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Follow my Realise Journey on the Timeline

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Follow my Realise Journey on the Timeline

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Problem: interest in playing with sockets

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Problem: interest in playing with sockets

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International Sockets: the reason why I think it is not sustainable designing the toys to fit the socket (as safety device) 

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International Sockets: the reason why I think it is not sustainable designing the toys to fit the socket (as safety device) 

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2D paper trials

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3D prototypes made from 'FIMO'

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3D prototype trial

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Contemporary precedent : Alessandra Fumagalli

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Contemporary precedent : Alessandra Fumagalli

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Historical Precedent: Charlotte Perriand 

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Historical Precedent: Charlotte Perriand 

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Designer and architect Charlotte Perriand has been of great influence in my work on furniture design, in how she was able to translate timely relevant ideas, into simple designs, that are still shape the wold we live in today (e.g. The Seaside House, 1934).

Her idea about creating the Seaside House was that 'leisure should be possible for everyone'. Her modern designs shaped the 20th century. She worked together with Le Corbusier together with his cousin Jeanneret. Besides designing Furniture and Interiors, Perriand was interested in using Photos as medium to create Collages, working together with her Friend Fernand Leger. Charlotte Perriand was inspired by trips to Soviet-Russia.

What I am interested in is how Perriand managed to link important social questions to her final designs. And her commitment to make 'good design is for everyone'. One of her favourite designs is the 'Tunisie' bookcase 1952. The bookshelf is made of modular parts, that can have colours, or not, it is an object that is always changing and evolving. I am fascinated by how this object has this great adaptability to it and a certain movement. It hides some books and objects, while some books are visible.

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Contemporary precedent: Toy Designer Cas Holman

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Contemporary precedent: Toy Designer Cas Holman

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Cas Holman is a toy designer who greatly influenced my work in the field of toy design, throughout most of my Realise project. She made me aware of what are important aspects in the process and research of designing toys.

What I find especially interesting about her work is how she always engages in primary research, to undergo a lot of trial and error. I think this is especially important, as continuous insights lead you to your final outcome instead of assumptions.

Image source:  https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/14/cas-holman-toy-designer-interview/

The designs that Holman creates try to stay flexible so encouragement for the child to use their creativity and imaginations. Cas Holman believes that flexibility in toys is becoming increasingly important for the children's development, the busier and strict their lives get.

This is especially inspirational to my realise project, as it gives a quite different approach of designing toys. I think I would like to adapt a similar approach, although I would need an instruction sheet as my toys will be fixed to the wall, that is always an aspect where instructions have to be included, but I think this open aspect, creating shapes that can be turned around and flipped to become something else.

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The Montessori method, was of great relevance in my investigation on the development stages of babies and toddlers and how objects can positively stimulate their early development.

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will it have another function? can it be recycled? what materials might be ‘appropriate’ to consider how to dispose of the toys? can they be taken apart?

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manufacturing processes: silicone casting, silicone mould making, and 3D printing

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manufacturing processes: silicone casting, silicone mould making, and 3D printing

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AUDIENCE : Babies and toddlers aged between 6 months to 3 years

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AUDIENCE : Babies and toddlers aged between 6 months to 3 years

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Research on Development of Babies and Toddlers for Decision Making Graphics/Colours/Material: 

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Research on Development of Babies and Toddlers for Decision Making Graphics/Colours/Material: 

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I would like to reflect on my thoughts here, on my tutorial. I presented my process until this stage, and why I am making certain choices and decisions.

MATERIAL CHOICE: I chose to work with silicone (and maybe some parts made from wood) - because the user (babies between 6-12 months) will be taking the toys into their mouth and silicone (for food) is the most hygienic to use in this case. Furthermore, silicone is long-lasting and can be easily moulded, so prototyping should be possible.

CHOICE OF GRAPHICS: I choose to use animal faces, although I as a minimalist designer, am not such a great fan, I am using animal faces (or faces) as this is important for babies development at this stage. I had several other options, but faces are just specifically important as well as the interaction with parents, and animals are quite easily recognisable for the parents as well.

CHOICE OF COLOURS: I am choosing not to go specifically with primary colours, as at that age, babies can also be introduced to more than just primary colours.

CHOICE OF FIXING: I am choosing to go for silicone suction cups as fixing. I am still considering other fixing options as I have not yet tried silicone suction cups on the walls.

CHOICE OF COMPONENTS: I am choosing to have a sort of silicone cup that is hiding another part of the toy. Babies at that age are curious to find something, and I think when something is hidden it adds this 'special effect' to the toy. When they take the cup away, they will find a texture and another material (that is interesting or makes a noise - like a bell or button). And of course behind this is the fixing on the very end of the toy (wall part).

SUSTAINABILITY: Because the toy has a short life-span, I designed it to have more functions, it contains a cup, that can be used later, as well as the part with the texture and other material can be used as a bathroom toy (bathtub games) or as a bathroom/wall hook.

WHY NOT HAVE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS? Because my research showed that toys that make sounds and have electronic components actually minimise interaction between children and parents, furthermore, the tend to have a difficult sustainable aspect.

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Final silicone mould that is separated with Vasiline to mould the food-safe (orange) silicone prototype 

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Final silicone mould that is separated with Vasiline to mould the food-safe (orange) silicone prototype 

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After my tutorial with Gary today, I realised that I found the idea to go with animal faces quite an uncreative option, with only little creative stimulation for parent and baby. This idea to move forward and create toys with animal faces has been a quite obvious and generic option, as I was hoping to have the opportunity to design a toys that boost creativity, wall toys that are 'art for babies and toddlers'.

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Shape finding: in 3D modelling program rhino

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Shape finding: in 3D modelling program rhino

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Decision: Storybook will come together with the wall toys to trigger communication between parents/caretakers and the child (as research showed that this is important during that development stage), and also that parents are introduced to the shapes

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Decision: Storybook will come together with the wall toys to trigger communication between parents/caretakers and the child (as research showed that this is important during that development stage), and also that parents are introduced to the shapes

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and toys can also be taken from the wall as past primary research showed that babies and toddlers want to take them off the wall.

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secondary research showed that babies from 8 months onward should be introduced to more than just primary colours I chose to use more natural 'earthly' colours

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having to change the 3D files for final printing

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having to change the 3D files for final printing

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Final 3D printed Prototypes: Project Daydream

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Final 3D printed Prototypes: Project Daydream

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Daydream, 2022, is a set of toys for babies and toddlers from 6 months up to 3 years. The intended material for Daydream would be hard, naturally coloured, non-toxic food grade silicone. The prototype that is shown in the photos is 3D printed coloured PLA plastic. The set consists of one instruction sheet, five wall parts, five toys with two different sides each and one storybook that is mainly for the parents and caretakers, so that communication with the baby or toddler about the objects becomes more active.

Daydream emerged from personal experience with my 9-month old son, who has been fascinated by unsafe devices on the wall, such as sockets and electric cables. Thus, the concept aims to move the babies focus away from dangerous devices, towards toys, that can be put onto the wall. Daydream means to fill the walls with creative impressions for young children and become ‘art for babies and toddlers’. Sustainability has been an important aspect during the design process. Thus, Daydream encourages its users to pass the toys on or to change its function and have a second use as hooks. The Montessori method, was of great relevance in my investigation on the development stages of babies and toddlers and how objects can positively stimulate their early development.

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Finished silicone Mould to make 'working model' out of medium hard, food-safe silicone 

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Finished silicone Mould to make 'working model' out of medium hard, food-safe silicone 

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Final working model (made of medium hard, food-safe silicone

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Final working model (made of medium hard, food-safe silicone

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GENERAL INFORMATION:

The toys entitled 'DAYDREAM' are intended to become ‘art for babies and toddlers’ and can be mounted to the wall, together with the wall pieces. ‘Daydream’ is made for babies and toddlers from the age of 6 months to 3 years. The toys are made from 100% non-toxic Food Grade Silicone (see video of working model below). They are safe to chew on and can be used in wet areas such as the bathtub. The toys have two sides, and overall show 10 different characters. ‘Daydream’ can be reused as hooks for older children and adults, they can be passed on or recycled. Because they have their place on the wall, they are easy to tidy up, and will not be lying around on the floor. They can become puzzle pieces, climbing grips - for babies and toddlers to pull themselves up, they can also just be used as toys. They come together with a storybook, an optional part of the experience that introduces parents/caretakers and children to the toy characters and engages them to creatively explore new shapes and colours. Moreover, the storybook should trigger communication between parent/caretaker and child, which is vital for the child's development at that age.

Because the 3D printed prototypes only had specific colours available, further below can be viewed the intended colour pallet of my choice, which is a lot more soft and natural than the printed version. The initial aim of the project was to design something that would move babies focus away from dangerous object on the wall, including sockets and electric cables. This aim was achieved, however, I would say that the aim changed and ended up solving a more complex educational aspect, which is to stimulate the creativity of babies and toddlers.

REFLECTION:

The Realise Project has been a great learning process, in several aspects which are: First, the making of the storybook has made me engage in storytelling for babies, I also had to acquire graphic skills in making this storybook with Adobe Illustrator. Second, I have learned some more Rhino (3D computer modelling program) skills, so I was able to 3D print my prototypes. Third, I came to better understand working with a 3D printer, and what aspects have to be considered before printing the final prototypes. Fourth, my experimentations with silicone have taught me a lot about how the material behaves. I have learned a lot about doing field research, and about the development stages of babies and toddlers. I am grateful to have undergone intense user and material research, made a lot of decisions and created final prototypes to test on my intended users. Another thing I should mention is that I feel that I really learned to manage my time, I made regular weekly and daily plans to stay organised. Overall, I think this project is quite strong, definitely my strongest work that I developed during the Graduate Diploma programme. I believe this is the case as it targets a user group that is quite different, and a lot of aspects had to be considered in regards to development. I think the (material, field, secondary, primary etc.) research made the difference, as the projects before did not have so much supporting materials. Furthermore, the initial observation of seeing my sons interest in sockets and electric cables found my aim to design something to keep him away. Personally observing something like this, makes the project quite unique and found a problem which a lot of parents worry about. Moreover, through my research on children's development, I learned about the work of historical precedents Maria Montessori and Friedrich Fröbel, as well as about the designs and vision of contemporary precedent and toy designer Cas Holman. Another point I have to mention is that this project seems to be ongoing, as I have undergone field research so to gather feedback that I can apply to make some more iterations.