Project-one : Mock-Ups

In week-three, students are to present mock-ups of their design. Our mock-ups should be in physical form using any materials, that is preferably of low-cost. The mock-ups are made just to help communicate the student ideas with the tutors, and to show student progress with the project.

My first mock-up is made with cardboard and foam-core and the second is just blu-foam.
Some of my class-mates would recognise that my developments are cells and some did not know what they are. Though I must say that my made-cell are quite ugly. It would be described as crudely made rectangular form with very irregular shapes cut-ins.

I find that my idea wasn't going so well. Because my design did not indicate any kind of biomimic, and though it looks like cell, and to me, it also looked like any other ordinary cabinet. Thinking that my design would not go so well, I got worried.

Only after I've spoke to the tutors and told them about the concept, and they made me realise the current form is too restrictive, and I agreed to that. Because I thought the design concept should be made obvious, to resemble the plant-cell, and to let the tutors and other students to know where I took my inspiration from.

The look-a-like-cell proved to be disadvantage for my design, the idea became limited and did not prove to be storage-efficient. I was also ambitious wanting to also create storage spaces for stationary, books, CDs, collectible items and electronics in this cell.

So the tutor had me refocused to design for a specific product category, which I originally chose electronics and their accessories. And the tutor had me re-think about my cell-concept.
"What is the principle(s) that I am taking from the cell, the advantage they (must) have?"

Reconsidering the should-be-real-reason why I chose cells, is because of their [permeable] surface area.

Individual cells are small in volume, and they are packed with microscopic organelles and other components. These organelles have increase-surface-area of thin-and-inner folds that make up the membraneous layers of the organelles, such as the mitochondria (something that manufactures ATP energy for the cell).

So cells found in plant and animals are good with what they do is because of their large-surface-area to maximise their gain in receiving nutrients and maximise their efficiency in exporting nutrients from their surface area.