Critique my project please

Semester long project that concluded today.

http://www.coroflot.com/dangoodwin/hermes-emergency-radio

I’m trying to learn and improve, so please don’t be kind.

Dan Goodwin
3rd year Industrial Design at Virginia Tech

Hey Dan,
I liked the way you presented the problem, very clear and easy to grasp. The sketch pages are a let down though, the sketches are really hard to see, some are super small, some really faded, and the overall organization feels too sparse.

Take a look at some nicely composed sketch pages, Carl Liu’s stuff is great, you can tell that there is some thought put into how he’s arranged the page, variation in size for hierarchy, good use of space, nice linework etc.


The final model is ok for a hand made mock up but if you have the time/desire I’d put it in CAD and do some final renderings for your portfolio, maybe even 3D print it from Shapeways to do a refined prototype if you’re feeling adventurous?

The overall aesthetic feels a little toy like to me, part of it might be the resolution of the mockup, putting it in CAD might help to tighten it up and make it look more refined. Might be nice to have a final shot of it on an EMT’s shirt or in use? Good luck!

Dan,

The good: nice set up, the kind of thinking and process I would expect of a semester long project.

The not so good: Hermes is a French luxury brand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermès makes it confusing

The bad: this design is very underdeveloped for a 3rd year semester long project. The sketching is under par, and the final model does not look very final. On your next project I recommend a focus on 2d communication skills, form development, semantic form language, concept rendering and 3d CAD. This feels like you spent most of your time on research and did not spend enough time designing and prototyping the product.

Dan,

Again, your set up was very well done. Engaging and easy to grasp. Such a sharp contrast to your sketch pages. I couldn’t understand them instantly and lost interest as a result. I regained interest as soon as you went to 3d, but the it petered out again because there wasn’t enough progress through the pages. All the forms seemed like slight variations on each other. You need to branch out to all kinds of form solutions and then narrow in on THE RESULT.