Outcome

Context

As a busy student, I constantly have to be doing work and making sure that I am on time and doing what I need to get done for all my classes on time. Often, I feel as if I do not have enough time to be able to get all my work done, or I look back and think “I could have spent my time better”. While I do my best to track events in my phone and a notebook full of to-do lists, which I keep on me, I often forget to include events in my lists, or I do not prioritize my time to certain tasks, or I forget to do things that are on my list.

Research, Inspiration, & Intention

Based on my need to better organize my time and stay on task, I decided to create an events holder – a calendar/planner where I can consolidate all of my scheduling in one place. I wanted to close the distance between me and things I need to get done. Distance, which was a term that came up in the Benjamin and Heidegger readings, how much we can relate to, or how invested we are with the purpose of an object or idea. Being nearer to the tasks I have to complete will help me remember to complete them because I will more invested in them as tasks. I also wanted to take this scheduling device one step further and add a reminder system to it. I did some research into how our brains remember things and found a study published in 2016 that found that relating a random object near you to a task you need to do increases the likelihood that you will remember to do it (link to article). 

This will be a board that has weekly schedules that I can flip through and plan ahead on. This board will also have a spot for additional notes and a place to store my current task organizer – because while a system of lists in a small book is one that works for me, I need a platform to be able to see the bigger picture. There is one additional component that takes this planner system one step further. This system will also have four physical memory cues to associate with tasks for the day. These memory cues will be small tokens shaped as different leaves, and will have a little loop on them so they can attach to my keys, something I have to carry with me everyday anyway, so that I can have this memory cue with me all the time.

This calendar will have a minimalist aesthetic, because this aesthetic will help keep the tasks listed on the calendar have more emphasis. Minimalism also has an aura of organization. Aura, from the Benjamin reading, was the purpose of an object or the emotional response that comes with the original object within the context it was created. Additionally I wanted to incorporate inspiration from nature into my design, since plants and nature are something that I value – thus the inspiration behind the leaf tokens. 

Process & Procedure

After the initial sketches, Louise suggested that I alter what I laser cut and what I 3D printed because of the sizes of the components, the time table, and the problems with the printers. I thus redesigned the marker holder to be curved acrylic, and converted the notebook holder to be laser cut out of wood, both of which I originally wanted to print. The base of my calendar board is wood, and the writing surfaces layered on top of that will be white acrylic. There are three weekly calendars stacked on top of each other on hooks so they can be flipped through. The overall dimension of the board will be 9” by 12” not counting the marker holder. I ended up cutting the decorative bit off the top for sake of scope, and to reduce the busy-ness of the overall design. I want this planner to be functional and beautiful.

After the initial sketches, Louise suggested that I alter what I laser cut and what I 3D printed because of the sizes of the components, the time table, and the problems with the printers. I thus redesigned the marker holder to be curved acrylic, and converted the notebook holder to be laser cut out of wood, both of which I originally wanted to print. The base of my calendar board is wood, and the writing surfaces layered on top of that will be white acrylic. There are three weekly calendars stacked on top of each other on hooks so they can be flipped through. The overall dimension of the board will be 9” by 12” not counting the marker holder. I ended up cutting the decorative bit off the top for sake of scope, and to reduce the busy-ness of the overall design. I want this planner to be functional and beautiful.

After altering the sketches, I made a cardboard prototype to test out spacing and fitting in the holder. I then started modeling on Fusion 360, because I knew I needed to give myself a lot of time to model. Modeling took a lot of time because there were so many sketches and parts to the final product. I then laser cut cardboard versions of everything I wanted to make out of wood so that I could test how parts fit together and sizing around my notebook. After altering the files I needed to, I then cut the base out of 6mm wood, the token holder and notebook holder out of 3mm wood, the whiteboards out of white acrylic, and the marker holder out of black acrylic. I then glued all the wooden parts together, and attached the smaller whiteboard. I found some bolts to use as fasteners for the weekly schedules, allow I want to find hooks (perhaps I will make some) so that the schedules are more accessible. I then used a heat gun a bent the black acrylic around the a pvc pipe so that it would have a curved shape. I then glued it into the dovetail holes in the base. 

Reflection

From this process I have learned that I like to put lots of parts into a design, and I need to more closely consider what is essential to the design, and keeping within the scope of the project/process. Fusion360, the laser cutters and the 3D printers are also new forms of media for me, of which I have very much enjoyed learning how to use. Media, a term used in the first article we read, is used to refer to emerging technologies, and one that people were finding all new and different uses for. Going forward I want to create a better sorting system for the tokens – which I think will be little branches – and to clean up the tokens to be colorful. I also want to find hooks for the schedules. Overall I think that this is a product that I will benefit from having and I am going to try my hardest to incorporate it into my regular life.

I also really liked the interview process we used to come up with our problem statements and solutions. It was a new ideation method for me, and one that I think I will use in the future.

Final Presentation 

Iteration 2.0 

Dec. 11th

Laser cut some hooks for the weekly schedules, and created a new system to hang the tokens on the board.