Teammates:  Hanes Hsu
Class: ID 3041  |  Instructor: Samuel Harris

The Dyson Capo Pen captures the visual brand language (VBL) of Dyson in the form of a pen. This project was meant to push us to adapt our personal design styles to fit that of an established brand. After loads of research, we concluded that Dyson is a brand driven by invention, innovation, and efficiency. The company delights their users with the craft and power of their products, and we wanted to capture that spirit of ground-breaking innovation in our pen design. The Capo Pen’s unique ink cartridge clasping mechanism is inspired by the Dyson Corrale hair straightener and not only looks cool and innovative, but also makes changing refills fun and exciting. A sliding button extends the tip for writing while a push button opens the sides of the pen, allowing you to remove the cartridge. This stylish aluminum pen is paired with a limited edition pen stand that celebrates the company’s 30-year anniversary in 2021. When opened, the stand uses a dampened spring to elegantly showcase the pen, while also doubling as a collapsable case to protect the writing instrument and hold extra refills. This project taught me that a good brand’s VBL is communicated through aesthetics, but a great brand’s VBL also embodies the emotions and experiences associated with a company’s products and services.

Class: ID 3041  |  Instructor: Samuel Harris

The Tian Modular Spice Grinder System is a customizable set for all your spice storage, grinding, and dispensing needs. For this project on variable systems, I chose to focus on spices since they seem like a small part of our diet, but when used well, they can have a plethora of long-term health benefits. With this in mind, I created the Tian brand which is dedicated to designing universal, flexible, and sustainable solutions for people looking to improve their everyday lives and adopt better habits. I asked myself, how can a variable system promote healthy spice consumption? I found that when using spices, the fresher they are, the better, and that means keeping them as whole spices for as long as possible. The system is completely customizable; pick from various jar sizes based on how much of a spice you normally use before it starts to go stale, pick from three grinder types based on the waxiness of the spice or spice blend you want to freshly grind, and pick from three lid types based on how you wish to store or dispense from your jars of ground spice mixes. A user can order a kit to get them started, or select exact amounts of each part they need to fit their diet. The system is dishwasher safe and encourages people to easily experiment with mixing spices together and grinding them to extract the maximum health and flavor benefits possible.

Class: ID 3041  |  Instructor: Samuel Harris

This wheel design, made in collaboration with Momo, was inspired by aerodynamic forms and the concept of generative design. I wanted to create a wheel for the future, so I focused on the growing electric vehicle market and the quickly developing software behind generative design. I set objectives to create a wheel that was organic but not shapeless, generative but not random, and high-coverage but not overly heavy. The final product was a flow-formed wheel with lightly creased organic spokes. Our Momo representative worked actively with us to discuss making our designs both visually interesting and feasible for manufacturing. He also assisted us with the second part of the project: converting the big wheel design into a tiny Hot Wheels version. I had to edit the design to work for a minuscule mass-produced plastic part. I loved the connection to manufacturing and business that this project had. I gained insight into both compromising to make hypothetical engineers and marketing people happy and also fighting for elements of my design that I believe are indisputable.