Product Design
"...the set of strategic and tactical activities, from idea generation to commercialization, used to create a product design."
Case Study: LA Pomme
Background: Applesauce needed a crown for the finale winner, an opportunity to get a good laugh from the audience. My job was to bring our selected concept, an out-sized apple, to fruition in time to be integrated into broader finale planning, including a fictitious film about the origins the competition and its crown.
Learn more about Applesauce on the Experience Design Page.
After initial concept drawings, I dove into making a large crown, shaped as a larger-than-life Apple. As challenges appeared, I relied on innovation, research, observation, and teamwork to progressively iterate towards the final product.
Iteration I: I first experimented with filling trash bags with crumpled newspaper. After attempting to shape the apple by taping them together, I determined two problems: 1) the structure was too heavy for a crown and 2) it was very difficult to replicate the girth of an apple.
I recruited my friend Elise to bring a new perspective to the table. We researched how papier maché experts build their structures, but a lack of access and knowledge about woodworking was a persistent barrier. Finally, we settled on increasing our budget to make the next iteration of the structure out of chicken wire, a cheaper and less advanced alternative.
Iteration II: Success! The chicken wire structure proved to be lighter! However, the "peels" of chicken wire that I had cut would not easily attach or support each other to make the apple's shape. A mini-breakthrough was finding long cardboard poles during a forage of recycling bins in Fontainebleau. In addition to these long poles, I recycled a wide-brimmed hat that I had bought, believing that it's shape and fastening cord would add strength to the structure. Wiring the pole atop the hat created internal structure needed to attach the peels to.
I recruited my friend, Prerna, to model the hat and to help fasten the "peels" of chicken wire into an apple shape. I began paper machéing the structure to test the feasibility of covering the entire form. This step checked out, however we had encountered some new problems: 1) the bottom was not strong enough to support the apple, 2) there was a risk that the pole would collapse, and 3) I was running out of time before the film shoot!
Iteration III: I asked my friends, Alexis and Manie, to come over to assess. They suggested layering rings of cardboard (then attached to the brim of the hat) to make a stronger base. They helped me secure the top, and together we carefully shaped the chicken wire into an apple. We stitched all pieces together with wire, making sure to include a time capsule inside Le Pomme.
I began layer the apple with papier maché, alternating between fat and thin strips of newspaper to create a stronger shell. The next challenge: would it be too big to fit out my door and into a car?
Last Steps: After two layers of gold pant, glue, LOTS of glitter, and some final touches (leaf and stem), the apple was ready just before it's filming. We transported it carefully in Prerna's car.
Our actor, Sajeed, posed with it on a carousel on set.