Steam Mouse Iron
a redesigned rion
Duration
8 Weeks
Sept. - Oct. 2020
roles
Product design
Tools
Rhino
Keyshot
Steam mouse iron has a curved handle with a removable auxiliary handle allowing people to use smoothly.
Project overview
The project started in the form of curvilinear and planar volumes before function was given to the product. It had gone through many iterations and landed on this wonderful redesign of a widely used home good.
Methodology
The design process started with many sketches, but was later refined through 3D sketches using found materials such as wire and balder clay. After the physical prototype and a 3D model in rhino were made, this model was primarily developed as a study in physical form rather than initial functionality. Started from planer and curvilinear volumes, it was arranged with dominant and subdominant elements.
Design Process
Step 1
It started by exploring the relationship among the form of curvilinear, planar, and three-dimensional volumes. But considered as a product, the volumes have to be connected.
Step 2
It started by exploring the relationship among the form of curvilinear, planar, and three-dimensional volumes. But considered as a product, the volumes have to be connected.
Step 3
Explored adding human scale and function to the compositions and showed the human hand and human figure interacting with the product in context.
The function began to emerge after the first sketch prototype when considering the way it would be held. Observing how people moved the prototype forward and backward, a hand-held product with mobility at its core became obvious. The product was further refined through the exploration of how it would form to people's hand, leading to the creation of features focused on hand movements.
Step 4
Chose one abstract composition to develop into a product and defined the elements and compositions of the product.
Step 5
Built it in Rhino and render.
Thoughts & takeaways
The most challenging portion of the product development was in transferring the 3D sketches to a real product, how to attribute functionality to the volumes, line, and plane from the original sketch. With these in mind, the handle design of the Steam Mouse has undergone repeated improvements.
View all works →