Handscale

/ An Exercise in Design Language

Callil Capuozzo

Defining the Language

Dieter Rams / Design Icon

A Brief Summary Dieter Rams is an influential industrial designer whose style can be described as functionalist. He is best known for his work at Braun, an appliance and electronics company operating out of Germany. He mainly produced work during the 1960s - 80s. Many of the works produced during his time at Braun are now part of collections at design museums worldwide. His design philosophy can be summarized in this quote Less but better. He believes that a product should be as neutral as possible, leaving room the users expression. His products represented not only a change in aesthetic form but were also produced with the latest manufactur- ing technologies and state of the art technical components. Today, while retired, he remains a significant figure is the design world.

Defining the Language

Dieter Rams / Design Elements

Color as Function One of the most interesting features of any Di- eter Rams product is his use of color as both an aesthetic and functional feature. On many of the products there exists one or two color- ful features that stand out for the purpose of encouraging a certain type of behavior with the device. The color of the general surface mate- rial is usually muted and serves to allow the object sink away into the background and the function come forward as the most important feature. Form and Material When looking at a product designed by Rams, the simplicity immediately stands out through his use of basic geometry. Most of the form is derived from ei- ther a rectangle or circle. This serves as a blank slate to help a user better focus on the function of the object. The material also lends itself to the simplistic shapes. Matte/Flat plastic or metal covers almost all of the objects giving them a slightly sterile feel as if they were pristine. The fine grating in the images is one example of his innovative use of material for that time.

Defining the Language

Blade Runner / A Sci-Fi Cult Classic

A Brief Summary This Neo-Noire sci-fi film is considered the father of many such films that followed. It is set in a gritty 2040 Los Angeles and centers around the concept of ge- netically engineered robots who have gone rogue. The aesthetics of the film are a product of a collaboration between Ridley Scott the director, and Syd Mead the futurist. The film is based off of a novel by Philip Dick and was not very sucessful in its release but has since become a cult classic, cementing its place as a piece of cinematic history.

Defining the Language

Blade Runner/ Analysis

The set design is amazingly successful at creating a world of technosteam punk interiors and vehicles. They are all intricately detailed and show off a certain mechanical aesthetic that pervades many aspects of tis futuristic LA. Not only are the interiors and vehicles styled to per- fection. But the machines in this wold are intricate and detailed models of a mishmash of screens, lights and futuristic technnology. Bio- tech and engineering are big themes throughout as well.

The Los Angeles of Blade Runner is a babbling neon filled street market city superimposed with monolithic architecture that rises above the streets and apartments. It is heavily influenced by an image of fast paced asian cities like Tokyo or Hong Kong with the influence of a black market type of world. The color of the film is domi- nated by a blue-ish hue like the glow of screens and technology that lights up this often damp gritty city.

Defining the Language

Synthesis / Combing the Languages

Merging These World The meeting of Blade Runner and Di- eter Rams feels to me like a subtle face off of slightly opposing forces, one gritty and sometimes flashy and the other pure and basic. Despite this, there is a certain aesthetic matching between the twoespecially in terms of color and technology. I would like to take the beautiful and seemngly ba- sic forms and design philosophies of Dieter Rams as my primary influence and the flashy, technofuturist aes- thetic of Blade Runner as my second- ary influence for this project. The object should be relatively sim- plistic in form but draw upon Rams use of color and the use of neon and detailed technology in Blade Runner to create something that emphasizes the point of user interaction. and make the object more understandable and interesting to use.

Designing Within the Language

Synthesis / Modular Lamp Design

This lamp is inspired by the cylindrical forms of Dieter Rams and the glowing futurist streets of Blade Runner. The lights are intentionally exposed but are diffused by an almost opaque plastic. The bulbs themselves come in the cylinders that are able to be screwed and un-screwed from different modular forms allowing the user to switch out forms or choose the one they like the best.

Designing Within the Language

Synthesis / Folding Chair Design

A Uniform Folding Chair This folding chair design is based off of the idea that a technically sophisticated chair can be both aesthetically simple and bold at the same time. The color highlights serve to ac- cent certain areas and give contrast to an oth- erwise un-assuming shape.

Designing Within the Language

Model Making / Retina Scanner Lock

In Blade Runner, Eyes are a major theme. To find out if someone is a replicant, the iris is scanned in response to questions. I designed this Iris Scanner Lock as a home safety device to either unlock the door with pre-recorded iris scans or provide a camera and interaction buttons within easy reach for a visitor. The shape is derived from simple geometric shapes like squares and circles to refer to Rams and his simplistic forms. At the top the forms get exxagerated referring to Bladerunner. Materials were Wood, Vaccum Formed Plastiuc and Yellow Foam

Designing Within the Language

Advanced Model / User Profile

Chef Ages 30-45 This user is an important part of a kitchen staff at an expensive restaurant in an urban area. He works in a busy environment and loves what he does. He also buys the best tools for the job meaning he spends upwards of one thousand dollars on knives alone. In this busy restaurant environment knives get lost, or even stolen if the value is very high. How can this chef keep his knives safe while maintaining a smooth workflow with accessible, secure tools.

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Designing Within the Language

Advanced Model / Chefs Locking Knife Block

This knife block was created as a way to maintain an secure set of 8 knives in a busy restaurant workplace. It can bolt lock the specialty knives through holes in the blades. The bolt also acts an a sharpener when removed. When in use the knives can be easily accessed from the magnetic front. They are oriented sideways to make is easy to see which blade you are grabbing. The form is a simple rectangle with a base that is offset to give it more air and movement. The embellishments serve a functional purpose, but also reference the rugged lines of Blade Runner.

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Callil Capuozzo
/ RISD ID 2014 - DP2

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