the story of cosmetics with Annie Leonard

"the ugly truth of toxins in and toxins out"

 Toxic outrage in bathroom, less than 20% of its chemicals are checked in the safety industry . Leonard found that in a pantene bottle of shampoo contains chemicals such as carcinogens which causes cancer and neurotoxins causing harm in the reproductive area. All these toxic chemicals help make your hair shine. Other cosmetics are found to give asthma, cancer and damage to sperm. mystery chemicals, wait to see what happens, lead in lipstick, choices are endless, companies and governments decide what is on the shelf, herbal essence, hair relaxes, skin whitening, estee lauder for breast cancer but they are using chemicals that give cancer, no laws to get rid of them, FDA does not even asses the chemical (ingredients) that are in these cosmetics, and not all ingredients have to be listed on the bottle, the industry safety committee is a broken system, 

over the past 50 years, only 8 products have been taken off by the FDA where 12000 others are on the shelf today. 

Luckily there are resources online: safecosmetics.org to help people be precautionary principles, by taking off the past '50s mindset' and green chemistry.European governments have also taken away many products off the market, trying to shift the government into taking action- providing the FDA more power to take control of accessing healthy products back onto our shelves. We want to feel safe and healthy when buying cosmetics.

the story of bottled water with Annie Leonard

"How manufactured demand pushes what we don't need and destroys what we need most"

Bottled water VS tap water: in the city of Cleveland, research has found that fiji branded water in fact contains lower quality and higher costs rates-(costing 2000X more money than tap) than Cleveland's tap water. However the companies of bottled water suggests that they are just meeting their demands. This relates to 'manufactured demand':
-Seducing us: with pictures of beautiful untouched scenery

-Scaring us: by convincing us that tap water is not safe

-Misleading us: that bottled water is the way to go and beating out the competition of tap water



the process of manufacturing bottled water through extraction and production causes damage and many pollutants to the environment making drinkable tap water undrinkable. Its takes oil to   manufacture these bottled water which is enough to fuel 1 million cars a year. As a result a disposal 80% in land fills, incinerators were burned releasing toxic fumes. for those bottles that are recycled they are shipped to India and left in dumps of piles, where some of them are downcycled into lower products which end up at the dump later. 


A billion of the population in other third world countries do not have no access to clean water, so the solution is to for us who are privileged to have safe water around and stop drinking from tap water, this also protect our wallets at the restaurants and sustaining the environment as we buy the refillable bottles. with the amount of money we save we can invest for a public water infrastructure and placing more drinking fountains in public areas and boycotting the bottled water industry, demanding safe water for all.

the story of stuff Annie Leonard

Annie Leonard traveled around the world for10 years to figure out exactly what went on when we consume stuff and what happens to them when they are thrown out.

she begins by correcting and filling in the missing pieces of what happens in the linear system, such as people, the government and the corporations

1. EXTRACTION= natural resources for exploitation

we are running out of resources 1/3 of our natural resources are diminished in the past 30years

in the U.S she states that they consume 40% of water usage and there is only less than 4% of natural resources left for them to consume, where the US consume up to 30% of the waste. 

she further continues by stating statistics to justify her reasons of the over consumption that we have done using up to 80% of the planets' original forest are gone.

2. The next step from collecting resources is PRODUCTION: using energy and toxic synthetic chemicals to create our products, such as BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardants) are chemicals that make things more flame retardant but are highly toxic- being neuro toxic= toxic to the brain.

People (esp.women) who work in these factories are daily exposed to reproductive toxins. They have no where else to go so they end up working in these areas and most living in slums, as opposed to their previous locations of the sustainable areas that are now diminished by machines in order to reach raw goods. so it does not only impact our environment but our people as well.

Toxics in and toxics out also lead to great pollution coming out of these factories -(the US admitting they pollute over 4billion toxic fumes a year) so they move the factories overseas. 

3. DISTRIBUTION: keeping the prices low so consumers will buy more and more, this process is done by externalising costs which means that we don't pay for how it was made as the people who worked for cheap labouring and having no health insurance all chipped through these external costs which did not take into place of the final selling price.

the average person consumed twice as much as we did half a century ago. Leonard explains that this came about through the reasons of consuming goods through planned obsolescence= "designed for the dump" (started in the 1950s) designing stuff so that it can be thrown away within months such as computers where the it becomes unusable within a couple of years. As the only thing that changed is the microchip. 

Perserved obsolescence= throwing away things away even though it works perfectly fine. It is the changing designs of the product, advertisments play a big role in this by showing that we need to go out there and buy stuff--go shopping. However studies show that happiness has declined--we have more stuff but less leisure time. 

INCINERATION--creates dioxins (the most harmful toxins that we know) are being released back into the air when rubbish is burnt and buried into the ground.

she concludes that we are people and we can change the linear system into a circular one where action can take place to help our planet and us live a happier life, through recycling, using more sustainable products and production methods as well as better working rights and fair trade in the economy.

mini furniture

the first assignment for Comm B--task: to make a piece of furniture 5X smaller than the original

images of the model:

images of the real furniture:

design career

Why I choose the path of design.--INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Ever since I was a little girl, I was always on the creative side, cutting paper out and colouring, drawing and all the crafty bit and pieces. Through my school years I embraced this side of me as it was my strong point, where maths, english and science didn't excite me as art did.
This lead me to the decision in the design world as a career path.
I've always wanted to peruse my dreams in design and industrial design seemed to fit what I was looking for, over other design courses such as fashion design , interior design and architecture. Industrial Design contains the widest range of careers in design which gave me the thumbs up to choose this over the others. It was also said to increase in the rapidly increasing of technology and design and basically I was interested in how to create a product which simply fits into the consumer world, making a better product than the one that already exists.

The Bachelor of Industrial Design in UNSW equips graduates for the real world challenge of creating a user-friendly design and 3D solving. You get to be involved in the greater aspect of communication through products and technology; being able to explore design principles (the fundamentals of design), ergonomics, social and cultural contexts,environmental implications, technical performance, manufacturing requirements and commercial feasibility. Also the use of  hand-drawn and computer generated drawings (through CAD), physical mock-ups, computer models and prototypes are used to develop, explore and communicate ideas, and to present solutions to problems.

Industrial designers work to improve the appearance, safety, and usefulness of industrial products. They develop new styles and designs for a wide variety of products ranging from ballpoint pens and stoves to cars and electronics. Some industrial designers create trademarks—symbols that appear on all of a company's products, stationery, and advertisements. In the career of Industrial designers, you will work with engineers, marketeers, and other design professionals to turn good ideas into successful products. It definitely involves a lot of teamwork and cooperation. They can also play an important role beyond the production line, in branding, corporate identity, graphics, packaging and retail support. the marriage of artistic skills, technical expertise, social and environmental sensitivity as well as a keen insight into markets and consumers. It also creates a design profession with a wide range of rewarding career options from which to choose.

The first steps in developing a new design, or altering an existing one, are to find and meet the needs of the client. When creating a new design, designers often begin by researching the product user and how the product will be used. Desired product characteristics, such as size, shape, weight, colour, materials used, cost, ease of use, fit, safety and production are considered. Designers gather this information by meeting with clients, conducting market research, reading design and consumer publications, attending trade shows, and visiting potential users, suppliers, and manufacturers. After a suitable design has been selected, industrial designers prepare detailed drawings that specify colour, materials, and exact dimensions. They are often assisted by drafters. For many projects, the designer or a model maker prepares a scale model. Designers may also participate in usability and safety tests with prototypes to make further adjustments to the design before it goes to manufacturing, reducing design costs and cutting the time it takes to deliver a product to market.

This is why I went with the industrial design industry to explore my potentials in inventing or altering a product that will be seen in the world.

confusing design: a kitchen tap

the functionality of the tap is confusing as it is able to move from top to bottom and left to right but only water appears when you move the tap from side to side. Further, there is no colour coding or wording in which the consumer is able to identify whether it is hot or cold, this is potentially dangerous as one may burn themself.

solutions include: labeling direction which is placed next to the tap where visible and colour coding the tap eg: Blue for cold and Red for hot

hand held products in progress

we are assigned to create a hand-held product, by taking something that has already been designed and adding features or remodeling the existing product into something new, innovative and functional.

here are some images:

the first two images (front and back) are the final product of my choice, it is a hand-held spade/mini shovel, where you insert your hand in this product to use this gardening tool.

the last two images are progress products of a handle and a thumb look (a type of gardening tool which makes holes to implant your seeds)

design excellence: the scanpan IQ

the scanpan IQ made in Denmark is classed with "intelligent cookware where it forms carry function". It is the need in every modern kitchen with its exclusive features such as the induction functionality, 100% recycled aluminum and the non-stick capabilities and the streamlining look of silicone on the rim of the lids; it is ultimately desired by every chef and cook in the house. By looking at the elements and principles of design this particular scanpan provides an aesthetically pleasing product.

elements and principles of design:
- simple contrasts in colours are used with titanium silver and the bold black, each complementing one and the other.
- the texture of the pan has a is very smooth surface, as it is patented with ceramic titanium non-stick surface for durability and allowing the use of any type of utensils such as metal.
- small vent holes are added to the lid allowing for ventilation, preventing the over-boiling result and burning the body when the lid is lifted. These holes are in balance upon each other.
-the base shape of the pan keeps to traditional pans allowing better movement whilst cooking and a nicer form; whereas the size and proportion of the scanpan provides stability and is suited to the average household user from cooking eggs to steaks with ease.
- the bottom is perfectly made to suit the induction cooktops, it is also suited to any other cooktops, where the scanpan IQ has met the consumers' need with the latest technology. The circular motions and lines are in direction with the modern design is seen at the bottom of the scanpan. It also adds a link to the circular motions on the cooktops, making it easier for the consumer to use.
-easy storage as seen with the hole made on the tip of the handle.
-the curved-shaped handle provides a comfortable silicone handle provides a better grip for the user as it is in proportional length and size, being not too small or big for the average consumer.
-the lid featuring streamlined silicone rimmed edges gives a 'clang-free' sound whilst cooking and minimizing the impact and risk of it shattering when it drops. This unifies the scanpan, providing harmony of the two.