Kelsey Sears Design Ideation I Summer Developing An Icon System For The Five Senses

Transcription

1 Kelsey Sears Design Ideation I Summer 2012 Developing An Icon System For The Five Senses

2 PROJECT ONE For project one, I had started out with many very different design directions. After investigation, I chose to go with more of a line approach. This symbol set was designed to be used within a hospital, possibly geared toward younger children.using the similar line structure on each of the different senses, a thick line mimicked by a thinner stroke, I was able to make a cohesive design system of the five senses.

3 PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: SEEING Aristotle (384 BC BC) is credited with the traditional classification of the five sense organs: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. As far back as the 1760 s, the famous philosopher. Immanuel Kant proposed that our knowledge of the outside world depends on our modes of perception. In order to define what is extrasensory we need to define what is sensory. Each of the 5 senses consists of organs with specialized cellular structures that have receptors for specific stimuli. These cells have links to the nervous system and thus to the brain. Sensing is done at primitive levels in the cells and integrated into sensations in the nervous system. Sight is probably the most developed sense in humans, followed closely by hearing. The eye is the organ of vision. It has a complex structure consisting of a transparent lens that focuses light on the retina. The retina is covered with two basic types of light-sensitive cells-rods and cones. The cone cells are sensitive to color and are located in the part of the retina called the fovea, where the light is focused by the lens. The rod cells are not sensitive to color, but have greater sensitivity to light than the cone cells. These cells are located around the fovea and are responsible for peripheral vision and night vision. The eye is connected to the brain through the optic nerve. The point of this connection is called the blind spot because it is insensitive to light. Experiments have shown that the back of the brain maps the visual input from the eyes. I researched words such as sight, see, eye Images helped with the drawing/ ideation process How the eye worked played a huge part

4 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: SEEING I began drawing all my ideas I had learned from my research Scientific sketches of the eye were done, as well as literal After getting all ideas out, I refined the ones with potential Once I felt my drawings were complete, I began digitally Refinement was an ongoing process throughout The eye became more abstract throughout the process

5 PROJECT ONE FINAL: SEEING

6 PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: HEARING The ear is the organ of hearing. The outer ear protrudes away from the head and is shaped like a cup to direct sounds toward the tympanic membrane, which transmits vibrations to the inner ear through a series of small bones in the middle ear called the malleus, incus and stapes. The inner ear, or cochlea, is a spiral-shaped chamber covered internally by nerve fibers that react to the vibrations and transmit impulses to the brain via the auditory nerve. The brain combines the input of our two ears to determine the direction and distance of sounds. The inner ear has a vestibular system formed by three semicircular canals that are approximately at right angles to each other and which are responsible for the sense of balance and spatial orientation. The inner ear has chambers filled with a viscous fluid and small particles (otoliths) containing calcium carbonate. The movement of these particles over small hair cells in the inner ear sends signals to the brain that are interpreted as motion and acceleration I researched words such as hear, ear, loud Iconic ears, caution signs, and photographs were helpful I researched the general shape of the ear Objects associated with hearing were helpful as well

7 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING I based my beginning sketches on the research I found The drawings went from literal to abstract, at a steady rate The general shape of the ear played a huge role in sketching Different types of sense symbols were tested as well I inverted the positive and negative spaces too Refinement also continued into the computer

8 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING

9 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING

10 PROJECT ONE FINAL: HEARING

11 PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: SMELLING The nose is the organ responsible for the sense of smell. The cavity of the nose is lined with mucous membranes that have smell receptors connected to the olfactory nerve. The smells themselves consist of vapors of various substances. The smell receptors interact with the molecules of these vapors and transmit the sensations to the brain. The nose also has a structure called the vomeronasal organ whose function has not been determined, but which is suspected of being sensitive to pheromones that influence the reproductive cycle. The smell receptors are sensitive to seven types of sensations that can be characterized as camphor, musk, flower, mint, ether, acrid, or putrid. The sense of smell is sometimes temporarily lost when a person has a cold. To start, I researched words such as scent and smell Literal pictures and icons were helpful Scientific images and information was helpful

12 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: SMELLING I tried relating the nose to the other sketches Literal to abstract, the back to a little more literal I used the general shape to create the final Once in the computer, the final revisions were made

13 PROJECT ONE FINAL: SMELLING

14 PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: TASTING The receptors for taste, called taste buds, are situated chiefly in the tongue, but they are also located in the roof of the mouth and near the pharynx. They are able to detect four basic tastes: salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. The tongue also can detect a sensation called umami from taste receptors sensitive to amino acids. Generally, the taste buds close to the tip of the tongue are sensitive to sweet tastes, whereas those in the back of the tongue are sensitive to bitter tastes. The taste buds on top and on the side of the tongue are sensitive to salty and sour tastes. At the base of each taste bud there is a nerve that sends the sensations to the brain. The sense of taste functions in coordination with the sense of smell. The number of taste buds varies substantially from individual to individual, but greater numbers increase sensitivity. Women, in general, have a greater number of taste buds than men. As in the case of color blindness, some people are insensitive to some tastes. I researched words such as taste, taste testing, tongue Cartoons helped in the exploration, as well as photographs Finding out about exactly how the tongue works was helpful

15 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TASTING I began basing my sketches off of my image research Once again, starting literal and going more abstract My final sketch is a combo of all the sketches combined

16 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TASTING

17 PROJECT ONE FINAL:TASTING

18 PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: TOUCHING The sense of touch is distributed throughout the body. Nerve endings in the skin and other parts of the body transmit sensations to the brain. Some parts of the body have a larger number of nerve endings and, therefore, are more sensitive. Four kinds of touch sensations can be identified: cold, heat, contact, and pain. Hairs on the skin magnify the sensitivity and act as an early warning system for the body. The fingertips and the sexual organs have the greatest concentration of nerve endings. The sexual organs have erogenous zones that when stimulated start a series of endocrine reactions and motor responses resulting in orgasm. I researched words such as touch, finger, hand, texture Chose a variety of images touching different types of objects Icons, and photographs probably helped the most with touch

19 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TOUCHING There were many, many different variations for touch I sketched the whole hand, finger pointing, and just a finger Different sensations were used throughout the exploration

20 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TOUCHING

21 PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TOUCHING

22 PROJECT ONE FINAL: TOUCHING

23 PROJECT ONE FINAL

24 PROJECT TWO The subset I chose to do following my original five senses have to do with touch. I designed these three symbols to be used as caution symbols. The first symbol means caution hot, the second is caution sharp and the final symbol is designed to portray caution electrical shock.

25 PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: HOT] The motion of atoms and molecules creates a form of energy called heat or thermal energy which is present in all matter. Even in the coldest voids of space, matter still has a very small but still measurable amount of heat energy. The degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment.a measure of the warmth or coldness of an object or substance with reference to some standard value. A measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter, expressed in terms of units or degrees designated on a standard scale. A measure of the ability of a substance, or more generally of any physical system, to transfer heat energy to another physical system. Any of various standardized numerical measures of this ability, such as the Kelvin, Fahrenheit, and Celsius scale I researched words such as hot, heat, fire, flame I found flames, icons, danger, and caution signs The verbal research said fire was a burning sensation

26 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: HOT] I started out drawing whatever came to mind when I think hot A flame was the idea I went with Different shapes, sizes and quantaties were used The flame set the basis for the rest of the set

27 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: HOT]

28 PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: HOT]

29 PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT] sharp object is anything with a sharp point or edge that could inflict injury or even death. Injury could be anything that breaks the skin, from a prick, a puncture, or a cut type wound. Some examples of sharp objects include: a broken piece of glass a pair of scissors a medical needle (needle and syringe) a sewing needle a straight pin or fastening pin a piece of jewelry with a sharp edge a knife, even a small pocket-knife an edge of a hard plastic container a fork what you eat with I researched words such as sharp, pointy, sharp objects I was mainly looking for caution and warning signs Verbal research helped explain what the sharp sensation is

30 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT] To tie in with the original senses, I tried many types of ideas The original target mark was explored, but not successful I had each subset icon lead up toward the finger, like original Line and solid shapes were explored

31 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT]

32 PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT]

33 PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK] An electric shock occurs when a person comes into contact with an electrical energy source. Electrical energy flows through a portion of the body causing a shock. Exposure to electrical energy may result in no injury at all or may result in devastating damage or death. Adolescents and adults are prone to high voltage shock caused by mischievous exploration and exposure at work. The primary variable for determining the severity of electric shock is the electric current which passes through the body. This current is of course dependent upon the voltage and the resistance of the path it follows through the body. An approximate general framework for shock effects is as follows: I researched words such as shock, electric, electricity Icons helped the most in creating my symbol The verbal research explained what electrical shock is

34 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK] The lightening bolt is what I chose to explore further Different shapes, sizes, and fills were tried The main part changed on each were the secondary lines

35 PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK]

36 PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK]

37 PROJECT TWO FINAL

38 CONCLUSIONS Throughout this entire process of the first five senses and the subset, I learned that an icon system is not easy to create. They all must be cohesive in line weight and usage. The process takes a while, and is not easy, but instead a rather rigourous one After many revisions, the users understand what each symbol means. The subset symbols have been tested by the same people who I originally tested for the first five senses.