04 December 2013
UniSA’s D-13 Arkidelo Design Graduate exhibition
South Australia’s top new design talent will be on display on December 13 at the University of South Australia’s D13 Arkidelo Design Graduate Exhibition where new concepts for water saving, better delivery of medication and better systems for public transport will all be part of the showcase.
The exhibition, being staged at the Adelaide College of the Arts, features the work of more than 20 talented young designers graduating from the Master of Design (Visual Communication), Master of Design (Industrial Design) and Bachelor of Industrial Design including several who have already won major national design awards for their work.
Senior Lecturer in the industrial design program Dr Peter Schumacher says the goal for the students has been set to find new ways of doing things that makes products safer, easier to use and thereby improves the quality of people’s lives.
“It is kind of counterintuitive, but for the everyday person the best designs are sometimes unremarkable – their very facility, the seamlessness with which you engage with a product, are the elements that make them excellent,” Dr Schumacher says.
“Good design is about building things that have that ‘perfect fit’ feel.”
Dr Schumacher says a key focus for students this year was reimagining medical devices.
“One outstanding example of designs that improve the way we live is an innovative Glucagon delivery device for diabetics,” Dr Schumacher says.
“People suffering hypoglycaemia have to struggle with an emergency kit that contains a regular needle and a vial of glucagon which they need to extract and inject all while dealing with the effects of low blood sugar. The students have designed an epi-pen style device that is not only easy to use but has taken into account the special properties of Glucogen in the design of its internal components.
“It is simple and clean but has an intelligent complexity in its construction and helps to make life easier for people with diabetes.”
The exhibition will also feature a wine display and delivery system to help transport Australian wines overseas and interstate, a creative solution for the orderly transfer of passengers on and off South Australia’s public transport system and a bicycle food preparation and vending unit.
The exhibition will be open to design professionals from around the state from 5.30 pm and then open to the public with an official launch by Tom Kenyon, SA Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, and Minister for Small Business from 6.30pm.
More information:Justin Counihan mobile 0400761525 email d13exhibition@gmail.com
Media contact: Michèle Nardelli office: 08 8302 0966 mobile: 0418 823 673 email: Michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
