A weekend Project. No.1, “singing Sushi”, a small loudspeaker with dock for casual hearing. iPod shuffle works here as a “media key”, from where music is extracted, and a play/pause button (similar to SD-card slots). The reason for not using iPod’s control is, I prefer a haptically more intensive, more mechanical procedure for that “casual” feeling. However, being unsure about whether the shuffle could be controlled over the 3.5mm minijack, this design stays a speculation.

No.2, a wall mount picture-frame-alike loudspeaker that presents the shuffle as a precious and delicate art piece. Of cause paintings don’t have power cords, so I made a plug underneath the iPod. Thinking of recharging a picture is charming, it can also be seen as a installation. (Aug 2007)

Teamwork with my colleague Jens Schardetzki under the guidance of Prof. Frank Zebner to “redesign” the Tizio by Richard Sapper from 1972. We had several hands-on of the original to check out how well it functions and how it looks and feels in different poses / from different viewing angles, read all relevant texts we could find to get Sapper’s thoughts and other people’s opinions, referred to some 30 lights that are relevant to the Tizio in one way or another to better know what a Tizio is and where our “redesign” should go. The final dicision was, while keeping the electric connections cable-free, to make an elegant one-beam construction with integrated counterweights that reminiscent of Tizio’s parallel arm construction when in its “typical pose” (pic 2), and to use a table clamp without screw / with a built-in power adapter and a touch switch.

The arms of the new light measure the same with Tizio’s thinnest / longest arms in cross section, which is 12mm x 4mm. The dimension of the new light lies slightly under that of the Tizio, as respect to the original. A more detailed, somewhat provisional construction is made afterwards by myself (Jens was then doing an internship) as I regard this as an inseparable part of the concept.

LEDs to use: LUXEON Rebel, Neutral-white / Warm-white. Original with 140° viewing angle; through correction lens a 60° viewing angle, which is similar to the Tizio, can be archieved; this can also be adjusted to meet other needs. Some tungsten must be used for the counterweights. (Aug 2007)

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Meanwhile (Jun 2008), this project is being further developed. By interest please contact me.

Under the guidance of Prof. Sigmar Willnauer, a bench with folding table and storage for public places, both indoor and outdoor. The table was mainly thought for laptops, but can be used to drink coffee, read books, take notes, fold origamis as well. The storage takes care of your other belongings when your focus is on the table. Sitting surface from hard polyurethane foam. (Jul 2006, reworked Oct 2007)

Seat, doubles as a table. Single sheet of aluminium. (Jul 2006)

Form study to make a closed system showing pressure and tension. Teamwork with my colleague Philipp von Lintel under the guidance of Mike Ambach. All pictures are real models made of ordinary balloons, sticks and wooden balls. More infos on request. (Jul 2006)

Project about making simple products from cardboards, under the guidance of Prof. Sigmar Willnauer. I went along to explore the aesthetic aspect of this material. One result is this CNC cut lamp that uses the corrugated structure to project light patterns. I tried to simulate light patterns beneath trees and reflections on water surface, which would be relaxing. More details on request. (Jan 2006)

Form study under the guidance of Prof. Gabriele N. Reichert to transform a 7³ cm³ cube into a complexer object in 6 steps, whereby the process should stay logical and changes between neighbouring steps should be equally big (These are given rules). One of my ideas was to make a techno-mechanical form that is all rotationally symmetrical, dynamical and homogeneous, between elegance and bizarreness. (Jan 2006)

The basic principle is to alternately cut the corners and turn them 10° clockwise. The cuts have to have a curvature, otherwise the second innermost pieces would collide with each other while turning. I first thought of a conic surface, which is easy to make on a lathe. But conic sections (in this case hyperbolas) disturb the homogeneity, so I went for a sphere cut. This makes quick mock-up building impossible, so most developments were done in CAD.

Working with CAD is parameterized, I for instance used some mathematics to help making design decisions, in the belief that mathematically logical forms should also meet the eye. So are the cube’s edges loosely divided in arithmetic progression (l_n), with small pieces being thicker and large pieces being thinner, making them appear equal in visual weight. While balancing homogeneity and dynamics, the radiuses of the outermost cutting sphere (R₁) and the innermost cutting sphere (R₆) are manually specified, whereby R_n (1≤n≤6) is then defined by following formulas, which mean all 6 radiuses are affected by l_n, and exponential in relation.

Resin model #6:

In this course “introduction to product design” guided by Prof. Frank Hess, we were told to observe how we do a certain job rather than just to look at the tools we use as an isolated object. Thus this project is called “brushing teeth” and not “toothbrush”.

My problems while brushing teeth mainly come from toothbrush handles. I always felt the necessity of anti slip feature being overemphasized, and such “ergonomic” handles just look like some naughty toys. Disturbing, especially when I brush my teeth in the morning with a fuzzy head. So I decided to make some quiet ones, something like a breeze on the new snow. The first one has a gentle twist (not so obvious on picture), the second one has a shoulder for the thumb (gives haptic reassurement). A firm grip offers the grainy hard plastic / ceramic surface. The length and diameters in different sections are set upon test results of different toothbrushes I bought. (Jul 2005)

Wall decor for a chill-out room on our first term party. When viewed on the couch (marked below with “+”) where people rest and play video games, the perspective would meet that of the environment and this picture would look like an 1:1 mirrored room of the real one. So it “doubles” the small chill out room in size, adds a flair of early 3d games and perhaps also parallel universe. I measured the room and made this image with Freehand MX using projection method (shown below). Actual size is 5.56m * 2.41m. (May 2005)

A corkscrew for the workshop freshman course. As a more natural hold to me and some of my friends, the helix sits between index finger and middle finger, the handle makes no use of small finger and the thumb rests on its short end. The bottom of the handle is made concave so that pressure is evenly spread. (Apr 2005)

Project about the identity of digital audio players, under the guidance of Prof. Sabine Wald. Unlike its predecessors, digital audio players don’t have dedicated, standardized, voluminous storage media like CDs or tapes and the peripheral mechanics. They can take almost any physical form; they (yet) have no archetype, no clear identity. It’s sometimes not easy to tell them apart from other digital devices, like mobile phones and GPS handhelds. The pictures above show some of my first thoughts about this issue. I made a shape that resembles music rhythms. A wrapping display forms the media layer, which is manipulated through control elements “from inside”. The buttons are significant and show in their traditional form: volume control turns up and down, play/pause button pushes down, keeps half-way in and pushes up; there’s also a separate switch for selecting play modes. (Jan 2005)