CONCEPT VS FUNCTION (Part 01)

Bruno Oro and Silvia Juárez are PD Lecturers at RMI Delhi.

They both share their passion for design but when faced with the ancient question of what to put first, they find it difficult to agree. With examples of their own work they tell us why both Concepts and Functionality are relevant in the classroom and in professional life.

SILVIA OJEDA GARCÍA

ACADEMIC DIRECTOR

NEW DELHI

This project won the International Design Awards (2008) and its designed not only as a visual treat, but as functional art too. I was inspired to create them while conducting research on child chemotherapy patients. I was a cancer patient myself and could see how many lonely hours a child faces while undergoing such treatment.

The project aims to help communication, offers entertainment and may also help the child keep up with their school work. I thought it should have internet connectivity, serve as a game platform and help socialize with friends through 2D and 3D graphics. It is based on the thought of next generation of toys benefiting from not only simple electronic displays such as a touch screen, but also from future holographic displays that will allow deeper interaction with the product and higher quality of images.

The looks of Dilus were part of the thought process too, and to promote it in a sustainable way it is layered with a conductive polymer that will make it customizable by changing it’s skin while remaining eco-friendly.

CONCEPT PRODUCTS: HOW COULD THEY HELP IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT?

Have you ever noted how many theories about the beginning of the planet and human beings, evolution, our future, disasters and so on are born every day?

Since very long, we human beings have tried to predict the future, proposing something between fantasy and what we believe possible, that could allow us to dream or even discover how tomorrow may be.

When we talk about concept design many people disagree saying “this is not possible”, “this will never happen”, among other critical arguments, but if we analyze this type of project we will find it to be a positive activity for the emergence of new ways of thought, and of products or product improvement that could show better understanding of needs and propose solutions unthought of before.

The fact is that many contemporary products were judged in their time as surreal and just absurd ideas, and today the car, television, CD player, mobile phones and many others are mass consumption products that once were in the realm of concepts only.

Without the creativity to step aside and propose innovation that is not yet in the field of the known, some of the commodities of modern life would have taken longer years to arrive or maybe wouldn’t be here at all.

But hold on! A conceptual product doesn’t come from simple thinking and a couple of dream like sketches, but after long research developed by professionals – trend hunters-, looking for the next trends of design and technology to obtain information that could be critically analyzed and interpreted to start this new design concept.

The analysis focuses on the Human Being by understanding how subcultures behave, their habits, clothes, favorite food, sport activities, gadgets they like and need and and many others. Based on this data is possible to make a constructive analysis which could find strong points for the development of new products presenting new functionalities and future use.

By analising Existing Products and realizing how they deal with colors, aesthetic, and functionality amongst others, and by understanding how these characteristics change and are recycled from time to time we can be a step ahead in the competition between companies. Besides the positive aspects of concept products as the exploration of new functions, aesthetics and technology development can be stated that this type of project when used in the academic field does have very positive results.

The students’ creative process is better stimulated during the product creation with appliance of techniques and methods for product development that allow a deep analysis about trends and human behavior. In this way the more trained the student creative process is, the easier the development and understanding of a non concept product that must have a determined innovative aspect on its demand even with its shapes, technology or functions.

Bruno Oro

Product Design Lecturer