J09 - Process Documentation

Project as a whole
For the Coleman for the Home assignment our group, which was comprised of Sarah H., Mike F. and Ricardo R. developed the induction cooktop and table. Our team worked really well with each other. We listened to each others feedback and came up with great ideas. There was no ego to contend with and we all contributed to all parts of the project. During the brainstorming phase we developed the basic idea for the table. It was interesting to see the different ideas for the table take shape and the decisions we made regarding the table. We originally had the idea to make the cooktop just flip over but, we had concerns about how the wiring would work so in the end we chose to have a storage compartment for it.  We researched the different materials Coleman uses in their products and tried to stick closely to those materials.

Mike Freeze spearheaded the research for the different cooktops and the safety issues and concerns involved with each, Sarah came up with the table idea as a whole and she and Mike built the presentation. Ricardo worked on the kiosk which I think was a great design and concept. We all sketched ideas for the table and it quickly took shape. We met outside of class to give us extra time to work on the project which shows how excited we were about our product. I was greatly impresses by how fluidly we worked as a group and how the project seemed to fall into place. I think, overall, our group, product and presentation were very professionally put together and am happy I had the chance to work with Sarah, Mike and Ricardo.

Personal Contribution
For my personal contributions I worked on the visuals. Having experience using Photoshop and Illustrator I felt my strength in the group would be in that aspect of the project. As we developed our ideas I would make visuals to convey what we wanted to show in our product. We wanted to build a product that would be convenient but, something that people would actually buy. So for my part I wanted our visuals to reflect the product in use. For the logo I wanted to keep some parts of the Coleman logo but decided that since the logo wouldn't, necessarily, appear on the product like the original Coleman logo and products, it could be more elegant and fitting of a home product.

Early Concepts for the logo using the original Coleman logo.

The logo develops along with the new name.

early and later sketches. Notice how we went through several possible shapes before 

settleing on this one

once the shape and concept were settled on our table really took shape.

Package visuals showing the table in use. We wanted to show a products people would want to buy.

I think, overall, every group did well with this project. Our group really enjoyed the project. It gave us a sense of what it's like to work in a group and helped us get over our fears of presenting a project. I think this assignment was great in preparing design students for what is to come.