This organically shaped table lamp was designed and modelled to be rapid prototyped by CNC milling and 3D printing techniques. During a Master elective course I was guided to improve my skills in 3D CAD modelling with Rhinoceros 3D and became more capable of creating free form organic shapes than I was before. In addition I also gained insights in various 3D printing techniques and experience in setting up a CNC milling operation myself.

During our Joined Master Project, 6 students of all three IDE Master courses (Design for Interaction, Strategic Product Design and Integrated Product Design) designed a new educational toy platform for children between the age of 0 to 4 years old for our client; the start-up company Dr.Nemes. The combination of the three courses allowed our team to develop the whole spectrum of a product concept; from analysing business potential and designing the user-product interactions to solving technical challenges. Next to doing a literature study to child development and generating ideas, my focus was mainly on the second.

Together with a team member I conducted an extensive field study to playing behaviour at day-cares and primary schools and created personae. Furthermore, I helped to structure the project and took part in the concept development. Since I alone had experience with interactive technologies, I finally made all the hardware and software of the electronics in the proof-of-concept model work.

The result of our project is Rupa: a modular platform that stimulates the developing child by triggering various senses. By using both passive, conventional toys and active, intelligent toys in combination with a base station the child is encouraged to learn shapes, colours and even words. Over years, the platform challenges the child by using gathered data which is also helpful to track the development for the caretakers.

Due to a non-disclosure agreement, the material shown is limited.

Client: Dr.Nemes

Team members: Joanne Cheung / Stefano Crucco / Eline de Vroome / Adien Huisman / William Walhout

Ex.Press is a communication aid for rehabilitants who are being treated by a physiotherapist. It allows the patients to capture their subjective feeling of pain on a daily basis in a tangible and expressive way. Instead of having to think up a score between 1 and 10, which is done currently by a Visual Analogue Scale, the patient is able to capture their perception of pain by squeezing the Ex.Press. In turn it provides the patient with visual feedback in form of coloured light and records a value. At follow-up meetings with the therapist, the device is brought back to the therapist and the recorded values are visualized and used to interpret the overall progress. This way, the experience of the patient is aimed to be more relieving and reassuring.

Involved third party: DSW health insurance

Many thanks to José Boone – van Herpen

Lumi is an interactive desk lamp that enables new communications between office works of the future. As a response to the increased digitalization of communication, this desk lamp allows people to ask and reply their work status in a tangible and embodied way. When a request for a status update is made, Lumi asks attention by shining in your face. As a response, you can push it away, pet it or shake it from left to right to say: “I don’t want to respond now”, “I will be able finish my work on time” or “I will not be able to finish on time”.

Client: TU Delft (PhD research) & Exact Software

Team members: Dave Senden / Roderick Huijgen / Wei Zhang

ZUTEA is a ritual enhanced tea-maker for the Dutch office environment and the result of my Final Bachelor Project at the Eindhoven University of Technology in 2009. This project was done individually and went through a complete design process, starting with acquiring information on the subject. The objective was to design a product that reduces work-related stress.

My approach was to make the user involved with tea-making and find inspiration in cultures that have a rich history of tea-making. I explored the habits of Dutch office-workers, the benefits of tea and the rituals involved in making tea. Modern tea-machines have abandoned the rich qualities of tea-making and barely involves the user in the process. Zutea, on the other hand, makes the user experience the tea leaves and the water being turned into a cup of tea, yet still in a safe automated process.

Throughout the project, I went through numerous design iterations of idea generation, sketching, modelling and testing. These were necessary to find the best solutions for the intended interaction, casing, working mechanism, electronics and so on. While gaining knowledge on these parts, I tried not to jeopardize my vision of an aesthetically pleasing design with an elegant and intuitive interaction.

ZUTEA focuses on those having difficulties taking their minds of work during their work break. Studies show that although the Dutch population drinks a lot of tea during work they take little time or effort to benefit from the relaxing rituals associated with making tea.

Tea is added manually to any flower, followed by pulling down the flexible stem; the user initiates the boiling process. Each stem has a length associated with a brewing time to pick the desired tea strength. While the flower remains down, hot water pours in to mix with the tea leaves. The flower uprights itself while brewing and once the top is reached, the tea is ready. After pouring the brew in a cup (top-lid removed) the tea can be enjoyed.

Transparent materials make the process of tea making visible and enriches the interaction with the tea maker. Many cultures embraced the healthy and relaxing beverage in which high-quality materials and attention for details in the aesthetics of products play an important role in their tea rituals. ZUTEA’s organic shape and traditional materials, yet fully automated operation enrich the ritual of tea-making and fit neatly any modern office environment.

Client: TU / Eindhoven (PhD research)

During my bachelor studies at the end of 2008, I did a three month internship at Liquavista in Eindhoven. The company started as a spin-off company from Philips to develop new display technology for the consumer market. Currently, Liquavista is part of the Samsung Electronics company. At that time they were looking for Industrial Designers to translate their technology in new concepts to attract potential customers. As one of the two in-house designers I worked on the first visuals that showed their technology in action. I had to get familiar with the technical details behind the display, understand the company’s wishes and goals and communicate with various divisions of the company.

Because watches suited their early prototypes best, I was occupied in creating watch designs. I started designing reflective layers and continued with new concepts of showing time, casings and the appearance of all layers used in the display itself. To investigate the status quo, I looked at the current electronic watch market, made sketches and translated my concepts to technically feasible product models. It was nice to be part of a project that got the highest priority within the company and I learnt a great deal from the professional environment in which I had to prove myself worthy among the international group of engineers and marketeers.

Professional education in free-hand drawing during my bachelor studies has brought my work to a level that I consider it to be a valuable tool for myself as designer. Exercises in drawing-related courses at the Department of Industrial Design helped me to get familiar with many aspects of producing visuals besides computer graphics, i.e.: graphical perspective, basic shapes, shadows, details and realism, scenario presenting, drawing-by-model, human-figure drawing and the use of various materials.

Free-hand drawing has become my primary tool to make thoughts and ideas concrete and the knowledge to work with materials such as pencils, markers, pens, Indian ink, charcoal, crayons, aquarelle paint and poster paint has lowered the threshold to use any of these to generate ideas or work out concepts.

As a member of a team of three, we designed a sustainable solution for the water and sanitation problems in The province of Guizhou, a mountainous region in the People’s Republic of China that lacks behind with only 10% of its population having access to adequate sanitation.

Our cheap biodegradable rainwater harvesting solution Raincatcher was designed specifically for this region, as research has been done to this region, its population and to sustainable design. It features a biodegradable plastic sheet that can be deployed and maintained by the local population on their steep hills. Multiple Raincatchers increase the water yield drastically and standardized connecting hoses transports the water down to any storage tank.

Clients: Consortium Water en Gezondheid / Waterschap De Dommel

Team members: Daan Pothoven / Dave Senden