Assignment 3:
Toy Design: Play and
the Act of Play
5 body parts. 1 chosen for you.
What toy will you build out of it?
Empathy
We were assigned to be a designer in a design company assigned to the children's and youth's department to design a toy or an object of play. At this stage, I gathered as much information as I could on the scope of the assignment.
Play and the Act of Play
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As learned from the previous two assignments, I gathered information on the scope of assignment. An interesting question presented itself: Most adults play to take a break from worries and work, but why do kids play more adults when they have no worries in the first place?
Body part: Wrist and Hand​
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The body part chosen for me its the wrist and the hand. I also did some research on it, and explored things that peaked my interest like ambidextrousity and its evolution
Google is a bad place for inspiration​
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I wasn't getting anywhere with the previous information; it was too factual. I decided to gather information outside of Google. I asked people of different age groups around me on their favorite object of play when they were a kid. With that, I looked for patterns.
Abstract​
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I started to think about the 'Act of Play". Must it really be tied to its literal meaning? What about the 'play' of words, videos and memories? I took interest in these and explored more. As i explored, I realised I related alot of my 'play' with music and my past memories on being a pianist
Orchestra​
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At this point, I was almost sure of what I wanted to explore on with my toy. In fact I had a vision of it being an instrument. Thus, I researched and segregated the part of an instrument, as well as the motions of the hand and wrist that comes along with it.
Available Materials​
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Being in the Empathy stage, I need to know about any limitations or restrictions I have to work around when defining and ideating my toy in the next stages. I went through all potential materials around my house and divided them into 3 categories.
Define
At this stage, I set a direction to my toy; it will be one that makes music. It was also the stage where I illustrated my initial ideas on the surface.
Defining My Toy​
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I wanted to make a toy that covers a wide audinece,i cnluding kids, myself, the poor, the bored, and many more. Music gave me such a beautiful childhood to look back upon, and it hurts me that a musical instrument is often expensive.
It Is Not Just a Toy​
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I wanted to convey the concept and analogies I put behind a toy. In a way, there were many toys I ideated that could role as parts of an orchestra, creating beautiful music.
Mechanisms​
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I also brainstormed how each toy would work in order to produce sounds like an instrument would.
Ideation
This was the stage of more details. In order for the process of building the toy be as smooth as possible, I illustrated the materials that will be used, as well as the draft procedures I pictured in my mind. These turned out to be a very useful guideline in Prototype later on
Idea 1: The Conductor​
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I decided to make my finger puppet look like a conductor to reflect its concept. Exploring the details on its face, hair and even the costume, the most difficult part was brainstorming on how each body part should be connected, yet isolated in terms of its ability to move.
Idea 2: Ching Chimes​
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I was having troubles when thinking about what to use as the packets. Plastic bags were too big, and balloons were impossible. I walked around my house and saw my dad eating snacks, that was it! Inspirations come when you less expect it after all. I've also thought of contingencies for the items making sound, just in case it takes an unexpected turn.
Idea 3: Ring Rings​
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The best alternative I thought about was using aluminium tabs for this, but i didn't have enough of those at home to make this toy. Thus, i thought of another alternative method that might work as well.
Prototype
In this stage, I did the hands-on stuff: building the toy with my very own two hands. I found my ideation stage a very great guideline to follow as it tells me what materials I need to prepare and the key steps in building it. I also decided to showcase my building progress in a timeline so it was neat and clear.
The Conductor
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I started by changing materials from using thread to Raffia String. It struck to me when I took some thread that it is too thin to work with when I have to tie a lot of things with it. I also encountered a problem when I made the strings for each finger the same length. I realised that the strongs attached to the legs, should be longer the one that the head, same goes to the hands, so all strings level out at the top.
Instruments: Ching Chimes
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I had go for Plan B and Plan C that I've prepared in Ideation for the materials in each packet. Plan A, the straws, turned out to produce an unexpectedly dull sound. My dad also helped me alot in this... by eating the snacks when I needed 5 packets of it!
Instruments: Percussion & Brass
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I encountered many problems with this. Firstly, turns out Raffia string is a bad candidate for threading past holes because their ends tend to split into 5-6 ends that I would need to push all of them through. I changed that to thread. It also struck me that the aluminium would be too sharp after cutting it to be dangling in between my fingers. So, I switched to aluminium tabs. Fortunately, my dad has kept his trashed cans of Nescafe in his office as he brought it back home for me to use it.
Final Work
Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
As the name of the module, I became capable of thinking creatively and critically, especially in the Define stage. I've grown to be capable of analysing problems and ideas and arrive at decisions in order to proceed.
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Reflection
Lifelong Learning
I've learned to progress independently apart from the weekly tutorials available and be disciplined. I was also intellectually engaged when my tutor gave me feedbacks and advices into how I should rearrange my ideas.
Discipline Specific Knowledge
I've learned to do research play, the act of pla, the biology of the wrist, and many more. With these knowledge, I've learned to properly apply those knowledge by making them a guideline to dive deeper into its definition.
Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
As the name of the module, I became capable of thinking creatively and critically, especially in the Define stage. I've grown to be capable of analysing problems and ideas and arrive at decisions in order to proceed.
Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
I faced many challenges, especially in the transition from planning mechanisms in a toy and actually executing them. When things didn't go as planned, I had to come up with innovative solutions and alternatives.
Communication Skills
I've learned to communicate with my tutor whenever I was stuck, or when I was in doubt about what to do. With limited time in tutorials, I learned to ask smart and crucial questions
Intrapersonal Skills
I am now capable of reflecting upon my past work and ethics. I believe i have done well as I was able to complete the assignment a week before the deadline. The only big obstacle i faced was not being able to organize the ideas popping here and there in my mind on paper.