Some time now infographics have been a trending visualization in the marketing world. Companies in the procession of vast amounts of data and knowledge use the skills of graphic designers to visualize their complex information.

OBI4wan is one of those companies. Specialized in online business intelligence, OBI4wan offers webcare platforms and insights in online communication. They analyze more than 15 million Dutch tweets every week, gaining valuable insights in Dutch Twitter usage.

So an infographic was commissioned. As a first, Dutch-spoken tweets were analyzed on numbers, moments, and origin. Account location were founded solely on input by users themselves, thus offering not the completest of data on that topic.

Later, a second infographic was made using data from the Flanders region of Belgium (not pictured here).

Press Pack

The Dutch infographic can be downloaded as a press pack here (.zip file, in various qualities and sizes).

The Full Infographic

The Design

More information on the details and design inside the infographic can be found below.

The Date

In being the first infographic, the data of one week was used. In this case, week 31: 1 to 7 July. The infographic at that point was made with the thought of weekly updates in mind. So in sticking to the visual, a small agenda was added. Also, 52 small cubic shapes (in accordance with the year’s 52 weeks) were added along the right side, graphically representing the current week.

Tweets and Population

The first header dealt with the number of tweets (15.296.515) versus the population of the Netherlands (16.700.000) and the number of active accounts that week (1.006.695). The map showcased a comparison between the tweets and population using the matching colors of the text.

Tweets per Week and Hour

The second part covered the tweets per week and hour. The top part showed the activity per day, the higher and darker the bar, the higher the number. The bottom part showed the tweets per hour, 24 hours per day. The graphic to the right depicted a Twitter bird with a sleep bonnet, illustrating that Twitter activity is a little bit later on Sunday because we probably “start” a little later that day.

Friends and Followers

Part three represented the comparison between friends and followers. The top graph shows the followers and the bottom friends. The choice was made to put and emphasis on the people not having any followers nor friends. Another important detail is the 2.000 friends cap set by Twitter. If you wish to have more than 2.000 friends, you need a large amount of followers. Therefor a lot of people stop at 2.000.

Tweets per Person, per Week

Now that we know hoy much tweets are send out, and on what day and hour these proliferate, it is time to figure out the amount of tweets the average account communicates on that given week. The graphic displays the tweets per person per week, summarized in various groups between the 1 and 1.001 plus. It seems there are 209 people that week who sent more than 1.001 Twitter messages.

Tweets and their Origin

The fifth and final part explained the percentage of tweets and their respective origins. A map of the Netherlands was divided into its provinces, using color and coherent text-size to present the data.

Stats

completed in: August, 2011
time spent on project: about 25 hours so far
stakeholders: OBI4wan
links: blogged at OBI4wan, Marketingfacts, DutchCowboys, Twittermania, Online Promotie, Syvo, Social Media Tools, NieuweMedia, Cc:live, Victor Weblog, Infographipedia, XYDO, Starter zoekt starter, and Recruiting Roundtable Nederland.

Chroma is an installation with moving lamps that respond to light, colour and movement. An interactive ecosystem searching for a balance that can be disturbed by the visitor. The smallest disturbance can have a great effect. You are not the only influence on Chroma. Its own components will also influence each other, resulting in an explosion of colour.

Chroma provides a platform for interactivity. The lamps invite you to freely explore, play and manipulate. As a visitor you determine how Chroma behaves: wild and unpredictable or calm and harmoniously. A natural balance will be found regardless of how Chroma is approached.

The Video

The Process

The following section showcases a rough outline of the design and construction phase, illustrating the various detailed steps necessary for completion.

Disassembly

Starting with 25 Philips Living Colors lights, the first thing to do was disassembly. This is a challenging feat, as these lights are notoriously hard to deconstruct.

Molding and Casting Plastic and Rubber

The next step involved creating the new plastic support for the bar holding the lights. Using the existing shell as a mold, hard plastic casts were made. Upon extraction, this part is turned upside down to create a stronger bond with-and a more fluent line between bar and light.

In order to make sure the lights would swing, a rubber part had to be constructed. The precise mechanics behind this part were designed, discussed, and tested thoroughly.

After designing the part, it was 3D printed. Using this print, a negative silicone mold was made. Finally, this mold was used to cast the final rubber part.

In being the element in charge of the light’s movement, it had to be constructed in such a way it would discourage people to swing too violently. The inertia of the motion becomes increasingly higher upon increasing the angle. Thus, extreme angles are avoided through inhibiting more resistance.

Electronics

In order to provide the lights with our own programmed behavior, adaptions had to be made to the existing circuit boards. These PCB’s housed four large LED’s and various chips controlling the reaction of these lights.

Custom circuit boards were designed to fit on top of the existing ones, sporting holes to allow the light to pass through. These boards would incorporate microchips with custom code and were attached to the stock PCB. Manufactured in China of course.

By using a cut-out template to provide solder to the precise locations, and placing the microchips on said locations, an old sandwich toaster could be used to melt the solder. This resulted in an automated process were little hand-soldering was needed.

By adding custom headers and wires, the new circuit boards could be attached to the stock boards without difficulty, using screws and spacers to keep them in place.

Programming

The entire behavior of the lamps was written in code. By testing the lights in a dark environment, the code was finalized. This took considerable time, since generating the best possible and fluent behavior of the lamps without a hitch is not an easy task.

Another piece of code was added to prevent even more unwanted behavior. Whenever a light is provided with a very fast acceleration, such as hitting another light, or being hit by a person, it switches off for two seconds. This is done to provide a warning signal to anyone interacting with the lights, making sure further aggressive behavior is negated.

The final code was uploaded to all the assembled lights, making sure they all performed as desired.

Final Construction

A large shipping container would provide the scenery and constructional element for the lights. A solid wooded construction was mounted inside the container to provide the roof for the lights. Also, the entire interior was covered in black cloth, to provide the best possible effect.

The Behavior

The final behavior of the lamps is as follows: each lamp is ware of its movement. When still, it shines a dim red light. Upon acceleration, it will begin emitting light. The color of this light is linked to the direction of the swing: each orientation spawns a different color. The brightness of this color is determined by the angle of the swing: the higher the angle, the brighter the light. This effect is best illustrated with a long exposure photo.

Finally, each light reacts to its environment. If a lamp is moved, its neighbors will notice the color and match it. This sends a small shockwave of color through the area each time a lamp is interacted with.

Logo and Business Cards

To keep things professional, a logo and set of business cards were designed. The “C” of the logo used the curvature of the Philips Living Colors lights, including a cyan, magenta, and yellow stripe in the shape of the cooling fins inside the lights.

The business card shows the logo and website-and contact information on the front on a black background, using the same CMYK colors. The back is styled in the endings of the cooling fins, which took a 3D model of said fins for the perfect curvature and angle, also in the matching colors.

Chroma Interactive

Chroma is the brainchild of the Chroma Interactive team: Guus Baggermans, Jasper Dekker, Brian Garret Schuur, David Menting and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: June, 2011
time spent on project: lots of hours, in the dark, in a small garage
stakeholders: Chroma Interactive and the Oddstream festival Nijmegen 2011
links: Chroma Interactive Facebook, blogged at the frog design mind blog, and at PICNIC.
exhibited at: the Oddstream Festival Nijmegen 2011 (2 – 5 June 2011) and at the Picnic Festival Amsterdam in support of the frog talk on Superprototyping (14 – 16 September 2011)

For a more fluent and zippy journey across town it was time for something other than the regular old bicycle.

Being influenced by friends with single-speed and fixed-gear bicycles, the obvious choice would be to create a similar contraption.

Both have their respective strengths; the single-speed for braking, the fixed-gear for extreme minimalism. Good brakes or a minimalistic appearance? How about both? Enter the coaster brake. Famous in the Netherlands because of its usage in the old “granny bikes,” it is built into the hub and brakes upon backpedalling. But mind you, it will need some custom mechanical adjustments.

By using a mid-1980s Gazelle Champion Mondial AB frame as a basis, various parts and tools, a layer of powder coating, a custom rear axle, and a lot of aluminum polish, the Granny Tranny was born.

The Bike

The Process

The section below illustrates a picture of the complex and precise work needed to construct the bike to its final form.

Stripping & Filling

Using a brush grinder, sandpaper, and a torch, the frame was stripped from all its paint. The next step involved removing the tabs and guides soldered to the frame. This, combined with some aesthetically less pleasing areas, resulted in some small dents and kinks.

By using silver and a small torch, these imperfect areas were filled to match the curvature of the steel tubing. First, the location was primed with a flux to increase flow and melting and facilitate metal joining by chemically cleaning the both metals. The flux is heated with a torch after which the silver is melted into place.

The final step involves a lot of grinding and sanding, since the silver has become quite hard. Below the silver, turned slightly yellow, is seen in place before final sanding and polishing.

The Custom Rear Axle

By wanting to add a coaster brake from a old dutch ladies bike without having to lace the wheel in an offset pattern, adjustments had to be made. The first step involved aligning all the parts in such a way that the spacing between the center of the rear axle and rear sprocket can be measured. The goal is to have the chain perfectly straight so it does not run off the sprockets.

After all the measurements were done, a design had to be made. The goal was to have a rear axle extension which would fit the rear sprocket, but still allow it to be replaced upon wear.

With the design completed, tooling and machining began. Most of the work was done on a lathe, together with some tricky welding. When all was said and done, the extension was completed.

The rear of the extension screws into the axle. The front part houses an inner beveled edge for the ball bearings. The outer surface has nine slots for the sprocket to slide on. The backplate is a stainless ring with eight tapped 3mm holes. The locking ring is also stainless, and is fixated using eight 3mm stainless screws.

Powder Coating

The frame was sandblasted and finally powder coated in a gloss black finish. The black parts, besides the frame, include: the handlebars, grips, seat, foot pegs, and tires.

Polishing

To compliment the new layer of powder coat, all the shiny parts where hand-polished. The seat stem, handlebar stem, crank, cups, rims, and finally axles.

Lacing the Wheels

Instead of lacing the wheels in a standard pattern, something more visually pleasing was found. This spoke pattern uses three leading and three trailing spokes, lacing them over and under each other in three large “fans.” Ultimately resulting in three open spaces for the valve and/or usage of a chain lock.

Using strong stainless spokes, this complicated pattern was constructed and trued. It remains to be one of the best-looking spoke patterns I have seen to date. Instructions on how to construct your own can be found on Baldurdash.

Lighting

The next step is to integrate the lighting into the frame without the use of external wires. Check back later for this upgrade.

Stats

completed in: April, 2011
time spent on project: lots of greasy, scuffed hours
stakeholders: Me, myself and I

With the upcoming birthday of the girlfriend, something anew was needed. Using leftover Corian from the fluDOC project and some beautiful blocks of Cedar wood, a set of earrings and pendant where designed, and built.

The Corian was shaped into small, 1mm thick circular plates. The Cedar was shaped into the teardrop shape, with shallow surface holes for the Corian. Lots of shaping, sanding, and polishing spawned the final results.

The Earrings

The Pendant

The Process

Details regarding the creation process can be found below.

The First Sketches

It can be quite hard to come up with merely a shape for an earring or pendant. After some visual thinking and playing around with shapes, the choice was made to follow a teardrop-inspired form. This was visualized with some basic ballpoint sketches during the weekly train-rides.

Exploring the teardrop shape to some more precision resulted into the inclusion of the Corian discs. Playing around with sizes and placement finally developed the rough outline of the shape.

The Final Design

After the sketches were completed, it was time for a more thorough contours of the work at hand. Using Adobe Illustrator, a precise rendering was made showcasing all the views.

Materials

The Cedar offers a esthetic grain and brown-reddish color. It is not too dense for tooling, and polishes nicely.

The Corian is known for it’s high density and strong white appearance. It is easily polished and tooled into shape and finish.

Construction

The first part was constructing the rough teardrop shape out of a block of Cedar using a bandsaw. This allows for margin when the holes for the Corian might not be in perfect alignment.

The next step involved cutting the holes for the Corian plates. After which is was time to construct the Corian discs. Without a lathe available, a different approach was done using a table drill. By fixating a small Corian peg to the drill bit of the table drill, it can be operated as a lathe. The peg is rotated by the drill, and rubbed by a file and sandpaper until it fits snug into one of the holes in the Cedar. Afterwards, small plates where cut of the ends of these pegs and glued into place.

Sanding

After having glued all the final pieces of Corian in their respective positions it was time to begin final shaping. By covering the discs with some masking tape in a specific form, the outline of the area in need of shaping is revealed. Using this approach, the sides are easily sanded down to their final profile.

Polishing

Using fine grit sandpaper and some polish material, both earrings and the pendant where buffed to a nice finish. A time-consuming, yet necessary process.

Assembly

Final assembly involved drilling the holes for the rings and earwires or lace. By using an anthracite color, the assembly can remain in the shadow, providing full focus on the earrings themselves.

Size and Placement

Using one of the last warm and sunny days of the year, the recipient was used to illustrate the size and placement.

Stats

completed in: December, 2010
time spent on project: in the order of 20 hours distributed over many weeks
stakeholders: Simone van Zuilichem

“The NANO Supermarket (brainchild of Koert van Mensvoort‘s Next Nature) presents speculative nanotech products that may hit the shelves within the next ten years: medicinal candy, interactive wall paint, a wine which taste can be altered with microwaves, a twitter implant, invisible security spray and much more. Visit the shop, taste & test our products and experience the impact of nanotechnology on our everyday lives.

The NANO Supermarket features debate–provoking nanotech products submitted by designers, technologists and artists from six different countries. They were selected by a jury of nanotech experts and design experts. Our products are both innovative and useful as well as uncanny and disturbing. They function as scenarios for potential nano futures, that help us decide what nano future we actually want.”
- source: Next Nature

Together with David Menting the final prototypes based on the entries of all the designers where constructed. Using a broad range of tools and skills, these models needed to sport an exquisite esthetical and functional appearance due to the high demands of the exhibition.

The Nano Supermarket

The Development

The following part provides on overview of the activities needed in producing the total exhibition that is the Nano Supermarket. The first section covers the professional prototypes, followed by the work done by other talented professionals in various other fields.

NanoLift

The first and less complicated models was the NanoLift by Orestis Tsinalis. A tool to shape your face according to your desires by instructing a nano-fluid previously injected.

To accommodate the already sleek packaging, a stainless modernistic lipstick was created. With the help of Wiel Pijls’ lathe, the final model was cut, turned down, and polished.

Skin Paper

The second prototype concerned Skin Paper by Vanessa Harden and Tommaso Lanza. Grown from your own skin cells, the paper is used to test cosmetics or write a letter to your loved ones.

It is cast from silicone into a very thin layer. This sheet is treated with various skin toned make up to make it more realistic.

The Necklace

Another one of the more complicated models was The Necklace by Marco van Beers. The pendants of the necklace use a tiny sample of your blood to showcase the process of curing from cancer. It symbolizes your recovery as a story to keep for the rest of your life.

The pendants where created on the lathe using a stainless steel backplate. The front is made of brass. The inside uses colored paper and a matching piece of glass to cover it all up.
Finally, stainless steel rods where bent in place to create the iconic shape of The Necklace.

Twitter Implant

The Twitter Implant by Hendrik-Jan Grievink is monitoring device. It watches all the processes in your body and alerts your doctor when things are not in order.

First, a 3D model was designed. A 3D printer was used to produce the tooth. After cleaning the left over residue it was covered in multiple layers of lacquer. The inside houses a small blue LED which blinks rather erratically. It is designed and printed in such a way that when the LED lights up, you can see the “t” of the Twitter logo shine through the tooth. Next to the tooth is a small display showcasing the kind of tweets this implant will create (you can see the printed tooth in the upper right corner).

Wallsmart

And finally the best prototype was the Wallsmart by Jonas Enqvist. It is paint able to change color. This is done via your smartphone and Wallsmart app.

The paint bucket houses a complicated set of electronics able to communicate wirelessly with a smartphone. Signals from the smartphone’s app are sent to the paint bucket’s LEDs. These change color in such a way that it looks less like a light and more like a material’s color (all credits go to David Menting on this one).

The Truck

The final exhibition was based on a Dutch SRV truck (commonly used as a mobile shopping store). Built and designed by Maze de Boer, it is a full-fledged mobile exhibition with black and white vinyl graphics on the outside. The interior sports white containers for all the products, including a small registry for purchasing products.

The Folder

The graphic team consisting of Hendrik-Jan Grievink, Ruben Daas, and Michael Kluver created the folder which was distributed alongside the regular commercial folder material in the neighborhood. You can find it online here.

The Commercial

Studio Smack was commissioned to produce a commercial, which used a small range of the products from the Nano Supermarket.

Stats

completed in: October, 2010
time spent on project: enough to finish all the nano details
stakeholders: Next Nature
links: published in the Dutch NOS News, on Dutch Radio 1. Blogged at TROUW.nl, Omroep Brabant, Reformatorisch Dagblad, Bright, psfk, the Pop-Up City, Nanotechnology Now, Wired.com’s Beyond The Beyond, DutchDFA, Philips Design Probes, Imaginary Foundation, and the Picture Marketing Blog. Presented at TEDxBrainport by Koert van Mensvoort
exhibited at: during the Dutch Design Week (23 – 31 October 2010), at the NEMO Amsterdam (27 January 2011), at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam (28 January – 2 February 2011), in Pamplona Spain (9 – 14 March 2011), at the Evoluon in Eindhoven (17 March 2011), at the TEDxBrainport event Eindhoven (13 May 2011), during the Cultuur op de Campus event in Nijmegen (19 May 2011), at the Night of Art & Science Groningen (4 April 2011), at the Picnic Festival Amsterdam (14 – 16 September 2011), at the TU/eXperience (02 October 2011), and at the STW conference Nieuwegein (6 October 2011)

The final graduation project, executed at the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Technology Eindhoven. Titled Bioluminescence Design, this project showcases all the creativity and design skills gathered over the years are formulated into one single, purposeful product.

The product, called fluDOC, uses genetically modified bioluminescent bacteria to visualize traces of the influenza virus in humans. This is done using a tool collecting saliva and liquid capsules of these bacteria. The bacteria are specially modified to become sensitive to influenza, as they stop emitting their continuous flow of bioluminescence upon infection, ultimately visualizing within 15 minutes the presence of influenza among humans. In short: it allows you to illuminate your influenza.

The Thesis

The final thesis can be downloaded as a PDF here. Based on the attention to graphical detail and in showcasing the depth of this project it is recommended to take a look.

Press Pack

A Press Pack, containing numerous high quality pictures for web usage, can be downloaded as a ZIP here.

The Product

Interacting with fluDOC

An overview of the 6 interactions involved with the fluDOC diagnostic tool are found below, each with their corresponding description.

Interaction 1

Opening the product by removing the cap.
The opening interaction should be easy to understand for anyone without prior knowledge of the product. The opening interaction supports affordance by not only providing the user with the ability to pull the cap away from the body along the vertical axis, but also by turning the cap along the rotational axis.

Interaction 2

Inserting the liquid capsule containing the bioluminescent bacteria.
After the product has been opened, the first step in performing the test is to insert the liquid capsule. With a considerable volume, the capsule is easy to hold in once’s hands. To exclude any confusion as to which shaft it is inserted, both the capsule and the shaft are colored green. The actual insertion aims to communicate a medical sensation.

Interaction 3

Gathering the saliva using the saliva-stick.
Next up is gathering the tissue. The lollipop-shaped stick attached to the cap is inserted in the mouth to collect the saliva. To collect enough saliva, the stick should be rotated and moved inside the mouth for 10 seconds. The length of the stick allows for good penetration inside the mouth and the cap affords for a good grip inside the hand. By using glass, the stick obtains a more medical and hygienic character. The lollipop-shape affords towards oral usage.

Interaction 4

Closing the product by securing the cap and puncturing the liquid capsule.
While both the opening and closing interaction in combination with the magnetic locking system provide the sense of a well locked product, the closing interaction is thoroughly guided by these same magnets. In addition, the magnets aid in the pressure needed to puncture the capsule and empty it into the reservoirs. The entire interaction is perceived as an easy one to perform.

Interaction 5

Waiting and observing the test’s outcome.
During the time the product needs to fully complete the biochemical reaction, the user can perform other bathroom activities. After 15 minutes, the product ensures a completed reaction. To observe the outcome, the user can either watch the product’s observation window with the product standing on its feet or by picking it up.

Interaction 6

Cleaning the product.
The last interaction in the process of using the product is the cleaning. Although a thorough rinsing with hot water will be sufficient, users might wish to use their dish washer to ensure an even better disinfection. This is easily accomplished by placing the opened product inside the dishwasher. Beforehand, the liquid capsule’s shell and bioluminescent bacteria will have to be disposed of in the sink.

The Process

An abstract of the project containing an overview of the main phases of the project is illustrated below. To avoid publishing the entire master thesis in this format, all the phases refer to chapters found in the master thesis which can be downloaded as a PDF here. (The PDF is best viewed while displaying 2 pages side by side, a setting easily changed in every PDF viewing application under “view” in “pdf display.)

Fascinating Bioluminescence

The project started with a fascination towards bioluminesence; a form of “cold light” emission, or luminescence. This means that less than 20% of the light generates thermal radiation. Currently the list of bioluminescent life is quite large. Ranging from almost 90% of deep-sea marine life to various insects, worms, and larvae. Even numerous fungi are known to exhibit bioluminescent properties.

Bioluminescent Bacteria

The choice was made to us the bioluminescent bacteria species for their opportunities in the design process and constant illumination. Basically, it is yellowish illuminating liquid, able to glow for about 14-20 days in room temperatures. The bacteria species only need agar, a gelatinous-based growth substance, and oxygen to survive. Thesis: pages 14 – 25.

Concept and Genetic Modification

In conceptualizing this technology, thought was spent in searching a direction where the fascination of bioluminscence would be maintained, while the intended functionality would still create the necessary value and meaning to end users.

Using the knowledge these bacteria can visualize things we humans cannot see, a most suitable concept was formulated. If genetically modified, these bacteria could become sensitive to traces of the influenza virus. This would create the unique opportunity for accurate and fast diagnosis of an infection by the influenza virus.

Further iterations searched for accurate and preferred methods for gathering the needed tissue for the diagnosis. Users were confronted with various MDF models exploring these functionalities. Eventually the choice was made to utilize a method were saliva is gathered using a small stick which is moved around the inside of your cheeks. Thesis: pages 26 – 41.

Synthetic Biology

the validation for various genetic modifications is based on a long range of technological advancements in the field of synthetic biology. These cases are documented in the thesis and have been communicated towards various experts. Thesis: pages 42 – 49.

These professionals stated that although the idea is feasible, it will take a lot of time and money to realize. The details surrounding the creation and introduction of such a technology and product are also documented. Thesis: pages 120 – 127.

Product Form

The next phase involved the creation of form. Various moodboards were used to determine the vital design aspects regarding the overal shape. When dealing with a hygienic product for holding in your hands, there are numerous details to consider. These characteristics include a more vertically-oriented form, subtle radii differences to optimize the touch and guide the eye along its curves, and delicate changes in dimensions to provide the product with a “face.” These principles were visualized using a series of sketches and finally in 3D using a sequence of MDF models.

The Diagnostic Window

The design of a glass window were the diagnosis is visualized uses two compartments, a smaller chamber inside a larger one. The larger one acts as the control unit. The smaller compartment comes in contact with your saliva and will only become visible if you are actually ill. When traces of influenza are present within your saliva, the bacteria will die within 15 minutes. When this happens they will stop emitting light and change into a darker fluid compared to the control compartment, which still emits light in a brighter color.

Material

The chose material is Corian^TM, a solid and very homogenous white plastic. Used in kitchen countertops, it is quite suitable for hygienic applications. Also, the increased density compared to most plastic provides the material with a certain “authority” towards the user. Thesis: pages 50 – 77.

Magnetic Interaction

For the interaction of separating the cap from the body of the product, explorations were made using magnets. The goal of these magnets is to guide the interaction in as many ways as possible and create the feeling of a firmly closed product.

Various interactive MDF models explored these magnetic locking systems. The final iteration includes 6 magnets to keep the cap onto the body. While rotating the cap, the magnets come out of alignment, making the cap easy to separate. Also, a second set of magnets in the body rotated upside down push the cap off the body upon rotation. Thesis: pages 78 – 95.

2D to 3D

All the design steps were translated into a 3D model. This 3D model visualized an overview of all the parts and also delivered the 3D model for the milling machine.

Manufacturing the Prototype

The final prototype was manufactured form a solid block of Corian^TM using a 5-axis milling machine. The final result housed all the necessary cavities for the magnets.

Assembly

Assembling the model included the insertion of a custom blown glass saliva stick with a lollypop-like tip and the custom blown glass compartments. Also, all the magnets were glued into place and covered using 1mm polystyrene plates laser-cut to size.

The Final Prototype

Finally, the model was polished and a bright liquid was added for demonstrational purposes since the actual gentically-modified bioluminescent bacteria were, obviouly, not available. Thesis: pages 96 – 119.

Conclusion

Also, the conclude the entire thesis, the main decisions were documented and discussed, as well as feedback from various professors in the fields of microbiology, virology, biochemistry, and synthetic biology. Concludingly, a view was given of the future developments of the fluDOC product, which much emphasis on the diagnosis of pandemic threats. Thesis: pages 134 – 143.

The final design, including the very broad thesis is a perfect testiment to my identity as a creative design wizard. It is a fitting end to my time at the Department of Industrial Design, showcasing my creative and design skills as well as my drive to deliver something unique and innovative to the table.

The Video

Additionally, a small video was shot for the E-Culture Fair 2010 in Dortmund in an project titled: “Out of Curiosity.” This set of videos showcases the road trip of Joël Rabijns where he explores the educational field of e-culture in Flanders, the Netherlands and Nordrhein-Westfalen. The video can be seen below, presenting an overview of the project, visuals, models, and final product.

Stats

completed in: April, 2010
time spent on project: 27 fascinating weeks and a lot of overtime
stakeholder: Department of Industrial Design
links: blogged at Next Nature, the Next Nature Lab, Yanko Design, Trendhunter Magazine, Idealize, Design Technologist, SolidNed, Existing Visual, Creativity Platform, TekGek, medGadget, NGanu, Biotech View, Gajitz, NuZakelijk, WebFroster, CreativityPlatform, CultureWaves, and CoproNed DuPont. Published in the Cursor (Dutch), discussed by Koert van Mensvoort in “Het Lab van Koert” on the Dutch Radio 1 (in Dutch)
exhibited at: the E-Culture Fair 2010 in Dortmund (23 – 25 August 2010), ID’10: the main exhibition of the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Technology Eindhoven during the Dutch Design Week (23 – 31 October 2010), and Next Nature’s NANO Supermarket Exhibition also during the Dutch Design Week (23 – 31 October 2010), at the NEMO Amsterdam (27 January 2011), at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam (28 January – 2 February 2011), in Pamplona Spain (9 – 14 March 2011), at the Evoluon in Eindhoven (17 March 2011), at the TEDxBrainport event Eindhoven (13 May 2011), during the Cultuur op de Campus event in Nijmegen (19 May 2011), at the Night of Art & Science Groningen (4 April 2011), at the Picnic Festival Amsterdam (14 – 16 September 2011), at the TU/eXperience (02 October 2011), and at the STW conference Nieuwegein (6 October 2011)
awards: finalist at the 2010 Designers and Artists for Genomics Award

In order to create a business card worth remembering, sizes outside the scope of traditional business cards were considered. When looking at the wallet – the main carrier and also placeholder of business cards – an idea was born. There is a location where business cards are stored, but also forgotten. Why not create a business card stored in another compartment of the wallet?

A banknote business card is placed in the section housing all the banknotes. Using a similar size, feel and styling; the recipient is exposed to the business card on numerous occasions when handling their money. Upon inspecting the business card during these moments, the threshold of actually throwing it away is too high. And also, while regular business cards are eventually stored in another location, this design eludes these moments of relocation while not residing in the conventional compartment for business cards.

The Business Card

The Money Clip

In order to keep the banknotes neatly stacked together, a money clip was purchased. This maintained the overall banknote-feeling of the business cards and increases the impact when a business card is handed over.

The Design

The banknote was designed as a reference to the old Dutch 10 Gulden note, a favored design of old times. Instead of the blue used in the 10 Gulden note, a green color was implemented. This way the money would stand out next to the existing Euro banknotes, while still maintaining a sense of money.

Name and Title

In order to place all the necessary information found on common business cards into the banknote design, some subtle details were added. For one, the name and title of the designer are displayed as the value and name of the bank.

The Photo

To create a visual of the designer, a photo was hand-traced using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. This took considerable amounts of time, as the line-drawing style is cumbersome to construct.

Place, Date, Title, and Signature

Instead of placing the date when the banknote was signed, a small play was made regarding the date of birth of the designer. Instead of the actual date of birth; December 14^th 1984, a fake date was printed; April 31^st 1984. This was done because the word “december” was too long to place in a significant font size. Further, the signature and title “designer” were added.

Serial Number, aka Phone Number

Additionally, the serial number of the banknote is also the mobile phone number. Let’s hope this does not change any time soon.

Company Name and Web Address

Furthermore, the name of the printing company is now the name of the designer and web address of the portfolio.

The Disclaimer

Also, a miniature disclaimer was placed on the back. It reads a short explanation of the designer’s skills, a statement of not being a valid currency, and finally a warning for any over-exposure to creativity.

A Watermark

Finally, a watermark was added of a previous product design (the afterlife artifact product) and placed in a low opacity setting on both sides. It can be seen on the right-hand side of the image below. In the future this might change into other, more recent designs.

Stats

completed in: March, 2010
time spent on project: numerous nightly hours
stakeholders: me and whoever is on the receiving end
links: blogged at Soultravelmultimedia

In 2009 Philips Research organized the Philips Creative Challenge: “This challenge is set up around the theme ‘hospitality’ to explore and showcase exceptional design ideas. The PCC offers the opportunity for design education and industry to share and discuss their views on relevant themes within the field of Industrial Design.”
The DoorM concept lowers the threshold for CitizenM hotel guests to visit the shared living rooms, by triggering their curiosity through interactive spy holes; offering an abstract overview of these living rooms and activity, via blurred video and dampened sound. Furthermore, DoorM showcases suitable living rooms based on your preferences, as controlled via the universal remote included with each room.

The Product

Citizen M

Citizen M is a new hotel concept which focuses on a new type of travellers: modern individuals. These explorers, culture-seekers, professionals and shoppers seek affordable luxury. Citizen M houses small yet luxurious interactive rooms tailored by Philips. The downstairs lobby has numerous extravagant spaces where people can sociale, work and have business meetings.

Lowering the Threshold

The opportunity investigated for this challenge is lowering the threshold of the hotel room door. With guests being unaware of the activities in the lobby living rooms, they are hesitant to go there. The DoorM concept jumps in by offering interactive spy holes.

Functionalities

The door consists of 6 spy holes. The center spy hole still holds the same functionality of offering an overview of the hallway. The 5 other holes are digitally linked to the 5 different social spaces downstairs.

Connection and Interaction

Whenever the cameras downstairs meassure activity in one of the spaces it is represented by light shining out of the matching spy hole (as seen in the lower right corner of the above image). This small light first tries to lower the threshold for approaching the door. As soon as a guest closes in on the spy hole, the light turns off. Through the spy hole the guest will see a blurred image of the coherent space. Also, as soon as the door notices the guest standing in front of a spy hole, dampened audio from the according space is amplified throughout the door. The entire experience acts as a metaphor for the activity being just behind the door.

Philips Pronto

In offering more functionality, DoorM ties in with the included Philips Pronto. This universal remote already controls everything ranging from the multi-colored lights and temperature to the blinds and TV. The remote comes prefit with a selection of preferences which adapt everything to your liking. If you, for example, select a ‘work preference,’ the room is brightly lit. DoorM is linked to these preferences and offers a matching space to your liking. This space is marked by a glowing light ring outside the spy hole.

The Video

Below you can see a short one-minute movie where the fully working prototype is showcased. In this scenario the guest selects a business preference, but is unable to cope with his large amount of papers. DoorM showcases an empty work space for him, and he is triggered to leave his room to relocate to a better suited environment.

The Project Team

DoorM is a collaboration of: Guust Hilte, Willem Knijnenburg, Loes Smits, Stefan Zwegers and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: May, 2009
time spent on project: 6 hospitable weeks
stakeholders: CitizenM, Philips Creative Challenge and Department of Industrial Design

A custom arcade cabinet created for STRP Art & Technology festival 2009. Free-Man takes the classical Pac-Man game to new, unfettered heights. It brings you infinite gaming pleasure. Gone are all the borders blocking mobility. Your environment is fully secure, with all the spooky terrorists safely contained. It is consumerism heaven. Insert any coin. Eat as much as you like!

The Arcade Cabinet

The Process

From Two to One

The Free-Man arcade started off with two broken arcade cabinets from which we only used the wooden shell and some smaller parts.

Interior Decoration

Custom elements include: a new computer complete with cooling and a new 2.1 surround sound system. An Arduino was even used to simulate a TV remote, making sure the TV would change to channel 0 at startup, and not channel 1, as is customary.

Controls and Coin Slot

Also, one joystick and one pushbutton controls, a re-designed single money slot wired to the computer able to register any kind of coin and a custom money-tray.

Graphics and Vinyl

To finish things off, a white polystyrene casing, re-designed vinyl logo and graphics to accompany the changed theme and a rubber trim for that added retro touch.

The traditional Pac-Man is adopted into a slightly overweight Pac-Man. Instead of giving his thumbs-up, he is seen eating another Pac-Dot.

The Video

In order to showcase the layered complexity of applying the vinyl graphics, a time-lapse video was produced. It illustrates how the sheets of vinyl are cut, applied to the polystyrene casing on a thin layer of water, and finally pressed in place. Each color has its own layer, as shown below.

Recommendations

By Koert van Mensvoort: “Throughout the project, I have become increasingly impressed by the level of expertise within the team, as they continuously managed to arrive at smart, cheap, yet durable and effective solutions for every issue they encountered…Overall, they delivered more than expected. Points of critique? None. In this project David, Guus, Jan and Jasper have shown expertise in integrating of technology, form and senses, and most of all teamwork. If asked, I would definitely recommend hiring these guys.”

The Free-Man Team

The Free-Man game is conjured by Koert van Mensvoort and coded by Pascal de Man. The design and fabrication were done by: Guus Baggermans, Jasper Dekker, David Menting and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: March, 2009
time spent on project: 6 weeks of overtime
stakeholders: Koert van Mensvoort and STRP Art & Technology festival 2009
exhibited at: the STRP Arts & Technology Festival 2009 (2 – 13 April 2009), the Sound of Science festival (Dutch) at the Radboud University Nijmegen (27 April 2010) and the Oddstream Festival Nijmegen 2011 (2 – 5 June 2011)

With my father’s life-lasting adoration for motorcycles and his newly acquired Harley Davidson I was destined to ride a motorcycle eventually.

Being inspired by his handyman-skills and the Biker Build-Off episodes at the Discovery Channel (a show where 2 bike-builders square off and build a custom motorcycle), I started thinking: why buy one if I can design and build one?

Fueled by the knowledge I can do anything I set my mind to, I started doing some research on how I could fulfill this dream.

1952 Seems Old Enough

A couple of weeks and lots of Euros later I was the proud owner of a revised 1952 Harley Davidson Panhead engine and 4-speed transmission.

A genuine 1952 HD manual and the World Wide Web provided me with all the knowledge I needed. Soon I was skilled in motorcycle maintenance, welding, grinding, and all kinds of metal working crafts.

Past Time Passion

What started as a passion, is now my main activity once every Sunday for a few hours when I get to visit my parents garage. And yes, I do get to see my parents from time to time.

Tidbits and Inspection

Besides the obvious paint, the motorcycle needs a new electrical system and some little tidbits. But this all dwarfs in comparison to the work needed to pass inspection and make it road legal.

My current operations focus on getting the bike ready for its approval, which is scheduled to take place some time when I feel I have sufficient time.

Diving into the Deep End

It’s an illustration of my broad range of ever-developing skills and my ability to conjure anything I can get my hands on. When this project is done, I’ll ride a custom motorcycle, designed and hand-built by me.

Stats

completed in: when I can finally find the time
time spent on project: almost every Sunday afternoon for the past 2,5 years
stakeholder: me, myself and I

The Adidas research project is a creative departure of the more conventional work done by the Adidas Innovation Team. The goal of the project was to find new interesting opportunities in the field of wearable electronics.

For sports there has always been a tremendous focus on improving physical performance. These improvements are often fed by artificial developments. One of the relatively smaller aspects, mental performance, has always been the job of a physical coach.

The Adidas Stress Shirt provides real-time biofeedback of your stress level. The input comes from a galvanic skin sensor, able to measure your skin’s resistance influenced by your stress-related sweat. The output is send to five vibrations sensors along your spinal cord. These vibration motors present you with the current stress level in such a way it only becomes noticeable when needed.

The Shirt provides biofeedback and ultimately control over one’s stress level. It becomes a tool for practicing your own rituals and behavior of reducing stress before and during performance, aiming to increase said performance.

The Report

The final report is only available upon request, as most of this work still falls within the Adidas NDA. Feel free to contact me for requests.

The Shirt

The Details

Below is an overview of all the aspects of the Adidas Shirt.

The Input

The Shirt consists of two galvanic skin response sensors integrated into the glove. At the fingertips are two patches of conducting cloth. these are connected to the Arduino Lilypad on the back of the shirt.

The Output

The output is controlled by a series of five individual vibration motors. Each of these motors is cast into a small disc of silicone rubber. With this approach the vibrations are spread out through the disc instead of very locally creating a rather irritating sensation.

The motors are placed along the spinal cord in such a way they come into contact with the vertebrae, pressurized by the shirt’s stretchability. Upon activation, these motors vibrate through the spinal cord, making the sensation spread across the back. The frequency of vibration is set to such a pace it does not become a nuisance in overcoming stress, rather a subtle piece of biofeedback.

The Control Center

All the signal from the input are controlled at the Arduino Lilypad. This microcontroller is specially designed for wearable applications, using little power and is easily connected to conductive yarn.

Inside, the code conducts a specific process in order to maintain the quality of the biofeedback loop. First, a galvanic skin response baseline is established. The motivation for this is that every person has a different level of galvanic skin response, it is only the relative level that matters.
Second, the vibration motors come into play, mimicking the dropping and climbing levels of galvanic skin response, or in this case, the stress level.
Finally, every couple of minutes, the microcontroller re-establishes the baseline, in order to maintain an accurate signal.

All the connections are sewn into the Shirt using conductive yarn inside a protective layer. The Arduino Lilypad is placed in a spot on the back where little influence from most body motions is felt.

An Overview

Finally, a graphical representation of the Adidas Shirt showcases all the wearable electronics and a graph illustrating a scenario behavior.

Stats

completed in: January, 2009
time spent on project: 8 scientific weeks
stakeholders: the Adidas Innovation Team and Department of Industrial Design

The WagBoard 360 is a crazy take on a classic skateboard. Outfitted with four industrial steel bearings, this board can roll and rotate in any directions. Ultimately being a very challenging contraption for even a seasoned rider.

The Video

The Wagboard Team

The Wagboard 360 is materialized by: Guus Baggermans, Jasper Dekker, David Menting and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: March, 2009
time spent on project: couple of hours of fabrication and 1 day of mastering and filming
stakeholders: anyone wishing to risk their neck

This one week individual course dealt with designing a new interaction based on a classical piece of music. It’s essence was not to reflect the movements of the music, but to capture the underlying elements and emotions. The music excerpt for this design was Olden Style Pieces I by Henryk Gorecki, a polish composer of contemporary classical music.

The Prototype

Having experienced the music for several hours, analyzing it’s underlying elements and emotions, the conclusion was made that it dealt with repetition, slowly building, with a conclusion at the end, as if a certain goal was reached.
the concept was integrated into the design of an interative light system with the interactivity focussing on the activation of the light.

Upon rotation of the lowest foam panel, the bottom segment would adjust it brightness: counter-clockwise rotation meant a decrease in brightness, and clockwise rotation resulted in an increase in brightness.

When the brightness of the bottom segment was set to its maximum, the middle segment would be activated. When this segment reached its maximum brightness, the top segment was activated. When the top segment was eventually set to its maximum brightness, the segments would switch off their lights one by one, starting at the bottom. When this action was completed, the top most light switched on, capturing the light inside the crystal. This illustrated the completed interaction.

The Process

Opening Flower

The first iterations dealt with the motion of opening flower petals. This was visualized with various orgami flowers.

Prototype Two

An interactive prototype, based on the continuous repetition aspect of the music, was constructed using a glass tube and circular foam panels. These panels would allow for rotation, with each panel operating a particular segment of the lighting inside.

Inertia to Music

The foam’s adherence to the glass resulted in a feeling of inertia, something obstructing rapid movement of the foam panels, in turn strenghtening the link with the slow-paced music.
The first prototype was used as a demonstrator for further study of the subject at hand. Feedback and experiences with modelling pointed out the unfeasability of constructing such an elaborate flower-petal mechanism in the three remaining days.

The Electronics

This ultimately resulted in a different approach where the prototype would have three movable panels, each operating a single segment of the tube. Finally this light would be bundled at the top.
The final prototype was constructed using the glass tube from the first iteration, combined with various high power LED’s and light sensors to measure the rotation of the foam panels through the glass.

Again utilizing the inertia from the foam panels,separated by small plastic rings, the interaction for the light segments was complete. In the final hour a cap was fitted at the top with a small salt crystal to capture the bundle of light.

Stats

completed in: November, 2008
time spent on project: 1 intense week
stakeholder: Department of Industrial Design

An art object created as a statement for Next Nature, a one week course at the Department of Industrial Design. “Next Nature is culturally emerged nature, it is the nature caused by human culture. That may sound like a contradiction, but really, it isn’t. Our technological world has become so intricate and uncontrollable that it has become a nature of its own. This means we have to re-investigate our notion of nature.”
It seems that yesterday’s leaves are being replaced by today’s garbage in the streets. This garbage is turning into a natural feature of our environment, we become more familiar with a coke can or McDonalds wrapping than with leaves of the few trees in the cities. This garbage, Urban garbage, is becoming our next nature. It is invading our streets like a modern tumbleweed, effectively creating a phenomenon known as Urban Tumbleweed.

The Art Piece

Düsseldorf vs Eindhoven

This Urban Tumbleweed creates a footprint of a city. To illustrate this footprint, Urban Tumbleweeds were constructed using genuine trash from the streets of both Düsseldorf and Eindhoven. Though the results appear similar, they offer a lot of detail when being observed from a closer perspective.

In the end the question remains: what would Urban Tumbleweed from another continent look like?

The Urban Tumbleweed Team

Urban Tumbleweed is a collaboration of: Guus Baggermans, Brian Garret Schuur and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: October, 2008
time spent on project: 1 week saturated with the smell of garbage
stakeholders: Department of Industrial Design and Next Nature
links: blogged by Bruce Sterling at Wired, posted in Orion Magazine, and at Next Nature

Over the duration of one week we received a crash course in design sketching and rendering from Mark Baskinger, an assistant professor from Carnegie Mellon University and co-founder of LETTER13 Design Agency.

The Video

As a special favour, Mark Baskinger collaborated with the members of FRAAI magazine to create a sketching video tutorial. Here, he sketches a rather different looking vase using a wide assortment of tools.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the 4 minutes and 36 seconds of pure speed sketching. And mind your volume.

Stats

completed in: October, 2008
time spent on project: 1 colorful week
stakeholder: Department of Industrial Design

Afterlife Artifact is a product which stores a small sample of DNA, extracted from the deceased person in question, inside a crystal. This crystal is encoded by this DNA data, growing into unique shapes for each individual. Because of changes in temperature, the crystal rearranges itself countless times via a chemical process called sublimation.

The final design consists of two wood segments and two glass parts. The top part houses the crystals and the bottom acts as a medium for a very faint lightsource. This small light has two functions: it shows a soft glow when a person is standing in its presence and also acts as a activator by applying heat to the top glass part.

The Product

The Process

Life, Continued

A life has a beginning, a middle and an end. Just like any story. With this project the end is the focal point. The topic for this project focussed on designing an unique and truly innovative approach to an afterlife artifact. With afterlife artifact meaning objects such as a grave, urn or any other of object left behind when we pass away.

Today’s Afterlife Artifacts

However, there are some problems with today’s afterlife artifacts. For example: in locations such as Tokyo and London it becomes challenging to find a spot for graves. Moreover, there are some environmental issues with dumping all the chemicals and radiation our bodies collect during their lifespans into the soil.

Then there is the urn. Ancient as it may be, it is vastly becoming a popular alternative to the burial ritual. But these ceramic jars have not seen any decent design changes since their introduction and still resemble vases with a cap on top. All in all a very static representation of a dynamic person.

Then there is the fact that with graves the opportunity arises to bury family next to each other. An urn, on the other hand, is always alone, and has to be shared among the remaining family members.

Sublimation with Crystals

In finding a new, more dynamic approach to representing the uniqueness of an individual, new materials were investigated. The lightbulb-moment came in the form of crystals. Using the chemical process called sublimation, where an element or compound changes from solid to a gas-state without an intermediate liquid stage. This meant a very dynamic material, with stunning properties.

Together with the Department of Chemistry a demo was created using iodine crustals inside a vacuum glass bulb. Iodine is solid at room temperatures but turns into a gas just above room temperature.

Eventually the crystals will grow to more concentrated chunks, because they adhere more easily to eachothers rough structure compared to the more smooth glass.

Data Storage

In creating the link between the crystals and the individual, assumptions were based on an existing study. This research field dealt with programming crystals by applying small changes to their core structures. The main goal of this investigation was to create crystals which could store data.

However, one of the findings resulted in crystals being programmed into a certain shape or structure. This lead to the premises that portions of human DNA could be translated into code, ultimately programming the crystals into unique structures. This would result in a totally unique construction of crystals based on the small perceptage of human DNA which is exclusive to each individual. This process paved the way for a creative phase where concepts could be generated using this approach.

Artifact Form

Although the creative phase spawned many ideas, they did not seem to touch that illusive area worthy of this concept. In considering the moments of reconciliation common at afterlife artifacts, the conclusion was made that this design would take on shrine-like properties.

Because the crystals were going to become the dynamic and attention-asking part of the design, the actual form of the container of these crystals should be more primitive and minimalistic. Sketches exploring a design for such a box were done.

3D Model Investigation

This eventually moved to a more 3D approach where three models of MDF were constructed to experience the size and dimensions of the proposed design.

Form and Meaning

However, the problem with such a design is its meaning. The design of an afterlife artifact seeks to incorporate religious design cues. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a universal religious form language, they are highly religion-and culture bound.

So for this project a new form for a modern Western, culturally-diverse shrine-like afterlife artifact had to be designed. This proved to be extremely difficult.

In looking for a more satisfactory result a questionable theory was formed. What if certain visual keys of a deeply religious culture which most of us Wester people do not fully fathom, but perceive to be something magnificent, would be incorporated? Would these recognizable visual features trigger some kind feeling (be it conscious or subconscious) coupled to a holy artifact?
As an example the Shinto religion of Japan was used. This religious period spawned the well-known Shinto temples and iconic Torii gates found around Japan. 2D profile sketches of these iconic shapes were created.

Again, Three Versions

Using this new visual motivation three main designs were constructed. Using technical drawings to illustrate their construction, these first iterations each had their strenghts and weaknesses.

The Final Form

Still not fully convinced a new step was needed to blend the best of both worlds into one, creating a final design.

Materials

With the final design resembling the Shinto-based style while maintaining a minimalistic view, materials were needed. With such a private object as an afterlife artifact, there is no need for flashy materials. In wanting to preserve a very common look and feel, the choice was made to use wood.

Nonetheless, in adding the quality an afterlife artifact deserves, a rare African wood was used: bubinga. In working around the extreme hardness of this material, small sheets of veneer were used on a MDF base model instead of solid blocks of wood.

A Technical Overview

A final technical drawing sported the entire wood construction, as well as the glass components needed to convey the light and act as an compartment for the crystals.

The MDF Backbone

Using these drawings hand carved-and chiseled MDF base models were constructed. They provided the backbone for the sheets of veneer and glass parts.

Bubinga Veneer

The veneer was applied by molding the sheets into shape by boiling them in hot water. Using a very fine glue and sand paper for the edges a seamless layer was applied. In adding another small detail the top of the design holds 2 mirrored sheets into 1 plane.

Ultimately the design showcases the unique approach to an afterlife artifact in adding the professional design qualities in creating this one-off masterpiece.

Stats

completed in: July, 2008
time spent on project: 8 weird weeks
stakeholder: Department of Industrial Design

An initative originated somewhere in 2007, FRAAI magazine is an online magazine providing the world with creative inspiration. All you need to pay are your monthly electricity and internet bills, since FRAAI is 100% free.

Published four times a year, each quarterly issue has its own theme. All the contents you find inside FRAAI is focussed around this theme. Every issue starts off with a few dozen pages of inspiration. New spreads are added each week until the next quarter brings a new issue.

FRAAI magazine is published on environmentally friendly, 917 x 600 pixels of html-coded paper, with small traces of non-hazardous CSS, PHP and Javascript.

FRAAI magazine is currently offline due to funding being spent on other initiatives.

Fraai’s Favourites

With the publication of the first issue we started off with numerous “Fraai’s Favourites;” a selection of most-liked artist in various fields. Next to that we sported the “Creative Columns;” one-page humorous stories on everything vaguely coherent to design.

Also included were more elaborate articles on new activities in the design community, keeping readers up-to-date with the latest news.

Illustration and Interactivity

With time came more stylized pages, utilizing special layout tweeks offering strict guidelines, yet a lot of creative freedom.

With the coming of our second issue we incorporated more interactive features, such as this fully functional pong game. Controlled by the movement of your mouse, the objective was to beat the computer, which would ultimately result in a statement related to the adjacent article.

In adding more functionality and creativity, we included embedded videos into designed pages, showcasing an artist’s work. The resulting lay out made the poster image of the video a part of the layout.

The continuation of the magazine saw the addition of a lot of under-the-hood improvements, making publication more low-maintenance and much faster.

The Last Issue

In the third and last issue we increased the bite-sized effect of pages by adding shorter columns, serving food for thought.

To this day we receive collaborative requests of a myriad of artists and designers who wish to be featured in our magazine.

However, due to other primary activities of the FRAAI Team, the magazine is currently on hiatus, awaiting its revision in the future and taken offline for the time being.

The FRAAI Team

FRAAI is a collaboration by: Guus Baggermans, Brian Garret Schuur, David Menting and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: hopefully never, though currently on hiatus
time spent on project: many nighttime hours since Novemeber 2007
stakeholder: the FRAAI Team
links: account at Coroflot, pool at Flickr, published at the Colophon Symposium 2009, blogged at Customer Media, Rubiqube, and Scrnmgs

For the Bachelor graduation project at the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Technology Eindhoven the choice was made to start with a technology instead of a context or idea. And a most fascinating material it is. Titled ferrofluid, this oily liquid was invented by NASA in the 60′s. It basically consists of many micro iron particles in a carrier fluid made up by oil and a substance to keep the iron particles from sticking together.

The Product

The product houses the ferrofluid and uses it as part of the interface for a minimalistic audio player. By rotating the glass knob, the product switches on, dimly illuminating the four sides and their respective symbols. A light symbol is selected when any of the four sides is touched, and increases in brightness. This action is followed by the ferrofluid acting as a visualization of the selected modality.

The fluid is animated by a vertically moving neodymium magnet beneath the knob. For example, the level of volume is displayed in the size of the ferrofluid sphere. When selecting tracks, the ferrofluid diminishes in size when reaching the end of a album or artist.

The product sports a certain wow-factor concerning the ferrofluid. People are stunned by its behavior and properties. And when this wow-factor lessens, a functional and minimalistic product remains. The product is targeted at high-end consumers who enjoy products which differentiate themselves from others by qualitative features.

With the interface hidden when not in use, the user is not confused or confronted with options which are not of importance at that given moment. With this light-interface being hidden, there is also more focus on the ferrofluid.

The Process

Ferrofluid’s Origin

The original function of ferrofluid was to create a lubrication and cooling fluid for complicated joints. The magnetic properties of the ferrofluid made it stick to the joint itself without having to be encased in a complicated container. More contemporary applications include a liquid sealant inside hard drives, radar absorbent material for military vehicles and removing heat between the voice coil inside loudspeakers.

Just Add Magnetism

The captivating feature of ferrofluid presents itself when being confronted with a magnet. The iron particles try to follow the lines of the magnetic field caused by the magnet, ultimately resulting in a stunning formation. The photos are all of a small quantity of ferrofluid in a petri dish with different magnets beneath it.

DIY Electromagnet

In order to test its characteristics an electromagnet was build and incorporated into a housing for the petri dish. This showcased the immediate response of ferrofluid to the magnetic field. After various brainstorms the concept focused on using ferrofluid’s visualization to showcase the properties of a simple audio player.

Form and Function

The next step centered around finding an appropriate form to house the ferrofluid. The goal here is to design something abstract, not taking away any attention from the ferrofluid. This resulted in some abstract shapes with a knob on top to control the modalities of the audio player.

MDF Models

A second set of full scale models explored some design directions. The choice was made to use a simple cube for the main housing with a glass knob on top.

Designing the Interface

To maintain a minimalistic exterior and interface the product will run only four controls. On/off, volume, track selection, and shuffle. Turning down the volume all the way will result in the song being put on pause. The symbols for each of these controls were designed to match a recognizable style in accordance to the existing universal symbols. Also, the symbols match a rotational motion, as coherent to the rotation of the glass knob.

The Light Interface

After many design iterations, the four final versions of these symbols were laser-cut in various sizes and used as the pattern layout behind the plastic encasing of the product.

The laser-cut panels were backed by series of LED’s in a similar pattern. This created an interface invisible behind the outer shell when not in use. When the product is activated this interface will appear on the sides of the cube.

The interface works as follows: When the product is switched off, it can easily be switched on by rotating the knob clockwise. The four sides light up their respective symbols. Each of these symbols is made touch-sensitive by means of a induction field created by a sensor connected to a long wire. This wire runs behind the symbol and is invisible from the outside.

Materials

The next step focussed on a proper material for the final prototype. A selection was made of various white and clear plastics. The white would create the best possible contrast to the black ferrofluid. The clear plastic will create a good flow with the glass knob.

The Glass Knob

In order to house the ferrofluid a complicated glass encasing had to be conjured. The problem with ferrofluid is its ability to oxidize on almost any surface. Various technical drawings were made to overcome the problem of ferrofluid coming in contact with the glass knob.

Developing the Coating

However, during this process contact was kept with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Technology, Eindhoven. There an expert in coatings was found. Together with his expertise a custom coating was developed. This resulted in the option to use a glass knob which could come in contact with the ferrofluid. An example of this can be seen below: the container with the coating is on the left, and the one without on the right. The photo was taken right after both glass bottles were shaken.

With the skills from the Glass Lab at the University, a custom glass knob was constructed. After coating the interior and filling it with ferrofluid, the knob was sealed with a special plasma glue.

Stats

completed in: January, 2008
time spent on project: 8 weeks of pure fascination
stakeholder: Department of Industrial Design

A first year bachelor project for the Department of Industrial Design at the Faculty of Technology Eindhoven.

This project focussed on designing a new twist to a cuddly toy for girls between the age of 8 and 12. The toy’s goal was to create an emotional bond with the target group by using interactive technologies.

The Product

The final version of the cuddly toy incorporated a iconic shape and size; a ball-shaped body with a small tail. Besides 2 large eyes, the cuddly toy sports a very soft fur which is unable to resist touching. The prototype has the integrated hard drive needle and exterior amplifier and audio connection.

The intended use of Miko is situated around the many sensors under the skin. The beat of the heart is based on the way the product is held, moved and angled. This communicates the coherent emotion towards the user. Furthermore, when at ease, Miko can act as a relaxation product. Mimicking the same feeling of lying on a parents chest, the slow heartbeat will aid in the child’s tranquility and maybe even sleepiness.

The Process

Beat of the Heart

The first step in creating this connection dealt with finding an emotion to display. Instead of working with the most common display of emotions, the face, our group decided to center on the heart. More specifically, the heartbeat. Our concept used to beat of the heart to display the cuddly toy’s emotions. When aroused, the heart beat would rise in frequency. When relaxed, the heart beat would slow down.

Instead of merely using audio equipment to present the heart beat, a more creative approach was used. The needle of a hard drive was adapted to vibrate in accordance with the audio file of a heart beat.

Encapsulated in rubber, this resulted in many tiny vibrations which created the necessary sound, and also the larger movements that produced a motion of the chest. A first prototype of this technique was utilized in a pillow to test its effects on the target group. This proved to be a succesful step, and a final prototype was constructed.

The Project Team

Miko is a collaboration of: Guus Baggermans, Bram Braam, Gilles van Wanrooij and Jan van der Asdonk.

Stats

completed in: June, 2004
time spent on project: 6 cuddly weeks
stakeholders: Rolf Pixley of Anomalous Research Amsterdam and Department of Industrial Design