Post 4 - Questions

Rhona's Questions

How much of what you present next week should be virtual/digital (if at all), or visualized in drawings or sketches, and how much should be made with real-live physical material? With regard to the latter physical material), should you use the actual material you envision for the artifact, or a stand-in (eg. Cardboard or something else instead of wood if the final thing is supposed to be made of wood)? I do not expect the prototype to look like a finished artifact (it would be a waste to spend time and materials on something premature), but that doesn’t mean the prototype can be falling apart or super-sloppy. It does need to have, or convincingly suggest, sufficient functionality so as to be able to represent your
idea enough for you to communicate what you’re trying to do so that we can understand and respond to your design.

We will be presenting visually with a basic prototype. The material we chose is a great example of our DIY project- in which we will be encouraging others to reuse their own jackets and materials in order
to recreate this, our project.

Should you build a prototype of the whole artifact or part of it (A WHOLE manual or just a section)? If a piece will sufficiently represent the whole, don’t waste time doing the whole certainly not at this stage

We are currently building the prototype in its entirety.


I recommend that you focus on two or three details of the prototype to give a bit more attention to for next week (or the week after), beyond a basic representation of the rest. Which two or three
details should you choose; how far should you take them?

The basic details are: The jacket, the wires and the DIY design.

Should you build a full-scale prototype, or a maquette?

We are building a full scale prototype.

Guidelines about the presentation:

1. Influence of the “play” session:

Which aspect of the play session had the strongest effect on the developing design?

The biggest influence of the play session was when we all started creating vests and different variations. Secondly, the use of the wire and the reaction from the class made us decide to definitely incorporate the wires.

How is it manifested in the prototype?

It is manifested as the main light source on our jacket. The wires are sewn onto the jacket.

2. Influence of the “research” session:

Which research resource proved particularly influential in developing your design?

Eco Velo is a great webpage for its various resources such as: What does a cyclist wear? What kind of green materials do cyclists incorporate into their wardrobes? What is trendy in the cyclist world?

How is it manifested in the prototype?

By making our project a DIY project we are making it sustainable which is the whole idea of the webpage Eco Velo. We will provide information on how to create your own safety jackets to use when cycling based on cycling needs for visibility and aesthetics.

3. Influence of the questions we developed on sustainability/ecology/ecosophy:

Which question(s) are especially relevant in your evolving design?

How do these questions apply to your scenario, and the design decisions you have made so far?

4. What are the three best things about your design? Why?

The three best things about our design are the three things we included in our prototype. The glowing neon wires, the jacket and DIY direction we plan to take. The jacket is essential as a vessel to carry the light on. The glowing neon wires are the safety feature which makes cyclists visible to others on the road. And the DIY direction we are taking makes our project sustainable, customizable and easy for others to do.

5. What are the three weakest things about your design?

The three weakest things about our design are the attachments of the
wires, the cutting and sewing of the jackets and??(help)

6. What’s your next step? What ideas do you have to drive the design as you go to the next level of the design?

Our next step is to create a final project based on the suggestions of our classmates. We also plan to make a DIY instruction website for our project so that others will also be able to make our project.