1Internship report

Q1 & Q2 08/0

9

Marco va

n Beers

s060152

Sander Luca

s

Coach

IntroductionBureau CQHangar 36

GoalsProject 01 | Gifts and Premiums

Project 02 | Coffee MakerProject 03 | Toaster

Project 04 | LCD Television

3Introduction

Bureau CQHangar 36

GoalsProject 01 | Gifts and Premiums

Project 02 | Coffee MakerProject 03 | Toaster

Project 04 | LCD Television

Air-conditioners | Project 05Ice-cream Maker | Project 06Ice Bucket | Project 07Sustainable Kitchen Ap-pliances | Project 08Cotton Candy Maker | Project 09Harvesting Table | Project 10Side activitiesOverall Experience

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4“Your designers can apply the suitable culture in the product and they show their taste. They have a broad way of thinking and there’s no rope around them. I expect these are all young designers with great taste and passion. The focus on details makes a difference compared with existing designs.”

Quote of producer about Eveline and me

5Introduction | Doing an internship is the only proper way to get the first experi-ences in a professional working environ-ment, which was of my interest. Therefore I deliberately chose to do an internship at a ‘small’ design firm instead of doing an exchange. After having several internship places to go to (incl. Philips and Well De-sign) I chose for Bureau CQ, a design firm in The Hague. They could provide me with massive amounts of practical (technical) knowledge and they could show me the bigger picture on how a design firm actu-ally works.

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Bureau CQ | Bureau CQ is an international operating bureau with a main focus on conceptual design, product engineering and consultancy in production. Within these three product groups the produce ability and minimizing the time to market are primary goals. Within the process of conceptual design the deliverables are a summary of the market analysis (includ-ing analysis of trends, user and target groups and competitors) and realistic visualizations of a selection of different outer design and styles. These concepts are generated using 3D programs. This results in realistic 1:1 concepts that can easily be modified for engineering. The average lead-time for this stage is rela-tively short, namely two to three weeks. Therefore intensive research is only ap-plied if the complexity of the makes this approach inevitable. After evaluation of the conceptual design the engineering process will start. Technical features will be implemented in a 3D model and test-ed accordingly. Prototypes are used for

Bureau CQHangar 36

Binckhorstlaan 362516 BE Den Haag

www.bureaucq.com

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analysis and commercial activities. Since production is for 70% sourced outside Europe we spend maximum attention to specify production related details like tolerances, production techniques, qual-ity level, materials, assembly conditions, certification, packaging, etc. During this stage there’s a lot of communications be-tween the customer and manufacturer.Since the beginning of 2008 Bureau CQ has opened its offices in Hong Kong and Guanzhou (mainland China). One of the activities is coordinating the production for their European customers. This pres-ence makes it possible to speed up the production process by offering technical backup in the production facilities itself. This immediately guaranteed a maximum control on the quality.

Bureau CQ is a company where three di-rectors/managers have their specific ac-tivities in the company. Next to a general manager one’s responsible for the con-ceptual design, while another keeps his

focus on the engineering and production. The conceptual design will be coordinat-ed in the Dutch office under the name of Bureau CQ. Production related activities are coordinated in China under the name of Studio CQ. According to the activities within the project one of the managers coordinates the process. For the Dutch office the design team in-cludes two or three trainees under super-vision of a senior designer. Per October 2008 this person will also coordinate the direct activities for the trainees. Next to these permanent employees Bureau CQ is working together with external freelanc-ers and designers. This is depending on the type of projects.”For the Chinese office (Studio CQ) has a joint venture with a Chinese company. Part of the employees within this joint venture will coordinate local projects and activities. Depending on the availability one or two graduates do a project for this joint venture or one of Studio CQ’s local customers. (Bureau CQ, 2008)

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9Dennis

Goossens

10ArvidBouman

11Matthijs

Pot

12JennekeBuiter

13Eveline

GoudriaanFellow Trainnee

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16Birthday Decorations

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18Entrance toBinck 36

19Hangar 36 | Hangar 36 is collective of cre-ative companies situated in the old facto-ry of KPN in The Hague. All companies in the collective represent different areas of the creative industry, as a collective they represent the entire chain from sketch to concept and from producing to product where each company has their own ex-pertise.

Hangar 36Building

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Blik

Duel

Pixel 8

Petra van Trigt

21Main Hall

Duel

Bureau CQ

Pixel 8

Uber Dutch

22Goals | In order give my internship some direction I setup some goals. These goals were used as guidelines for me during my internship.

Ideas & Concepts / Integrating Technol-ogy | Concept development and appraisal will have a big focus during my intern-ship. I want to develop at least one con-cept (till it’s ready to be produced). In the end I need to have a “done” concept. At a firm concept development has a much higher professional level, this experience and knowledge help me to create more professional concepts later on in my ca-reer.In the Ideas and Concepts competency I want to get a more realistic approach to developing concepts with knowledge

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gained in the Integrating Technology com-petency. Ideas/concepts get usually out-rageous and therefore hard to produce (if they are produceable at all). This should be “incorporated” during your concept developing and idea generation phase where can eliminate the change of getting into problems at a later stage.I want to learn some designer shortcuts. Things like, “using this will always work” or “that is how it always should be” or “if you use this process, you’ll most likely get what you want” this is to speed up my design process, which is always needed because time is money.

Integrating Technology/Data modeling | While doing the project I want to focus on engineering the underlying system in the product (which can be further defined when I know exactly what I need to do) as well as creating the form. I want to know how different components in my design should work, model and build them ac-cordingly.

Another theme in the integrating Technol-ogy competency I want to address is man-ufacturing and material processing these parts are somewhat underestimated at our education. Therefore I want to know how materials act while manufacturing parts for products and I want to know how you actually produce products.

Self directed & continuous learning | I want to see if a planning type like “Criti-cal Path Diagram” works in practice. For my internship I will map out the en-tire process for one project including all critical areas, which might occur. I’ll give those areas a time frame and in the end I will reflect on the effectiveness of such a planning.

Designing business process | Experienc-ing how a small design firm works is a good learning experience. You see the whole picture (or probably a downscaled picture from big companies). You see ev-ery facet and touch every facet.

2401PROJECTGIFTS & PREMIUMS

2501 Intro | A beverage company was in need of new Gift and Premium material (rela-tion gifts, goodies, gadgets, etc.). This in combination with an enhanced serving ritual. Tea is usually served with an extra cup where you can place your tea bag on, sugar, spoon and a biscuit. Coffee even-so. The company wanted a new ritual for serving ice (in extremes: they want to claim ice). The whole package should exist of: Stirs, bar-caddies, serving trays, coasters and a menu card holder. The first week was rather chaotic due to upcoming opening of the new office and the

Work | I was assigned to re-designing the bar-caddy, coming up with new concepts for the menu card holder and thinking about the serving ritual. This was execut-ed by sketching and implementing the sketches into SolidWorks.Due to being a chaotic week I think not all of the potential was used.The second week the new trainee arrived and we worked together on creating new

serving rituals and menu card holders which were implemented in SolidWorks.

Experiences | This was the first experi-ence with the design process of Bureau CQ and working in SolidWorks (after some autodidacting during the holiday). Although this first week was rather cha-otic due to Bureau CQ was moving into their new office, it was a good week for bonding purposes. I got to know my fel-low co-workers and see how they inter-act with each other. In the second week the new trainee started. We picked up, together, this project and we generated ideas for a new ‘ice-experience’. We soon experienced it was hard to come up with new and innovative ideas for this sub-ject. We got stuck quite fast and our ideas were of an ‘average’ quality. A solution to this might be to ‘just let it go’ for a while, which we didn’t do. All in all this project was a good start in learning how Bureau CQ works and who Bureau CQ’s employ-ees are.

2602PROJECTCOFFEE MAKER

2702 Intro | The goal of the Coffee maker proj-ect was to create a budget coffee maker, meaning this product should be sold for a budget price (around 10 euros). Al-though it needs to be a budget product it shouldn’t look like one. The new trainee also arrived this week which resulted in a cooperation between us on this project.

Work | It started off with creating mood-boards of different design products which could be used for the ‘idea genera-tion’ phase (which usually is an extensive sketching session). This moved on to the sketching phase where we need to bare in mind several technical limitations. In several days we sketched loads of cof-fee makers. After an idea selection ses-sion two coffee makers were selected and implemented into SolidWorks. Dur-ing this implementation we need to keep in mind how the coffee maker should be produced (e.g. if it is possible to spray-mold it, if all the volumes fit, etc.).

Experiences | This project gave me much more experience in SolidWorks, which is in my view now an essential designer tool. You can communicate your ideas, very clear and very fast. With SolidWorks you can create technical drawings and engineer your product. I’ve learned how you can render proper and realistic im-ages with PhotoWorks, and I got more knowledge on materials and production processes (e.g. I’ve learned more on how molds are made and on how they work).This project was the first experience in creating produceable products during the concept phase. This mindset allows you to come up with concepts which can be produced, instead of concepts which need heavy modification in order to get produced. Also a very useful tool. During this phase I’ve also learned about production methods, especially injection molding, which is a miss in the ID educa-tion.

2803PROJECTTOASTER

2903 Intro | A company contacted Bureau CQ to make new toasters designs for a nor-mal version, longslot version and a de-luxe version for a fair in China. The main limitation of this project was the already existing tooling, therefore the body of the toaster couldn’t be reshaped.

Work | This time we started with field-work, and looked for different types of toasters and different interfaces. Created mood-boards again and started sketch-ing. We tried to search for new forms of interactions to use on the toasters which resulted in a total of 4 concepts with dif-

ferent types of interaction. During the implementation you need to consider everything in your concepts, material thickness, technical feasibility and er-gonomics. It should be a product which only need detailing (tolerances, etc.) to be produced. Later during the internship I detailed two concepts further because they were sold. Meaning the two con-cepts should be moved from concepts to more realistic parts although still not ready to be produced.

Experience | This project gained me more experience in SolidWorks, an es-sential industrial design tool. Again I’ve learned to think more practi-cal about how things should be produced and if they could be produced. This way of thinking usually lacks, in my opinion, at ID which results in beautiful unrealizable concepts. The design cycle, in real life, is much faster and this create more oppor-tunities to vary your work but also to com-municate design faster to your customer.

3004PROJECTLCD TELEVISIONS

3104Intro | This project focussed on creating new LCD TV concepts. The market current-ly only has piano black, high-gloss tele-visions with blue LED details. Therefore the assignments was to create LCD televi-

sions at a conceptual level which are dif-ferent from current televisions.

Work | Again there was an analysis of what is already on the market, this was kept short on purpose to create the pos-sibility to look beyond existing designs. Only this time we worked fast and gener-ated some new ideas quickly, although these were not enough we extended the idea generation phase. After a quick idea selection implementation of the con-cepts in SolidWorks began. Colors were chosen, renders and presentations were made.

Experience | The main experiences of this project were creating new and innovative ideas for televisions and creating visual-izations (PhotoWorks and Photoshop), this all in a short time-span. Interesting was to see that, again, there was a time loss during the idea generation phase. This project taught me you can get clients interested by showing them some fun concepts.

3205PROJECTAIR-CONDITIONERS

3305 Intro | All air-conditioners look like big white rectangles which is a shame. Bu-reau CQ wanted to show new possibilities for air-conditioners to a possible client.

Work | This work was more on a conceptu-al level. Meaning it should resemble the real thing in a manner while being a look into the future. We followed the same routine as the other projects with a little research, long sketch phase and then the implementation phase.

Experience | Again the main experiences lie within visualizing and modeling into SolidWorks. Although this was not a full-time project (meaning that it was done in ‘spare-time’) it was useful and showed me the fun of creating interesting ma-chines from dull air-conditioners. It was particularly interesting for me because of the variation the project brought me. I could now choose which project I wanted to, something I enjoy in designing (the variation).

3406PROJECTICE-CREAM MAKER

3506 Intro | All current ice-cream makers are ugly. The assignment was to redesign the ice-cream maker in order to make it more exciting.

Work | First was research done on how ice-cream makers work, what kinds there are and which principles work best. For inspiration in the sketching phase we looked at architecture, especially the or-ganic and exciting buildings of Gehry.

Experience | The research part was in-teresting. We researched how machines work, what kinds there are and if there were some innovations. In my opinion this was the most challenging project, although it was set on hold, because an ice-cream maker is nothing more than a cylinder with an electric motor and two rotating blades. Therefore we found it hard to come up with new and original sketches. This problem could be solved by looking to more interesting and daring forms. Also a time-out could be beneficial to the project.

3607PROJECTICE BUCKET

3707 Intro | The beverage company, mentioned in the POS material project, also wanted a new ice bucket. Something different then the already existing round ones. This was a very fast project of only 3 days.

Work | Again the sketching phase initial-ized the project, followed up by choos-ing interesting sketches and implement-ing them in SolidWorks. Combining both technical aspects (material thickness, volume, etc.) and aesthetickal aspects. This all went very fast, only a day.The next day we made the renderings

of the, four (later five), ice buckets and photoshopped them into appealing pre-sentations, meaning that ice and lemons were implemented in the buckets and several renderings were combined to make a “frosted” look. Of these renderings were technical draw-ings made with the functional sizes.

Experience | This project went very fast and therefore it was a nice test too see if I’m capable of producing ‘quality’ work in a very short amount of time. In my opin-ion this succeeded. A nice benefit of this project was creat-ing the technical drawings, something I slightly touched with the Rhinoceros as-signment. Also the combination of keep-ing in mind the technical and the estheti-cal aspects and combining them was a good practice.I’ve learned more about photoshopping and creating different effects using differ-ent renders en different layers. All in all a good project to test my capabilities.

3808PROJECTSUSTAINABLE KITCHEN APPLIANCES

3908 Intro | The Eco-project was a pilot of Bu-reau CQ to see if they can have the capa-bilities of creating sustainable kitchen appliances. Although Bureau CQ is expe-rienced in designing kitchen appliances they never made them sustainable.

Work | First, and most important, part of this project was mostly research and summarizing the work of the previous trainees. The research focussed on mate-rials, methods and examples for sustain-ability. Later grouped and categorized us-ing morphologic charts.

Experience | The most interesting about this project was the research part which involved extensive researching of all fac-ets of sustainability design. All this infor-mation created a big puzzle which would create sustainable kitchen appliances when solved. In this part lies the fun of the project. I found it engaging to com-bine different pieces, based on quality research, in order to get the most sustain-able result.

4009PROJECTCOTTON CANDY MAKER

4109Intro | There was need of a design for a Cotton Candy Maker (which includes a chocolate liquefier and a popcorn maker).

Work | This project we started with cre-ating mood-boards for the Cotton Candy Maker (color, context of use and atmo-sphere) and research on already existing cotton candy makers and how they work. These mood-boards were used for sketch-ing purposes and to define the color. We created 5 concepts with various possibili-ties for the chocolate liquefier (fondue, fountain and just a pan).

Experience | I always find myself troubled with creating and using mood-board for idea-generation purposes. It seems that I’m not capable enough to create draw-ings in a specific style according to a mood-board. This was, again, the case in this project. However this project also showed me that I’m capable of getting inspiration from other things than mood-boards. It was fun to create these ‘fun-cooking’ appliances. Nonetheless this project broadened my view on design for mass consumption.

4210PROJECTHARVESTING TABLE

4310 Intro | Bureau CQ provided me the space to come up with my own input for their company. This resulted in three final project proposals where the ‘Intelligent Tables’ project had the highest priority to develop. The goal is to create the next, technology driven, step in the evolution of tables.

Work | Initially the project was called ‘In-telligent Tables’ after some research to intelligent tables and a short idea genera-

tion phase two ideas were chosen to be developed in my spare time. The empha-sis was laid on the harvesting table. This project was mainly focussed on fea-sibility research and detailing the techni-cal specifications and circuits.

Experience | This project gave me much technical development in electric compo-nents and their relation with each other. I learned more on calculating with power and power harvesting, which will be of big interest in the future. This project taught me how to divide a project into elements and work them out according to relevance and importance on a long term scale. Although not fully worked out, the ‘critical path diagram’ planning was useful in a certain extend. It provided enough insight in ‘develop-ing’ areas to plan them.

Most of all this project pushed me to look beyond dogmas and to create a, possible, next step in the evolution of a product.

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45Side activities | As a trainee I also had several side activities. Activities which do not have a direct relation to the projects.

Photography | I did some photography for some products in order to clarify how they work and from which material they were made.

Customer innovation Centre | We went to The Customer innovation Centre (a show-room of SABIC, an plastic manufacturer). They taught us more about thermoplas-tics; development of plastic and produc-tion methods.

Ordering samples | In order to get some feel for material appearance we ordered several samples.

Administrative work | Each project had its own hour administration which needed to be filled daily.

Photoshopping | Some general photo-shopping was done on patent images, etdc.

Interview | I did an interview with Bureau CQ in order to learn more about how a small design company works.

Icon design | For the toaster project I cre-ated icons to match the function of the buttons, something I never did.

PCB assembly | To determine the space needed for a portable oscillator I assem-bled an PCB in SolidWorks.

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Overall experiences | In general I’ve met all my goals for the internship in the dif-ferent projects. Getting to know how a small company works was done by an in-terview and during casual conversations.

Bureau CQ provided me regularly with feedback on my approach and attitude and also gave me more then enough room to come up with my own initiatives. They were very willing to help and provide support when problems arise. Thanks to their positive attitude, unlimited effort and approach to trainees the working en-vironment was fun, relaxed and created loads of learning opportunities.

My knowledge about materials and pro-duction techniques developed enor-mously during my internship. This knowl-edge is ,in my opinion essential, not taught in the Industrial Design course. With this knowledge I got a more practi-cal view on the feasibility of concepts production wise. I experienced designing

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with practical and technical restrictions (toaster project). Plus I’ve gained experi-ence in sustainable design and I gained experience in creating mood-boards, but this is still something I need to work on. The way of thinking further than a con-cept was a very good learning experience, usually a concept stays a concept at the Industrial Design department. Now I’ve gained insights and experience about producing products.

I learned how important it is to create self explaining and clear visuals for clients in order to communicate your concepts, clients do not have a designers mind and are not always capable to look beyond an initial image. I put this in practice at ev-ery project by creating presentations with clear renders.

One of the most essential learning points during my internship is SolidWorks. This program allows you to create realistic vi-suals, make 3D objects and make your

concepts ready to be produced. The in-dustrial design tool.

Especially my vision about industrial de-sign changed. The Industrial Design educ-tion and students pushes, unconsciously, toward futuristic and exclusive designs which is actually not industrial design at its fullest. Industrial design is about mass production and creating feasible prod-ucts which can be put on the market in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore the innovation factor of products should be directly linked towards the user in order to create a familiar experience and inter-action between the product and user. It should enhance the product. Not every product should have, an overkill of, tech-nology because it can make it more intel-ligent or just ‘because it can’. Intelligence can lie in material use or in the absence of ‘electronic intelligence’.

The design process of Bureau CQ, and probably most companies, is different

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needed for a good designed product. Research is also conducted at the start of each project. Although not as scientific as I would like.

In general the pace of the process is much higher in practice. Especially at Bureau CQ where one of their selling points is creating concepts fast. I must say that I find a good solid and sci-entific research phase, where you explore the problem to its fullest, interesting and fun to do. Although not always as neces-sary (redesigning the form of a product for example).

In respect to my identity my internship helped me to create a feel for my personal style. I found many examples of designers which I liked and I didn’t liked.

During the internship I experienced my own and others their designs, I liked the more edgy and extreme designs. Designs that goes that step further, the ones that

from the design process at Industrial Design. Bureau CQ has different stud-ies (trend, market analysis, etc.) at hand which can be used for multiple projects. Bureau CQ has gained a lot of experience in the field their working with. There-fore their research phase is done prior to all their projects and this results is a shortened research phase during a proj-ect (time = money principle). The idea generation phase also differs from the phase at Industrial Design, we are used to create ideas by using explaining text and sketches, which later on need to be detailed. Bureau CQ mostly works with vi-suals and detailed ideas. They also work with mood-boards and we’re used to use creativity techniques. In my opinion both process can be merged together to create something better.

Most decisions are based on anual re-search, experience or own vision. This are, ofcourse, valid and good informa-tion sources. User tests are applied when

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are just a little more clean. Also the flows of lines, different shapes which blend into each other and proportions are char-acteristics of designs I like.

Thanks to the many different project I’ve worked on I gained and put my knowl-edge into practice in different cases. Thanks to that I could combine different competencies and develop them in dif-ferent situations.

I found it daring to work in such a small company, because you find yourself more engaged in the daily business of the com-pany. To see their daily activities and the variation of work inspired my to think about creating my own company in the future.

During the visit to Sabic Innovation Plas-tics I gained, beside knowledge about plastics, knowledge about trend watch-ing. The automotive industry is one of the most trend-setting and innovative indus-

tries which can act as an inspiration and source for predicting trends.Many different skills were tested during the internship which I enjoyed very much. Especially my drawing skills improved by sketching that much. Also my working pace improved enormously which is a great benefit.

All in all I can say I had a very pleasant time and learning experience at Bureau CQ. It was very nice to see their ambi-tiousness and motivation to create new products. Most inspiring was their will-ingness to help and the way they handle problems (or challenges as they call it). Also the working environment was very pleasant and creative, see the pictures in the Bureau CQ and Hangar 36 sections.

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A special thanks goes out to Bureau CQ for their unlimited effort and support dur-ing my internship.

52Push the envelope.