior and give independence to the user. Which is why they designed it to look like an old clock, but with a modern look.
Especially this attracted me to the project. The role design plays in communication between the designer and the user is for me one of the most fascinating things in the field of design.
Furniture Making
Designing and making my own furniture
I wanted to give two big hobbies of mine a good place, so I decided to take up another hobby and design and build a wooden shelf.
In this project I learned to use a biscuit-joiner, table saw and making a sawing plan. I learned a lot in a short amount of time with the help of the wood workshop supervisors at the RDM in the harbour of Rotterdam
The shelf needed to fit a record player and art books, so it became quite deep. This could cause the side to be quite boring, so I left them open. This way you can approach the shelf from all side but the wall of course. One side even has an extra space for storing small things.
Furniture Making
My parents have a lot of books. They wanted a good way to get rid of a bunch of books, but also have new books to read. So I built them this trade library.
This weather-proof cabinet serves a library in our front garden. People can place or take books. The cabinet has long legs that go deep into the ground to give it stability. The transparant window in the door gets people interested and invites to take a look.
It has already weathered many storms without damage to the books and many people in the street have taken a liking to it.
Pump Carrier
Tethered insulin pump carrier for people living with diabetes
April 2024 - June 2024
This project was inspired by a friend of mine who has diabetes and uses a so-called ‘patch-pump’. It has to be replaced often, which is painful because it shoots a needle into the skin. In general it is less user-friendly than the ‘tethered pump’, which is attached to your stomach via a port. It is however very cumbersome and heavy to wear. We found that particularly women had problems with these type of pumps. Me and my project group set out to solve that problem.
We came up with ‘The Joey’, which we named after an early idea of a kangaroo-like pouch, young kangaroos having the nickname Joeys. We made the knitted fabric ourselves and came up with the design during codesign sessions with users. The design is a combination of a pouch with straps which can be worn on the leg or upper arm, but attach it to a wider belt to wear it comfortably on the stomach.
The fabric is a interlock knitted lyocell/nylon/elastane blend that we tested for comfort and durability in the lab and with users.
