Lois Darling's Product Design Portfolio

Lois Darling.

PRODUCT DESIGN BSC PORTFOLIO

Who Am I?

Hello! I’m Lois

, a third-year Product Design BSc student from Nottingham, with a strong passion for design and creating impactful solutions for real-world problems. From the age of thirteen, I delved into the world of engineering through various courses, offering me valuable insights into the industry. This early exposure has significantly influenced my design approach, blending creativity with a practical understanding of engineering principles. I take pride in being a multi-award-winning designer, a testament to my commitment and hard work that goes into each project I undertake.

The Future.

My dream Motorsport in some form of Design or my year long placement at Triumph Surfacing Team which has been an final year I would like to go and complete Engineering or something similar. I feel as I possibly can and will work hard to in Motorsport.

for the future is to work within or Engineering. In July I started Triumph as a product designer in the incredible experience. After my complete a Masters in Product Design feel very determined to go as far to pursue my dreams of working

Outside Design.

In addition to my studies I have a strong passion for Archery. I have been practising and competing in the sport for 10 and a half years at different levels. I also love art and have always enjoyed being creative. To relax I will often play my electric guitar and I have to be self disciplined as it takes time and practice to play the songs to the right level.

My Design Values.

Some women that inspire me!

Girls should be given much encouragement when it comes to STEM,

dream of becoming a designer or a biologist. to inspire future girls and women to Design and Engineering alongside men.

given just as encouragement as boys STEM, whether they biologist. I would love pursue degrees in men.

Gender Representaion

. Gender Representation has always been something I feel very passionate about. As a women studying a STEM degree, I have always loved challenging stereotypes and am a strong advocate for more women to go into STEM subjects. As much as I knew Design and Engineering was the career pathway I wanted to pursue from a young age, I definitely came up against people that weren’t as supportive as others. “Are you sure you want to go down the ‘sciencey’ route?” was what my head of STEM at my school told me before advising I could speak to the head of careers as its “not too late to change your mind”. I was thirteen, and already trying to be discouraged from design and engineering, by the person who should be encouraging me the most. At the time I was completely shocked at what I had just been told and his words have stuck with me ever since. Not in a negative manner but giving me the motivation to prove people like him wrong. I proceeded to complete four Engineering Courses over the next four years at various locations such as Rolls Royce, Cambridge and Nottingham University, and achieved my Bronze and Silver Industrial Cadets Awards.

About Me.

Software Skills.

• Autodesk VRED

• Adobe Suite

• Keyshot

• Autocad

• Microsoft Office

• Ultimaker Cura

• CES Granta

• Creality Slicer

Soft Skills.

• Sketching

• Model Making

• Collaboration

• Strong Communication

• Critical Thinking

• Time Management

• Motivated

• Adaptibility

CAD Software.

• Solidworks

• Creo Parametric

• OnShape

• Blender (Learning)

Awards.

• Worldstar Global Packaging AwardsFinalist

• Mattii Labs Bronze Award

• Starpack Bronze Award

• CSWP Mechanical Design Qualification

• CSWA Mechanical Design Qualification

• Industrial Cadet Silver Award

• Industrial Cadet Bronze Award

Education . Experience.

2008 - 2020 2020 - 2022

2022 - 2026

Ockbrook School

GCSE’s

Nottingham High School

ALevels - Product Design, Maths & Chemistry

NTU

BSc Product Design Degree

• 4 Day Unreal Engine Course Online from Vancouver Film School

• EDT 3 Week Engineering Course Online during COVID

• Inspire Science and Engineering Course

Cambridge University

• EDT Engineering Course Rolls Royce, Nottingham College, Nottingham University

• Smallpeice Engineering Course Nottingham University

01 Pebble.

This project was about making a portable games controller to be used on the go. Aimed at multiplayer use for families with young children.

02

Starpack.

Contents.

Winning a Bronze Award and then an International Award, the Starpack project focused on packaging and how composite materials can be replaced for aluminium, hence improving its sustainability.

03 Clockwork Toy.

This project brief allowed me to design and 3D print a toy tractor in the style of DUPLO. TWhe toy had to incorporate a mechanism from a wind up toy, allowing it to have movement.

04

Sketchwork.

Sketch-work I have completed either for university projects, drawing classes, or in my own time.

05

Cad And Rendering

Work.

CAD and Rendering work I have done during CAD lessons or in my own time.

Pebble.

A portable games controller intended for multiplayer use. It is family friendly and easy to set up on the go connecting via Bluetooth. It is designed with the intention of being purely for travel instead of a main console used at home.

Pocket sized fun for the whole family.

Scan or click the QR code to watch my animation!

Research .

To get a better insight of the features of current controllers I tore down an old Xbox Controller. This gave me a better understanding of how different parts fit together such as the silicone pads under the buttons and how the buttons are shaped to allow them to be pressed down..

Nintendo Wii

Pros:

• Good price (at the time)

• Easy and comfortable to hold

• Changed the way games are played

• Timeless family console

Cons:

• Low internal storage

• Not the best graphics

Nintendo Switch

Pros:

• Extremely Flexible

• Comfortable, good size & shape

• Games load fast

Cons:

• Low battery lasting time for price

• Controllers can be laggy

• Small internal memory

• Expensive - £279

Development to Final

Final Design .

Slot back to back, easy to take around

2 types of buttons - be able to be used when one person is using both at the same time.

PLA 3D Prints

There are 15 internal parts that fit inside the shell of the controller including a battery that can hold its charge for roughly 3 hours of play time.

Silicone insert pads for buttons

Circuit Board

ABS Circuit Board Holder

Left and Right Bumpers Joystick

ABS Shell Top Half

Bottom On/Off’ Button

Lithium Ion 3.7V 50mA Battery

USB-C Port

Joystick Base

• Shell for both controllers will be injection moulded

• All Silicone button pads will be cast

Technical Drawings.

The second controller has all the same components as the first, the only differences are the main shell, the 4 buttons and the silicone button pad (due to the buttons being a different shape).

All ABS parts are injection moulded

Draft angles to 1 degree unless otherwise stated

Other parts are standard, bought components 1 4

• All ABS parts are injection moulded

• Draft angles to 1 degree unless otherwise stated

• Other parts are standard, bought components

Starpack.

A reusable hot chocolate flakes container for Hotel Chocolat’s Velvestiser pouches. They are currently a single use plastic basic bag with no other uses. My packaging is 100% Aluminium and 100% Recyclable. It also includes multiple features to enhance the experience and give it a second life.

I won the Bronze award in the Starpack competition and then received a Finalist Award in the Global Packaging Awards.

Design Development.

User Requirements.

• Be able to hold 250g of Hotel Chocolat’s hot chocolate flakes

• Easy to remove chocolate without spilling

• Be able to stack on top of each other securely

• Represent the Hotel Chocolat brands style

• Have a way of measuring the correct amount of chocolate for each serving

Brand Communication .

• Clear graphics on the back sides of the container - Nutritional Information, How to make Hot Chocolate (All from original Packaging).

• Graphics emphasising they can be stacked and the perfect size spoon underneath the lid.

• Refillable labelled on lid to make it clear to the user.

• Hotel Chocolat Logo on spoon, clearly showcasing brand, adding elegance.

• Coloured stripe on the lid - Shows the flavour of the hot chocolate flakes, subtle but clear.

• Recycling logo on the front and side to clearly show the user the whole container can be recycled.

Technical Board . Materials.

•100% Aluminium

• 100% Recyclable

• Refill packs to refill product made from brown paper packaging - 100% Recyclable

Manufacturing.

• Top half, bottom half, Base and Lid cut separately

• Two halves seam welded together and then the base welded underneath

• Handle on lid welded onto top

• Dips in lid pressed in

Final Design .

Brand Communication .

• Unique hexagonal shape

• In-line with the brands ‘look’

• Spoon hooked underneath lid measuring the perfect teaspoon (6 teaspoons for 1hot chocolate).

• Holds the 250g of chocolate in the current packaging

• Stack together - easy storage, can stack different flavours or use for secondary purpose

• Handle fits into stacked container above to provide stability, but easy to remove

• Made from 100% aluminium and 100% recyclable unlike current packaging

• Can refill the pack from Aluminium refill packets of chocolate

Clockwork Toy.

A clockwork toy tractor designed in the style of DUPLO, allowing creative freedom and personalisation. Aimed at a 2 - 3 year old boy that has an interest in vehicles and creating stories for the toys he plays with.

• A vehicle design

• Brightly coloured - attracts child’s attention

• Be universal with Duplo products, regular Duplo parts could connect to it

• No small parts that could potentially be a choking hazard

• Be able to be injection moulded

• Mechanism must not be accessible to the child

Manufacture.

Final Design .

• Mechanism controlling rear wheels

• Trailer connections universal with Duplo blocks

• Tight fit between two tractor halves so child cannot access the mechanism

• Comes with 4 Duplo blocks - 2 regular with fruit design and 2 with a flat top to make them more resemble crates

• Space to add a Duplo character in the tractor

Sketchwork.

Nerf Gun Pistol

Exploded Drawing, Uni Project

CAD and Rendering. Doughnut.

• Personal Project

• Blender Model

• Texture Mapping - UV Mapping, Material Properties

• Compositing

• Animation Scan or click the QR code to watch my Doughnut animation!

Mattii Labs.

• Uni Project

• Rendered in Keyshot, modelled in Solidworks

• Textures made using shader nodes and texture maps

• Background Produced in Blender

• Text Produced in Adobe Illustrator

• Recieved the Bronze Award for this Project by Mattii Labs

CAD and Rendering.

Lego Surf Shack CAD .

• Personal Project

• I modelled each Lego brick in SOLIDWORKS at 1:1 scale, using the instruction book for the ‘Surf Shack” Lego set. I worked through each page piece by piece, adding each brick to the assembly as I went along.

• Assembly produced containing all the correct mates therefore, doors and windows open, the flag swings and the chair can recline ect.

• I then uploaded the CAD model into keyshot where I added the specific materials (ABS) and colours to each piece before then creating the lighting environment.

• All bricks have a 0.5mm radius to soften corners.

Scan or click the QR code to watch my Lego animation of the House being built!

@loisdarlingdesigns loisdarlingdesigns@gmail.com