MY DESIGNED ARTEFACTS 2006 - 2011

Savvannah college of art and design

Hunan universitySchool of design

WENKAI YU DESIGN PORTFOLIO

Projects

Urban

Designself watering planter

ConceptVan Interior

Design

Content

DesignBBQ Grill

DesignCamping lantern

Flash lightDesign

UrbanDesignself watering planter

O1Wenkai Yu

seflwatering planterUrban

Design BackgroundDesign for Urban peopleGardening is regaining popularity as a pastime for all types of people across the world, with gardens popping up in the most unexpected places. While the traditional image of a garden may not exactly fit into the reality of most urban environments. And worse thing is people, who live in urban area, are not have space to grow something in their small apartment.

SurveySurvey was conducted among36 people whose age around25-35

What is your gender?

Male

Female

Prefer not to answer

64%

34%

2%

How much time do you spend each week buying produce? Please include driving time.

78%

10%

12%

How do you feel about growing your own plant?

I love it and I have my own garden

I would,butI don’t havespace

I don’thave time

I like gardeningbut I don’t likehaving to growmy own food

I would gardenbut I don’t likehanding ohemicals

I don’t like dealing with pets/insects

I hate gardening

6.0%

54%

18%

4.0%8.0%

6.0%4.0%

60%

40%

20%

0%

What factors would motivate you to begin, or continueto, garden and produce your own food?

Pleasure/satisfactionof growing my own food

Gardening is easy know more

about how to garden

More free time

More spaceavailable Gardening

is cheap

Social interaction(i.e. a gardening clube)

60%

40%

20%

0%

80%

40%

64%

28%

62%

16%

60%

14%

Would a planter/gardening system that water itself or only requires watering oncea week be of value to your gardening experience?

No, I would prefer to water the planter/planting myself

Yes, I don’t want to beconcerned about my plants

if I go away

Yes, I just want tobring it home and water it

once a week

0 5 15 20 25

0-2 hours

2-4 hours

5 or more hours

O2Wenkai Yu

seflwatering planterUrban

Target CustomersPhase 1

Research

Researching and AnalyzingTarget customer

Gender: Male or femaleAge: 25-35At least some college educationNo childrenBusy careerAnnual income of $35,000-$55,000Active lifestyleHealth ConsciousLives in an urban area without yard space

What factors would motivate you to begin, or continueto, garden and produce your own food?

Survey summary

People always forget to water plants.

Most young people like local wood material.

Many people want to grow plants, but don’t wantkeep concerning about those plants.

Lack of space is the main reason why peopledon’t grow plants.

People like to grow their own plant if they can.

Most of people don’t know how to start grow plant

ProblemConfusion

Chemicals+ConfusionDifficult to understand what is needed.Competitors do not have a standardized system for beginners.

CurrentProducts

The majority of products aregeared towards gardeningwith ground space or a grass yard.

So many choicesNo visual cues.No over arching system

Phase 2

ConceivingFocus group

26Brooklyn,NYArtist

31Hackensack,NYStock Trader

30Newark,NJArchitect

26Brooklyn,NJBartender

25GuangZou,ChinaUE Designer

Pat Dan

Tina Lin

MJ Elena

Focus group will help to develop ideas and answer more questions which about possible solutions.

Market research

O3Wenkai Yu

Analysis

Phase 2

Rough concept

This product is an effort to make gardening simple for the novice gardener. Our research showed that the general attitude of single adults 25-35 is that gardening is interestingto them and could be a great source of pride. However, they viewed gardening as too difficult and not a sustainable hobby given theactive nature of their lives. Urban self watering planter is my answer to this problemConclusion

My quantatative reserch and focus groupgave me a narrowed scope of what my end user would want in a home gardening product.

My mandates areMust be able to water it self for 2-5 days without the user having to water theirMust be made of mostly locally sourced woodMust fit on a balcony or inside by a windowMust cost less then 45 dollarsMust not require power tools

Brainstorming

Support technologyWick methodThe wick method is an old method in whicha thread of cotton or poly nylon is used to wick water from a reservoir to a soiled bed. Our own experiments found that of a twine, plastic rope, and nylon thread. Only a tightly braided wick would effectively move water consitently

Vertically

Horizontal

Filled with water Filled with water

Through this experiment I know that no matter where you put water container, the wick method is still working.

Seating

SketchesBrainstormingRough Sketches

Experiment

seflwatering planterUrban

BalconyRough ModelTesting Model

DevelopmentImplementationSketchesAfter checked some of rough models. I went backto phase 2 and chose some of my best ideas andtried to develop them.

O4Wenkai Yu

seflwatering planterUrban

Phase 5

Solution

PrototypeThis model has same proportion as what I designed before. This model is very successful. It is the same asI envisioned and all the functions can run successfully.

Van interior

ConceptDesign

O1

Interior designWenkai Yu

Design BackgroundMost of Van are too older, and out of fashion.These big automobile factories seem not verycare about Van design. They think function is the main point of Van, not how it looks like.

However, in some development country Van is not just a tool; users also use Van in their ordinary life. The main reason is that they cannot afford to buy another car for traveling or shopping.

Thus I think there is a big opportunity, if there is a Van can be used for transportation and ordinary daily life.

Van

Mazda

Mazda Biante

Ford

Ford Transit SWB 260

Market ResearchHonda

Honda Odyssey

Nissan

Nissan NV2000

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

Benz

O2

Interior designWenkai Yu

Van

Target CustomersGender: Male Age: 25-35Hvae familyBusy careerThey use Van to do freight transport job.

Phase 1

Research

Chevy Express 1500

Chevrolet

Commericalvehicle

GMC Savana 3500

GMC

Dodge

Dodge GrandCaravan

Minivan

Trends

High technologySense of futurevehicle

StreamlineCurve style

style

Feeling

FunctionBigger spaceComfortable interior environmentMore storage room

Disadvantages FunctionCan carry more goodsComfortable driving environment

Customers

My van interiordesign

Young people who want to star their own business.

People who want to enjoy life and have family.

People who need to drive for long time.

People who do not have too much moneyand only can afford to buy one car.

Market opportunityCommerical venicle pays too much attention on functionand price.

Mini Van right now is designed only for family travel and it is more like a passenger vehicle.

Right now there is no Van designed for both family use and commerical use.

Who will buy Van?

What my design focus on

Form DesignVehicle’s form can determine its style. Thus it is very important to have a good form design first, before go to next step. I drew many sketches and tried mix my ideas into my sketches. In order to find a form which can perfect express my concept?

Phase 2

Brainstorming

SketchesAfter I decided my concept and this new van’s proportion, I drew large number of sketches and want to find out the best style which can match to my concept.

O3

Interior designWenkai Yu

Van

Concept

GraphicAfter I decided my van’s form, next step was determined and add more details to my original form design. Through the graphic design process, I tried adjust the different lines on the van, differentparts’ angle and shadow relationship on the van’s interior surface. I want my design looks more reasonable and can better express my design concept in this step.

O3

Interior designWenkai Yu

Van

After I determined this van’s interior design style, the next step is building a 3D model. During this I add more details to my design and keep doing at adjustment work.

Fully open sunroof canlet drivers have more and better visual space thantraditional one.

Increased storage space can helps drivers put more goods into the van.

Sunroof Storage space

Feature Functions

Phase 3Digital model

Solution

PrototypeAfter all the work was done, I spent 1mouthto model a scale model. The model’s size is 1:5compared to this van’s real size.

Prototype Digital model

-- Build in Unigraphics NX

-- Render in 3ds max

PrototypeThis is finial design of my work

rendering and model

From the top

From the back

Perspective view

Scale size protype

-- Render in 3ds max

DesignBBQ grill

O1Wenkai Yu

Grill DesignBBQ

Less 100

100~200

200~500

500~1000

more than 1000

53211

How much money would you spend, if you want to buy a barbecue grill?

Which do you prefer a small convenient barbecue grill for personal use or a big complex one for party?

Small and convenient oneBig and complex one

7

5

Survey

Gas-fueledCharcoalWood as fuel

Which barbecue grill do you prefer?

1

73

Fixed one

Mobile one

Do you like a mobile barbecue grill or fixed

8

4

The I did a general research, whihc based on internet.All the respondents’ age are between 20-30.Though this process I want find out what problemcurrent products have and what are the customersreally want.

Barbecue grill is a device for cooking food by applying heat directly from below. There are several varieties of such grills, with most falling into one of two categories: Gas-fueled and Charcoal.

Market ResearchBackground information

O2Wenkai Yu

Grill DesignBBQ

Target CustomersPhase 1

Research

Researching and AnalyzingTarget customer

Gender: Male or femaleAge: 20-30Like BBQ, but don’t have enough moneyand big houseAnnual income of $35,000-$55,000

Analysis

poplar trend

Possibility StatementSurvey Results

Design Orientation

Feature:Material: Aluminum, steel, plastic

Color: drak brown, black, gray

Value Opportunity Analysis

current products

Big size, heavey

Hard to move

Difficult to clean

Common fuction

Cut-in point

Light

Portable

Special fuction

Easy to usewater to clean

4. Most people like portable one.

2. They want cheap one

1.People like traditional way to cook IE: use charcoal or wood as fuel

3. Taste is the main reason why people choose BBQ and cleaning is the biggest problem.

Cheap

Simple

Expensive

Multi Function

O3Wenkai Yu

Grill DesignBBQ

Brainstorming

Phase 2

SketchesBrainstroming

BrainstormingWe stand for the possibility of BBQ grill. It should be a portable one and easy to be clean. It may use Charcoal as fuel or use infrared grill as power.

It should not very expansive and have a place to put BBQ tools. Maybe it will have different place for different foods.

Development

O4Wenkai Yu

Grill DesignBBQ

GrillsHandle

Where to put charcoal

Basket which can collect dust

plate where to put foods

Explode viewStructureSolution

Phase 3

When you don’t want to use BBQ grilll for a long time you can resolve it into sevel accessory parts. Thus you can store in your garage.

It is a portable BBQ grill. You can easily put itto you truck and carry it with you.

You can add two more additional spaceThus you can put foodsbeside grills

You can adjuste the hight and put it back to your truck.

How to use it

2. Then you can cook foods on it.

1. Get BBQ grill out of the back of truck

3.can adjuste the hight

O4Wenkai Yu

Grill DesignBBQ

Rough ModelThen I used cardboardand plastic pipes to build a rough model, in order to test structure and tried to see what it would looks like in a real world

AdvantagesProtableEasy to put it into you trunkEasy to carry

Easy to cleanAfter you finish BBQ, you can take grills from BBQ grills.Thus you can use water to clean those grillls and basket easily.Thus you can put your BBQ grills back to your trunk in a short time

Easy to carry

When you don’t want to use BBQ grilll for a long time you can resolve it into sevel accessory parts. Thus you can store in your garage.

Easy to storage it

garage.

DesignlanternCamping

Target customersGender: FamilyMembers:3~4At least one childActive lifestyleHealth Conscious

Male Jason

1. What sets Cabela’s products apart from other similar brands? What makes Cabela’s unique?

2. Cabela’s tends to run on the expensive side.Does that affect your decision to buy their products?

- They have a lot of sales, so I can watch for bargains

Interview

- Quality- it’s what Cabela’s stands for

- The stores are so cook- world record trophy animals on display everywhere

- They have my sizes (tall)

- So many options

- I can order anything, the variety is so vast

- It’s better than the rest, and I’m willing to pay for quality

- It will last much longer which means it will pay off in the long run

O1Wenkai Yu

Lantern DesignCamping

Design Background

Phase 1Brand analysis

ResearchAnalysis

Design for Cabela's

Based on the recently research, I find that femaleconsumer is a very large market. However, a lot of big companies don’t have any product design forfemale. Thus the goal of this project is to help a Masculine brand to design a product for female.

Cabela's is a direct marketer and specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise, Cabela's has produced only for man and ignore female, this big market.Thus I think it is a big benefition that if I can helpCabela's design a product for female.

O2Wenkai Yu

FemaleCarolyn

Holly

- Yes, I only buy vet school items- Muck boots, carharts- I buy cabela’s products for my dogs

1. Do you shop at Cabela’s? Why or why not?

2. In general, why don’t you like to shop at Cabela’s ?

3. Do you consider Cabela’s a men-only store?

2. Does Cabela’s cater to your specific needs for camping/fishing/hunting? - No, I’d just go to REI instead of ordering from the website - Price is too high] - Inconvenient

3. What are your favorite activities when you go camping? - Hiking, biking, sitting, drinking, atv, sleeping, relaxing, hanging out, cooking

- No- Too expensive, But doesn’t cover my needs, inconvenient

- Clothing is not cool, limited selection, clothing is too big

- No, but I wouldn’t shop there because it’s not feminine enough

1. Do you shop at Cabela’s? Why or why not? Answer:

Brainstorming

InterviewPhase 1

Development

Carolyn’s whole family is Cabela's loyalty customers. They are very family about Cabela’s products. Every month they will spent few days to go shopping in Cabela's retail store. Thus Tony’s family is a good example of Cabela’s target customers.

Lantern DesignCamping

Rough Sketches

Possibility statementThe research result maybe help Cabela’s to design a productcould help female to educate their children is a good idea. First camping is a good activity for children to know the outside world. Second most female may have a lot of free time when they go camping, maybe they can use these time to help their children or their young cousin to learn something about nature.

Conceiving Concept

This a concept camping flashlightit is designed for a family who go to camping with their children.

The main gole is to help childrento learn something from campingand to know more about our nature world.

When a big family go camping or hunting. female are always stayin camps with their young children,but why they can not use this chanceto help their children to know thenature world?

O3Wenkai Yu

When children go to the nature world. they can use this lantern to collect any thing they think it is interesting, such like firefly, or flowers.

How it works

It can change a simple campingor hunting activities become a education tour. It provide a good chance to help children to know nature world.

Phase 3

Prototype

It can be used as camping lantern

Camping lantern

Collection device.

Then they can bring these things back to theri camps and let their parents to teach their something about nature world.

Education

firefliesPlants

Advantages

Collection device.

Camping lantern

Multi function

It can be used as both camping flashlight and collection device.

Education

Make a real scale model

Lantern DesignCamping

hard transparentplastic

Light cover

Bottom part

Hard plastic

Switch

Light

Handle

Exploded view

Flash lightDesign

O1Wenkai Yu

DesignFlashlight

Design Background

Phase 1Target Customers

Research

Design for Cabela's

Survey

Gender: Male or FemaleAge: 25-45Have familyLive in development country

Yes I have that problem

Have you ever met that situation, when your flash light out of electricity, you can not find battery in a short time.

Survey was made among20 people who live in China

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

SometimesNo I don’thave suchproblem

Do you often use flash lightwhen you are in the home.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

No, I don’tlike to useflash light

SometimeI use flashlight veryoften

What customers need

Waste a lot of batteries

Not very convenient

Although right now our human society has high developed. There still have some areas are suffering power shortage problem. I want to design a new flash light, which can self-charging and hope through that way, we can find out a possible way to solve power shortage problem.

Form and Shape design

O2Wenkai Yu

DesignFlashlight

Brainstorming

SketchesPhase 2

requirement

Portable

Cheap

Durable

Developing optimizing

General evaluation ofthis designSmall, completely and self-charge are the three main advantages in this design.You can chargethis new flash light in immediatly when it is out of power.It is ideal product for people who live in developing country and are suffering power shortage problem.

Finial decision

How to use ittake it out

rotate

Lighting!

you can rechargethis flashlightby rotate it.

Take this flashlightfrom your pocket

Then you can use itand you wouldn’t need to worry about the battery shortage problem anymore.

Digital model

Charging

Lighting

-- Build in Autodesk Alias

O3Wenkai Yu

DesignFlashlight

Side exploded view

Body

hard transparentplastic

Switch

Charger

Prototype

Bottom part

soft transparentplastic

Prototype

SolutionPhase 3

Structure

-- Render in keyshot

There is an old Chinese saying “do a job and love it”. I love with design. I enjoy the every moment of creating; the fascination of innovation .