Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process + Methodology
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process + Methodology
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
AUM growth supported by architecture over following
year
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
AUM growth supported by architecture over following
year
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters