Stretta Nut-cracker by Gizem Oncu |
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| DESIGN NAME: Stretta PRIMARY FUNCTION: Nut-cracker INSPIRATION: The inspiration of Stretta comes from the natural squeezing movement of hand. UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Stretta is a nut-cracker which easily fits in palm. OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The project started with the market research to understand the problems with existing nut-crackers. After the market research, there were several major problems which were obtained in terms of ergonomics. After problem definition step, several user interviews were made to start mock-ups. In a very short time, a lot of mock-up have been made with different materials from metal to wood. In the end, wood have been chosen to use as material of Stretta. During the user tests with mock-ups, the form of Stretta was finalized. PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in September 2012 and finished in October 2012 in Ankara, Turkey, and was exhibited in Second-year design studio of Industrial Design Department of Middle East Technical University in October 2012. |
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The process of nut-cracking can be really difficult. There is some traditional methods to crack the nuts; however the most common way is squeezing. When I observe this movement I tried to combine the movement and the form itself. Therefore, punch-like form was come up. This form can be easily fit in the palm and provides the natural movement of cracking. Also, the cracker fits in the palm and works with one hand, which makes the other hand free. Moreover, wood is chosen as material, which provides not only warm and soft feelings but also healthy. SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Stretta is a wooden nut-cracker. The depth of the cavity is 450 mm which is suitable to put a nut to crack. Since the mechanism has spring it is easy to apply the force and to repeat after wtihout pulling back the arm. TAGS: nut cracker, wooden, palm, kithchenware RESEARCH ABSTRACT: When I looked at the market it is clear that there are a lot of nut-cracker design. However, there are several problems that I discovered; for example, nut-crackers are heavy, and it is hard to use, which causes a fear of getting hurt. Therefore, I worked on one-hand usage scenarios, and I wanted to make user feel powerful. I mean that I worked on the hand- gestures, and tried to find the best gesture which matches the natural move of cracking, squeezing or crumbling to figure out the form. CHALLENGE: The main challenge was to make mock-ups because each prototype was made by hand and by me. While trying to figure out the form I was trying different materials. I started with aluminum then I felt like metal did not give the feeling that I want to express to user. So, I started to try with different types of woods. In that period, the most of the effort was spent on research about the characteristics of different types of woods until I decide to use teak. ADDED DATE: 2015-02-06 04:43:00 TEAM MEMBERS (1) : Gizem Oncu IMAGE CREDITS: Gizem Oncu |
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| Visit the following page to learn more: http://gizemoncu.com/ | |||||
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NAME: gizemoncu PROFILE: Gizem majored in industrial design in Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey in honors list. Through her studio courses and several internships, she undertook design projects in various fields such as interaction design, transportation, electrical appliances, furniture, outdoor, household products and graphic design, also collaborative and participatory works with international and national companies and associations. In addition, she believes that multidisciplinary work is an essential part of design process. Being a designer requires being able to work well in a group, accepts differences and make use of them. |
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Stretta Nut-Cracker by Gizem Oncu is Runner-up for A' Design Award in Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Category, 2015 - 2016.· Press Members: Login or Register to request an exclusive interview with Gizem Oncu. · Click here to register inorder to view the profile and other works by Gizem Oncu. |
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