Punching the Clock on this one…
It is one to be blind but to be biased in the form of only seeing what you want to see, and having that person do exactly what you feel is correct, is quite frankly a burden on others more than you think. It is not necessarily saying either side is correct in that matter. Just goes to show that sometimes you need to help pursue rather than manipulate work.
That was just an interesting clip I came across, unfortunately I have no idea who it was because the quick videos that you come across on social media do not display the person, show or much of anything other than slang hashtags (by the way are the number sign? lol) Just thought I would share this because it really stuck with me all week and I found it interesting that Helen Keller had a quote of the same concept.
Anyways, diving into the week I realized I need to pursue one of the concepts I drew up from last week. Clearly, the understanding of ideation and concept development that has been taught through many courses throughout my education at Penn State must have been different from those viewing the post. I wanted to clarify that the ideation and concept development approach I took was to draw upon my ideas and research rather than compile a mood board or reference board which in my opinion is sometimes a step backwards, unless you need to have one for a project that requires it. Or, is demanding that you develop something new from it. The perfect ideation combination probably exists out there somewhere, I have yet to find it. But, I feel that the perfect ideation combination for someone is of their own creation and organization.
After long thought, I wanted to do three different concepts of toy design that would incorporate my idea flow of discovery, imagination, creation, and play. But, I found that I have a series of concepts that need more innovation rather than a solid end goal concept. What I mean by that is the fairy lantern concept gave opening to more and was recently used in another project. The time travels book series can be a whole tale to tackle all in all. It can go from revealing coloring and messages, to digging up excavation sites, puzzles, etc. The possibilities are endless in this concept and I wanted something that was strong enough to pursue at the current moment. I went with the Paladins Quest because I can create three books for the beginning of the series and will all play into the ideation flow I mentioned earlier.
Before I dove into trying developing the concepts for the second pass of ideation, I knew right away that I would be halted by the need for mechanical and electrical parts of the toys. The ability to have them mass produced in a printing/3D manufacturing world and that I was not exactly keen on the development of such mechanisms for a younger generation of toys. I pursued it by starting out with the number one thing that bothered me the most, the lock and key mechanism. I wanted it to be an easy task that a five year old can complete, being that the way a five year old may hold an object or have strength etc. I am only knowledgeable about the way our younger generation uses toys and objects through my internship. I completely forgot after researching just simple technical drawings to try to understand exactly how I can change the way these complex instruments work, I came across the definition of a “model”. The lock and key model is not only a way to describe the actual physical thing, but a biological approach to design.
“The lock and key model also called Fisher's theory is one of two models which describe the enzyme-substrate interaction. The lock and key model assumes that the active site of the enzyme and the substrate are equal shaped. It supposes that the substrate fits perfectly into the active site of the enzyme.” (DocCheckFlexikon)
For the enzyme and substrate action, I needed this to be more simplistic in the way of developing the lock and key to open the chest to discover the books, toys etc. I am still working on it but, more or so, a simplistic approach was to change the overall structure and give it the ability to be a push and turn snap fit joint. This would then unlatch the chest in a very simplistic way for a child to open it.
As I remembered when writing down these notes, I needed a latch or snap fit joint for the books to latch closed. I put the lock and key on hold at the moment because I thought it would be easier to start with this mechanism and build it within the model. This then could lead me to an ideation of designing the lock and key. We can find just about anything on the internet today, not entirely knowing if these tips and calculations are correct, but it seems that Core77 had most of what everyone else was saying in their articles and CAD forums on designing such components. HUBS, a protolabs company, always has some great information and resources on just about everything for 3D printing, that is why their article on designing snap-fit joints came in handy.
For the rest of this post it is pretty open ended, as in the open ended of “Toys, Not Games”. (Andy Russel) I live by that statement for this concept. I want to give a way for the toys to be open ended pursuits rather than just a one and done deal. I decided to dive into the development and second pass of the concept ideation. Of course, I skipped a few steps in this process, and at first it seemed to be going rather well. Then I ran into some snags, which are indeed my fault. I did not finish character turnarounds to model from, thinking that I could get the job done without a full idea, maybe has some surprise twist or ideation from the flow. I did not, unfortunately, so as of what is displayed is only for the sort that I need to finish the turnarounds in order to gain a better informative approach to designing the characters. That will be displayed in the next post. The environments and concept structure was hard to find a way to make it possible to imagine and create. I started creating objects/props thinking that a five year old would understand then of course it hit me, I understand it but there is no way that they will. So I took a step back and started designing in a different approach. I considered many options from pop out coloring, to building and creating their own in an educational point of view. This was all in all too much thinking for something that can be so simplistic as lego’s, or an older toy from my generation that accompanied terrains and figures etc. Trying to bring forth a more unique approach I discovered that being more simplistic was the key to this design. Having modular pre-made props and structures for the child to play with, create their iteration of the environments and play the characters through their own created stories, or the semi story offered in each book was the way to go. I started designing some pretty cool, if I say so myself, little props for the audience to use in the creation of their imagination. The book will open to give the props, and the book has indentations displaying some cool art underneath, like ground and plants from a top view. But, the audience brings that top view to life by placing the 3D objects onto the book in any way they can imagine to tell the story in their own way. Of course, the semi story I refer to is just a starter, the possibilities are endless with the fact of each story book giving new props and new engagements along the way. They can collect and imagine their own world for the paladin's quest. I call these shorts/short chapters rather than a series or short stories, because they are technically over from when they start. The small speaker display in each book will have sounds associated with buttons, and will tell the short theme based chapter for each book. This helps in their imagination and creation if needed.
By far this is more of what I wanted to aim for in the overall concept and Capstone project, leaning towards the Discover, Imagine, Create, and Play. This was discovered in just writing down my ideas and taking notes on the links listed above that sparked my interest in making these changes.
To put it in simpler terms (for those of you who may be reading this)
Discovery:
This occurs in the discovery of the product, and is then helped with the sensory play concept of discovering something. The key to the lock of the chest and opening to find even more than to discover.
Imagine:
Diving into the chapters to imagine a world where they can create the way they want to see it. Play starts to take effect early, because of seeing all the components that the audience can be a part of.
Create:
This stage dives straight into after the imagination and play effects are still brewing in their minds. Creating the environments and staging the way the stories can be told, maybe they do not even bother with telling the paladin's story that is offered to them. Maybe they create a completely new story with the props and characters at their disposal.
Play:
The final stage, since it started early, is only due to the eager nature of a young mind. When seeing something that wants to dive into the possibilities can become endless. The play factor continues onto each chapter, taking steps back to discovering new props, imagining new worlds and creating new chapters for their own play.
This leads to the never ending possibility of a “long lasting toy” No, not something that is sturdy or something repairable per-say. It is something that has a market value, that lives within the child, and is something that gives them ways to discover and imagine as they get older. In my opinion the key to innovation today is the strive for imagination, if the imagination and discovery was not sparked within us at a young age, the ideas and innovation created today will just be that of small steps or none at all. (this is all my opinion) I feel imagination, creativity, and discovery are key influences in children and even adults. Do not think that I am one to say that video games are not sparking this area, because I am a strong believer in that video games have really strived a different spark of innovation, creativity, imagination, and discovery in many minds today. I just feel that we should really start with physical sensory imagination and discovery to give the creativity the younger audience may need today.
Here are all of my concept workings so far throughout my post. I hope you enjoy seeing the development of this product.
