Product design

Here is a sneak preview of my btech product design., called Anni + Me. Anni + Me was inspired from a sea anemone, and was designed for my oceanarium spaces that educates scholars. The product is vibrant, soft and very comfy, allowing  uses to interact with it.

The manufacturing process:

All most complete chair:

Let me know what you think. Happy designing all you peeps :)

Time has elapsed and its nearing the end

Well days and months have come and gone and its nearing the end of my final semester at university. The work load is still piled to the ceilings and there really is not much  leisure time for one's self.

In the mean time while completing technical drawings, thesis hand ins and product design deadlines i have managed to finalize the Oceanariums Logo and i think it looks pretty awsome :)

The hand relates to the human species and the turtle represents life and longituity, and together through awerness and care, sustainablity and marine conservatin can be reached. The hand also is shaped in an Afican map outline, representing the South African coastline and the species in this area. The name OCEAN stands for: observing, caring, educational, aquarium, niche. The five fingers and their colours relate to the spatial organisation within the facility, this is used to guide users through the interior spaces. 

In the mean time happy designing all you peeps and stay posted for my product design :)

Biomimicry

New Semester with some new ideas ;)

Wow and the new semster has started in full swing!! Deadlines and more deadlines!!! Doesn't seem i even had a mid year break.... well my design has taken a 360 degree turn since portfolio.... maybe its bettter, but for me its even longer hours and double the work load!!

Iv been working on a new logo design for the Oceanarium (which is my thesis topic), that im designing. Been playing around with a few ideas... let me know what you think :)

Logo development:

The hand represents our beautiful country. The outline of the hand iv tried to make  resemble africa. The turtle holds a very symbolic meaning , and together human and nature can be combined to live in harmony and through proper education, future generations can protect our local marine life "hand protecting what we have left for future generations"

Hand holding an abstract turtle

Logo design up until mid year portfolio

New design ideas

Creating a sleeker hand design that is more friendly and approachable to a larger target market

Old hand design with the new turtle

The last 3 images is the new logo that i have been working on :) I prefer the middle logo... but let me know what you think? Happy designing and have a good week :)

Is there light at the end of this tunnel.....

Wow just five days left and then we on holiday!! But five days of very hard work and no sleep! happy designing all and good luck with your portfolio's, we are almost there! do you see the light.. ;)

A design that is slowly coming together....

Portfolio is just around the corner and my design is no where near complete or finialised!!! Is that normal?? I seem to never stop working. Computer portfolio is done and dusted, very chuffed about my 3d annimation. The project was a very intersting process and am looking forward to experimenting more with 3d max... its still abit challenging ;)

Thought id share some of my sketchup views of my design space for the Oceanarium that i have been designing. The design is no where near complete, but at least this is a start, i do apologise for the ruff 3d pictures, but the second semester the real thing will be presented to you all :)

The front entrance into the center. The name of the new Oceanarium and retail facility is O.C.E.A.N - Observing, Caring, Educational, Aquarium, Niche.

                                        Information and ticket office as one enters the main door

                       Access gates into the facility. Roof design plays with the different light intensities.

                                             Cocktail Lounge area with a lovely ocean view

                                                           Bar area in the cocktail lounge

This is a small section of the dive store. It has a lounge, open class room to the beach, and one can dive straight into the main dolphin pool from the landing :)

Font entrance to the restaurant. This area looks onto the main dolphin lake and the back of the restaurant looks onto the beach front

                                                        Part of the interior of the resturant.

                                      Health Spa interior. Foot and nail section with side displays

Spa reception- made from natural river rocks with frosted glazing,  LED lighting and white high gloss MDF

                                               Side displays and center nail and foot areas

                         Interior of the staff open plan office. Hotting desking is used in this office

                                                   Kitchen  and lounge area in the office
Well thats where the design is at the moment, still lot to progress on, but at least its a good start. Happy designing all :)

Creative & Sustainable Street Design

Good day to everyone :) It has been a very busy week again with deadlines and intense submittions. During all the haze i managed to find some inspirational street design for public open spaces. This designer has created a very organic sustainable approach to public spaces that i find very intersting as the exterior of our lives do not always have to be normal, why not have designer looking elements around us all the time while conserving our enviroment!

The goal of the intervention at Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz (Landhausplatz) was to create a contemporary urban public space that negotiates between the various contradictory conditions and constraints of the site and establishes a stage for a new urban activities characterised by a wide range of diversity. The realised project consists of a 9.000 square meter undulating concrete floor sculpture surface that was done by an Austian design Studio LAAC Architects and Stietel Kramer Architecture.

The Platz square retains the site’s four monuments with the addition of new trees, benches, lighting, a fountain and drinking fountains.

The huge concrete slabs swell upwards to frame these elements, with textured surfaces giving way to a smooth polished surface.

Water is allowed to drain away through the gaps between the slabs and is absorbed on site. Before the transformation took place, the square’s atmosphere and spatial appearance was dominated by the facing facade of the Tyrolean provincial governmental building from the period of National Socialism, and by a large scale memorial that looks like a fascist monument – which in fact and in spite of its visual appearance is a freedom monument that shall commemorate the resistance against, and the liberation from National Socialism. The intervention aims to compensate for existing misconceptions and to reinforce the monument’s historical significance. The new topography of the square offers a contemporary and transformative base for the memorials and makes them accessible with a new perception.

The Platz has been transformed into a urban scuplture through its city context and its finish in concrete.

The surface of the square is designed in modulated slabs that have been cast in-situ

from concrete and joined by bolts that deal with shearing forces. Drainage of the whole square including the fountains are located at the open joints between the individual fields so that there is no drainage pit visible on the whole site. An innovative buffer system helps to accomodate the drainage design.

Hope you found the article as interesting as myself. Good luck and happy designing to all :)

Interesting furniture pieces made from 100% Wool "All South Africa"

Ronel Jordaan is a South Arican designer  that is based in Johannesburg, and creates magnificant sustainable furniture pieces, cushions, scarves, throws and much much more. I find her products very creative and inspiring, so i thought id share it will you. :)

Here are a  few items of her range, but take a further look on her webpage: http://www.roneljordaan.com/

Keep designing and happy week-end all :)

Where has the inspiration gone??

Wow its been a crazy few weeks so i do apologise for not updating my page!

 PortFolio is 3weeks away and life is crazy!! The Oceanarium has offically closed to the public :( this is very heart sore for alot of people.

Choosing this site as my thesis for the year has given me hope that one day funding will be available to restore this beautiful piece of history in our town. My thesis has incorporated a new approach :) Sustainable design!!! so excited and loving researching all the interesting facts about this theory.

Port Elizabeth needs a huge change and why not go green??

il will post some of the interesting green facts and design ideas soon... so keep posted :)

gd luck and happy designing peeps

mid-week madness

Wow its been a crazy week already! From handing in all my as built drawings of my building site, needless to say the lovely 7021 square meter site which took me almost two days to measure up,  to spatial planning for my design, to furniture layouts and now to still stretch the mind and body to create visual 3d's! Its still going to be a ruff week and week-end ahead.

My design thesis is if i must say coming together nicely :) Im finally geting through all the nitty gritty bits and actually begining to think and design each space, exciting times ahead!! Each space really does require alot of thought and detail as im not only accomodating humans, but live marine mammals. I love going to site as it feeds my mind on all the possibilities that i could design. It also is sadening as this facility desperately needs alot of help and huge amounts of funding. The staff at the Oceanarium are fantastic people and really try their hardest to look after and conserve the marine life in our bay.

On a sader note, the Oceanarium is closing their doors on the 31 March 2011, as this facility needs to be revamped, therefore all the marine mammals are going to be relocated to a better home, but only on a  breeding program basis. Im really hoping this facility will be granted the funds that need to redevelop it and make it an icon for our bay. The much loved animals need to be brought back home as they are a  huge part of Port Elizabeths tourist and local attractions. Our city also needs a center like Bayworld with caring staff to help conserve our marine life in and outside the bay.

All are welcome to head over there on the week-end, the ticket prices have been discounted, so please go for old times sake and help fund the moving of the animals.

Keep on designing all you peeps and help do your bit :)

Nemo 33- the world's deepest indoor pool

The new week as begun in full force. Im feeling alot better since my operation, but now its time to start designing a name and logo for my thesis!! To clear my mind and to inspire myself i came across an intersting article.... where leisure and creative design form one.
 Nemo 33 is located in Brussels in Belgium and is 33m deep indoor pool. This is the deepest indoor pool in the world!! It was constructed back in 2004 by an engineer, and diving expert, John Beernaerts. This pool is filled with filtered unchlorinated spring water. The pool contains 2,500,000 liters of water, and consists of simulated caves, several platforms and a 33m deep cylindrical pit.

This depth is deeper than you are allowed to go on a standard SCUBA diving license. The pool stays at a constant temperature of 30 degrees which allows perfect conditions all year round, especially in Belgium.

This pool is unique as divers that want to gain their diving qualifications can qualify  in their open waters and advanced open water all in one location. What is also unique about Nemo 33, is that it is built round or in a complex, therefore divers and patrons can relax during their surface intervals at the bar or restaurant, one can them come back and complete ones deep dive. For most divers this is a big plus! Take a look at this beautiful facility:



The surface of the pool

Nemo 33 - The pit and caves

Happy week all and happy designing :) 



Port Elizabeth's Oceanarium

The Oceanarium is a place where many adults and children spend their leisure time relaxing on hot sunny days, enthrilled by the variuos animal sounds and movements. This is a place not only for entertainment, but also for animal awarness and rehabilitation. The major question is "what has become of Port Elizabeth's Oceanarium"??

As a animal lover and a diver with a great passion for design, iv chosen this site as my Btech thesis. Not only have i chosen this site for the love of animals, but also to challenge myself as a designer. One has to remember that working with animals in a man-made envirmonet is challanging, as the animals enclosures must be to their benificial as well as creating a space that encourages patrons to use this facility on an ongoing basis.