Steam iron concept
As part of a RenderWeekly design challenge, I wanted to show a bit of my process of getting from an idea to a final set of renders. The overall project took 5 hours across 2-3 days. The final concept actually got a lot of feedback both on my personal IG profile and also as it got featured on RenderWeekly. There were a few obvious issues with the design. And what was fun was to see the community being so engaged in a concept that I actually went back to throw in a short redesign.
The process
Roughing out ideas
First I did sketchwork - just very quick and rough, before heading into 3D to model up a few shapes I found interesting.
Heading into 3D
I looked at the general shapes that was interesting, before I moved into a direction.
Big handle.
Rounded big handle.
A cutout in shape.
The final one is encouraging a more free way of holding the iron while using it.
Next step. Details.
Going into detail mode, to get to some renders that could show the concept.
Feedback. Iterate. Improve.
Some of the comments on the right - as they appeared on RenderWeekly's feed.
Sharing leads to improvements
In a classic iterative process, I shared the renders of the concept on IG. It got a lot of feedback.
- Risk of burning your fingers.
- Hard to lift.
- Cannot get into corners.
- Capacitive touch not good with moist (like steam).
- Nice Renders - little brain behind it.
I loved the most of the critic. Luckily most of the feedback was constructive. The key is to try and filter the less constructive feedback out, keeping in mind that this was a very quick concept generation spanning across hours and not months as you would normally do.
The goal of this project was to create enticing renders - and it did much more, it created a debate about what content do we share on IG and how does that content affect the young people that are studying. What do these people learn from a concept like this? that bad design is good, as long as it looks nice?
I never intended this concept to be much more of a personal exploration for me, but I am so happy that we start the debate up on what we do will influence people, no matter what the intentions were with posting it.
Iterate
I went back to try and improve the concept, even though that was never the point of this exercise. But it was fun to engage with the community.
Adding a handle. The handle will allow the user to lift up the iron more easily. The downside is that it constricts the use of the iron, which is what the concept in the beginning did so well of allowing for.
Adding a corner to get in between buttons. This diminishes the strong shape that the iron had. but adds functionality.
Reflections
In a typical design process - concepts like these will be tested out, by prototypes, mockups etc. to validate the usefulness. This concept would probably not have made it - as the drawbacks are too many. But that is what I like about the concepting phase. To be able to postulate openly, and then try to understand the benefits and mitigate if possible. If not possible, abandon that one concept and move on with one of the many other concepts that were generated earlier in the process.
Final fun renders
One of my goals with this concept was to play around with cloth modifiers in Blender. And I got to use that for the contextual renders.
