Material

This is the material I used to try to build the case. I bought cheap Iphone cases at the dollar store and wanted to try 3 alternatives.

For the first, I wanted to take a wallet, cut out a part, and glue it to the back of the case. That actually worked, but the glue slipped inside the wallet and my card got stuck.

The second thing I wanted to use was CD cases, but the snap ons did not glue on correctly.

The third thing I wanted to use was a recycled bag, cut a part out and use that as the case, however the glue was once again the problem, as well as the case being made of hard plastic, rather than flexible plastic.

First Rough Plan

IPHONE CASE WITH POCKET

PROBLEM: Having to carry your cards and money around, or stick them in your bra, when

going out to clubs and bars.

When I go out, I always keep my Iphone in my hand, so, I started to put my cards and money in between the phone and the case, which broke my case:

SOLUTION: An Iphone case with a pocket to put cards and money

Rough idea of what the product might look like:

My next step:

- Buying a case to work on (or buy a new one for my phone and work on the one I have now since it's damaged but still very functional.)

- Finding and buying all the material I need to build it.

Pros and Cons of Each Idea

Problem: When going out to clubs and bars, women do not want to carry a purse around, and are therefore stuck with their cards and money to carry in their hands, or risk losing them by putting them in their bras.

Solution:

1) A bra with a pocket so that the items don’t fall out.

2) A case to put under a high heel shoe

3) A pocket we can sow on the inside of a dress

And my new idea:

4) An Iphone case with a pocket on the back for cards and money.

Exploring these solutions:

1) A bra with a pocket

Pros:

- People already use their bras to put their money and cards

Cons:

- Not a lot of space (no room for cell phone)

- If someone is not wearing a bra

Material needed:

- A bra

- Fabric for the pocket

- A Velcro or a zipper

- Sowing cord

2) A case to put under a high heel

Pros:

- Easy, simple, and cheap to do

- Can be used on different shoes, unlike the bra

Cons:

- Not a lot of room (no room for cell phone)

- Reaching to your feet every time you need to get something

- Safety: higher risk of money or cards falling out

- Would have to test it in order to see if it really works, or works well

- Esthetically: having a pocket on your heel

Material needed:

- Elastic

- Fabric for the case (“filet”)

- Sowing cord

3) A pocket to sow inside of a dress

Pros:

- More room (space for cell phone if not too heavy)

- Can be used on different dresses or even shirts

Cons:

- Harder to reach when you want to get something out (have to reach inside the dress, maybe even go to the bathroom)

- Maybe it would have a higher risk of breaking or falling out

- Esthetically: if the dress is is tight, the contents of the pocket might show

- Having to sow the Velcro on the dresses

Material needed:

- Velcro

- Fabric for pocket

- Zipper or Velcro

- Sowing cord

** How this would work: You would have only one pocket, which you could use on different dresses, because you would sow Velcro on the dresses. When you put on a certain dress, all you have to do is stick the pocket inside with the Velcro.

4) An Iphone case with a pocket:

Pros:

- Safest solution (no chance of money or cards falling out)

- Easy, accessible

- Can be used for other stuff too (ie: metro card, change, etc)

- Expanding the market in a minor way, because men can use it too.

Cons:

- Having to carry your phone

- Narrowing the market in a major way (going from everyone to Iphone owners)

After consideration and discussion, I chose to explore the idea of the Iphone case, first of all because it is the idea that interests me the most, second of all because all the other options had people having to carry their phones around anyways. I also chose the Iphone case idea because, if I end up with a product that actually works well, I could possibly market it, or, at a smaller scale, sell some to my friends (as well as using it myself, of course).

Tool Project, Entry #1 30/09

What I plan to get done today:

Last week, when I talked about my idea for this project in front of the class, I had 3 possible ways to apply my solution to the problem I chose to "solve". Today, I plan to explore these possibilities and choose the one I will be developing for this project. Then, I will come up with the exact steps to create the tool, as well as choosing the material I will use, and determining where I will get that material from. If I still have time left after this, I would like to go out and buy as much material as I can to build the tool.

LED Project

L.E.D. Project

At first, we started experimenting with the material and trying out different things. We thought about making specific shapes such as a star, a martini glass, a flashlight, etc... However, after trying out these different ideas, we realized that creating specific shapes was going to be way too complicated and difficult to achieve. So, we focused on making something that would simply look good. We figured spirals generally looked good, especially when hanging from the ceiling, so we started from there. We took two coat hangers and shaped them into spirals. But then, we needed another element to hold the two spirals and to make things a little more elaborated. So, we added the middle piece to it.

Our first idea was to use the white tights and then add some of the pink tights over it to create an esthetically pleasing object. However, we realized that the white tights were too see through and therefore let the coat hangers show too much. So, we decided to use to pink tights.

After we had added the tights on the object, we added some elements to make it more appealing to the eye. First, we added an aluminium spiral to the knot at the top of the object. We also added a piece of the white tights to the spiral on the object.

At last, we added the light and saw what it looked like in the dark!

Justine and Magalie