Ergonomic Design

Nowadays society has become more aware of problems regarding heath and safety. Designers are taking action about designing more ergonomic products which relate the worker and the environment intended to minimize fatigue and discomfort. It has become very important in today’s life that all the products, materials and energy that we use are also sustainable causing little or no damage to the environment.

After Charles Babbage invented the computer, today’s work places such as offices rely mostly on computers which bring other aspects of ergonomics and the environment we work in.

We can mention the first armchair designed by Emilio Ambasz which was the first chair to accommodate the ergonomic requirements of the worker since at that time, the awareness was arising and there were back pains and other issues regarding health. Today’s companies and designers such as Herman Miller, Jeff Weber, Yves Behar, and Studio 7.5 design office furniture like desks and swivel chairs for the betterment of seating, tackling posture, back rest, arm rest and seat height.

Apart from the office work one we can also mention other fields of work such as workshops where one can find many tools to work with and machinery. Teams Design which was founded by Professor Hans Eric Slany is now contributing much more to the ergonomic aspect of its products. Robert Bosch has made the household tools out of plastic to reduce incidence of repetitive strain injury and reducing chances of electroshocks. Also plastic is a lighter material than metal.

One can also mention inclusive design where products are designed for everyone including or visually impaired or disabled people. This example by GrabCADr Quinn Turner shows a design which helps people who are shakey so when writing they hold firmly to that design.

This is another example which shows a clear disability of handling cutlery properly so Isabel Heubl Design designs cutlery for people who suffer from dexterity.

Today’s society is much more aware of these problems and it is important to help people with such needs so they would still contribute to their own lives and feel valuable.

As for cutlery in general, with today’s sophisticated machinery and tools we are able to produce cutlery which accommodate the needs of the human body ergonomically. In fact, a British popular designer David Mellor and his company have contributed in this field making cutlery out of stainless steel and top quality. Going back, cutlery used to be made out of silver which today is an expensive material. Improvement is also evident in the handling which is mostly acrylic. In previous time wood was more common since it was a cheaper and common material.

 

 

Taking everything into consideration, ergonomic design has given many opportunities to society and in the future, designers will continue experimenting with new techniques in order to develop ergonomic products which would accomodate the users needs

References:

David Mellor Cutlery and Kitchenware. 2015. David Mellor Cutlery and Kitchenware. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.davidmellordesign.com/dmCutlery.php.> [Accessed 29 January 2015].

Fiell, C. and Fiell, P. (1999). Design of the 20th century. Ko¨ln: Taschen.

GrabCAD, 2015. Pen Holder to help those with disabilities write - STL - 3D CAD model. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://grabcad.com/library/pen-holder-to-help-those-with-disabilities-write.> [Accessed 29 January 2015].

Pinterest, 2015. Isabel Heubl Design ( product design / lighting design ) [ONLINE] Available at: <https://www.pinterest.com/heubl/isabel-heubl-design-product-design-lighting-design/.>  [Accessed 29 January 2015].