Transcript

Brief Introduction

Welcome to the Lecture 3 of Week 2. In the first two lectures I have discussed about the product characteristics, namely the purposeful or functional characteristics and the operational characteristics. In this week I will discuss the aesthetic aspect in product design. What is aesthetics? Aesthetics is the appearance of the product. The outer look of the product. So the first impression is the last impression as is generally said. So this is sometimes true for the product as well. So the products or the implements that we design should be appealing to the people who are buying them. The farmers sometimes like to opt for different colors of the paints to be put on the implements that they are buying. For instance they would like to buy a reaper that is green in color. Someone would like to buy a harrow that is painted red in color. So different variants of products are also available.

So what is aesthetics?

• The moulding of the final shape around the basic skeleton is the main concern of the aesthetic aspect. Now this basic skeleton is known as the junctional shape. If you recall I have mentioned two major functions of a product. Work functions and sell functions. When all the work functions are there. Product is able to perform all the functions for which it is basically designed. But the sell functions we haven’t induced much. That is a junctional shape. That all links, all components, all the unit are working proper. But the outer covering is not yet ready to be sold. So sell functions here would be, painting it, covering it using a housing, doing some coating maybe chrome-plating, so as appearance also comes well. So that would add value to the product. I will come with an example for this as well.
• So there has been an increasing portrayal of aesthetics in design, and it has been convinced by study of gradual reversal in shape of these objects in the past.
• The one who believe in functional shape argue that it is logical for compatibility of function with shape, and should therefore be exploited rather than covered up. So the mechanical and industrial designers have different viewpoints. The mechanical design would more focus on the junctional way. The basic function say. The industrial designer because he would like to sell the product, he would also consider some aesthetics in that. Among designers functional shape is a concept in its own right.
• In many designs aesthetics is the governing factor and completely dominates it. I will take this example. Here which harrow you would like to purchase. This is a harrow used for the tilling of the soil. Tilling of the soil, what is tilling of the soil, overturning of the soil and breaking of the soil is tilling, so as to the soil is able to aerate. Soil is loosened so that we can sow the seed into it. So that is tilling operation. This is a very common tool. Harrow, used for tilling. So this is one harrow, this is harrow two. Suppose the cost of this is Rs 10,000. And suppose this is Rs 10,500. Let me see which one most customers would like to purchase. Just adding 5% of the cost and improving the appearance. This one would have higher sale. This is the same product. So this is having aesthetics. You know this is given black color, this is given because this has to go in the soil or in the ground itself. And this is given blue color. This has to be tied just behind the tractor. That would provide the traction force into it.

So some aesthetic design recommendations.

• For the parts of the housing or as additional decorations, use of special materials is advisable.
• Notable is the use of chromium strips, glass and fabrics, plastics, wood for the purpose. This is just for appearance. You might have heard of chromium plated wheels. Sometimes wheels are not made of chromium, but those are chromium plated. That gives the feel that the wheels are shining and it would run very fast. Just because chromium has its own brand name I would say in the market of the wheels.
• So use of color, is the color catered by paints or natural color of the material, platings, spraying or even flaming is also advisable.

So to the industrial designer composition and contrast of colors is of a great importance in creating design, with convenient, operational and aesthetic characteristics both.

• So color is supplemented by texture as well. Either by appropriate treatment of given surfaces or coatings.
• The production process is affected due to the surface finish and requirement of the brightness as determined by styling in the finishing stages. So texture also come into play. With color, when we talk about color. Different kinds of colors might bring a texture. For this if you see. This is a texture. Here we have a texture. This red color. In the yellow we have a texture, so the texture can have different kind of finishes, maybe mat finish, then we have mirror finish, then we have mottled finish. So these are varieties of surface finish, which are in vogue.
• Similarity to familiar objects and shape denoted by outer contours. Exploitation of shape can be done to provide some particular features. To create sense of spaciousness, illusions of size, dependability and richness. Certain suggestions are reserved for this.
• Use of line form breaking. Line form breaking in a case. This is a line. This is actually two different components, but this is given black color. So this breaks the upper housing from the lower housing. So use of line form breaking, scaling the product either into a small size or to blown up size. This is modelling. This is also advisable. So this creates scaling of the product, this creates novelty and sense of completeness in the design. So full size version, smaller version, there are different variations of the product. For instance if you see the tiller, the tiller or the harrow. Different variance of this harrow can be there. For instance one of the harrow could have this dimension, this width as maybe 500mm. and a similar product might have a width as 300 mm. that is a downscaled product, so those can be produced.
• So packaging is also. Packaging of small items. Novelty and enticement of packaging are often conveyed in the mind of the customer. Sometimes small components, hand tools like a plier or the shear that has to be lubricated as well. It has to be lubricated and packaged properly, and the name is put there, the company name is put there. So those things also happen. Those also happen. Packaging is a very important part in aesthetics. Sometimes a specific budget is put for packaging for some of the implements, to make it visible or make it appealing to the customer.

So this was the aesthetic aspect in the product characteristics. I will discuss about the cost and maintenance and repair in the next lecture. Then I will give a short introduction if we need to design the products to sell it properly in the market. Because this course is just talking about design thinking for agricultural implements. We can design one or two implements for you using creativity. Or you can just try to build a business out of that. If you need to build a business out of that, you need to think some of the aspects which are important from the marketing viewpoint. So those also I will discuss in the last lecture in this week.

Thank You.