We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer OSCAR DE LA HERA about their original and creative Toy design work. OSCAR DE LA HERA is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original toy works.
OSCAR DE LA HERA ("ODLH") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Illusion Spinner Toy. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
ODLH : The Illusion inspired by wanting to relieve creative tension through a toy. This idea came to me during my first blizzard in New York where I was struggling with my design process, and was seeking something to help me with the process. With the vision of creating a design with meditative and hypnotic effects; I combined a floral pattern with a spiral pattern which empowered the user to playfully remove themselves from their work.
ODLH : The focus of the Illusion Spinner is to temporarily shift a creatives center of attention with the intention of providing a brief, meditative breaks. An effect that liberates their mind from the task at hand, granting the brain a few seconds to naturally free up any ideas that had yet to surface. A behavior that is tied to Ray Kurzweil's philosophy in How to Create a Mind, that suggests that you need to give your brain time to 'deliver' a bulk of thoughts or ideas for any given stimuli. An outlook that entails that your brain will send out ideas to you over time and that we need to give ourselves time to get to them. Furthermore, this philosophy details how the ideas that come later, often connect more regions of the brains and thus, are more likely to be innovative.
ODLH : My future plans for this award winning design is to distribute it to as many sellers as possible with the purpose of having the greatest impact possible.
ODLH : As part of the School of Visual Arts MFA Products of Design x MoMA partnership, the Illusion Spinner took 3 months to design. After being accepted the design had various changes, such as how do we make sure the spinner spins straight, which were evaluated as part of the 2 year manufacturing process.
ODLH : I designed this particular concept as part of the School of Visual Arts MFA Products of Design x MoMA partnership which held a brief around gifting. The vision behind it was to give students an opportunity to pitch products to the MoMA and if deemed worthy, they would be manufactured and taken to market. The Illusion Spinner was one of two that made it to market.
ODLH : This designed is licensed exclusively to the Museum of Modern Art and is sold globally by the Museum of Modern Art and associated retailers.
ODLH : This design came to me during my first blizzard in New York where I was struggling with my design process, and was seeking something to help me with the process. I wanted to create a toy to help me achieve this desire.
ODLH : No, I iterated through over 100 different designs to get to this one.
ODLH : Creatives all around the world.
ODLH : This design differentiates itself through its materiality and sound which when spun, captures a users mind through the combination of the whispery sea-shell sound of the ocean and a mesmerizing optical illusion.
ODLH : I named the spinner Illusion, which in Spanish means Joy, Happiness and Deliriousness, in honor to the feeling which this memorable experience gave me.
ODLH : I used a Solidworks to produce an engineering-grade design I prototyped the concept using paper and a a wooden-jig that allowed me to spin 100 different patterns I then 3D printed the object and applied and finessed countless layers of resin to deliver an ideal model. I then carefully spray painted a model in an attempt to provide a photo-realistic final prototype.
ODLH : The most unique aspect of my design is the audio-visual experience that is produced when you spin the bone-china spinner.
ODLH : I produced the design alone but was mentored by Allan Chochinov and Sinclair Scott Smith.
ODLH : Technology is at the center of this design as it was design entirely through digital software and manufacturing techniques. Software: Adobe Illustrator Modelling: Solidworks Renders: Keyshot Manufacturing: 3D printing
ODLH : I created 100 different designs and analysed their effect on a wooden jig. This allowed me to gauge the effects by spinning each potential design, allowing me to analytically pick the best design.
ODLH : Thanks to an extraordinary opportunity provided by the MFA Products of Design, over the last three years I have had the pleasure of facing numerous challenges for the first time in my life. These include: - Reading a brief for a top-level client. - Creating a design that speaks to a brands identity and values. - Manufacturing over 100 paper and 3d prototypes and testing them on over 50 users with the purpose of delivering a considered final product. - Applying and finessing countless layers of resin to deliver an ideal model. - Carefully spray painting a model in an attempt to provide a photo-realistic final prototype. - Winning a pitch to the MoMA. - Collaborating with a world class manufacturer to meet the quality standards of a design giant. - Creating advertising that matches the quality and level of the work expected by the world's most renown museum. - Applying for my first professional awards.
ODLH : When it reached market I knew I wanted to submit it to awards and gain international recognition. This process was inspired by the MFA Products of Design chair, Allan Chochinov, whom mentored me through the process.
ODLH : I learned more and improved myself in ways I could not have imagined, I had never made anything of this quality before. What you see is the result of someone starting from scratch.
ODLH : Origin Story On a stormy blizzard eve in Manhattan, I sat in a dim-lit room bewildered by the magical opportunity that I was living. Everyone had already left and I had 4 hours until the final F train left towards Delancey. Having spent the whole day working on the pitch for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), I decided to take a break, and make something for the sake of it. Something stupid and that was not intended to be pitched. Gazing down at a cone-shaped spinner that I was forcefully transforming into a pencil holder, I wondered what would happen if I carved a spiral on it. The ability to spin a spiral felt extremely addictive, mesmerizing and playful. Curious to see the result, I hacked away at Solidworks deciphering how I should design this enticing spiral. Thanks to the Visible Futures Lab, I had a spinner in my hand the following day. Gleaming with joy, thanks to my toy, I sat down and playfully continued to work on the remaining work that was to be pitched. To my surprise, from that day forward the spinner was never on my desk, it was always in someone's hand, helping them as they worked through their process. A sign which pushed me to develop and pitch it to the MoMA. Finally, I named the spinner Illusion, which in Spanish means Joy, Happiness and Deliriousness, in honor to the feeling which this memorable experience gave me. Challenges Faced Thanks to an extraordinary opportunity provided by the MFA Products of Design, over the last three years I have had the pleasure of facing numerous challenges for the first time in my life. These include: - Reading a brief for a top-level client. - Creating a design that speaks to a brands identity and values. - Manufacturing over 100 paper and 3d prototypes and testing them on over 50 users with the purpose of delivering a considered final product. - Applying and finessing countless layers of resin to deliver an ideal model. - Carefully spray painting a model in an attempt to provide a photo-realistic final prototype. - Winning a pitch to the MoMA. - Collaborating with a world class manufacturer to meet the quality standards of a design giant. - Creating advertising that matches the quality and level of the work expected by the world's most renown museum. - Applying for my first professional awards. Purpose The purpose of the Illusion Spinner is to temporarily shift a creatives center of attention with the intention of providing a brief, meditative breaks. An effect that liberates their mind from the task at hand, granting the brain a few seconds to naturally free up any ideas that had yet to surface. A behavior that is tied to Ray Kurzweil's philosophy in How to Create a Mind, that suggests that you need to give your brain time to 'deliver' a bulk of thoughts or ideas for any given stimuli. An outlook that entails that your brain will send out ideas to you over time and that we need to give ourselves time to get to them. Furthermore, this philosophy details how the ideas that come later, often connect more regions of the brains and thus, are more likely to be innovative. Experience The Illusion Spinner is an unglazed, bone china spinner that appears to float on a surface. A magical effect that allures users to touch the floral-spiral pattern carved on its surface. A pattern that combines common symbology, branding the experience as both hypnotic and meditative. Upon touching its delightful coarse surface, the user will feel the spinner move, encouraging them to play with the Illusion. An interaction that captures a users mind through a self-controlled audio-visual experience that syncs a mesmerizing illusion to the sound of the ocean. Benefit to Client The Illusion Spinner promotes the MoMA is brand reputation by demonstrating their support to helping up and coming designers break into the industry. A mission that contributes to the sense of pride which their employees feel every single day that they walk the Museum corridors. Furthermore, by providing this opportunity, the MoMA is served an incredible amount of free passion-based labour which if deemed worthy, they exchange for fair royalties. A process that maximizes their range of selection with no risk whatsoever - allowing them to hand-pick products with a high profitability.
