DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
XL : My inspiration comes from the problems we encounter in real life. Take the scenario as an example, when you take buses or subway in the rainy days, if the wet umbrella is not putted into a plastic bag, the water would drop on the seats and other passengers may not able to take the seats; or the water drop from the umbrella may wet the floor of the coach and make it slippery which increases the risks of unsafety; or the umbrella may wet clothes of other passengers around you, etc. It is these problems that contribute to the concept.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
XL : I hope the product design should be natural, not deliberately. Through clever design, pay attention to the needs of users, concerned about ergonomics, natural umbrella to solve the problem of good.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
XL : I plan to apply for a patent first and then try to make a prototype.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
XL : It took me about two months.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
XL : Umbrella is an essential product in our lives, the more the product, the more important the design details. The inspiration for the design comes from daily life, is the product of a lot of inspiration.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
XL : This is my own design. He doesn't belong to any company. I plan to apply for patent protection in the future.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
XL : In recent years, I have been engaged in the design and development of outdoor products, I like outdoor activities, but also hope that through our design to make people's leisure life more secure and happy.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
XL : In my design work, my college classmates gave me a lot of advice, he has a wealth of experience in product design.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
XL : This product is designed for everyone, regardless of whether you drive or take the bus.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
XL : In the umbrella design, the design is to prevent the rain splashed some clothes. But in most cases, housing and umbrellas are separate, so the umbrella have no place to save, it is very easy to go missing. My design is to solve this problem, and provide a good ergonomic feel.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
XL : This name is very interesting, from the appearance, the umbrella umbrella disappeared into storage, in order to tell people when not in use of the product, can almost ignore her presence. Highlight the characteristics of portable products.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
XL : AutoCAD、Rhino、Keyshot and PS.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
XL : Combine the case, which is easy to be lost, with the shape of handle in design. The lengthened handle is more ergonomic and comfortable to be held. The integration design helps users to fold the umbrella in to handle, close the cap to avoid the water wetting clothes and floor. Water collected in the case can be used to water flowers at home. Only a piece a cake expresses the positive attitude of life.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
XL : I have a design team, 5 people. Because the product itself is more mature technology, so more thinking in terms of aesthetics and ergonomics.
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
XL : The technology makes the structure more reasonable, and the structure design of the umbrella is relatively mature.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
XL : Of course, the objective research and analysis is necessary. For example: how do people use umbrellas on rainy days? How did they put the umbrella after they got on the bus? Whether there is the problem of lost umbrella? These details determine the design concept.
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
XL : As the people of Academy of Fine Arts, thinking is more flexible, but the understanding of technology has some limitations.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
XL : I hope my design can be recognized by more and more people, especially in this international competition, get professional accreditation.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
XL : Less is more, the design should be natural, a lot of life in the use of small products, small details have a huge impact on the design.
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
XL : Has been more comprehensive.
