Lo-fi Thrift Store Find

Hey guys just sharing some lo-fi photos of a weird/fun thrift store find from a few weeks ago. Hope you enjoy. By the way, I'm back in Design school now, working hard. Also, almost done with the kid's book revision! Super excited. Enjoy the photos.

Welp, until next time..

Love,

-Joseph

ATM Research Project

Hey guys! While I was at the Carlow institute of technology me and my fellow Industrial Design students did a cool service-design related research project. We split into small groups of 4 or 5 people. Our goal was to collect data on the different ways that people handled using a public ATM. We set up shop a ways away from an ATM in a mall and gathered data on everyone who used it. We made 3 final sheets to convey our findings. I was the designated sketcher for my group, and in the observing stage did numerous sketches of the users. Afterwards, I also designed and drew the final sheets from sketches and notes we had taken. It's important to note that I didn't do the marker work here. Also the ATM in the pictures is traced from line-work that another group member did.

So these first two are "Personas" created from observing many different kinds of users and looking at the overlap. We found that men tended to act much more cautiously throughout the transaction, especially when they were alone. We also found that mothers tended to be more comfortable, even though their attention was often split between the ATM and their child.

The third sheet I did is a look at the way various users handled taking out their purses/wallets. It also looks at the way that the cash is collected and put away after the transaction. We found that men tended to get their wallets out earlier and also put the cash into their wallet while walking away. Women tended to do the opposite in those two instances. We also found that mothers sometimes hang their purses on their strollers, or even leave it on the floor for a minute. Generally speaking, women tended to take their time more and go at a slower pace, while men tended to hurry through the process.

Here are some gesture sketches I did while watching various users. Some of these are sequences of use (step by step sketches of the various actions taken by the user). These are just a few choice sketches ones out of many.

I like this sketch a lot. I feel like it conveys a body language well.

Here are some notes that my wonderful group members made!

Here's a photo of me sketching for proof.

Love,

-Joseph Smolin

MONEY EATERZ

Hey guys! It's been awhile. I've been super swamped getting my kid's book ready for print before I have to get back to school. I reformatted the whole book and am also currently doing some new artwork for it. The book (titled Athena and The Golden Bird) should be available to purchase sometime this fall! I'm super excited about it and am gonna post about it soon. Anyways enjoy this ballpoint concept I did last night:

It's titled "MONEY EATERZ." This is a concept I've been kicking around for awhile in my head. It actually combines a few different ideas I've had. I think the meaning is pretty evident. Money is often treated as the primary reason for living life. The amount of money that a man has is often considered an objective statement of his worth. Many peoples' day to day lives can be boiled down to key business transactions. We all have to consume money every single day just to survive. Are we to understand ourselves as nothing more than MONEY EATERZ?

Love,

-Joseph Smolin