Collaborative Design Practice - Task 4

Collaborative Design Practice - Task 4

Empathy Map & Problem statement

Hussain Waheedh / 0344802

Bachelor of Design (Hons) Creative Media

Advanced Interactive Design

INSTRUCTIONS:

Brief:

We have to create an art piece up to 10 ft width x 7 ft height x 2 ft depth (to fit within the roving truck) + incorporate balloon element. Needs to be painted over to cover all brands of inhalers. This art piece needs to be made using Asthma inhalers and medication blister packs.

This is a collaboration with GSK's #GiveBack movement in an effort to spread awareness of the harm these medical packaging waste cuase the environment when not disposed of properly. They want to encourage people to turn in their medical packaging waste so that it can be recycled instead of adding to the environmental pollution that is already so high. This is part of their long-term ambition of delivering net zero emissions across all operations by 2030.

Division of Work:
This entire process of making the prototype took a lot of work, planning and collaboration.

Research
For using paper mache we looked at this site click here.

From this site Felt Magnet, we learned that paper mache would be good for smoothing the texture of the sculpture, and also to add some weight and structure, but under the paper mache we will still need scaffolding like plastic bottles, or tubes or wood or wire this would act as the bone, where as the paper mache would act as the muscle, ideally the blister packs would be the skin.


There were also a variety of different paper machesmixtures we can choose to use, like using flour or flue, i think we should stick with flour because it will be stronger and a bit more elastic. There are also different paper mache consistencies like more of a mash with shredded paper or bigger flatter pieces of paper simply cut into pieces ideally used to smoothen the texture of the sculpture.

Since the progress of all different parts and elements of the installation were in work simultaneously  by group members, the order of work wasn't very linear. We kept working and adding up as we went along and here are some of the progression.

BODY STRUCTURE:

After we were done with the prototype and getting feedback, we started working on the main installation. At the very beginning, we made the structure using steel wire this time because it was easier to shape and Mr.Fendi recommended it. The headpiece was done using plywood and the structure was tied down into wood and then zip tied firm.

The structure was then drilled into two pieces of thick wood for the base connected by another two pieces of wood. The base skeleton was finished and we were quite happ with it. We then proceeded to add cardboard layers to give mass to the body. All the steel rods, wood and cardboard used for this project is recycled.

We did the hands using cardboard and paper. We used a cosplay hand diagram which we printed and used to cut out on cardboard to complete the hand. We later covered it with masking tape in position to smoothen the skin.

After the body was layered with cardboard, we used thin sheets of paper and masking tape to smoothen the body skin.

Similar to tha hands, the face was also done using a diagram of a cosplay face that we traced on cardboard and later smoothened using masking tape.

OUTER STRUCTURE: After we finished to inner structure, we proceeded to attaching the blister packs outside. We tried different patterns for the shirt, the globe and the shorts to make it look more interesting. The shorts are very structured, the shirt was textured and the globe very random.

FINISHING:

The look we wend for is contemporary art style. We used spray paint to give Bob a graffitti look because we didn't want him to give a very positive and noble look. Graffiti is considered vandalism by many people as a stereotype that we decided to use for bob because the idea behind littering the world with medical waste is actual vandalism of the planet.

OBSTACLES AND IMPROVISATIONS: 

We. faced a couple of obstacles along the way that we had to improvise. For instance, we underestimated how heavy the upper body of Bob was gonna be after adding all the layers of cardboard and other materials. The steel rod started bending over because we only used a single rod for the legs. Would'e been avoided if we used double rods but since the issue we thought up the best solution for the time to use wooden sticks to support both legs and upper body because we needed an immediate solution before the structure goes through more damage.

Another part was the globe. We needed a structure around the base to build up the globe and the balloons didn't previously work so we decided to recycle an umbrella to use as the frame, We then added the blister packs on top of it to complete the globe. Another issue was the balloon. This issue came last minute because it was the last part of the progress and we were undable to produce what we wanted because many balloons popped and we realised we cannot rely on actual balloons for the task. So we we were forced to use a balloon temporarily for the final presentation and that if our project wins the job, we then come up with a new approach.

FINAL LOOK FOR CLIENT PRESENTATION:

Here is the final look that we presented the client. It was a lot of work by the team and all our efforts paid off because the client seemed very impressed with our work so much that we won for the showcase. 

FINAL PRESENTATION:

LATER ADDITION AFTER PRESENTATION  FOR FINAL SHOWCASE:

The cliend loved our installation and we were chosen for the final showcase that is to be held in different public locations. We were very happy with how it turned out and with the feedback we received from the client and Miss lilian, we have some more work to do before the showcase. The changes include rethinking the balloon structure, final outlook and finishing works. We made a balloon with thin wire and attached it to bob. We also did some new spraying to give a more fresh look and did some final adjustments.

REFLECTION:

This was the most physical project that I have worked on in Taylors and it was as hectic as it was enjoyeable. I had a great time working with my team, Jess, Leti, Shiyun and Imran. Everyone put a lot of effort and I'm very happy with the result that we achieved. The other groups, Nutquacker and Blisterbunch also produced very beautiful and impressive artworks. And they assisted us and even supplied us with some materials we needed were very helpful in our work as well. Overall it was a very nice experience creating Bob and I enjoyed it very much.