As per an assignment from my study at SintLucas, I had to design a wearable for a character. One of my classmates had to come up with a character with problems for me, and I for someone else.
The character I had to make a wearable for is slowly going blind due to getting some substance in his eye. He lives in a steampunk world. I decided to make a wearable to help him with vision.
Designing the helmet
I created a moodboard for the aesthetic I was going for. This contained a lot of old technology and venetian masks.
I looked at various animals to think of solutions, including bats, spiders, moths and octopi. I thought I was going to use moths, but I later decided that an octopus helmet would be better.
The tentacles of the octopus would feel around and notify the user when it feels something. Additionally, if the object is very hot or charged with electricity, it would warn the user of the danger.
I had a bit of trouble combining venetian masks with steampunk aesthetics. The challenge was to create a design that was decorated and had the gears and technology, but wasn't too busy.
After I had the design figured out, I began working on the prototype itself.
I tested the visibility through the eyes, fitted the mask and tested if the tentacles could move when wearing the mask. With this prototype I would eventually create the final test.
As a few points of improvement, I needed to upscale the eyes and create distance between the mouth and mask.
Creating the Graphical User Interface
After the prototype I made a few tests and ideas for the User Interface. A few of these ideas included a visor in the helmet, a daily report for people to fix the helmet and a printer which would print the daily report.
Eventually, I chose to design my daily report on a phone, due to time constraints. I began making elements to fit my Graphical User Interface.
Above are two background variations and the nameplate of the Octogon Mk.3
A back- and normal button, of which only the back button would stay. The old button would be replaced by more specific variations.
As the product was made in the steampunk era, a few meters were made (from left to right). Originally these would purely for aesthetic purposes, but during the process I turned it into a fuel meter.
I designed more UI buttons. All of these ended up in the final product.
Above are the design processes of the damage meter, daily report, damage locator and map.
A few older designs of the UI, the background would be changed later to something more simple.
Evaluation
During this process, I was constantly improving and thinking more about designs, but I did not talk to my subject enough, as I was very driven to create and make progress. Next time, I need to communicate more. I am still not quite happy with the Graphical User Interface. Next time, I am going to make the designs itself in another program and not XD.
