physical vs mental comfort

I have read quite a lot of readings on comfort and they cover two different concepts of comfort one looks at the physical concept of comfort where they make an object comfortable with the help of space and ergonomics and the other is on the emotional aspect of comfort, making someone feel mentally comfortable in an environment, a lot of nurses use this concept of comfort to make the patients more feel more at home and reassure them that it will be ok. so I when coming to deigning my experience I can go down either paths, to make a physical comfort and make an activity that enhances comfort or I could make the environment more comfortable  so when doing the activity you felt reassured and comforted, make the user feel at home, care for them. another reading I had read it said that we take comfort for grated so for us to appreciate comfort we have to have had discomfort

I felt the next step was to thin about different was to create comfort using these different concepts;

• I feel that as we take comfort for grated and we only notice it at the beginning I could make an experience that on focused at the begging of the act for initial comfort. I could look at different materials, like the bootie I had made for the last project that was made of fur and ribbon so that you initially feel comfort but over time you no longer feel comfortable, I found that that bootie was only comfortable with kinetic movement once your foot was inside and you had done up the bootie you no longer noticed the bootie
• another way I could create physical comfort is to make the environment comfortable, such as make a comfortable chair, one that is ergonomically designed to make tying up your shoes easier, such as having it on an angle so that it can be easy to bend down. or have padding around it to create warmth and softness, play soft soothing sounds, pleasant smells. 
• I could use the reassurance to create a mental comfortable experience using soft soothing voice and positive words, ask them questions that mother them, and talk to them personally so it wasn't as awkward situation. I feel that the problem with this is that it would be hard to pull off well they could find the situation awkward as they might not understand why you are asking them all those questions and find it more irritating rather then comforting, and as it is such a small task you cant create that closeness and personal interaction. 
• in a reading I had found that to create comfort you need discomfort i find that this would be a strong concept as you do feel comfortable on the last experience, but the problem with this projects is that the whole experience as to be comfortable so if I make some components uncomfortable it then defeats the whole experience of being comfortable. 

changing the act;

I want to make the act of putting on and tying up your shoes different so you notice the comfort elements. so it decided to think of different was to do this;

• I could pull apart all the different steps of the activity and make each component comfortable in a different way. loosening your lasses, pushing your foot int the shoe and the tension of pulling it on, tightness up the laces, tying the bow. I could take the main ideas of these steps and make them separate and focus on home to make them physically comfortable, such as changing the materials, smell, taste, sight, sound that reflect the steps
• I could enlarge the act and move it away form the foot, such as use the whole body or take it away from the body and have it as an external act, this way you would look at it differently and experience it in a different way, as it is an act you to subconsciously and don't take any notice of it as you do it on a daily basis 

comfort and design

Vink, P. (2005). Comfort and design: Principles and good practice. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

I found a book that looked at comfort in the use of products. it focused mostly on ergonomics and space rather then anything else. it described comfort as "influenced by many factors in the environment. that means that it is not easy to design, market or manage with factors of design." "there is at least three problems face us in striving for comfort; 1. the exact cause of discomfort or comfort is unknown, there is no model available that describes the cause of comfort. 2. every individual has his or her own meaning of comfort. comfort is a subjective phenomenon. 3. the comfort design process is not described and the approach is unknown." i found this book more interesting then other reading i had found as it talked more about the physical aspect of comfort rather then the mental aspect. I feel that this would be easier to create an experience. 

The problem that keeps on coming up when I read about comfort is that it is a subjective phenomenon this then means that it is up to the user to decide if they are comfortable and everyone will experience it  differently. i also fell that comfort can come off as an initial factor and over time you get use to the surrounding and you take comfort for granted so when making my experience I would want it to be short so the user will appreciate it fully.

comfort on a ward for old people

I found a reading by Elizabeth Tutton who had written about trying to make elderly patient feel more comfortable with their nursers, I though this reading would give a different approach to how to make an experience more comfortable.

Tutton, E., & Seers, K. (2004). Comfort on a ward for older people. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 46(4), 380-389. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03005.x

but I found that it didn't relate to the type of comfort I was looking for, it was showing the long term relationship between an elderly patient and there nurse. The study drew on the principles of ethnography (Hammersley & Atkinson 1995), the primary focus of which is to provide a description of a culture by observing, descri- bing and analysing what is happening (Aamodt 1991). This study explored comfort as a specific aspect of a culture and, therefore, is more focussed than traditional ethnographies (Leininger 1985).  Gaining trust and having a bond, learning about their lives and hearing their stories. making a more comfortable living environment. Hall (1964, 1969) suggests that comfort is a part of the process of developing closeness with patients which leads to growth and healing. I don't have the time to give my whole life to get to know the tutors and make a comfortable living environment, so I found it was hard to pick out was would be useful to use. 

First concept

one Idea I had was to make a foldable hat. one that could have a hard casing but in sections that then could be folded up, so that on a hot day you could take it off, fold it up and put it in your pocked but when wearing it you had more protection then a beanie,

i want to keep to the normal beanie look as posable so looked at the different common shapes. the first was the normal shape with the flappy ear parts to keep their ears warm and the folds would go down the center of the ear parts. the next I looked at the normal round one where the bottom rim is folded over, I felt if I did this one I would make that part elastic so it would hold on to the head better as I am scared that if the segments are hard then they wouldn't hold to the head as well so I would be scared the hat would fall off, so having the elastic part it would hold on but it would also be easy to fold.
My last idea I felt would fit my preference better, I enjoy skiing with only ear warmers (a headband type thing but sits tightly over the ears) i like skiing with ear warms as it means my head were the hair is can breath but my ears and forehead can stay warm, but in this idea it would have the segments but between them will be made of mesh so it can breath, the problem with this one is that on wet days the snow/rain could get inside the hat and defeat the purpose of it and make your head could and uncomfortable so would have to find a way to get air into it but keep it waterproof.

Sketch model;

I decided to try make a sketch model to see if my idea would work, I know the actual shape docent match a shape of the head but I wanted to see if you could get it to fold and it does fold in the way I want it to fold. but as your head is not cone shaped and rounds over, either the materials would have to be able to fold flat when not on the head or would have to be in segments that are curved when in the hat position so have tension on the fabric when like that so it sticks to the shape of the head and then flattens out and collapses when not on the head.

Skiing.

I have the hobby of going skiing and love the freedom of the sport and a part of the joy of the sport is the adrenaline of risk taking, so in a way safety has to be kept at a minimum but now days it is becoming more common for people wear more safety gear such as helmets and some snowboarder wear wrist guards to prevent strains, but me personally don't like waring the helmets i find them quite heavy on your head and don't breath well so by the end of the day you have a sweaty head, I also feel that their is a fashion/status element when you are on the mountain as you just don't look as good with a helmet, if you aren't a pro you come of as bit of a wimp or just to over protective. But I do find them kind of useful as the last time I went skiing I bailed on a run and landed on my head which not only hurt but also resulted it not being able to move my neck for a week and I know that people have died while on the mountain and they would of survived if they were wearing a helmet like actress Natasha Richardson who died in a skiing accident for not wearing a helmet.

I would like to design a helmet that wasn't noticeable and was breathable as I find that the temperature of the mountain changes rapidly throughout the day, it is normally cold in the morning and on a good sunny day you are hot by lunchtime, and always find my head and chest area are the first to over heat (the head heats up after with a helmet of as it isn't breathable and also heavy and restricting so heat is contained inside it). so if I had a helmet that could keep your head warm in the cold wind and mornings but could also not over heat your head in the sun.

I found a website that looked at different skiing and snow boarding injuries and it describes that head injuries is the most fatal and can have the worst outcome, can end up with death or severe head injuries. 'Individuals who have sustained serious head injuries often need advanced airway procedures such as intubation and ventilation in order to maintain adequate levels of oxygenation. Additional complications can include respiratory depression, seizures (fits) and associated spinal injury. If the brain has been badly damaged, bleeding both in and around the brain can occur and the brain itself can swell. This is a real problem, because the brain is encased in a solid case (the skull) which has no vent for this increased pressure. The brain therefore gets squeezed by this increasing pressure which damages it still further. All in all, not good. Unfortunately, as a result, serious head injuries, even with appropriate management, frequently result in death or permanent and significant disability.'  There are three main outcomes that can result in a head on accident; Collisions - either with another person or an object (e.g. tree, rock, fence, pylon, snow surface), Impacts with snow surface (e.g falls onto a hard snow/ice surface or jumps that go wrong) or Lift accidents (e.g hits on the head from swinging T-bars, chairs or poma buttons). so there are many factors that could go wrong if you are not careful. 

head injuries account for at most 10-20% of all snow accidents but I feel it is the most dangerous.

Over the last 10 year in the USA there has been 39 deaths on the slops due to head injuries, and 30 of them were skiers and of the 39 eight of them were reported to be wearing helmets, so it shows that helmet do save the lives but do slow down the chances. 

There are also arguments against wearing the helmet, it suggest that wearing a helmet puts strain on the neck and makes you more prone to next injuries, it also states that helmets affects your vision as you cant see a wider range as you cant see on your sides. As you have the helmet on squashing on your head and coving your ears it is thought that your hearing is more impaired  I have found this when trailing the helmet, I did find it more difficult to hear. and also it is thought that when wearing a helmet  you are more prone to take more risks as you feel you will be fine if land on your head  the "risk compensation theory"

I looked it what ski helmets are made from and I found a web site that explained the different types of padding inside the helmets and what they feel are the safest type of helmet. http://www.allsportprotection.com/Types_of_Ski_Helmets_s/662.htm;

EPS

 EPS (Expanded Polystyrene). Low-profile and light in weight, EPS foam liners are the industry standard for action sports. EPS liners are not multi-impact, but they do meet CE/CPSC standards. 

SXP from Pro Tec

 SXP (Surface Activated Expanded Polypropylene). Patented multi-impact material that is ideal for aggressive riding style. Multi-impact SXP liners have built-in rebound control. Once the liners have been compressed, multi-impact SXP memory kicks in and the liner rebounds, maintaining its impact-absorbing qualities. Multi-impact SXP are the only lightweight multi-impact helmets to be CE/CPSC-certified and still deliver the style and fit that customers deserve. 

SEPP/EPP from POC

 SEPP (Super Expanded Polypropylene) / EPP (Expanded Polypropylene). The difference between the materials is that SEPP and EPP, unlike EPS do not deform permanently on impact and is therefore suitable to absorb repetitive shocks. Meaning, essentially that an EPS liner will break, distributing the force from the impact throughout the helmet. The EPP and SEPP are similar in that they will also break when the maximum force of impact occurs, but SEPP and EPP have higher stress limits when it comes to breakage and flex. 

Hard Hat Brock Foam from Bern Unlimited

 Bern Hard Hat is an interior foam called Brock Foam. Brock Foam is a soft, very comfortable foam that is rated as a multiple impact foam. When an impact occurs on a Brock pad, each bead moves the adjacent two beads laterally which diffuses the impact. Friction between the beads turns much of the force into kinetic energy. Multiply this by the thousands of beads in each pad and you have the essence of why Brock absorbs impact better than standard foam pads. It is made up of a polypropylene bead that offers a firm protective layer and has excellent moisture and heat wicking properties.

Brock foam is not certified ASTM or CE for skate, snow or bike. The helmet is still a great helmet, but you do need to be aware of this fact. 

Zipmold from Bern Unlimited

 The Bern Zip-Mold is what other companies will often call an in-mold helmet. The Bern Zip-Mold is similar in build to an EPS helmet except the outer shell and inner shell are combined into one during the manufacturing process. This allows for a better strength to weight ratio and gives the helmet a lower profile without losing its protective qualities. 

Most of this didn't make much sense to me in if I want to make my own as I don't really know how to get ahold of the different polypropylenes or how to work with them so I felt I would go for a different approach on making one and thought about changing the materials and form, if I want it to be breathable and to protect your head. I kind of want to mix the normal hat with the helmet; I don't think it it would be a helmet good for the risky skiers or the ones that jump off cliffs but a step up form the the beanie.

I then looked into the precedent that was given in class the Hovding- airbag for cyclists, using the airbag concept to make a cycling helmet, The airbag is designed like a hood and made in an ultra-strong nylon fabric that won’t rip when scraped against the ground. Hövding protects nearly all of the head, while leaving the field of vision open.

The inflated airbag covers a much larger area than a traditional cycle helmet and is designed according to current accident statistics. The protection is greatest where it is needed most and the airbag provides extremely soft and gentle shock absorption. The pressure remains constant for several seconds, making it able to withstand multiple head impacts during the same accident. After that the airbag slowly starts to deflate.

I think the problem with this helmet when it comes to skiing as it wont work as effectively is that it is more common to fall over on skis then it is on a bike as I feel that this type of helmet is more of a one it thing and then would have to spend some time to sit and put it back in and make sure it is ready to go off again, and I feel that the force you fall of a bike is different then on skis and it would be hard to deuterium if you are fall over or just flying down the mountain at top speed. also this helmet is designed not be be on your head most of the time and have your head exposed to the elements which isn't ideal for skiing as you want to keep your head warm in -0 temperatures. But it is a good precedent as it shows a different way to make a helmet then just the normal with a Polypropylene inside and hard plastic shell. 

I then looked at different types of helmets out there not designed for skiing but designed to protect your head. and I thought about rugby and boxing headgears, they aren't made out of hard plastic, they are soft flexible and breathable. they aren't the look I want to go for but they are good to protect your head on impact, so its a good indication to know where to put the points needing most protection. 

Children safety.

I found in INDN 211 I had enjoyed making children's  toys or objects that were based around children so I felt I could look at making something round children in this task. I have an 18month old brother back at home so thought about thing that you could make his life and surroundings safer. you don't want to restrict children's lives to much as you need them to learn what not to do on their own but there needs to be limitations on how far you will let them go before they are going to corse them harm and danger.

He is a boy of routine and every night he get his little chair and pushes it into the kitchen and watches his mother make his dinner and 'helps' wash the dishes, and he enjoys leaning how his dinner is made, but the only problem with him moving his chair around the kitchen and being able to be at the hight of the bench is he is now able to touch the elements which are occasionally hot and as you are multi tasking when in the kitchen you can watch every second you are in the kitchen so there is the risk of him touching the element when it is hot. it would be good idea to design a way that he can reach the elements and restricted him on pushing his chair close enough to the element but also make it easy for the person cooking to get to the element easily. or design a way so that if he get his hands near it either it wont burn him.

Bread tags it the highest object that kids choke on, so another think I thought I could design was to create a way to keep bread fresh, easy to make, easy to seal and reseal and children won't choke on. you could have a snap-lock type of seal on the bag so that you could reseal it and would have the bread tags but then there is the fear of squashing the bread. or just go to another extreme and design a completely new way to seal brad that will be easy and will take away the bread tag.

Safety.

For my next design project was have to come up with a new product of redesign a product to make it safer. So the get inspired I looked stats.nz and ACC.nz to see if I could find some stats on the types of injuries that people face though out the home and then from that I could think of designing ways of preventing it. I found it had finding specific stats on the types of injuries recorded, it just gave numbers on the age, race and gender of the people making claims which I didn't find helpful in preventing injuries. I then decided to broaden my search and found a Scottish website that gave the list of the serous injuries in the home in 2009-2010;

This table showed that nearly three quarters of people who where hospitalised  from injuries in the home was due to falling. I then discussed these stats with an occupational therapist who focuses on the care and assisting elderly people and she said the not only is the fall rate high with in elderly but they also have the fare of falling but a lot of them are stubborn and don't want their lives to change to radically when that are getting older and frail because that shows that they are weak, so If I was to design something of elderly I would have to come up with something that assisted them or prevented them from injuries but also didn't look different or would draw attention to themselves. so will design hidden handrails or lager steps, but also has to be easy to use as well.

We talked about different ideas that could help and protect elderly;

• I know that my grandmother finds it harder now days to get in and out of our swimming pool as she cant pool her self easily up our steps as we don't have any handrails and the steps are at a step gradient. It would be cool to design a way to get her easily in and out of our pool but not change the aesthetics of our pool but putting in a rail. 

• A lot to elderly people take pride in their gardening and like to spend their days in their garden, grooming and trimming there flowers or planting vegetables. When people get older their skin gets softer and are more prone to get cuts, this is then a problem when it come to cutting their roses as they then get pricked by the thorns, so I could design something that didn't restrict them from cutting their roses but could protect their delicate skin from the thorns. Also as they are more frail they find it had to be down on their knees and also find it hard to get up from the ground so another thing I could design around the idea of gardening could be to make a vegetable garden that was safe and easy for old people to use and maintain, it could be raised higher of the ground so they didn't have to bend down, but also designed ergonomically so they can reach everything easily. 
• They also find it hard to get in and out of bed, going from the lying position to then sit up and turn and then from their to then stand up. it uses a lot of energy to just a simple task as it uses a lot of different mussels and you have to use a lot of power to pull or self up. I could design something that could make this take easer but didn't change their environment radically as they don't like things looking different so physiologically it shouldn't change their environment to much.
• Also when you get older your vision decreases it becomes harder to complete tasks and makes it harder to see your soundings as your world docent look as defined. To make it easier to see around you home when your vision is decreasing Occupational Therapist change the lighting, and light up rooms resulting in making the surroundings easier to see. I could design a device that  used light to make it easier for elderly to see where ever they go as they don't just need their homes lightened up they need everywhere they go. I could make a walker with lights on it or some kind of head torch, but I think you would just look radicals with that and would draw attention to your self in a way you don't want to be addressed.

Chocolate lamp photos

Making it.

I felt the best and easiest way to make this light was to lathe it, I first started by lathing the top dome that would be later vacuum formed that would be were the chocolate would be incased. I then lathed the body of the light, I went to a simple shape that widened halfway up and then angled back in, I felt that this was a different shape then most lights as center pieces. I also made suer the bottom of it it perfectly fitted the vacuum formed plastic.

After I made all of the forms I wanted to design the the holes where the chocolate would fall through I didn't just want a simple one hole in the center as I feel thats what a bottle it for, I wanted it to be unique and delicate so i did a few sketches;

I looked at doing circles, rings and lines as I felt that they could all give of a different look when the chocolate flowed through them. I didn't think I should do the ring one as I thought it would be to hard to execute cleanly as I would have to cut the shapes out with a craft knife and doing curved spaces are hard to pull of well so I decided to to continue with that design. I first tried the lines and cut them in to one of my vacuum formed plastic domes and tried to pour melted chocolate though them and see what happens.

I found the four lines didnt would as well as I had hoped I found three problems with it

1. I found i had made the slits to narrow so that when the chocolate was poured into it it did not exit and just sat in the bowl
2. The chocolate fall all along the lines I found the the chocolate just fell to the end of the points and then drop off which defeated the point of having them as lines
3. the last problem I had with the four lines was that I felt it looked like an udder as there was four part the chocolate could exit and I didn't poetically want it ti look like an udder it wasn't the look I was going four.

after the lines I tried the circles and I make them wider then the lines and I found that the chocolate flowed a lot easier with a bigger area.

After this I had an idea to give the user a bit of freedom and alterations so I made two more chocolate cases, one with three larger holes and the other with just one even bigger hole. having three different covers meant the user could choose what one they wanted, they could have one with six smaller holes that would take longer for the chocolate to fall though but would spread the chocolate  out further when it falls while the one big hole would melt faster but would only fall in one spot. 

I also had to think about the shape of the chocolate inside the case, I found it didn't melt all the way though when it was to thick this then meant the chocolate didn't fall though. I also didn't want it to thin then there would be enough chocolate to enjoy. the way I found to get it just right was to have it thiner where the chocolate would exit so it would melt faster and then have it thicker on the sides so due to gravity then it melted it would get heavy and fall through. 

Chocolate

when talking it over with my tutor we decided that my wax light wasn't strong enough as there wasn't much to it so after a long time of thinking we came up the the brilliant idea of making the light no longer out of wax but out of chocolate instead, to make it a center piece for a dinner table so the when the light is on it results in the chocolate to melt.

I thought of different ways I could deign it

• the first was to make the chocolate around the light, on top of it so when the heat would rise from the light it would make the chocolate melt and collapse around the lamp, reveling the light and making a fondu around it. the problem I had with the form would be that I didn't think it would be the best move to have the chocolate fall onto the light as there could be some health risk with halogen lights mixing with food i also didn't want chocolate to get into the wiring as it seemed like a mess to clean up.
• another Idea I had was to have the chocolate like a candle and have the light on the flexible wire and have it going up the center of the light resulting in the chocolate to represent a candle and when the chcoclate melts it would make a melted puddle around the base of the candle.
• another Idea I had was the have a ring of halogen light that the chocolate would melt through, this way the light wouldn't be covered and would be shining the whole time and won't be effected by the chocolate but would still make the chocolate melt through the center.
• the last Idea I had was to have the chocolate and lighting fixture hanging up above the users dinner table with the chocolate below the light incasing the light, and below on the table would be a bowl of the food that the user wants to have covered in chocolate, such as fruit nuts or crackers. when the light heats up the chocolate it will make it drip down and slowly revel the light with in it.

Development.

After doing the testing I thought about different ways I could make the form work, I tried to push the Idea of having the wax fall into water but I found it hard to pick a shape as I needed the wax form to be an angular shape pointing down so the wax would fall down when it melted but i couldn't figure out a shape of the water to complement it. I also found it hard to figure out how to hide the wiring from the battery to the lights as the wax would be sitting on it and I don't want it to be visible. I finally came up with an idea when I found a lighting design online that I liked I thought it was simple but I liked the contrast between the to materials, so I was going to redesign this look but make it out of wax rather then a bulb so that when it melted it would show the contrast between the wood and wax thou not just the colour and the transparency of the wax but also would show how the wax melts in the light and the wood wont, it would also make a interesting shape around the wood as it melts down, it will go form two balls to one.

Halogen

I felt the next step to do was to buy some halogen lights and play around with them and find out their limitations, I went to a Lighting shop and asked them about halogen lights and want was the easiest to work with so they found me some 10watt bulbs, having 10 watts went that I could set them up to s simple circuit and use normal batteries rater then buying but battery packs.

i was also given sockets to put the bulbs into so that so it didn't have to play around trying to solder the lights to wire and it also had hooks on it so I could easily attach it to my frame. I also found away to get around soldering because in the last project I found it very difficult to solder so this time to save time and my sanity I would a way to screw the wires in to place rather then solder them.

 I found a place in wellington to buy big blocks of wax that I could melt down and remold in to my chosen shape.

I then made a simple circuit to see it I could get the light to work, and I DID. 

The next part was the most important part of my testing, to see if the light could get hot enough to melt the wax, so I set it up so the wax was siting on top of the light so that when the heat off the light would rise up and corse the wax to heat up and melt. and it worked... very slowly, but it worked. i feel a few there where a few factors on why it melted slowly one would have been the fact that it was only a 10watt light and if i had a stronger one it would melt faster and another factor would of been because it was in an open space so the heat was not controlled so it went out the sides so it i made it a closed space it would trap the heat resulting it to melt faster.

wax concepts

I came up with a few concepts on making my own wax light;

• I first came up with have a very geometric wax shape so that when it melted it would change shape to soft rounded organic shapes showing the contrast between the start point and end point, I felt that is form would inherence the forms and shapes wax can take on with it starting out with hard sharp shapes. I was think a few hanging triangles showing repetition and also representing a modern look on stalactites.
• another idea I had was to have multiple lights that had different switches so it was up to the user to switch them on and off, so they could control what lights would corse the wax to melt or at what pace the wax would meant out, the more lights on, the more heat, resulting in the faster the wax to melt. it light is more interactive and got the user to think about how they wanted the wax to form.
• Another shaper I thought of was to have a round shape to represent a flame, i felt that this was a strong way to show the concept of the heat of the light because when I think of wax melting I think of fire melting it, not light so having the wax the shape of wax plays on that idea and when the light is on the wax would melt and change the shape of the wax and slowly reveling the light being the source of the heat and light.
• I also though about how the wax would fall and I didn't just want the wax to fall on the ground but didn't just want a container to capture it in as I felt it would reflect to much on the precedent so I thought about making a clear container that held water in it so when the wax fell of the top part it would fall in to water, and at first the wax would make little balls of wax that floated on the top of the water and then over time as the wax accumulated it would cover the water so you would no longer see it and would act like an iceberg in the ocean and be a stable structure onto of water. It would also be easy to clean up as the wax would of only stuck to its self so to remove it all you would have to do it just scoop it out of the water.
• I also had to think of different ways to hold the wax to the light, in the precedent the used bent wire to hold it on and it also would restrict the wax to much when it is melting so i wanted to find away that would do that to. I thought of doing pins that went though the wax and into the frame on angle. I also thought about having a screw in system so the wax would screw into the frame but I thought that the would be hard to make fit perfectly. I also though of having the wax on top if lighting and having holes around the lights so the wax would drip though because heat risers so having above would not only be easier to support as heat risers it would melt faster. 

Wax light

I came a cross the light one night as was really inspire by it, on how such as simple concept had a looked so unique and could stand out so strongly. So i felt i would change my idea for my light to use this as a precedent,

I really liked the fluid organic forms and movement the wax makes when the the light it on. I enjoy how a harsh shape of the way the wax starts with moves into soft unpredictable shapes as it melts down. I love the warm coloured light that comes though the wax and the different shadows and brightness it creates in the different thicknesses of the wax and when the wax melts away the light becomes stronger. 

another part of the light that fascinated me was the way the wax was reused, it was designed so the wax would drop in to a cup below the lighting fixture and would remold the shape of the wax so it can be re used. the problem with this is I don't think it would work properly as air would become trapped in the bottom case and it wouldn't dry flat on the top so it would never look the same as the original, but I guess that the fun and uniqueness of it.

I would use the concept of wax and light as I feel that those are two strong complainants together and its quite a unique way to show different aspects of light and lights don't just produce light but some lights such as halogen lights also produce heat. I would play around with what way the wax falls (falling off the frame or having it above the frame and have it fall around it) or i could get it to fall on to something like fall into water or fall onto an uneven surface to adjust the way the wax would form.

water light

I looked into creating a light that used water to produce the current like the "water graffiti wall", I tried to think of other ways to make water interactive and unique in a simple way to create the circuit as that is not my strongest part of design, so the simpler the better.

I first idea I had was to form a kind of funnel so that you would pour water down the center and it would core the lights to turn on and I would design a pattern, I thought about the patters first I came up with the ides where when the water flowed though the lights would turn on in a spiral starting from the top and working its way down, the next I thought rings which different lights would turn on in an unexpected pattern making the whole experience unexpected. and the last was just vertical strips that when the water hit the bottom of the funnel the lights would flash.

another idea I had was to have multiple small funnels that would capture the water in different parts so when then different funnels get water different lights would turn on. this design seemed more interactive and unique I also thought it would be easier to execute. 

500 words

Structure of feeling

In the reading I found it suggested that we take comfort for granted and that " people are animals designed for sensory simulation but comfort doesn't do too well" it is suggested that comfort is stronger after discomfort the example was given that a hot shower is more pleasurable after a week of tramping then a shower at the same temperature everyday. I felt I would try this theory by making an experiment at that would repeat an uncomfortable experiment and then on the last turn you would change the uncomfortable factor to a comfortable one. I found that when putting on shoes/ tying up your laces it doesn’t produce a loud sound. So I designed an experiment to be based over four days on the first three days I would play the theme song form Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Phyco” a very jagged fast passed pace of music that would make you jump out of you seat and feel very uncomfortable and scarred for your life. And then on the last day I played an upbeat calming song that would make you feel relaxed and comforted, The song would tell you that "its ok all will be fine now" I chose a song that normally I wouldn't be proud of but I felt it fitted the part, I picked an instrumental version of 'what makes you beautiful' by One Direction. I found the piece of music very relaxing and comforting as it had song slurring notes and a slow peaceful pace and even though the song is differently not one of my favorite song, I felt that nothing negative is related around this song as it is upbeat and familiar, there has to be a reason it so popular and I felt that as it was popular and well know it helped to crate a comforting environment. When doing the experiment I did feel on edge when Pyscho was playing, it became hard to concentrate on the activity as the song that gets you heart racing, definitely when it get to the extremely high pitched part I always wanted to tie my shoes up really fast so I didn't have to continue listing to the song. When the music was playing I felt like the worst was going to happen. Like the girl in the movie when she is court of guard in the shower and stabbed and having the song as a routine didn't help as then by the third day I was not looking forward to putting on my shoes because I didn't want to listen to it again. When day number four came I sure did feel comfortable even having no sound I would of felt comfortable, having the relief of not listing to physo AGAIN. But the One Direction song made it surprisingly more comfortable as its is show pace and uses slurring notes which I feel plays a big part in making a song as it gives a soft sound and making comfortable music. I also enjoyed listing to the instrumental version of the song I felt it gave a different sound to the song, you focused on the music being played rater then listing to those boys sing it, I felt it was unexpectedly familiar as you know the tune but having it as an instrumental you get to hear it in a different context. I found on day four i took my time and was more comfortable doing the act as it was a familiar, upbeat song to tie your shoes to, when has One Direction made you uncomfortable?

    

Comfort Sound.

As putting on you shoes/tying up your laces doesn't produce a loud sound I wanted to play on the Idea in the reading,  that we take comfort for granted and that we only notice it and appreciate it when it has been taken away from you for a while. so for this experiment I wanted to base it over a few days so for the first three days I played music that I thought would be uncomfortable so I played the them song from Alfred Hitchcock's movie Pyscho a very jagged fast passed peace of music that would make you jump out of you seat and feel very uncomfortable and scarred for your life.

And then on the last day I played an upbeat calming song that would make you feel relaxed and comforted, The song would tell you that "its ok all will be fine now" I chose a song that normally I wouldn't be proud of but I felt it fitted the part, I picked an instrumental version of 'what makes you beautiful' by One Direction I found the piece of music very relaxing and comforting as it had song slurring notes and a slow peaceful pace and even though the song is differently not a favorite song, I felt that noting negative is related around the song is upbeat and familiar, there as to be a reason it so popular and I felt that as it was popular and well know it helped to crate a comforting environment.

when doing the experiment I did feel on edge when Pyscho was playing, it became hard to concentrate on what was happening as its a song that gets you heat racing most definitely when it get to the expreamly high pitched part, I always wanted to tie my shoes up really fast so I didn't have to continue listing to the song, when the music was playing I felt like the worst was going to happen Like the girl in the movie when she is court of guard in the shower and stabbed and having the song as a routine didn't help as then by the third day I was not looking forward to putting on my shoes because I didn't want to listen to it again. when day number four came I sure did feel comfortable even having no sound I would of felt comfortable, having the relief of not listing to physo AGAIN. but the One Direction song made it even more comfortable as its is show pace and uses slurring notes which I feel plays a big part in making a song as it gives a soft sound and making comfortable music. I also enjoyed listing to the instrumental version of the song I felt it gave a different sound to the song, you focused on the music being played rater then listing to those boys sing it, I felt it was unexpectedly familiar as as you know the tune but having it as an instrumental you get to hear it in a different context. I found on day four i took my time and was more comfortable doing the act as it was a familiar, upbeat song to tie your shoes to, when has One Direction made you uncomfortable?