Experience enrichment

M'whix

The M’whix is a designed to break away from the drab impressions of a kitchen utensil which one would only care when needed. The design evolved through various stages of research and experiment clearly identifying the problems and purpose of a whisk. M’whix is no revolutionary design in terms of how to use but it is in fact a simple innovative step which adds personality and pleasure in usage in various aspects.

The target market is for young to middle aged females who enjoy decorative craft work as well as making delicate deserts and food crafts as a hobby. The vibe of this product is to capture a certain feminine elegance in form which ultimately attracts its target.

Given their fondness to decoration a simplistic aesthetic whisk would be a suitable and inevitable piece which fits well into a kitchen environment not only being a tool (in terms of usages on food craft), the whisk is to give the kitchen a sense of completeness without being just another coiled up metallic wire sitting on the bench. The form of the whisk follows a very organic flow with subtle floral references without being too literal. Its curve not only makes the whisk more ergonomic but also embraces the usage of line and direction; with an unexaggerated bulge as the handle end balances the product without being too heavily weighed on the head. This also semantically hints the user where your hand goes. The extension of the handle also allows users to easily hold the whisk for close and precise mixing jobs.

The M’whix differs from ordinary whisks for the existence of a collar; the collar holds each strand of wire giving the roots of the wires rigidness. The collar eliminates difficulty in cleaning as per normal whisks all wires centre to one pivotal point where sticky liquid may be trapped (not to mention it is an unused area of the whisk). With rigid foundations the whisk can have independent flexible wires. The wires are bent to mimic a tulip; this not only differentiates from normal balloon whisks it also increases affectivity in air aiding, this idea was taken from the Matcha bamboo whisk which is specific and precise however the idea is now simplified and more versatile in terms of use (not only for tea). All wires curve inward to a centre point, its flexibility allows one to reach in for easy cleaning, the flexibility of the steel wires maintain its original shape. The overall curves of the wires still follow the shape of a bowl and vary from top to bottom to maximise used areas being used.

The whisk has two materials, the handle made from moulded polypropylene and the wires made from flexible steel rod shaped by CNC to give it the variations as mentioned above.

Video reflection4: objectified

This featured film, explains the various steps or to me layers of being a designer. It showed example of why we as designers do this and that, and what we really design for. The film takes me around these various aspects of being a design and good design telling me about what many people define as good design also what the next step there is to design. Amongst the myriad of important design information I found the above two points most useful in terms of giving direction to my design career.

First lesson for me was from Alice Rawsthron and Jonathon Ive, the interesting fact that good design should look as if it hasn’t been designed. Confusing concept to grasp however through explanation with plastic containers it makes sense. Good design should also be taken for granted and unnoticed, this I define as being able to let users experience ease and simplicity when using the product. It essentially emphasises the need for simplicity, which ultimately makes mass production happen. Jonathon’s talk also touches another important aspect to good design. I often over complicate or over engineer a design. It’s sometimes hard to think of simple ideas without feeling drabness and incompleteness. But from the Apple examples good design really should be simple. This caused me to realise the less there is to do there less space for error or in this case difficulty to use.

From Smart designs and other speakers of this feature film, I was informed of the demands of companies as well as how these designs are comparatively made available to consumers but the dominant take home messages yet remains to be simplicity. Davin stowell demonstrated simple solutions with the peeler example, the fact that their solution was really taken from a problem which has been solved by another area of use. The bicycle handles; designed for comfort in long durations. This not only tells me the effective and simple approaches to good design (off the shelf innovation) but also makes links to standardisation. “If a design is targeted for the extremes the middle will take care of itself” quoted in the video, essentially stating the importance of standardisation; designing products which anyone can use. Dieter Rams further adds to the emphasis of good design being simple, simple by means of user reaction.

In conclusion good design should be for the masses and must be understandable, easy to use and agrees with one’s logic. These factors influence our decisions in design but also the consumers. It’s a feedback system which can only be perfected slowly by eliminating unnecessary discomfort or unease with simple solutions.