Patrick Sheffield
My name is Patrick Sheffield but my friends call me Fin. I am a graphic designer with a few years of work under my belt before I made the decision to go back to university to study product design as whilst working in the advertising industry, I found myself increasingly drawn towards tangible 3D design. I am fascinated by practical conundrums that are solved by developing innovative, sustainable and aesthetically sound products. My strengths lie in my constant questioning of how and why things work and my focus on detail. 2D design has been an excellent foundation for training my eye but I feel more inspired working practically – turning my ideas into a physical reality.
Future Experience
To fully understand the future experience I have created I must first explain how this future world functions. This world can be split into two main groups of people; the city folk who live in futurist green cities and the caravan communities that travel the globe with the sole intention of rewilding as their vocations/careers. The community that I focused on in this project fully encompasses the caravan community.
Initially I wanted to understand how this community travelled, how they decided where and when to rewild and how they educated the next generation to follow in their environmentally conscious footsteps.
The education system for the children of travelling communities is what I designed along with an educational trading card game as a touch-point. The education was designed to be led by story telling and games into a practical contribution by children that would help mend our ailing planet and at the same time impart the wisdom they need to continue improving the way society lives. The knowledge they gain is kept fresh by sharing, reviewing and forever considering. The card game continued this design in a socially interactive and fun way. It could be used alone, face to face with others or through an app, is used to capture and collect.
I learned so much about structuring my thinking during what was offered in this project and I enjoyed the process of getting deeper into research through considering the stakeholders and personas that mattered because they would be affected by the integrity and goodwill of the end result.
Self Initiated Project
In the early stages of this project I wanted to design a tool kit for the neurodiverse community in the workplace. During my research I found that all neurotypes are in great need of focus and attentions tools to help them in their day to day lives. Subsequently I created Pivot – a “Focus Aid Kit”. Designed for use in workplaces, libraries and schools the purpose of Pivot is to get people working as effectively as possible by supplying them with tools or aids that essentially pivot them into a constructive mindset. The kit contains tools and aids that span all neurotypes and allows everyone wanting focus and concentration an easy way to get “in the zone”. The kit contains a to-do list, fidget spinners, chew stims which are attached to the end of pens and pencils, a sleep mask with built-in alarm which uses light instead of sound, Chroma therapy glasses which are helpful for reading and staying focused, a die timer used for people with task paralysis and energy supplements like caffeine drops and hydration sachets.
