Task 3: Product Sketching

"Flaik" CMD Product Design and Innovation (2008)

Flaik combines a personal tracking device with a GPS system to create a device that an enthusiastic skier or snowboarder should be without. The way that this device fits snuggly into a carry case that straps to the users upper arm is the best thing about the design, as it ensures that it cannot get in the way while participating in winter sports. The case also increases the durability of the product; essential if the user is prone to hit the snow once in a while.

Expo '67 "Talking Chair" Grant and Mary Featherstone (1967)

the talking chair was devised in 1967 for use in Expo 67 Montreal as a way of showcasing Australia to the world. Speakers in the headrest played a pre-recorded tape when a switch was flicked by applying pressure onto the sitting area. The chair has the distinct curvature of a modernism piece, while its singular form also marks it as a Grant Featherstone piece. The chair is very cleverly designed, as users in the 60's would not have been expecting a chair that 'talks' to them, adding to the futuristic appeal that the design already has.


"Coffee Pot" Frank Bauer (1987)

This modern angular coffee pot designed by Frank Bauer is mix of pure form and function, with the sloping main section allowing for plenty of coffee to be stored in the pot, while the curved-yet-straight handle allows easy wielding of the bulky pot while still fitting into the overall design. Something like this would gain some strange looks if designed in todays era, as its something that doesn't fit with todays image of a pristine kitchen. Nevertheless it is a clever piece of design-cum-art that would still make an interesting object to have on ones mantle piece.


Colgate Toothbrush (unknown date)


The idea that a toothbrush be reusable a multitude of times is not a new one; how to best implement it however is another question and Colgate have devised a fairly clever and efficient way of solving this. By creating a toothbrush with a detachable bristle section, it allows the handle to be used hundreds of times more than the bristles could ever be. This is something so remarkably simple that its a wonder no one ever thought of it earlier. The actual handle retains the ergonomic, flowing grip seen with many Colgate brushes down the years, and it shows Colgate are obviously sticking to a tried and successful design while still evolving the design in other ways.