Scooter designed by Ellys Ellys and Kim Levik. Images of sketches, renderings and rapid prototype model.
We received a proposal to present a scooter to be developed for the Melbourne market that was to be produced in China. We started researching scooters that were already on the market with the purpose of finding out who we wanted to our target audience to be. After our research was completed we ended up with the target audience being young people in the age group 18 to 35.
The form and ergonomics of the scooter is taken from the natural movement of the wind and the way a wave forms out at sea.
The scooter is designed for the inner city “Kid” who needs a lot of storage space and is always on the hurry. There is room under the seat to charge your iPod and space for your helmet. The side bags are removable and can be used as a back pack; they also come in a variety of colours and shapes.
Ellys: Since this is my first time designing a scooter, I started to sketch simple forms of a scooter to understand the shape and the look that the Australian market would be interested in; for example Yamaha scooter, Vespa scooter and Honda scooter. It took me a couple of hours to understand its different forms and from there onward, I was able to develop my own ideas. In the Industrial Design course, we are encouraged to develop different / new kinds of forms and ideas, therefore I tried to move away form the existing scooter form and develop a new and different one. While I was sketching I saw my screen saver a depiction of a wave, which in turn reminded me of Melbourne beaches and I decided to apply that form to my scooter. The idea of the wave form that I applied to the scooter turned out well; but maybe my communication of the idea through my sketching skills was not so good because at that time as the lecturer did not really like my idea.
However, I decided to keep the idea because I believed the form would stand out and also bring a different modern form, whilst maintaining the classic look. I developed the form further with different details while I consistently improved my sketching skill. In the end, the lecturer started to warm up to my idea and supported my intention to take the sketch to CAD.
In terms of CAD and rendering it would have been easier to build the scooter using ‘Rhino’, however, I would not have learnt or mastered the basic programs for industrial design, for example Solidworks. Therefore, I tried to challenge myself by using Solidworks 2006 to build the scooter, especially the surface of the body. At the end of the semester, I got a chance to try on the newer Solidworks 2007 and was able to produce amazing renderings.
