project 2: postal presents.

for my project 2 i designed a herb garden container.i wanted to make something that the user could build themselves but also have a daily interaction with the object.i looked around at containers and pot plant containers that were available and most of them were quite boring, generally square shaped and brown or otherwise a round pot which again was brown.i decided that i wanted my container to be used indoors for herbs so that the person could have a herb garden real close to where they were cooking and so would be able to enjoy the fresh taste of fresh herbs.also the act of growing a plant is often very satisfying to people as they can watch it grow due to their nurture.i looked around at my kitchen and other kitchens that had children and working parents living in them and i found that there was not very much space for people to place a herb garden inside as most peoples benches were crammed with machines and paper and dirty dishes etc etc.
so i decided to make a herb garden that could be hung on the wall, that way the person cooking can enjoy a herb garden without actually taking up space in their kitchen, also in this way if hung near a window sill there will be plenty of sunlight.
the reason for the choice of green was because the colour green (also brown but it doesnt look as nice) reduces the growth of algea.
the actual container is made up of 2 parts.
part one is on the inside and is where the herbs are placed, that is the seeds and cotton wool (soil if thats what the user wants to use but the kit comes with cotton wool, seeds and nutritients). this inside compatment has a perferated bottom so that water that is unnecissary can drip out and be caught by the second outer compatment when the water in the out compartment gets to high it starts to drip through the wholes at the back where the eyelets (that hold the 4 containers together) are placed. this means that the nutrients that has dripped out will not be wasted and be dripped into the contanier underneath working alittle bit like a hydroponic system.
except for the bottom most container which has no holes so water will not drip onto the floor.

task 5: annie leonard: the story of stuff

i think that the take home message that annie leonard is trying to convey is that:
the current system that is used for consumerism is flawed
not only does it destroy nature and humans but it doing so at a pace which means that we will soon not have any planet at all and if everyone in the world consumed at the pace americca does we would need 4 planet earths.
she claims that the linear system we have at the moment of getting resrources which is destorying water land and trees and in turn animals, and the the manufactoring of goods by mixing toxic chemicals into natural resources most of which are not tested and which are very harmful to factory workers, then the products being sold from a shop which doesntpay its workers properly and doesnt cover their healthcare, which is then sold at a low price to consumers so they buy lots of the product, which is then not used as only 1% of stuff bought by consumers is used, is then sent to the dump or incinerators which create real harmful gasses such as dioxin, is wrong.
she says that a more round type of thinking needs to happen where things that come out of the earth get returned in a positive way and that toxins not be used but mostly that consumerism needs to change.
she says that the whole reason why what we consume since the 1950s has doubled has been intentional and planned by the governemnt, they designed products that break easily enough that you need to buy them on a regular basis but last long enough for the product to be trusted by the consumer. this way more money goes into the economy and countires become richer.
also by introducing things like fashion the consurmer thinks that they need to buy new stuff because it looks better and is in with the trend and fashion and because people are now judged by what they have, they find a need to buy this new stuff so they can be socially accepted.
this makes governments richer but it does no good for the environemnt. and in the end what anni leonard is really trying to say is that we need to change our thinking about consumerism so as to preserve our planet.

project 1 rational

the rational



the idea behind this project was to help a parent keep their child healthy in a playfull way.

there is an increase in child obesety due to fast food in our society while a decrese in social interaction between children due to televisions, computers and other gadgets like nintendos.

my design aimed to address both these issues.

the first is the lunch box which has both measurments on the inside so that food can be measured as its put in but also a box that is portion controlled in size, this is a tool for the parent to give their child a healthy balanced diet without the hassle of wondering how much exactly should the child get.

the second issue of decrease in social interaction i have solved by making the lunch box that look like lego, this means that the child can interact by himself with the lunchbox but not watching a screen, but more importantly the lunch box blocksare a tool in encouraging interaction between children as there is more than one piece meanig that children can play with them together.

the actual material of the luncbox would be plastic which is easy to clean and naturally has rounded corners rather then sharp corners which is safer for children







Ideo pleasure for the
concened with nutrition
and health, as
lunch box sizdes are
portion controlled