MIAD Product Design
Title: The Hand-Helper Size: 29 in x 19 in Medium: Digital Completed: December 2023 Exhibition Text My intentions for this piece were to create a final product of pencil attachments that could help a wider audience of people. I used the Lipman's original pencil design as my starting point and saw how it could be adjusted. The goal was to be able to make everyone feel like they have a voice in writing and communicating. |
Artist Inspiration
Hymen Lipman
Lipman was the creator of the standard wooden pencil with a rubber eraser that we know today. His idea took a graphite pencil encased in wood with point B from the image representing the writing side, and point C on the left side representing the eraser. He made this for more convenience for the users. I am using this as my inspiration because I want to create a version of this pencil except with alterations for people with low mobility. My product would still have the same ends as this design except with added attachments. |
Planning
This was my first planning for my product when I still did not have a clear idea for it. I knew that I wanted it to be a writing device that could help a variety of consumers so I started by drawing a pencil and then adding attachments to it. I tried to think of the best way on what would help me not only have my hand be more comfortable on the pencil but also still having a sturdy grip. The first that popped in my mind was a ball shape since the hand could be lightly placed on it and the fingers would not need to be bent tightly. I stuck with this idea because I loved the grip that the hand could have and that is when I started brainstorming how big the ball should be. I liked the idea of a larger ball so that the hand's joints are less tense but then I started thinking about children using the product. Children have smaller hands so they would need different sizes so they could grip better. I also knew that the ball should probably be transparent so the tip of the pencil could still be seen. I also wanted to make this product extend beyond pencils and be able to be used with markers, pens, paintbrushes, etc. I had to change the format of the hole that the writing device goes into so that it can be adjusted. I added the idea of plastic prongs that would hold the device in place but could hold different widths. The last attachment I thought of was a plastic piece along the bottom of the pencil so that the side of the hand does not drag across the paper. I thought of this because I am left-handed and I often smear ink and graphite on the page when my hand catches it so this piece would eliminate the contact of the hand to the paper.
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This is the same design except organized differently on a whiteboard. I shared this board to my art class to expand on ideas and get feedback about what would improve the product. I first got feedback about the plastic attachment along the bottom and how it should be curved to be more ergonomic. Then I thought about how the material should be plastic along the bottom and a soft foam/rubber material where the hand lays. Then I thought about how the piece might need to be curved more for some and less for others so I added an area where the piece could bend at different angles. Another peer of mine had the idea of not having the eraser on the top of the pencil but rather the side of the ball so that the device would not have to be completely flipped over. And then I got more ideas about what kind of erasers to add like a whiteboard eraser and other attachments. This sparked an idea for me on what the "final stage" could be for this product once the user outgrows the device. I thought of just a rubber encasing over a pencil in the shape of how the fingers would grip. Another great feedback I got was to add a strap along the ball so that people would not even have to necessarily hold on to the pencil. This sparked a similar idea with having upraises on the ball to keep the fingers in place. This would be a great tool for any person missing fingers or with paralyzed fingers.
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This is a cleaned up version of what the product would look like in use. The hand would be gripped around the ball like shown and this is what the product would look like for all varying sizes. My intent for making this product was to show my personal connection with writing. As a kid, it was my way of expressing myself since I was always shy and not good with words. I really wanted this theme to get across in my piece, that is why the whole point of my product is to make the modern day pencil more inclusive and enjoyable so more people can feel like they have the opportunity for writing.
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Process
I started by creating a new project on "Photopea", which is a digital program that allows me to create posters. I titled the piece and changed the height of the poster to be 19 in by 29 in and I set the DPI to 200. Then I started labeling all of the aspects I need to have in this poster so that I can see what I am covering within the project. I did this by clicking on the text tool on the left side of the screen and then adjusting the font to "Albert Sans" and size to 150. There was also a tool that changed the crispness of the letters on the top of the screen which I enabled. Before adding more text to this list, I need to make sure to click on the layer I wanted or else it added text in areas where I did not want it.
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In order to include my inspiration into the poster, I cut out the parts of the photo that were not necessary. I used the refine edge tool under the select tab and then selected the part of the pencil drawing that was useful. I changed the size of the cursor tool so that I could get a sharper edge along the side of the object. Then I copied and pasted this image onto the main poster and enlarged the image and dragged it under the inspiration section.
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I already had sketches of my first ideas for this product but they were messy drawings and I wanted this poster to look clean so I created a diagram on google drawings. I was using the shape tools to build and color in this diagram. I could not figure out a good shape that could represent the plastic piece on the bottom of the attachment so I used the scribble tool and drew a line with my cursor. I then copied and pasted this diagram onto the main layer and put it under the ideation text box.
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To create the text boxes of grey I opened the rectangle shape tool on the left side of the page and then I created the shape by moving my cursor over the text. I filled in the shape with grey by hitting the color fill on the top tab on Photopea. Then I noticed that the text was hidden under the grey box so I tried adjusting the layering on the text layer but that did not work. The tool that worked was changing the layer blending on the rectangle to darker so that the black text would overlap over the lighter grey.
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I then drew three drawings of existing solutions to show how my product is different from older designs. I drew a thick pencil, a rubber attachment on the bottom of the pencil, and the rubber grips that fingers slip into. I then refined edge each of these drawings and copied and pasted them onto the main poster. I put them next to the existing solutions tab.
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I then started working on the second poster but I wanted to get a good idea of what a hand would look like using my product. I had a tennis ball and I thought that would be around the same size as what I was thinking of. I took photos from multiple different angles to see how a hand would lay on the rubber attachment. I then sketched out these figures and thought about how the pencil would attach to the piece.
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These were the final drawings from my reference photo. I cleaned up the lines by using a .8 millimeter ink pen and tracing over every line. Once each line was black, I took an eraser over the whole image. I used "huhu" alcohol markers to color in the product. These made the pigment fairly even to get a more professional look. I decided not to color in the hand because I wanted the product to be the main focus.
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I used the refined edge tool to get rid of the background for both of the product images shown. Then I copied and pasted them onto the main project poster and adjusted the sizing. I wanted the side profile of the hand to be the main focus of the poster since it is the complete final product and I still wanted the front view to be noticeable but not too big so I put it in the top corner. I made each grey text box by clicking the rectangle shape tool and then filling it with dark grey. Then I changed the layer overlap with "darker color" on the box layer. And then finally added a text box over the grey box and reclicked "darker color" so that the black text overlapped with the dark grey. I added arrows as well so that my explanations were more clear as to what I was referring to. I took the symbol off of the internet, screenshot the image, and then refined edged the background and copied and pasted here. I had to click on the symbol to adjust the measurements and move the position of the point.
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This was the stage where I started organizing the text and the images more. I was sort of running out of room and still had stuff that I felt like I could add but I did not want to overcrowd the piece. I decided to make some of the text boxes larger since the text size was not all the same. Then it was a matter of organization and I decided to bring the main image in the middle up so that the poster did not have more movement towards the bottom. I also angled the smaller, supporting image to the right so that there was not a whole ton of negative space in the top corner. I changed the spacing of the text boxes on the side of the poster to be more elongated since they looked crowded and once I did that, it opened up the poster more for the main image. I also dropped the P.O.V statement down more so that it could have more focus and not be too close to the title.
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Experimentation
I was trying out a ton of different tools to see what I was able to create and I wanted to have the text around a shape of grey. The first way I did this was by selecting the background layer, double clicking and then going to color and picking grey. Then I would rectangle select over the text I wanted to cover and then hitting the paint bucket tool on the left hand side and clicking grey. This process was time consuming because often the site would not be able to process me selecting all of these functions and it would crash. I found a better way to do this by hitting the rectangle shape tool and then filling it with grey color. With this new function, it was easier for me to edit and move the text boxes without having the website crash and the whole poster become distorted.
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I wanted to try using different selection tools so I tried the magic cut selection. At first I was pretty confused on how to add and subtract the material because I was clicking on the plus and minus signs at the top. I then found out that the green box was adding to the selection and the red box was subtracting. I never ended up using this tool because it did not make clean lines around the object. At first I thought it was because my coloring was not using hard edges so I tried making a clear selection on the bottom of the pencil and it still made the edge blurred. This is a good tool to know how to use because it is good for getting rid of objects with little objects.
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I tried out another selection tool since the refined edge tool would often crash the Photopea site. I saw a subject option under the selection tab and put it on one of the sketches. This required no work from me, it instantly selected the image with precision. It did not fill out any part that did not have color so the inside area of the fingers were made into the background. I thought this was going to be a problem but it ended up looking nicer than the other refined edge tool. I was going to switch my other sketch that I had done with another selection tool but when I tried to replicate the function, I did not have access to it because of my account on Photopea.
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Critique
Similarities:
My product directly uses Lipman's idea of the pencil with an eraser at the end. I did not alter this design, I only expanded on it. I wanted his idea of being able to write and also eraser still be apart of my product since it is a writing device. |
Differences:
My product is more complex than Lipman's since I have more added attachments. I would say that my design is more focused on inclusivity of a wider range of people where Lipman's design was about convience with the added eraser. |
Reflection
This project made me use a lot of new tools I have never used before. I have a little background in using Photopea and I thought that I had learned about all of the functions before starting this project. I quickly had to realize that some of the tools I started using for this piece, were not efficient and I had to find new ways to create the outcome. I was able to, but that was the part that took me the most time. The way that I learned best from this project was just by experimenting. I would click on tools and they would not always be beneficial to what I was trying to achieve but then I would find ways to reverse or alter their outcomes. Even once I felt confident in the tools I acquired, I still was opening up new ones just to see if I could reduce the amount of time or work I was putting in. I think my inspiration is connected so much to my final piece that it is apparent to any audience viewing my work. That was my intention for this product because I am expanding on the pencil, not trying to make a completely new design. My favorite part of this piece was having all of the elements completed and just being able to organize the look of the posters. This part was particularly easy when I figured out how to use the lock tool for layers. My least favorite part was trying to get the perfect selection of photos. I do not have a steady hand so this was hard for me and the site would crash whenever I would upload photos, so it would take a long time.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- My inspiration had major effects on my piece since I was building directly off of Lipman's idea of the wooden pencil with an eraser attachment. Without his idea, my main product would have a completely different composition.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- Writing should be convenient and efficient without many problems with the writing device. The more accessible a product can be for the general public, the better that product design is.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Standard pencils are not usable for a lot of people for varying reasons and a lot of the attachments being made still only help out one specific group of people, not a wide variety.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Writing is a means of expressing oneself and everyone should have that ability to do so. Using writing devices as a means of communication has been prevalent for centuries because writing can not only be easier to do than speak for some people, but it could also be easier for people to understand what is being communicated.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Clean lines mixed with even pigment can turn just a simple sketch into a well thought out drawing. It is not about the amount of time that it takes for a final product to look decent, but rather why one is creating it the way that they are and how it ends up being presented.
- My inspiration had major effects on my piece since I was building directly off of Lipman's idea of the wooden pencil with an eraser attachment. Without his idea, my main product would have a completely different composition.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- Writing should be convenient and efficient without many problems with the writing device. The more accessible a product can be for the general public, the better that product design is.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Standard pencils are not usable for a lot of people for varying reasons and a lot of the attachments being made still only help out one specific group of people, not a wide variety.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- Writing is a means of expressing oneself and everyone should have that ability to do so. Using writing devices as a means of communication has been prevalent for centuries because writing can not only be easier to do than speak for some people, but it could also be easier for people to understand what is being communicated.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Clean lines mixed with even pigment can turn just a simple sketch into a well thought out drawing. It is not about the amount of time that it takes for a final product to look decent, but rather why one is creating it the way that they are and how it ends up being presented.
MLA Citation
- “The History of the Pencil.” Pencils.Com, 2023, pencils.com/pages/the-history-of-the-pencil.
- “Hymen Lipman Pencil Patent: Innovation in the Industry.” Pencils.Com, blog.pencils.com/hymen-lipman-pencil-patent/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
-“3 Step Grip Development Training Kit.” HPMS, Inc. The Therapy Connection, www.hpms.com/category-s/1186.htm. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
- “Hymen Lipman Pencil Patent: Innovation in the Industry.” Pencils.Com, blog.pencils.com/hymen-lipman-pencil-patent/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
-“3 Step Grip Development Training Kit.” HPMS, Inc. The Therapy Connection, www.hpms.com/category-s/1186.htm. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.