MIAD - Second Part
Inspiration
My inspiration mostly came from a former MIAD employee, Murf, who came in to teach us about the design thinking process. He inspired me to create this product in the first place, and it was made with several people that I know in mind. All of these people have either autism or ADHD, and use stimulus toys to help with that. This lead me to looking into stim toys that already exist, and I stumbled upon Stimtastic, a very popular stim toy seller that has designs made by actual autistic people. This is another place that my inspiration came from, and I looked into their site, but could not find the names of any specific designers.
|
Planning
Most of my important planning sketches for this product made it onto the final presentation board, pictured at the top of the page. The first of these sketches was a squishy cat toy, made to be stretched and played with. This was inspired by the squishy toys that are made by Stimtastic, but was made to fit into the case it would come with.
|
My final idea for a product was the case itself, split into four sections that prevent any toys from touching each other, keeping them clean. Each toy is made to fit into the sections of this case, and it also has a few extra stimuli on the outside, such as a clicker and a roller. The top snaps closed so that nothing can get inside. |
Experimentation
Something I experimented a lot with during this project was creating sketches that showed people interacting with the products I had in mind. One of the sketches I did, digitally, was someone pulling a cat toy and stretching it. I ended up keeping this on the final board, though I did not like it that much. |
I also spent time experimenting with how to transfer my photos onto my board without them looking like I just took pictures of them. I spent time coloring in certain shadows, messing around the contrast and brightness, and adding more stuff to them. In the end, I didn't keep the empathy map on the board, and instead traced over it in Photoshop so that it looked better. The mind map, however, I decided to keep as the picture I took of the paper it was on. |
For the second part of my experimentation, I decided to make a low-fidelity prototype of my final piece with wire. This was made to be something like a 3D sketch, so that I can go on to create a final piece out of clay. I considered using aluminum foil for this, but I had more wire on-hand than aluminum. I also decided to use wire because it allows for a more flexible design, and the top can open and close.
. |
Process
The first thing we did in class was create our Empathy Maps, which were created to map out the problem we were trying to solve, and the feelings of the person we were trying to solve it for. Once that was complete, we moved onto our ideation phase of the project, which meant creating the Mind Map. The Mind Map was done to write out ideas as they popped into our heads, and through that, we came up with several things to keep in mind during the planning phase of the project.
After I created my Mind Map, I went on to start creating my planning sketches, most of which I turned digital and put onto my board. The board was created in Photoshop so that it would be sized and have the correct resolution. After I put my sketches on my board, I started to create more things, and I ended up writing a lot about the specifics of the product. I did not use all of the sketches I originally had, and instead used the ones that I thought really fit the project. After putting everything together in Photoshop, I printed it off and spray glued it to a foam board for presentation.
The first thing we did in class was create our Empathy Maps, which were created to map out the problem we were trying to solve, and the feelings of the person we were trying to solve it for. Once that was complete, we moved onto our ideation phase of the project, which meant creating the Mind Map. The Mind Map was done to write out ideas as they popped into our heads, and through that, we came up with several things to keep in mind during the planning phase of the project.
After I created my Mind Map, I went on to start creating my planning sketches, most of which I turned digital and put onto my board. The board was created in Photoshop so that it would be sized and have the correct resolution. After I put my sketches on my board, I started to create more things, and I ended up writing a lot about the specifics of the product. I did not use all of the sketches I originally had, and instead used the ones that I thought really fit the project. After putting everything together in Photoshop, I printed it off and spray glued it to a foam board for presentation.
For my low-fidelity prototype, I first wrapped wire around a round bottle, then began to wrap more wire around so that it was more stable and could hold things inside of it. To really show and represent what I was trying to go for with a final piece, I put some small objects from my desk inside of it. They aren't actual stim toys, of course, but they fit inside of the model so that I could show how a real one would work. |
The next portion of this project was started with air-dry clay. Unfortunately, I don't currently have a better photo, since I'm not at home, but I basically began to make a very rough piece based on the wire piece I made before. My plan is to let this dry for a while, sand it down, paint it, and then cover it in mod podge so that it looks neater. This is the closest to a final product I am able to get so far, since I don't own any sandpaper, but once I'm able to get some I'll be able to really finish this.
The reason I chose to make my final out of clay is because it's a tougher material that is easier to work with when creating three-dimensional art. |
Final Piece
I wanted to add a section onto this website in order to justify my final design. I sculpted the base part of the piece, but was unable to get a decent photo of it, so I decided to cut it out from the photo I'd taken and put it on a blank photo. After that, since it was too difficult for me to sculpt certain details in a way that it was obvious what they were, I decided to highlight where certain pieces would go in an actual product, including section dividers and a hinge to open and close the piece. I did not have access to the materials that would be needed to create something closer to the actual product, so I worked with what I had and created this. |
Reflection
I actually really like how this piece came out, though I feel like I could have done a bit better on some of the sketches. Other than that, however, I feel like the design of the final piece is professional, and I think it came out the way I wanted it to. The designs of the toys I made are similar to my inspiration, as well, which is something I'm happy about. Other than the sketches being a bit messy, I'm really happy with the overall look of it.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
I made sure to create stim toys that looked like the ones from Stimtastic, since they are both cheap and durable.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The research is most informational on the uses of stim toys and what they are made of.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that stim toys are a very useful tool, sometimes even for people without ADHD or autism. Stimulation can help many people focus, and they are something useful to those who need them.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was the materials used to make stim toys and how appealing they are to other people.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while reading my research was that stim toys are a necessary tool for some people.
I made sure to create stim toys that looked like the ones from Stimtastic, since they are both cheap and durable.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The research is most informational on the uses of stim toys and what they are made of.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that stim toys are a very useful tool, sometimes even for people without ADHD or autism. Stimulation can help many people focus, and they are something useful to those who need them.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was the materials used to make stim toys and how appealing they are to other people.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while reading my research was that stim toys are a necessary tool for some people.
Bibliography
https://www.stimtastic.co/about.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319714.php
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319714.php