Downloadable kits

3D printed Sand Beast

You can find kits in boxes, you can find kits in bags, you can buy kits off the shelf and you can have kits delivered and now you can download kits. 3D printing is opening up opportunities in many areas and kits are no exception. As mentioned in the previous post, The Free Universal Construction Kit, which enables the builder to attach various construction toys together, is available to download to your 3D Printer.

3D printers such as Makerbot are still expensive but prices are dropping all of the time and whilst two thousand dollars isn't that cheap, compared to it's industry cousins the Makerbot Replicator 2 is much more affordable. Whilst powdered resin is still the most common material to be used in these machines other substances are being developed to run through these printers, metal for instance can be machined via 3D printer and companies such as bicycle component manufacturers are already making objects via these machines.

It isn't just inorganic materials that are possible to create via 3D technology, scientists have recently created a human ear using a 3D printer and the range of possibilities for this type of manufacturer seem almost endless. This obviously has implications for kits, in the future it is entirely possible that you could download a kit via 3D printer and assemble it at home. Partially assembled kits are entirely possible because of the ability of the technology to create undercuts, you could for instance create a working mechanical watch via 3D printer and if you follow the link to the Strandbeest website you will see what is possible.

All of this means that kits could have a future that is linked to 3D printing and the only limitations at present appears to be imagination.

One thing leads to another

80 downloaded pieces that will fit lots of toys to lots of toys.

Most kits have only one outcome and maybe offer a few options along the way. A Tortilla kit allows you to make Tortilla's but you can vary the ingredients. An Airfix Spitfire lets you make a Spitfire and you might choose to fix the undercarriage either up or down, but what about a kit that allows you to make lots of possible outcomes.

Lego is a toy icon and is universally approved of by parents for allowing their children's imaginations to run riot. Duplo also lets the builder experiment and create many possible outcomes from a basic set. But what about a kit that allows you to join your lego bricks to your Duplo bricks or your Lincoln Logs to your Tinkertoys. This is what the Free Universal Construction Kit is for.

The Free Universal Construction Kit enables you to fix ten of the most popular construction toys together to create a vast array of possible outcomes. You can download the 80 construction pieces and print them off on your 3D printer. This is open-source and free to use, just get the pieces and let your kids play.

Universal instructions.

 

How many of these world religions do you recognise from these symbols?

Creating a universal set of symbols that can be read across the world has long been the aim of socially responsible designers. Otto and Marie Neurath famously developed their Isotype system with the aim of making information as widely available as possible, to as wide a range of people as possible.

It might appear straightforward to design signs and symbols that people recognise across the world but things don't always work out as easily as that. Very few symbols have world wide recognition. Religious symbols such as a crucifix might be recognised globally but what about a symbol that represents turning a TV or laptop on. In developed countries the upside down semi circle with a bar sticking vertically out of it, is seen as the indicator of the power button but what about countries with a poorer population?

We don't accept symbols like the power icon instinctively, we have to learn these symbols. In the same way as written languages, visual languages must also be memorised. to quote the well known author on semiotics, David Crow, "All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another".

So when it comes to designing instructions for kits is it always necessary to try and use symbols that are already recognised, or is it OK to invent a whole new set of icons? If by using existing symbols you restrict the amount of information that you can convey, then maybe it might be worth trying to invent new ones.

Where's the instructions?

Instructions are going online.

 It used to be that any new gadget you bought came with its own instruction manual which went into great detail about all of your new purchases functions. Not only did the manual explain every possible function that your gadget could perform, regardless of the fact that you would only use about ten percent of these possibilities, it also duplicated all of these instructions in a number of different languages. The resulting booklet was therefore much bigger than really necessary and the sheer volume of information made it harder to find what you were looking for.

Increasingly products are supplied with only a 'getting started' booklet which only contains the most rudimentary functions. The new owner is expected to go to the company website in order to download a PDF of the complete instructions or browse the help section of the website in order to find the answer to their questions.

Ikea has also recently started supplying video instructions on their YouTube channel with the aim of making their assembly processes easier to follow. This is still an experiment by Ikea and time will tell if video instruction will take over from their familiar printed instructions but the days of graphic printed instructions may not be over yet. Photographs and video should in theory be the clearest way to instruct how a multi-stage process should be carried out but a couple of points are worth bearing in mind.

Firstly, photographic pictures contain all of the visual information from the image being captured. This may not be a good idea because much of the information might not be necessary and could even be confusing. A graphic illustration on the other hand focuses only on the pertinent information and omits anything else, thus focusing the viewers attention.

The other aspect to bear in mind about video and photography is that they can show cultural bias. Ikea is a world wide company and a video made in Stockholm might not necessarily be as appropriate to show in South East Asia as it would be in Britain. Whoever we see on film comes with a set of cultural baggage. Illustrations on the other hand can be culture neutral.

Ikea has become a global success story, despite people joking about their instructions being hard to follow. Video and online instruction is a very useful adjunct to traditional instructions but don't count out their printed counterparts just yet.

I made that.

Build a Bear, your bear is worth more than any one other bear.

An interesting feature of building and making objects with your own hands is the value that you place upon these objects. Studies have shown that the satisfaction derived out of making an object oneself is out of all proportion to its objective qualities.

The Build a Bear company offers a fun experience for parents and kids who want to make a teddy bear with that personal touch. The family get to choose from a whole range of options on how to finish their bear and walk away with a toy that is special to them because of the time they have invested in the making of it.

If asked to evaluate 'their' bear alongside an almost identical bear, which could be bought off the shelf for a great deal less money, the family invariably place a much higher value upon the bear that they have made. The investment of one’s own time and effort seems to create a higher perceived value for the object created. This is therefore a much more expensive way of buying the bear but it also indicates how ingrained the sense of satisfaction is within us when we make things with our own hands.

Kits for Learning

Lies, damn lies and early Meccano instructions.

Kits are a very good way to entertain and amuse the builder but they can also perform a useful educational function. Legend has it that the instructions contained in early Meccano sets had deliberate mistakes printed into the step-by-step guide. This may, or may not be true but many budding engineers first gained the skills for their calling from Meccano.

 The pieces contained in this new Meccano set perform fewer functions than the earlier sets.

Many of the new Meccano and Lego kits today contain parts that perform only one function and only a limited number of outcomes are possible to construct from these kits. Whilst the young builders of these new kits are no doubt having fun, it is worth considering whether these types of kits are limiting the imaginative opportunities for the modern kit builder.

A Case for kits: Welcome

An Airfix Spitfire, a 1/72 scale kit and also a form of marriage guidance.

 
This is the first post on The Case for Kits blog with plans for many more to follow.

The reasons for making kits are many and varied and the following quote from Randy Cohen in his New York Times article Elegy for the hobby nicely sums up why many people take up kits as hobbies.

 ‘True hobbies require a particular -- even disproportionate -- intensity of attention. They provide a strong counterbalance to work. They are classically a marital aid, a mechanism for spouse avoidance. They involve the accumulation of equipment and lore; i.e., irredeemably specific information. This gives the hobbyist a pleasing sense of progress -- or pseudoprogress, because hobbies are conservative. Here is the prime law of hobbies: Absorbing but Not Transforming. They fill the mind without altering it.’

Kits and hobbies can be an absorbing diversion and a way of keeping you sane that might even make your marriage run more smoothly. So next time you see a kit maybe think of it as a three dimensional Relate session.