As part of the BTech Industrial Design curriculum, students were required to participate in a project known as The R5K Project. The R5K Project allows students to utilize the skills and theories they learned in the previous three years of studying for their Three-dimensional design national diploma.

The aim of this project is to establish a small business that will conceptualise, design, market, manufacture and finally sell a product in order to make a minimum of R5000 profit. In my case i created two products namely the Nomad Sleeve and Alpaca portable work station.

The Nomad Sleeve is a handmade protective leather sleeve for your Macbook. It has been designed and made exclusively for the Macbook Pro 13.3” Retina D and the Macbook Air 13”. It is available in both a dark mocha colour with red stitching and a light tanned shade with dark brown stitching. The Nomad sleeve fits snug around your Macbook. Both sleeves retail at R500.

lp c

The Alpaca portable work station has been designed for on-the-go professionals. Research has shown that there is an increase in the amount of people who are using their local coffee shop, coworking spaces or other similar areas as their office, as it is far cheaper than the cost of renting or hiring office space. There are however quite a few challenges faced by these nomadic workers. The Alpaca portable work station aims to resolve these issues.

The Alpaca portable work station is much more than a carrying device for your laptop. Alpaca acts as an ergonomic laptop stand and mouse pad, while housing charger, notes, earphones and stationary. It also comes with a few extra’s such as an organizer that holds memory stick, cables, pen and earphones neatly. A cell phone stand has also been incorporated that can also act as a charger clip. The Alpaca is easy to use as it simply folds open around the laptop and provides a solid working surface. Both retail at R2750.

UMi is a ceramic soup bowl inspired by the form of the mussel shell. This ceramic piece was specifically designed for high-end Japanese restaurants signature mussel soup dish and is often used as art a piece within its environment. The bowl is designed to keep to the traditional ways of Japanese culture while at same time enhancing user experience within the restaurant.

The idea behind UMi is that the dish will be served without any cutlery. The user will thus simply tilt bowl and drink soup as traditionally done by Japanese. Bread is usually served with the dish which will also simply be broken off and dipped into the bowl. The elegant design of UMi stays true to Japanese styling while embracing modern environment it finds itself within.

When taking a closer look one can see the degree of detail set into the piece. The “Cobalt Sea 65” glaze was used which exactly matches the colour of common mussel shell and also the rough texture of the shell has been imitated by roughing up the surface before final firing of ceramic piece. A two part drain mould was used to create this piece. The bottom consists of basic shape and upper sections allowing white stoneware slip cast to be drained when desired thickness is achieved. It is them glazed and fired between 1180 °C to 1280 °C. The bowl is then ready for use and is also dishwasher safe.

I took on the brand identity of HORIZON SUPPLY CO and created a watch that would suit the range of items sold by the brand. HORIZON SUPPLY CO is seller of merchandise of well-known Alternative Metal Band “Bring Me The Horizon”. “Bring Me The Horizon” is well known for their wide range of merchandise from Clothing to Pencil Holders. In addition I identified a gap in their range and took advantage of this. With the release of new album “That’s The Spirit” a wide range of new merchandise is expected. As part of new range to be seen in future I tried to capture the essence, feel, look of both the Brand & Band to create a watch that would be worthy to enter a range as well-known as HORIZON SUPPLY CO. So I came up with “Horizon Supply Co: Watch - Thats the Spirit Ltd. Edition”.

The aim of this project was to create a furniture piece that mimics the design philosophy of any well-known designer. I chose the 901 Tea Trolley designed by Hugo Alvar Hendrik Aalto in 1936 as basis for inspiration. I then set out to design a coffee table that would achieve the same design philosophy reflected by this magnificent piece. The entire table is made out of Birch Plywood and makes use of cold joining methods.

KUNYE is a Renewable Energy System designed for informal settlements in the Western Cape. The system makes use of human and organic waste to generate bio-gas that can be used as a harmless fuel in impermanent homes. Residents can collect Gas from local KUNYE shop and alternatively use it for cooking. The system can solve social, economic and environmental issues concerning Sanitation, Shack Fires and Pollution.

Using SPPS tools – a combination of Biomimicry and Lenses a sustainable system and product was created in the form of a bio-gas stove. A Upper Sectional prototype was created to indicate how the Safety Valve Functions. As pressure is applied on top of stove valve in form of pot etc. the valve would allow gas to escape. If no pressure is applied the valve would close allowing no gas to escape. Thus if stove is knocked over the flame would be extinguished.

This project was also exhibited and presented at LeNSes conference 2016 - Sustainable Energy for All by Design.

The aim of this project was to improve the immediate 5 Km surroundings of Cape Town. The problem i chose to focus on is Cape Town’s renowned “Cape Doctor” a strong South Easterly wind that causes havoc in inner city environments. In essence we set out to create a product/system that could shelter pedestrians from the energy of the wind and as an added feature could utilise that energy. A product that could redirect, dissipate and transform the winds energy. Using nature as inspiration, as well as the structure needing to allow wind to travel through it, different patterns were considered. The pattern that was selected is based on Bubble polygons, and is the most economical three dimensional shape. When sectioned, the shape produces a geometrical pattern, but at the same time offers an organic look. The structures holes vary in size along its length. The holes at the base are big enough for wind to travel through and deter vagrants. Smaller holes in the mid-section create high wind resistance, which protects commuters. Holes are larger at the top to allow maximum wind flow and turn the turbine within. Wind that travels around the structure will be directed into other structures, and be dissipated further, while commuters can be protected from wind that travels over the top as far as 80m behind the structure. In addition to redirecting the wind in the area, a vertical wind turbine was placed in the centre of each structure, to transform the wind's energy into electricity. This electricity will be used to power the up-lights that are integrated in the grating, thus making the area safer during dark commuting times. The turbine will work on a gearing system, so that no matter the wind strength, the turbine's speed will remain constant.

This project formed part of my final B-tech year in industrial design. The research topic was on “How can design support the healthy work practise of tattoo artists.”

Over the last few decades the tattoo-industry has developed from a sub-culture into a mainstream part of society in both sexes, several age groups and all economic statuses. With the rise in popularity, so has the demand for tattoo artists. Tattooing as a profession has thus become a very demanding job physically and mentally. As perfection is key in this industry, a high amount of concentration is needed for relatively long periods at a time.

This pursuit for perfection often puts tattoo artists at risk and under severe physical strain. The artist is forced into uncomfortable positions keeping static postures while performing repetitive tasks daily. This can have a detrimental effect on the physical health, productivity, comfort and in extreme cases lead to shortened careers.

The “Back-on-Track” is a spinal decompression device designed to give tattoo artist and individuals of similar occupations that suffer from severe upper/lower back strain caused by repetitive tasks relief from the strain experienced. The wall mounted device achieves this through a process known as spinal decompression. This is a process in which the pressure put on the intervertebral disks in-between vertebrae is taken off through use of distraction for a set period of time. The device can be used multiple times during the day whenever the user feels daily tasks starts to take its toll.

As with any design concept sketching plays a big part in the design phase of any product. Over the last few years I have learnt to come to terms with putting pencil to paper and sketching out rough concepts to final design rendering to be pitched to clients. This has helped me develop my own style and come to terms with mixed mediums such as Copic Markers among others. These are but a few sketches I’ve done over the past few years.

Each and every project done throughout my portfolio needed to be created in CAD in order to develop a full set of technical drawings. Throughout the past few years I’ve come to terms with the basic working of different CAD software including Rhino, Solidworks, Catia among others. These were used to generate basic technical drawings and also used to create product renderings as seen throughout my portfolio. The images shown are but some of the technical drawings I’ve done over last few the years.

-Thank You-