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Ebullio

One project that I've been meaning to bring up to portfolio quality for a while is the tea kettle from last fall. Although I really liked the idea behind it, I was never 100% happy with my actual execution.


The driving force behind the design was simplicity. I just wanted something that boiled water and didn't try to be anything crazy. This led to the name Ebullio, which means "to boil" in latin. The form was similarly simple. I wanted it to have a retro aesthetic which led to the tapered chrome shape. A pattern on the lid in thermochromatic ink replaced the traditional whistle to indicate when boiling temperature had been reached.

I liked all of these ideas, but the end result is certainly lacking. The proportions are off, and the way the lid opens is awkward and a waste of energy. The whole kettle was also just too big. For the redo I wanted to shrink it down because nobody would need to boil a half gallon of water to make tea.

The updated design is a huge improvement in my opinion. The whole kettle is scaled down and the taper was increased to really show off the form. The grip has a more developed curve to increase comfort. The biggest change besides the proportions is the indicator design. I abandoned the heat-activated ink in favor of something that, while physically more complex, appears to be simpler. Because of this, the lid doesn't open at all. The mouth for pouring has been enlarged to also allow for filling through the spout.

When cold, the top looks very similar to the cold top of the previous version. When the water begins to boil, however, the center pops up and reveals a highly-visible orange ring. This is done with a small amount of fluid sealed within a piston inside the kettle. The heat from the boiling water causes the fluid to expand as it becomes a gas. The force of the expanding gas pushes up on the piston and raises the indicator.

Overall, I'd say that this redo was a success, and is now a valid addition to my portfolio. Let me know if you have any other ideas for how I could have done this better in the comments.

Summer Playlist 2009

It's been a while since I've posted, and I'm still collecting photos for a couple more home again posts, so here's a little something to fill the gap.

Every summer I usually put together a go-to playlist of music that I listen to whenever I sit down to work, or go for a drive, or just chill out in the hammock out back. This list has been evolving over the course of the summer, but seeing as it's coming to an end I thought I'd share it with you now.

Harlem Shakes - Sunlight
Phoenix - Lisztomania
Moke - Here comes the summer
The Kooks - Seaside
Classified - All about U
The Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice - Scorpio Rising
Born Ruffians - I Need a Life
Florence and the Machine - Kiss With A Fist
Regina Spektor - Dance Anthem of the 80's [BODYTIME remix]
MSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (feat. John Legend)
Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)
Miike Snow - Animal
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener


Some of these songs are new and some have been around a little while, it's really just what I felt like listening to. This list has been treating me pretty well, but I'm sure everyone has their own. Feel free to let me know what you've been listening to so I can check it out.

Home Again: Part Two

It should come as no surprise to anyone that robots played a large role in my childhood. Many of them have mysteriously vanished over time, but I've gathered a few together to show you today.



Before there was Wall-E there was the Dingbot from TOMY. I don't really know where it came from, it's been around as long as I can remember. He has a little motor that lets him drive around and sometimes turn in circles.



This one is the only transformer I was able to find. I think my others are all gone. Too bad really.
At least I still have this weird one that my dad brought back from Japan once. I think it's supposed to transform into a gargoyle or something. Kinda strange, I don't recognize it from anything but I honestly didn't watch the show very much.

If you push the button on his neck in gargoyle mode it causes sparks to shoot out of his mouth. A rather unique feature as far as I know.

Luckily there is a search engine for finding transformers based on color and alternate form. Apparently this is Grotusque, a hideous monsterbot that's always joking about how ugly he is. How about that.



What we have here is a Zoids pterodactyl robot thing. Another souvenir from Japan. I think the TV show eventually migrated stateside but I have no idea what it was about other than giant robot dinosaurs with people riding in them.




Last but not least are a couple of super deformed robot figures. Again, from Japan. The first one looks like it might a gundam of some sort, but the other one could be anything. Maybe it's from some obscure anime or comic, maybe it has no connection to anything. It will forever remain a mystery.

As a special bonus, I finally got to see one of these R2-D2 mailboxes while I was in Chicago last weekend. Pretty cool.

Links and stuff

TOMY robots
Transformer search engine
Grotusque
Zoids Redler

Home Again: Part One

As promised, I'm going to be posting an eclectic selection of random trinkets as I uncover them in my mess of a closet. I may eventually include more than one in a post, but for now I'll just start slow.

This may be the single greatest tool for adventuring the the world has ever seen. This is important, because I can't tell you how many hours I spent exploring the woods south of my neighborhood with my friends back in elementary school. Every good adventurer knows that it's essential to have the right tools, and this thing had them all. Magnifying glass, compass, signal mirror, backup magnifying glass, and it even opened up into a pair of adjustable-focus binoculars. All this in a high-quality rugged plastic enclosure.
It took a little bit of searching because there's no branding on the product itself, but eventually I found the source. Apparently it's called the Optic Wonder(awesome!), and it's made by an Italian company called Navir. I guarantee you will want your kids to have one of these some day. It will be absolutely essential to their survival in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the future.

Optic Wonder

Home Again

Not having been able to obtain a co-op this quarter, I find myself back home in good old Neenah, WI. The weather is great and I am actually doing some real industrial design work for my parents' new start-up design business but I can't help feeling incredibly disappointed in myself. I realize that the economy is bad and that we're competing against every other school in the country for summer jobs, but at the same time I'm a better designer than ever before and I've never felt better about my portfolio of work. I suppose at least part of the problem was me being too picky about where I apply this time around, so I can't get too worked up about this whole thing. All there is to do is get better and try harder next time.

It's not all depressing though. I've never been home for more than a week or so at a time in the past 3 years and I've never been able to just sit around and bask in the nostalgia of this place. There's so much old stuff to go through. Lots of it is just junk, but there are some precious jems hidden about with a ton of memories attached that I'd almost forgotten about. Since I can't exactly blog about my adventures in some new city I've never been to, I'll instead give you guys a taste of my childhood once a week, just to keep this blog going.

Let's make the best of this summer.

Chair Done?

So the chair critique has come and gone, I'm moderately satisfied with the result but there are some definite improvements that I can make to my chair. I did the upholstery about an hour before crit so that area is obviously lacking. Also, the back of the chair isn't bolted to the frame because the holes didn't line up. Other than that I was pretty happy with the result. I'll post some pictures soon but for now, watch a time-lapse video I made of the last couple days in studio.