kelsey sears design ideation i summer 2012 developing an icon system...

Kelsey SearsDesign Ideation ISummer 2012

Developing An Icon System For The Five Senses

KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012

PROJECT ONE

For project one, I had started out with many very different design directions. After investigation, I chose to go with more of a line approach. This symbol set was designed to be used within a hospital, possibly geared toward younger children.Using the similar line structure on each of the different senses, a thick line mimicked by a thinner stroke, I was able to make a cohesive design system of the five senses.


• I researched words such as sight, see, eye• Images helped with the drawing/ ideation process• How the eye worked played a huge part

PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: SEEING

Aristot le (384 BC - 322 BC) is credi ted wi th the t radi t ional c lassi f icat ion of the f ive sense organs: s ight , smel l , taste, touch, and hear ing. As far back as the 1760’s, the famous phi losopher. Immanuel Kant proposed that our knowledge of the outside wor ld depends on our modes of percept ion. In order to def ine what is “extrasensory” we need to def ine what is “sensory”. Each of the 5 senses consists of organs with special ized cel lu lar structures that have receptors for speci f ic st imul i . These cel ls have l inks to the nervous system and thus to the brain. Sensing is done at pr imit ive levels in the cel ls and integrated into sensat ions in the nervous system. Sight is probably the most developed sense in humans, fo l lowed closely by hear ing.

The eye is the organ of v is ion. I t has a complex structure consist ing of a t ransparent lens that focuses l ight on the ret ina. The ret ina is covered with two basic types of l ight-sensi-t ive cel ls-rods and cones. The cone cel ls are sensi t ive to color and are located in the part of the ret ina cal led the fovea, where the l ight is focused by the lens. The rod cel ls are not sensi t ive to color, but have greater sensi t iv i ty to l ight than the cone cel ls. These cel ls are located around the fovea and are responsible for per ipheral v is ion and night v is ion.The eye is connected to the brain through the opt ic nerve. The point of th is connect ion is cal led the “bl ind spot” because i t is insensi t ive to l ight . Exper iments have shown that the back of the brain maps the visual input f rom the eyes.


• I began drawing all my ideas I had learned from my research • Scientific sketches of the eye were done, as well as literal• After getting all ideas out, I refined the ones with potential

• Once I felt my drawings were complete, I began digitally • Refinement was an ongoing process throughout• The eye became more abstract throughout the process

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: SEEING


PROJECT ONE FINAL: SEEING


• I researched words such as hear, ear, loud • Iconic ears, caution signs, and photographs were helpful• I researched the general shape of the ear

• Objects associated with hearing were helpful as well

PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: HEARING

The ear is the organ of hear ing. The outer ear protrudes away from the head and is shaped l ike a cup to direct sounds toward the tympanic membrane, which t ransmits v ibra-t ions to the inner ear through a ser ies of smal l bones in the middle ear cal led the mal leus, incus and stapes. The inner ear, or cochlea, is a spiral-shaped chamber covered internal ly by nerve f ibers that react to the v ibrat ions and transmit impulses to the brain v ia the audi-tory nerve. The brain combines the input of our two ears to determine the direct ion and distance of sounds.

The inner ear has a vest ibular system formed by three semicircular canals that are ap-proximately at r ight angles to each other and which are responsible for the sense of balance and spat ia l or ientat ion. The inner ear has chambers f i l led wi th a v iscous f lu id and smal l part ic les (otol i ths) containing calc ium carbonate. The movement of these part ic les over smal l hair cel ls in the inner ear sends signals to the brain that are interpreted as mo-t ion and accelerat ion

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012

• I based my beginning sketches on the research I found • The drawings went from literal to abstract, at a steady rate• The general shape of the ear played a huge role in sketching

• Different types of sense symbols were tested as well • I inverted the positive and negative spaces too• Refinement also continued into the computer


PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: HEARING KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT ONE FINAL: HEARING


• To start, I researched words such as scent and smell • Literal pictures and icons were helpful• Scientific images and information was helpful

PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: SMELLING

The nose is the organ responsible for the sense of smel l . The cavi ty of the nose is l ined with mucous membranes that have smel l receptors connected to the ol factory nerve. The smel ls themselves consist of vapors of var ious substances. The smel l receptors interact wi th the molecules of these vapors and transmit the sensat ions to the brain. The nose also has a structure cal led the vomeronasal organ whose funct ion has not been determined, but which is suspected of being sensi t ive to pheromones that inf luence the reproduct ive cycle. The smel l receptors are sensi t ive to seven types of sensat ions that can be char-acter ized as camphor, musk, f lower, mint , ether, acr id, or putr id. The sense of smel l is somet imes temporar i ly lost when a person has a cold.


• I tried relating the nose to the other sketches • Literal to abstract, the back to a little more literal• I used the general shape to create the final

• Once in the computer, the final revisions were made

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: SMELLING


PROJECT ONE FINAL: SMELLING


• I researched words such as taste, taste testing, tongue• Cartoons helped in the exploration, as well as photographs• Finding out about exactly how the tongue works was helpful

PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: TASTING

The receptors for taste, cal led taste buds, are s i tuated chief ly in the tongue, but they are also located in the roof of the mouth and near the pharynx. They are able to detect four basic tastes: sal ty, sweet, b i t ter, and sour. The tongue also can detect a sensat ion cal led “umami” f rom taste receptors sensi t ive to amino acids. General ly, the taste buds close to the t ip of the tongue are sensi t ive to sweet tastes, whereas those in the back of the tongue are sensi t ive to bi t ter tastes. The taste buds on top and on the side of the tongue are sensi t ive to sal ty and sour tastes. At the base of each taste bud there is a nerve that sends the sensat ions to the brain. The sense of taste funct ions in coordinat ion wi th the sense of smel l . The number of taste buds var ies substant ia l ly f rom indiv idual to indiv idual , but greater numbers increase sensi t iv i ty. Women, in general , have a greater number of taste buds than men. As in the case of color bl indness, some people are insensi t ive to some tastes.


• I began basing my sketches off of my image research • Once again, starting literal and going more abstract• My final sketch is a combo of all the sketches combined

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TASTING

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TASTING KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT ONE FINAL:TASTING


• I researched words such as touch, finger, hand, texture • Chose a variety of images touching different types of objects• Icons, and photographs probably helped the most with touch

PROJECT ONE RESEARCH: TOUCHING

The sense of touch is distr ibuted throughout the body. Nerve endings in the skin and other parts of the body transmit sensat ions to the brain. Some parts of the body have a larger number of nerve endings and, therefore, are more sensi t ive. Four k inds of touch sensat ions can be ident i f ied: cold, heat, contact , and pain. Hairs on the skin magnify the sensi t iv i ty and act as an ear ly warning system for the body. The f ingert ips and the sexual organs have the greatest concentrat ion of nerve endings. The sexual organs have “erogenous zones” that when st imulated start a ser ies of endocr ine react ions and motor responses resul t ing in orgasm.


• There were many, many different variations for touch • I sketched the whole hand, finger pointing, and just a finger• Different sensations were used throughout the exploration

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TOUCHING

PROJECT ONE DEVELOPMENT: TOUCHING KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT ONE FINAL: TOUCHING


PROJECT ONE FINAL


PROJECT TWO

The subset I chose to do following my original five senses have to do with touch. I designed these three symbols to be used as “caution” symbols. The first symbol means “caution hot”, the second is “caution sharp” and the final symbol is designed to portray “caution electrical shock”.


• I researched words such as hot, heat, fire, flame • I found flames, icons, danger, and caution signs• The verbal research said fire was a burning sensation

PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: HOT]

The mot ion of atoms and molecules creates a form of energy cal led heat or thermal energy which is present in al l matter. Even in the coldest voids of space, matter st i l l has a very smal l but st i l l measurable amount of heat energy.

The degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment.A measure of the warmth or coldness of an object or substance with reference to some standard value.

A measure of the average kinet ic energy of the part ic les in a sample of matter, expressed in terms of uni ts or degrees designated on a standard scale.

A measure of the abi l i ty of a substance, or more general ly of any physical system, to t ransfer heat energy to another physical system.

Any of var ious standardized numerical measures of th is abi l i ty, such as the Kelv in, Fahr-enhei t , and Celsius scale


• I started out drawing whatever came to mind when I think hot • A flame was the idea I went with• Different shapes, sizes and quantaties were used

• The flame set the basis for the rest of the set

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: HOT]

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: HOT] KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: HOT]


• I researched words such as sharp, pointy, sharp objects• I was mainly looking for caution and warning signs• Verbal research helped explain what the sharp sensation is

PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT]

sharp object is anything with a sharp point or edge that could inf l ic t in jury or even death. In jury could be anything that breaks the skin, f rom a pr ick, a puncture, or a cut type wound. Some examples of sharp objects include:

a broken piece of g lassa pair of scissorsa medical needle (needle and syr inge)a sewing needlea straight pin or fastening pina piece of jewelry wi th a sharp edgea kni fe, even a smal l pocket-kni fean edge of a hard plast ic containera fork what you eat wi th


• To tie in with the original senses, I tried many types of ideas • The original target mark was explored, but not successful• I had each subset icon lead up toward the finger, like original

• Line and solid shapes were explored

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT]

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT] KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: SHARP OBJECT]


• I researched words such as shock, electric, electricity• Icons helped the most in creating my symbol• The verbal research explained what electrical shock is

PROJECT TWO RESEARCH: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK]

An electr ic shock occurs when a person comes into contact wi th an electr ical energy source. Electr ical energy f lows through a port ion of the body causing a shock. Exposure to electr ical energy may resul t in no in jury at a l l or may resul t in devastat ing damage or death.

Adolescents and adul ts are prone to high vol tage shock caused by mischievous explora-t ion and exposure at work.

The pr imary var iable for determining the sever i ty of e lectr ic shock is the electr ic current which passes through the body. This current is of course dependent upon the vol tage and the resistance of the path i t fo l lows through the body. An approximate general f ramework for shock effects is as fo l lows:


• The lightening bolt is what I chose to explore further • Different shapes, sizes, and fills were tried• The main part changed on each were the secondary lines

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK]

PROJECT TWO DEVELOPMENT: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK] KELSEY SEARSDesign Ideat ion 1, Summer 2012


PROJECT TWO FINAL: [CAUTION: ELECTRICAL SHOCK]


PROJECT TWO FINAL


CONCLUSIONS

Throughout this entire process of the first five senses and the subset, I learned that an icon system is not easy to create. They all must be cohesive in line weight and usage. The process takes a while, and is not easy, but instead a rather rigourous one

After many revisions, the users understand what each symbol means. The subset symbols have been tested by the same people who I originally tested for the first five senses.

kelsey sears design ideation i summer 2012 developing an icon system...

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