Experience Enrichment Comments

Wesley Chiang
Rory Wilson
Xavier Mancini
Debbie Tram
Andrew Lee

Experience Enrichment Project

The Rakuzai hand saw.


My target market are men and women professional carpenters and homeowners of ages between 20 - 40, have a family and home and where aesthetics is a factor towards deciding on items to purchase. These individuals love to do things themselves whether its fixing, renovating or removing.


The Rakuzai is a hand tool that takes many hindering factors of a normal hand saw and solves them with its new design. The name ‘Rakuzai’ is Japanese and can be literally translated to mean ‘comfortable’ or ‘easy cut’ which sums up the general purpose of the Rakuzai, to aid the user in cutting with as little effort as possible. During the process of redesigning the hand saw much research, thinking and creativity came into play to create the Rakuzai.

Instinctively the process began by summarising the problems that a hand saw presents when using it, however with such an amazing design what was left to fix? The only complications that arose included the size of the blade and the fact that cutting straight would not be guaranteed unless you happened to be a skilled wielder of a hand saw, but what about those who are not? I decided to create a guide that would show you if you were cutting straight during the crucial first few cuts. A thin wheel is placed on either sides of the blade, if only one spins as you cut then it is an indication you are cutting at an angle; therefore to cut straight both wheels must be rolling. This factor decreases the chance of cutting off route and also saves time from starting the cut again which turns monotonous and time consuming jobs to fast and enjoyable work.

The other issue was the size of the blade. For example, you need to cut in a tight space that the saw cannot fit in. You could always take a significantly longer time to cut with a Stanley knife or you could take advantage of the Rakuzai’s replaceable blade and fit the thin blade to the handle and cut the workload and time in half. This allows the Rakuzai to tackle a variety of jobs and even make it pleasurable with the ergonomic handle and grip. As the handle of the Rakuzai requires the power grip, for maximum power in an adult male, the handle should be 3 or 4cm in diameter. The handle for the Rakuzai falls under the requirement as it is for male but as males hands are generally larger, females have no problem handling the saw. As most carpenters wear protective gear, the measurements for the Rakuzai accommodate for those who wear gloves while working which eliminates uncomfortable grasps and the need to remove gloves to use the saw.

            The Rakuzai maintains the characteristics of a hand saw: blade, handle and even doubling the frame as a t-square but the enhanced aspects of the interchangeable blades and guiding system sets the Rakuzai apart from the usual hand saws. Through these upgraded features that the Rakuzai can provide a pleasurable experience for those who use it, triggering feelings of delight, satisfaction and even relief while working the redesigned hand saw.

Gary Hutstwit - Objectified

Objectified pretty much summed up what I had in mind of industrial design and what I want to do in the future. Everything we use, almost everything we see and everything that is probably sitting on your table right now... Is a product, a result of design. Time and effort was placed into creating the design that communicates to us not only through functionality but all aspects of appearance from size and shape to colour and texture. 

A very simple and obvious rule is that the consumer must know and acknowledge the design for it to be a good design, but as obvious as that statement is; there is still design out there that does not fall under that criteria. When designing a product, we as industrial designers must take into consideration the good and the bad extremities (as shown in the video, a case of arthritis). In doing so we can create designs that accommodate for a larger target market. Another issue (as I have learnt from Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff) is perceived obsolescence which involves trends in the market. Good design is design that does not age and becomes a priceless piece in the eyes of the consumer. A design that is kept due to sentimental or emotional value is a good design.

One of the most important things any designer must take into consideration is materials. Without materials, there will be no design. There are many things that can be said about materials. One of the most important is the environmental impact of materials from sourcing to disposal. What is the purpose of designing a product if it does more harm to the environment and it's surroundings than good? The issue of environment and recycling with materials part of design has been apparent for as long as design has been around. 

The video has done a lot to convince me this profession is what I want. From the topics of objects and their communication ability to materials. It was a nice and refreshing video on design that all designers must go back to during their career to remind them to keep on track with good design. I know I will.