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THE WEATHER HOUSE
The Weather House is a tangible weather data device that allows users to feel what the weather is like at both the immediate and distant location. It measures wind and temperature, and indicates the time of day. The device is designed to allow users to have a more accurate and tangible connection to their location, and the locations of others.
ABOUT
BRIEF
Our task was to create a tangible (touchable) device that was designed to improve a user's state of living. We had to both conceptualise and construct the device. While the hardware did not necessarily need to have full functionality, the device needed to behave in a way which was believable.
PROCESS
The Weather House was constructed from laser-cut MDF and aluminium, and coated with white spray paint. Powering the technical side of the device was an Arduino Leonardo with attached LED lights and a USB fan.
Our biggest concerns while building the device was shape and physicality, as we needed to create a device that was comfortable to hold for our users. We experimented with several different shapes such as round and cylindrical before settling on a rectangular prism. While we liked the idea of smoother edges, the difficulty of constructing a compact cylinder with the limited materials available to us, and the concern of the Arduino's sizing forced our hand.
A challenge for me as the logo designer was to come up with a design that indicated the purpose of the device, and showed the name clearly, as the function could not be determined solely by viewing the shape. Due to this, I made sure to include within the logo, a visual manifestation of the temperature icon.
I also used colour to indicate the purpose of the device. I used typical 'weather channel colours' such as yellow, blue, and grey to help the brand become more recognisable and familiar.
DESIGN TEAM
Imogen Barker (research, concept design, group management), Erin Craig (model, concept design, research) Siobhan Doig (coding, tech, concept design) & Caitlin McAnulty (documentation, logo and concept design).
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