Current

Job at 'The Moulton Bicycle Company'

2010-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Just started working for 'The Moulton Bicycle Company.'
Looking forward to combining a passion for bikes, with skills in design and manufacture.
Picture borrowed from http://www.tomkiss.net/blog

RENOLIT - Teesside Product Design MSc Show

2010-12-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

It took some manpower, but the huge light eventually got fixed in place for the show. It was placed at the building entrance to welcome people in, with a push button to turn the product from a blank wood effect panel, to a bright decorative light. The product was given the award for Best In Show, and this couldnt have been achieved without the help of tutors, workshop technicians, and unbelievably supportive friends. Cheers!

Testing

2010-07-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

The thrill of switching this thing on for the first time cannot be explained. The worry that it wasnt going to work, and the closeness of the deadline, made the last few days of prototyping manic. It was PAT tested at the last minute, and thnakfully it passed first time. Hows that for little electronics experience?

Protoyping

2010-07-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

It was decided that a fully working prototype was necessary to achieve the dramatic effect of the light. A scale version would not be good enough, and it had to be fully working to translate the idea completely. After a few weeks its starting to come together.

RENOLIT decorative light development

2010-06-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

The project has moved forward and a design for a large wall light has been developing. A mock up of the design was constructed from scrap wood and cardboard to get a feel for the size of the thing. It's going to be huge, but possible. Next thing to do is start builidng the full scale working prototype.

Newport Bridge

2010-05-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Some time off was taken to go for a spin on the bike and get some photos of the local area. This is Newport Bridge between Middlesbrough and Stockton, the bridge span used to raise for vessels to pass beneath it but it's no longer in use. It's an interesting reminder of Boros industrial past. More photos are up on my flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/treehuggerfool

RENOLIT light box experiment

2010-05-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

The translucency was taken advantage of to create this patterned light box. The pattern was cut out of adhesive vinyl and stuck to a thin piece of perspex. The RENOLIT film was bolted over the top and a box was built around it. Using two anglepoise lamps behind the box, this beautiful effect was created.

RENOLIT vacuum forming

2010-05-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

It was found out that RENOLIT films can be very effectively vacuum formed into interesting shapes, even around heavily curved surfaces such as this one. The inks and embossing remain and the wood grain effect is maintained.

RENOLIT lampshade

2010-05-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

An interesting property of the RENOLIT films is that it is tranlucent, this lead to the design of a lampshade. The shade was constructed from about 12 hand cut sheets curled around a plastic straw axle. This was just a quick and dirty prototype for a freestanding lamp to test out the film.

RENOLIT experimentation

2010-05-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

As a major project for a Masters degree, I have been working with RENOLIT, a manufacturer of high-quality plastic films and related products for technical applications. Currently in the experimentation stages, this shows some of the origami folding techniques that were tried on some of their wood grain films.

Quick card design

2010-04-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

This Sainsburies Basics card design is up here because it made a few people chuckle. It was put together for a recent housemate's birthday because as students, we consume our share of cheap food.