Ecopaw On Coroflot

I've finished and uploaded the project slides for Ecopaw from IPD last semester to Coroflot (the design jobs/portfolio website). Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Ecopaw on Coroflot

Thanks for reading!

EcoPaw Show Materials

Thought I'd upload our EcoPaw team posters from the IPD trade show. These were printed 3'x4' and looked great!

We didn't win unfoutunately, came in mid pack. While we won the web show nicely, we were in 5th during the trade show in terms of market share at 10.4% (the 2nd - 5th were all with in 1% of each other). We also overstocked by quite a large amount and that hurt our bottom line, but in the end I'm really proud of EcoPaw.

Thanks for reading!

EcoPaw : What's your carbon pawprint?

Oh yes, IPD (the competitive team design class) is in full swing. It's all due Monday afternoon. Luckily my team has worked together amazingly well and we are almost done. I just finished our 3rd prototype, which is pictured here in all it's green glory, and have a few alterations to make to our final product. Minor things though, not drastic redesigns. We are losing the rubber pinch points (the bag holders) as the bag stays put without them and they are costly to manufacture. Also the way the cordura fabric attaches to the body is being redesigned to keep the shoulder strap out of the way when scooping. Now all I need to do is make 3 more for Monday!

We had our final design crit yesterday with the professors and it went very well. Shaun Jackson and Bill Lovejoy called our teams design "sophisticated" "sleek" "cool" "hip" "urbane" and "possible winner". Oh yes.

Oh, the name, Ecopaw, is because the body is made out of recycled polystyrene and all the bits are recycleable.

Ecopaw comes with biodegradable bags and biodegradable poop stoppers (they are made from chipboard).

When done, toss the biodegradable poop stopper into the bag and it all will compost.

In this generation, the fabric cover pulls around back and is held magnetically.

The fabric cover pulled over the mouth of Ecopaw, again held magnetically in place on the back side.

The back side of Ecopaw, where the removable shoulder straps connect to the body.

Snap button closures on the front side as well.

4 finger rubberized handle for good grip in cold and warm weather.

The maligned Pinch Points, they don't work consistently and aren't really needed. They were also a pain to make. Although, Shaun Jackson (my thesis prof) was impressed at how resolved they were!

Looking down the mouth of EcoPaw. You can see the magnets on the bas and the inside of the snap closures.

Ecopaw in it's carry state. As the shoulder strap is removable, if the user wishes they could carry Ecopaw by hand.

So, seeing as how this is a design competition I was holding off posting until late in the game. If the other teams haven't figured out their design by now, well, I doubt they could successfully knock off my design in a weekend. I'm feeling pretty good about this all right now obviously.

Thanks for reading!

The Final Countdown

Welcome to Senior year! I've got a studio now (well a 8'x8' gray box, it's a cubicle really) and just bought some new sketch books. All set to design.

For Fall '10 I'm taking,

I.P. (Integrative Project)

Basically, Michigan's fancy name for senior thesis project. I actually refuse to call it IP because I think it's a silly name. I do get my own studio for this course though!

I.P.D. (Integrated Product Development)

More acronyms! Teams of designers, engineers and MBA's design, produce and 'sell' a product at a fake trade show. We are designing, wait for it, pooper scoopers. Yep, pooper scoopers. I swear if the MBA in my group says "value added", I'll punch them.

Detroit Connections

I go to Detroit on Fridays and do art projects with 4 graders who would not have access to art classes otherwise. I love kids and am excited for this one.

Yep, just 3 classes (well along with the 1 credit required lectures for all students). Thesis is 6 credits a semester and IPD is 6 credits as well. I'll be busy with those two.

So, what am I thinking of doing for senior thesis? Well after kicking around a few ideas, including developing Home Base further and working to get it manufactured on a small scale, I decided to work on a project that I knew I would love and finally get something bike related in my portfolio. I'm going to design and build an urban trailer system for bicycles. The sort of thing bicycle commuters would use.

So, initial criteria I'm working towards,

-pullable by bike and walkable by hand

-foldable

-light weight

-customizable with different bag attachment options

-water proof bags in lieu of a rainfly

-stable (two wheels)

-maneuverable (small wheels)

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!