Portable Record Player
Overview
During my studies at QUT, I was fortunate enough to take part in the international student exchange program, and attended the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) for one semester. During this semester, I completed many cool projects, notably one involving local business Christiania Bikes, and one involving international conglomerate Sony in which we developed a system + device combination that measured and controlled the spread of disease in local fish farms. While these were great real world projects and opportunities, the project I enjoyed the most was developing a portable record player...
The Brief
The brief was to analyse an existing product, before re-designing it on behalf of a company of our own choosing. I chose to analyse and re-design the Crosley Cruiser portable record player on behalf of the brand Levi Strauss & Co. Interestingly, this was the first time I had ever re-designed an existing commercial product, and quickly found it took a different mindset to evaluate and identify all the flaws in a product rather than to design a product from scratch.
The Process
Like with many of my design projects, I like to start with setting the mood & gathering inspiration. I find this really helps set the tone for the project and keeps the design relevant.
Initial Concept sketches
After conducting relevant research (Which was completed as part of another assignment), initial concept sketches were utilised to throw down any and all idea's that came to mind. After taking a step back and evaluating which seemed the most appropriate, an overall concept was selected to develop further. An example of this process can be seen blow.
Concept development
An example of some concept development sketches can be seen below - these help in resolving the finer details and developing the basic concept into a considered design solution.
Prototyping
An early stage CAD model was drawn up using Fusion 360, before being 3D printed at scale to explore the products user interface and usability aspects.
Final design solution
Once all feedback from the prototype stage had been considered and implemented, a final CAD version was created to showcase the final design solution. Product renders and parts drawings then followed.
