We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer about their original and creative design work. is an award-winning creative designer, that makes our world a better place with their original works.
("") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work . Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
: The main principle of this design is to break conventional headphone trends. We believe that industrial design, especially the audio, automotive, and communication industries, have all fallen into a state of apathy and are too comfortable with the success they are having. As a result, design innovation, especially aesthetically, has stagnated in recent years, coupled with a generation of 'design clone' culture. Aurelian seeks to break these trends. We questioned both social and aesthetic norms. If luxury cars are a statement of prestige, so should luxury headphones. Currently, all headphones look the same: over the head, black, silver, or white aluminium with plastic cases. Aurelian aims to be the Lamborghini or Ferrari of headphones, something set apart, something fit for an Emperor.
: We wanted to achieve something that looked good, looked different, and still did it's job damn well. Aurelian is equal parts fashion statement and headphone.
: Hopefully get more awards and maybe commercialize.
: It was completed as part of my final year of Bachelor of Design Innovation - Industrial Design at Victoria University of Wellington.
: Not currently.
: The aforementioned cultural and social trends. Design should always been evolving, and we wanted to break the industry stagnation.
: My lecturer Bernard Guy, my tutor Zach Challies, my mother Diana Huang.
: Young professionals and upper middle class aiming for 'affordable luxury'
: It doesn't have similar or resembling concepts. We sought to do just this.
: Aurelian was a Roman Emperor who came from humble beginnings who rose to military supremacy and Emperorship. He brought peace to the Empire during the crisis of the Third Century. I feel this is very appropriate for a design which was designed from humble origins and seeks to reinvent the world of audio aesthetics and culture. Also the name sounds cool.
: Fusion 360 for modeling primarily. Mesh Mixer and Solidworks on the side. A lot of sketching and renders. A lot of digital fabrication. The lads n lasses at Shapeways gave us a huge hand with that.
: It's unprecedented. I don't think it's perfect, but it makes a statement about what design could be.
: Bernard Guy, my Lecturer. Zach Challies, my tutor. Diana Huang, my engineering consultant. Kelsey Aldersley, my ergonomics tester. Anton Raymond, my model. Iszac Kereone, my finance consultant. All the people at Shapeways for helping manufacture.
: Without advanced digital fabrication, this design would not have been possible short of million dollar molds being commissioned. Bluetooth 4.0 is also pretty cool.
: We conducted qualitative research on what people wanted in headsets. We conducted quantitative research on ergonomics, general head shapes, and adjustability to ensure the function of this design was able to be executed.
: The human head very hard to model for parametrically. It took a lot of iterations and trial and error to successfully design something that could fit everyone's head without gravity.
: It gained success locally, and then at smaller design competitions.
: I learned how to design for the human body a lot during this project. I also learned a lot about circuitry and digital fabrication, but also about how to question design thinking and existing trends.
