Prototyping

Our forms are more organic than other groups and because of it we had to come up with a completely different way to prototype our cart. We creating everything out of newspaper and
tape, lots and lots of tape.



The first versions of our cart turned out a little elementary so we are now working towards growing them up.

The Chosen Color

We have chosen an accent color...Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise. It just so happens to also be Pantone's color of the year. The describe the color as "Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well being." Basically everything we want to embody in our cart!


As this cart is being desiged for children it is important to appeal to them. With this we saw it important to not only create an entertainment cart but to create a companion for children that are stuck in a hospital. This companion has come to carry the theme of seafaring animals, with a few robotics and monsters through in.

Here are a few images I am looking at for inspiration right now:

Working on a Color Scheme

A really big part of our cart is going to be the color scheme. We are designing for kids so we have to appeal to them but we also want the cart to be sophisticated. The cart shouldn't be over the top kiddish, but designed for kids. We have to find the fine line between children teens and young adults.

Here is a few color schemes I have come up with thus far.
We are also trying to figure out a name for our cart. It should reflect as a kind of companion for the child and act as a way to stay connected to the outside world. Our best one so far is SPEE :D. Using the D and a : as an emoticon.

The Start of the Group: Kid Entertainment Cart

From the individual presentations we were grouped into carts that we would want to develop toward a final cart. I am in a group with Ruby and Diana and we are designing a kid entertainment rehabilitation cart. A happy kid is a healthy kid. Kids that are stuck in a hospital need entertainment and we want to give it to them.

We also found a great children charity called Child's Play Charity that work with hospitals to donate all sorts of games and dvds to hospitals.

Radiology Cart

For our individual presentations of a medical cart I focused on a radiology cart. This cart would provide a mechanism to easily move around a portable x-ray machine as well as provide a tablet to view the x-rays on.

Here is a very interesting article from Metropolis magazine about the Deign Council and the Department of Health partnering to combat the spread of infection in U.K. hospitals.

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20100217/design-bugs-out

The Roundabout Tablet Cart

The next version of my tablet cart is a little more refined. I went changed from the previouse X shape to a rounded shape. Using a 5 star base, I built a round cabinet unit up with a foot bar at the base and a push bar at the back. This design also includes a retractable tablet as I feel it is the best way to solve the need for a flat surface as well as a tablet. The table glides up and down with the simple push of a button.




The circular shape cuts off at the back so that the tablet has a flat place to retract into without cutting off any drawer space. This also allows for the push bar to complete the top circle.