Awaiting by E . F . HUNTER from uk
designer's own words:
My work for the 2016 Lexus Design Awards entry is 'Awaiting'. In this idea, I delve deep into what Anticipation truly is and how the theme could be expressed to others with the use of an object or simple imagery.
The research i carried out within this design was to arch back all the way to early childhood, delving deep into what a child would be fascinated about or what would intrigue them in every day scenarios. After a while of research, it soon dawned that the most simple things that the everyday person takes for granted contains the things we anticipate for or the themes we predict in every day life. Waiting for things such as the washing machine to finish, the post arriving, the news of tomorrow or simply how long things take to cook within an oven. These themes are the key foundation blocks of my design idea.
Going away from my research, I decided to take a spin about how we anticipate or predict everyday things, and that how anticipation has become something we yearn to control and take hold of. When we look at objects like a spinning top, or a washing machine going round and round, we want to know what happens next such as it stopping, starting, speeding up or slowing down. As a result I decided to take these themes and place them within a idea.
'Awaiting' is simply the occurring themes I researched into as mentioned previously. The design is a spinning object which will have a 'mind of its own' when spinning around or interacting with a person. On display to an audience, it'll spin at whatever speed it chooses or stop and start when it likes. As a result, it provides an expression of anticipation as a person will never understand or anticipate what the product will do next
Once the main idea was set out, prototyping and building took place. Modelling foam and basic machinery are used to generate geometric forms which try to stick to a set of sketches and ideas created earlier. Moving on from this stage, I was able to refine and fine tune my final idea over numerous weeks before I could produce the final model. Although this final model is created out of simple modelling foam, there is still room to create an object out of more appropriate materials as well as giving the model functioning motors and operating systems.
In all, the idea 'Awaiting' is what I believe to be an expression of what anticipation is about and how it is something that actually no one can truly control or take hold of.
The capturing of my design ‘Awaiting’ being interacted with by a person. In this, the object may choose to rotate faster or slower depending on the overall atmosphere of an area
‘Awaiting’ as a simple prototype created out of modelling foam. In this design it is kept to a minimal in function as well as style
My design rotating at a fast pace illustrating the amount of energy and excitement within the design
The counterweights of the design could be further adapted to make the product more interactive with the user, thus improving the whole expression about what anticipation truly is.
A selection of prototypes and rough ideas carried out through the idea generation stage
Drawings and rough sketches carried out in order to who how the product may work, or how it can be designed further to meet the specifications of the brief.