Project Assignment: Create a modular houseware product and develop a brand that the product would be sold in.
The Problem
People spend hundreds of dollars a year, use excessive amounts of water, and release metric tons of CO2 into the environment by doing their laundry inefficiently.
The Solution
A modular closet system that allows users to build an ideal closet layout for their wardrobes which guides them on laundry practices optimized for energy saving and sustainability.
Research
Does someone's personal laundry really generate that much waste and can changing their laundry practices really have an effective impact?
Insight 1: Someone's personal laundry practices do generate substantial amounts of water and carbon waste. The waste can be reduced by simple behavior changes like quadrupling the life of a laundry basket, only running full loads of laundry, or air drying clothing.
Who is a potential customer to a system that would want to learn sustainable personal laundry practices?
Meet Jamal
Jamal is a 24-year-old graphic designer. He just rented his first studio apartment in the city and rides his skateboard to work for both financially practical and sustainable reasons. He is really passionate about his style and spends time on his weekends finding pieces that he loves at local thrift stores. He has purchased a few more expensive staple pieces from sustainable clothing brands like Patagonia and Faherty. Jamal has been a vegetarian for 6 years, and now that he isn't busy with school, he wants to work on making more sustainable behavior changes in his life. He wants to do his laundry in the best way possible to preserve his curated wardrobe and reduce his carbon footprint.
What does Jamal's current laundry journey look like?
The daily dilemma
The weekly routine
Jamal's Pain Points can be used to identify Design Opportunities
Laundry Elements to Redesign
Based on the identified opportunities, I narrowed my focus to improving three elements in the laundry system: Hangers, Laundry Baskets, and Drying Racks.
Market Analysis
To evaluate how hangers, laundry baskets, and drying racks meet Jamal's needs I looked at the current products.
Hangers
Market Insight: Regardless of price, there are not hangers on the market that help a user track the clothes they wear.
Laundry Baskets
Market Insight: There are not any laundry baskets that are both easy to carry and help the user with sustainable laundry practices.
Drying Rack & Drying Lines
Market Insight: There aren't drying options on the market that are both compact and durable.
Concept Development
Ideation
I explored how the hanger, laundry basket, and drying rack could be redesigned based on Jamal's user journey, identified design opportunities, and market insights.
Final Item Concept Selection
For the final design, I focused on the hanger that can track the number of times clothing has been worn, the laundry basket with a modular bag sorting system, and the low space demanding drying rack.
Hanger
I selected the concept that allowed users to track clothing wear with a simple dial. This is a subtle but effective way to allow users to track that they have worn a piece of clothing without just throwing it onto the not dirty but not clean pile in their room.
Laundry Basket
I combined a few ideas in the ideation. I increased the thickness of the frame for increased stability with customer selected bags hanging off, providing an element of modularity. I added the roller wheels for ease of moving the basket. Finally, I included the mesh bag option for the separation of wet/smelly clothes from the rest of the laundry.
Drying Rack
I chose the low profile of this option as it has the least invasion into user space when not in use and incorporated concept would be incorporated into the final design.
Brand Creation
The Problem
As global warming and the impending climate crisis is becoming a paramount issue for the planet, people are searching for ways to live more eco-conscious lives. This can be very overwhelming and many struggle with how to even start.
The Solution
Systain Living is a company and brand concept that encourages a user, like Jamal, to live more sustainably by producing products and systems that easily integrate into their homes and encourage sustainable behavior change.
Brand Name
The brand name needed to encapsulate the concept of living more sustainably without greatly burdening users by using systematic approaches to behavior change. After identifying the three ideas, systematic, sustainable living, and sustaining quality of life, roots of those words were combined to make the final name.
systematic + sustainable living + sustaining your quality of life = Systain Living
Brand Slogan : "A systematic approach to sustainable living"
The brand slogan was developed to serve as a reminder of not only the company's mission and products but as reassurance to the customer that they aren't alone. Systain living products are there to guide them to live more sustainably.
Brand Pyramid
The brand pyramid establishes the signature elements, design properties, personality, and core values of the brand.
Logo Development and Visual Identity
The Systain Living logo was built from the letters of S&L in the brand's title font with a leaf nested between the letters. The brand colors were selected as a gradient to parallel the steps of the systems that users would be buying into. Earthy tones were selected to also tie the brand to its purpose of sustainability.
Final Design Development
Concept Integration
To effectively integrate the three redesigned element's into a modular system, it was necessary to reimagine Jamal's closet storage system.
Jamal never loved the green metal one in his apartment. He just bought it in a rush while moving in because his apartment doesn't have a closet. Hangers slide off the sides, and it was really hard to assemble. It also has a very awkward form. It has no good place to store his laundry basket, so it takes up most of the room on the storage unit.
Closet System Design Criteria
Moodboard
To ensure that the new design fits the aesthetic of Systain Living and the aesthetic of its customers like Jamal a moodboard of the colors, materials, and finished was generated to guide the material selection process.
Material Selection
To ensure the fabrication of the closet system aligned with Systain Living's Brand values, I selected 4 environmentally conscious materials to construct the system.
Bamboo's growth rate compared to traditional woods is very fast making it a readily available alternative for building projects where traditional woods are used.
Desserto is a vegan alternative to traditional leather. Made from Cacti, Desserto has the look and luxury of leather.
Sulapac Universal for Injection Molding is made from wood and plant-based binders. It is able to fit into existing injection molding production lines and it biodegrades without leaving permanent microplastics behind, making it an attractive alternative for traditional plastic molding.
Hemp netting is a natural alternative to the harsh chemicals that go into producing polyester mesh.
Final Concept
The final design is a robust bamboo frame put together with Mortise and Tenon Joints. The location of the drying rack, clothing racks, and laundry basket storage could be modified for ideal user configuration.
Final Model
Closet Frame
The final model integrates the hangers, laundry basket, and drying rack into a sturdy, modular bamboo frame.
Closet Frame Modularity
Internal sections can be sandwiched between I beams to allow for different user layouts and customizations.
The base of the frame starts with the I beam. The holes run all the way through the beam allowing for various element configurations. The user can order as many I’s they need to suit their closet size.
Alternative layouts allow users to customize the closet configuration to fit their needs best.
Joinery
Corner Joints use cam locks and dowels to fasten together. This allows for the joints to be easily taken apart or added onto.
I beams are put together using Mortise and Tenon joints. These come pre-glued together, but are made using a CNC and clamping the I until the adhesive is dry.
Hanger Options
Multiple types of hangers allow users to hang all different types of garments that the have in their wardrobe.
Clothing Tracker
Rotating the dial tracks the number of wears of a piece of clothing from 1-5. Users are encouraged to only wash clothing once it has reached wears 3-5 signified by the number color change. The exterior dial arrow helps point to which wear the user is on for that item of clothing.
Manufacturing
Hangers are made through injection molding with Sulapac Universal and feature the logo.
Laundry Basket
The regular bags are made from Desserto Cactus leather for both aesthetics and durability. The mesh bags are made from hemp netting.
A mesh bag option also allows for smelly or wet clothing to be kept separate from sections that aren't full enough to wash yet.
Bag Fasteners
Metal snaps allow the bags to be unloaded quickly from the frame or swapped out for another size. Unhooked bags also create a handle for users to grasp.
Bag Sizes
There are multiple bag sizes for user's laundry sorting preferences. This helps ensure that user's are only washing full loads and that they are being careful to wash like types of clothing which can extend the clothing's use life.
Drying Rack
The drying rack flips up from its resting position and slides on rails to allow users to easily set it up whenever they need to dry their clothes. When not in use the rack sits in its resting position in line with the vertical pieces of the overall frame.
Improved User Journey and Environmental Impact
Now that Jamal has changed his behavior with the Sustain Living Modular closet product line, he can explore other products in the Systain Living catalog to continue making easy and eco-conscious changes to his life.
