This field trip couldn’t have come at a right time as I needed to buy a hard drive and I used the opportunity of this field trip to do so. I happened to saw this microwave and was quite taken aback by the design, solely because it was the only bright red item in the entire aisle.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/13/magazine/design-issue-millennial-couches.html
Microwaves are probably the one item that stands as an emblem of the soft transition between teenage-hood and mature adulthood. They lie awkwardly between the fork road of commodified luxury and the item you can’t survive without burning a hole through your pocket- heating up stale meals. Microwaves are probably the most popular product a “coming to age” adult would invest money in, and thus would be interesting to see how companies market them.
Looking at the designs above, I loved the take back of the semi geometrics contours and instead of the standard 4:3, this is geared towards 16:9, generally quite pleasing to the eyes. The buttons designed are also relatively simple, the beige with two while the red has five. However, I would suggest cutting it to two, heat and time because thats honestly only what I need. I believe if they had a target audience in place for any particular product, such as the microwave, they should tweak the visual qualities accordingly. Yellowish beige and royal red are a bit too dull for my taste.
This is a lamp that I found really interesting because it has a certain animalistic quality that I tend to be drawn towards when I sketch up designs. (Insert my own drawings below) It is not only cheap at $30++ but it extends from being a table lamp into a full blown standing light stand as well. I found it especially interesting as it was a westernised brand with an oriental outlook on the concept of “soft light” Upon researching on the designer, Mia Cullin, I came upon her portfolio of work that focuses on softer aesthetics that finds an acute balance between the sensibility of the furniture as its own entity with the capability of interacting with the audience. Most of her work focuses on the curvilinear structure of the furniture or lighting, coupled with the minimalistic, almost skin-like quality of the surface texture, definitely a pointer I should note in my own designs.
Sourced from: http://www.miacullin.com/#lighting
