What is our country doing?

I read an article this morning that made me proud of our government and my country. As a small country it can be difficult for us to achieve some things, but energy efficiency is not one of them and in fact we are leading the world in renewable energy sources being the second highest in the OECD and only behind Iceland with 74% of our country's energy being renewable.

The government wants to make this even higher by 2025 aiming for 90% in a new New Zealand Energy strategy released in parliament today. It said that they were looking at ways to develop and support geothermal and marine energy in New Zealand.

Having strategies and goals such as these are going to help New Zealand reach its goal of lowering green house gas emissions to 50% below what they were under 1990 by 2050 (this goal was set in the Emissions Trading Scheme). However the government has said that it would be willing to commit to 20% by 2020 if an international agreement came about, putting pressure on other nations to reach the same level of commitment to the environment as we have.

The government believes that investing on strategies and plans such as these now are worthwhile as there will soon be a huge economic boom for renewable energy sources and New Zealand will have them and will be able to reap economic rewards - proving that a nation does not have to suffer economic loss in order to invest in a cleaner country.

For more information see the article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5530208/Government-reaffirms-renewable-energy-goal

An Inconvenient Truth

When I first saw this move I was 13 or 14 years old. I was incredibly moved. I wanted to partake and do my part to save the planet. I started walking more, catching more public transport and I wanted to recycle. I asked my parents if we could get a recycling bin. They rang the Upper Hutt city council and asked where they would be able to collect one from. We were informed that Upper Hutt City doesn't do recycling.

I think now as I thought back then that there is something wrong with this. Everyone else does it, our surrounding cities do it, but we could not. After watching the film again in the lecture I think about how much the statistics would have changed since when he gave that presentation. I want to know whats happened now, how bad has it continued to get, how much of an effect can a whole City, even a small one, have if we don't recycle? Have laws and treaties started to make a difference?

The film showcases our Earth and what we stand to loose if we don't start to make a change in how we do things. Fo designers we have a crucial role. We are in charge of designing stuff. I use stuff because what we design is limitless and everything we have the potential to design can be more environmentally friendly than what had previously been done.

I personally want to travel the globe and view many many things and I want these things to still be there when I get the chance to visit, I think for me it will be a great tragedy if I know i've had any part at all in the destruction of great glaciers, rain forests or lakes among the vast amount of things I want to visit on my travels.

Final 5

Conclusion

I really like the final object which I have named Gagalasses. The glasses meet all my aims as they allow the user to interact with them using movement and they change the users perception because of the coloured lenses.

The final product looks polished and I am pleased with the craft. I decided to use overlapping colours in the lenses on the final product. This was because it seemed that the feedback was that this was a desired effect and since I am designing for a user and not for myself I decided to heed the feedback and am please with the result. I like the way that the lenses are attached to the frames also. I created small hooks using wire which I hand bent into shape to get exactly what I wanted.

I also cut grooves into the top of the frames in order to use a clear glue to stick the hooks on for a sleek and un-bumpy effect. I also decided to make the clear strengthening layer of the lenses longer than the cellophane. This was because the cellophane was becoming ripped and worn around the edges where they were spinning on the hooks creating a messy unfinished look.

The aim for this project was to create an interactive object which provided a unique experience for the user using one of the senses. It is my opinion that Gagalasses provide an exciting user experience which is constantly different depending on how the user is interacting with the object. The object is designed for interaction using sight however movement played a huge part in allowing this to happen.

Whats in a name?

I've named my object 'Gagalasses'. This is because Lady Gaga is renowned for her whacky colorful fashions. I view glasses as a type of fashion and as my design is colorful and interesting I thought this would be an appropriate name. In my research I used Lady Gaga's glasses from her Haus of Gaga for a point of reference such as size and what I estimated to be weight. Throughout the studios whenever myself or students wore the glasses a large portion of their comments were that they felt like Lady Gaga. You could also say that wearing them makes your vision go Gaga. and thus GAGALASSES were born.

Exhibition Form (200words)

Final Feedback before handin

I had begun to make my final prototype and took the new lenses and frames into studio to gain feedback from my classmates and tutor. The final prototype used black frames, smaller distance between lens and frame, bigger lenses and cellophane to create a more vivid colour. The feedback I got was that the use of cellophane was a good addition but perhaps I should add a double layer to make the colour truely pop. The lenses also needed to be smaller. This was because they were now do big they would hit the metal hangers of the opposite lens or the users nose and wouldnt swing properly. I also tried to overlap the cellophane to create new colours out of the red, blue and yellow even when the object was static. This was a good concept and the outcome was positive except my measuremements of the degrees of circle needed to create the overlaps ended up being too big and so the middle segment ended up being smaller than the outside segments. I will have to change this for my final. I also spaced where the hangers would sit further out to the edge. This allowed the larger frames to swing better but it didn't let the user see much colour therefore I will go back to my original placemement of the hangers on the frames as these were the ideal position.

Second Prorotype

The above images are how I constructed my second prototype. With my first prototypes lenses I used colored plastic but it wasn't vivid enough. For the second prototype I wanted to use something that would have more colour. I decided on cellophane strengthened by a thicker clear piece of plastic. Using a compass I measured the radius of the glasses frames in order to create a big enough lens. I then cut out the plastic. I then figured out the angles needed to create the cellophane pieces. I chose to stick these on by painting on a clear strip of glue on the edge which left no residue. I shall use these techniques in my final. I made sure that some of the cellophane overlapped to create more colours, however I am unsure if I will use this im my final as some of the colours are difficult to make out and it hasn't achieved the effect that I wanted. I also started to play with the placement of the hooks on my frames.

Constructing the lens

The above image was me experimenting with what the colours would look like when they overlap. Below is the final prototypes for two different types of lenses. I decided not to create the weighted lenses as I didn't want the glasses to be heavy. Circular lenses enabled them to be spun however using leftover materials I constructed umbrella type lenses which I believe will offer more movement.

Developing the concept wheel

After I constructed the concept wheel I thought that having the axis to spin the wheel in the centre would be distracting. I had to think of a way to enable to wheel to spin freely and to enable the user to have unobstructed vision. To solve this problem I built a prototype which would sit in tracks and would be weighted in some places removing these problems. This is the prototype I developed.

Concept Ideas in 3D: The wheel

The above two photos show the concept I had for a wheel of colour. The wheel would sit as a lens in the glasses and spin of its own accord, changing the colors the user would see.

Prototype feedback

After Tuesday and Fridays tutorials I have gained much feedback concerning my prototype. Feedback included having bolder colours for the lenses, bigger lenses, straighter frames (when I cut the bottoms off my frames one side was accidentally longer than the other side) and a different length for the distance between the frames and lenses. I agree with all these feedback points and am working to introduce them to the final product. I have made new lenses this time using cellophane. I have also got new frames, this time black instead of red in order to gain a more polished look for my final project. The lenses are also much bigger than last time.

Other points my classmates/tutors raised was what if I had a rectangular shaped frames and the lens moved freely within this, sliding from side to side so that at all times there is colour in front of the user. I thought this was a good idea however my project is focusing on the interaction between the user and the movement of the lenses as they tip their head. The coloured lenses are a bonus for the user and make the object more exciting to use.

Lady Gaga!

Lady Gaga is reknowned for her interesting and at times unusual choices in fashion. She gets her clothes from Haus of Gaga a fashion movement in which includes herself and many avant garde artists and designers. Together they create the pieces which she wears the world over. Of interest to my project are the many, many glasses and eye wear pieces that Lady Gaga has worn from the Haus of Gaga.

Liquid Fail

I experimented with various liquid and dyes until I realized that they would not mix. In a studio I was shown this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27F1TH2Rvgs. It is a way to mix dye and keep it separate from both the main liquid and each other. However the way this is done is through milk which was not going to fit into the aesthetic of what i wanted to achieve.

I decided to change my concept slightly and use static color that was allowed to move freely in a lens. My idea changed to using a spinning lens made out of the three primary colors. This would spin of its own accord and would allow the user a similar experience to what I was initially after.

Inspiration

The inspiration for my design came from this:

I like the way the various colored liquid moved within the object to create a unique shape every time. When playing with one of these in studio one day I put it against my eyes and the effect was very exciting. That was why I decided to create glasses that have liquid which moves inside them.