INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDENTS GET INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE VIA AWARDS

Joel Adler, Ella Sugo, Madison King, Alex Kowcz Rosinke and Vince Sriwattana, all UNSW Industrial Design (IDES) students, took out top awards in the annual Watermark Travel Futures Competition last month.

The competition is a chance for students to work on real design briefs with a current industry player and work towards real design solutions. They worked closely with Ali Atkinson, Head of Design & Development at Watermark who helped format the brief and contributed to the studio classes.

The Watermark Travel Futures Competition is adopted as a project in the 2^nd year of the Industrial Design course, called Design Studio 4. Students were asked to design a future travel product for a distinct group of air travellers. The product could be for on-board food service such as cutlery, plates, trays and jugs, a vanity bag for cosmetics, socks and masks or a children’s pack.

The designs needed to be forward thinking and encompass new manufacturing technology or materials. More importantly the product must distinctly fit a chosen type of travel niche market based on the travellers age, class of travel (economy, business, first) and type of traveller (business, traditional, eco chic, aspirational, urban bohemian).

Watermark Products are a UNSW Built Environment supporter, sponsoring three student prizes for the most innovative designs.

Students carried out “visual research” to determine and express the chosen travel niche markets and then each student designed a product for that market.

UNSW Built Environment asked all five winners to talk about their award winning designs and what the award meant to them.

Winners are grinners! Industrial design students from left to right: Jole Adler, Ella Sugo, Madison King, Alex Kowcz and Vince Sriwattana

1st Place: Joel Adler

Product name:  Kids Adventure Kit

What is it? Inflight eye mask and activity wristband

UNSW BE: Explain what your product does and what problem it solves.

JA: I named my product the “Kids Adventure Kit”. Originally I had named it the “Kids Flight Survival Kit” however I later decided that the word “survival” was not a great word to throw around on a flight!

My kit solves the problem of kids being bored on flights, whilst keeping them safe when they arrive. My solution includes an activity to keep the kids occupied whilst also allowing them to be identified should they become separated from their parents. I included the possibility of integration with the inflight entertainment system as well as the capability of pairing up characters and movies with the kit.

UNSW BE: How did you come up with this idea?

JA: I observed the current trends in kid’s culture today, including what kids are playing with and where that will go in the future.

I then spent a long time trying to find a good balance between fun and functionality and the number of features that this kit can have before it became excessive or superfluous.

UNSW BE: What did you win?  What does this award mean for you? E.g. industry experience, better job prospects, more confidence in your ideas?

JA: I was awarded a lovely assortment of gifts and most exciting, is the opportunity to partake in an internship with Watermark products next year. I am excited to meet the team and discuss their design process and there maybe the opportunity of turning my concept into a real product! It is quite easy to present a concept to a room full of 1st or 2nd year students but I am excited (and a bit nervous) to present to a room full of industry professionals.

2nd Place: Ella Sugo

Product name: All in One

What is it? Inflight relaxation eye mask and yoga meditation eye pillow

UNSW BE: Explain what your product does and what problem it solves.

ES: My product is an innovative inflight amenity kit that was designed to reduce waste created by single use products while still providing a unique and memorable inflight experience. Initially the amenity kit bag is in the form of a small pouch that holds the usual inflight comforts. Once these are removed, the pouch further unfolds to become the sleep mask. The product was also designed so that after the flight the consumer has the opportunity to turn their sleep mask into a relaxing eye pillow. It utilises seamless knitting technology to further reduce waste and improve comfort.

UNSW BE: How did you come up with this idea?

ES: My love and knowledge of textiles inspired me to come up with a design that would reduce waste created by packaging and “throw away” products.

UNSW BE: What did you win?  What does this award mean for you? E.g. industry experience, better job prospects, more confidence in your ideas?

ES: I received a bag full of goodies including a Moleskin, a Pantone mug, sketch pencils and a gift card for Top 3 by Design. I was also offered an internship at Watermark Products, an opportunity usually only offered to first place so I am really grateful for such an amazing opportunity.

Recognition of my design gives me encouragement to persevere with my ideas and continue to develop my skills. I am very excited about the internship because I will get the opportunity to meet and learn from other industrial designers and industry professionals.

3rd Place: Madison King

Product name: The Grizzlee Adventure

What is it? Children's inflight meal and entertainment service

UNSW BE: Explain what your product does and what problem it solves.

MK: My design is an inflight meal service specifically designed for children on board to make them feel more a part of the experience. The brightly coloured meal tray is just one of the many kid-friendly features that will keep children entertained through meal time as each container features quirky characters that come to life with a quick scan of a smart phone and a waterproof, tearproof map which lets them colour in their upcoming journey. As an additional design concept, I developed an entertainment pack, which features the same "Grizzlee" characters with pencils, colouring pages and other pieces to keep kids entertained.

UNSW BE: How did you come up with this idea?

MK: I was inspired by my own experience of flying with my brothers from a young age. I wanted to design a product which represents the excitement of flying as a child. I had a lot of fun looking at the world through a child’s eye to understand how they see things, which is hopefully reflected in my colourful design.

UNSW BE: What does this award mean for you? E.g. industry experience, better job prospects, more confidence in your ideas?

MK: I was awarded third place for my design, which means a lot to me as it gave me a lot of confidence in my design and an immense sense of achievement.  It has definitely pushed me to work harder in future assignments and to just enjoy designing new things.

Highly Commended: Alex Kowcz Rosinke

Project name: The Adventure Kit

What is it? Inflight amenity kit and travel bag

UNSW BE: Explain what your product does and what problem it solves.

AKR: The Adventure Kit is an amenity kit designed for the premium-economy adventurer. Constructed from durable materials such as canvas and webbing straps, it resolves the issue of not having enough storage space while out on the road. With the addition of leather lash tabs and Greenland style wax as on-flight purchases, the kit can easily be attached to the back of a pack and be waterproofed.

UNSW BE: How did you come up with this idea?

AKR: My passion for living out of a backpack, while also having amateur and professional adventurer friends with large social media followings enabled me to access and interact with the market and determine their needs and wants.

While developing the amenity kit I constantly referred back to brands in the market in order to stay on track and to help me when I needed to make decisions on the design.

Simple, durable and adaptable, were the predominant words considered while producing the kit.

UNSW BE: What does this award mean for you? E.g. industry experience, better job prospects, more confidence in your ideas?

Winning the highly commended award from watermark products has provided me with a boost of confidence as I continue to develop my own style and move through the course.

Highly Commended: Vince Sriwattana

Project name: The Latch

What is it? Inflight amenities kit and travel cup

UNSW BE: Explain what your product does and what problem it solves.

VS: I designed the Latch which was a business class amenity kit with the adventurer in mind.

My design was inspired by the idea of “multi-function”. I wanted to reach an innovative design solution. Technically, the design consists of four parts being the handle, lid, top cup and bottom cup. This allowed dis-assembly and creates new functions in the one product. The handle can detach from the lid and attach to the bottom cup to form a "coffee" cup, which also enables the lid to operate as a stand for the top cup to place the amenities on a flat surface during use or for display. Once the amenities have been emptied out from the cup, you have a drinking kit that is interchangeable and creates a personal experience for the traveller as ideally they can make their own desired cup, by collecting the kits and mix’n’matching each of the elements. 

UNSW BE: How did you come up with this idea?

VS: Initially, this idea came through one of my previous concepts which was called “Latch”. The name had stuck with me and I took to the idea of a latch or latching onto other things. I was also drawn to the function of a handle. As with most things we must grab or hold onto something and it made me think why certain handles are positioned in certain ways so they enable the user to engage with objects or products.

UNSW BE: What does this award mean for you? E.g. industry experience, better job prospects, more confidence in your ideas?

VS: My design received the highly commended award, which was a great surprise to what was an already engaging and fulfilling design project. The award gives me greater confidence in my ideas. As a designer you are constantly throwing around ideas in the design process and these ideas or concepts never really feel concrete or fully realized. There is always more to add to the story and to receive an award it gives you a brief moment where you feel stability. This project was a huge learning experience, in addition to receiving this form of recognition from industry professionals, it has further added to the enjoyment of design and leaves me incredibly motivated in its pursuit. 

The project is supported by Watermark Products who are a leading creative product agency specialising in end-to-end solutions for the travel, leisure and retail industries, with a global network of offices in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney.

Click here for more information on Watermark http://wmkproducts.com/

Due to potential patent issues UNSW Built Environment were unable to publish any images of the winning products.