PlantSpotter

A Project for the National Geographic

Description
A two part project. The group stage looked to the future of a chosen brand (not endorsed by National Geographic) in 2030 and analyse how it will operate through the rigorous dissection of the current brand as well as the social, economic, political, technological and environmental trends that will affect it and create a detailed brand report (check out the full report here) before proposing a considered 'Brand Repositioning Proposal'.

The second portion of the project was the individual design and development of a product to fit within the repositioning. Carefully considering the brand identity as well as the technology and manufacturing capabilities of the time. My product was this, the PlantSpotter.

Introduction
Mankind has traditionally enjoyed an intimate relationship with flora for food, culture, religion and medicine. Estimates state there are up to 100million species of plants, but we have discovered only a tiny percentage. Of those we only interact with a handful and outside of agriculture they are used for little more than living decoration.

The PlantSpotter is a miniaturised raman spectroscope that acts as your key back into this world, using National Geographic's explorer communities to encourage users to go out and find new plants as well as provided the ultimate gardening tool to look after plants with real time health information.

A short trailer by National Geographic for their feature on unseen worlds. This initiative was one of the many starting points of the re-exploration movement proposed within this project.

Trend Analysis

Icons of a computer mouse and an open book with yellow progress segments.

Existing beliefs that information found in print can be sourced for free online increase as users seek more responsive, dynamic content.

World map illustrating population growth, with countries in yellow, gray, and blue circles representing data for 2013 and 2030.

A predicted boom in the number of middle class in Asia lead to National Geographic's historic ‘far away land’ content sources and readership to overlap.

Comparison of two smartphones with bar graphs showing 14 million users on the left and 5 billion users on the right.

The trend of increasing personal technology is set to continue sweeping across Africa and Asia.

A diagram showing a person in front of a screen indicating 81%, a blue house icon with 350 million, and a sad face icon.

Depression is projected to be the most prevalent disease. However, education has been marked as best method to combat rising levels.

2030 Proposed Repositioning

2013

National Geographic currently employs a highly linear information flow, from explorers in remote regions create content which flows through to and editor and eventually down to followers through a range of mostly static touchpoints.

Flowchart diagram illustrating the relationship between National Geographic and its community platform. The chart shows the progression from 'Explorer' to 'User,' passing through 'Touchpoint' and 'Editor,' with arrows indicating flow. Circles and rectangles representing different stages, with yellow outlines for National Geographic entities and yellow-striped arrows indicating the flow direction.

2030

National Geographic currently employs a highly linear information flow, from explorers in remote regions create content which flows through to and editor and eventually down to followers through a range of mostly static touchpoints.

Process

Design sketches of a portable leaf clipper device with labels indicating features like aluminum housing, key ring attachment, single side opening, flat panels with receptor rows, bamboo grip, pen-like pocket clip, and mechanisms for clipping and securing leaves.

Sketch Exploration

Capturing a brands identity within the aesthetic form of a product required the use of numerous sketchbooks to develop a signature design that reflects the National Geographic's brand values in both style and form.

Developing from early worn pebble shapes to delicate pens, through medical syringes to arrive at the perfect balance of the three identified qualities: Organic, Enduring & Intriguing.

A white cotton swab with a rectangular white label on the handle, resting on a small white cylindrical foam stand against a gray and white background.

A plaster cast of a human finger and a small hollow tube, both white with a textured surface, are placed on a white surface with a gray background.

Close-up of a hand holding a small handmade model of a UFO with metal and foam parts, with various thin rods protruding from the base, in a workshop or craft space.

A white pen-shaped tool and a wooden and black keychain with a small rectangular shape are on a white surface.

Person holding a small wooden and black plastic device with a metal keyring attached at the bottom.

A black vape pen with a wooden top and three removable black parts lying on a light wooden surface.

Style Analysis and Reconstruction

As a brand with little existing 3D presence, it was imperative to the project to break down what it means to be National Geographic and compose this style library to construct the guidelines for the design process.

A vintage compass resting on an old, detailed map showing parts of Europe, including France, Germany, and Italy.

Prototyping

Once the technology skeleton and basic form guidelines were established, the project took to yellow foam mock ups in order to maintain the strong physical connection with the make up of the PlantSpotter.

What looked good and what felt right. Later more complex forms and details were trialled through 3D printing before the CMF was established (Natural Teak, Satin Technical Ceramics).

Finally a perfect looks like model was carefully crafted by hand within the university workshops from teak, glass and high density foam.

A keychain with a miniature pen designed to look like a wooden pencil, with a small message reading 'Successful Capture' visible on the side.

An Explorers Tool for our Modern World

A hand holding a pen-like device with a keyring attached, used for capturing images or scans. The device is labeled 'Successful Capture.' Three inset circles show close-ups of the device's clip attachment, the label on the device, and a person carrying the device on a keychain.

Wear with pride. Natural teak has been used for a large portion of the product to allow it to age with dignity, showing with pride the wear and tear of field use in the name of exploration.

Seamless control. The PlantSpotters slightly recessed capacitive touch screen allows users to swipe unlock before toggling the numerous connectivity and mode settings of the device. The only push button initiates a data capture if pressed, and powers down the device if held.

A companion, not extra luggage. 153 'pocket dumps' were analysed to find what shapes people keep in their pockets. The PlantSpotter has been designed so that you Re-explorers can keep it on you at all times with no hassle!

Explore

Close-up of a person's hand holding a black stun gun with an orange safety light, with a background of green foliage. The person is wearing blue jeans and a leather belt.

Keep your PlantSpotter close by!

A person is holding a black felt-tip pen close to a small blue flower with green leaves in the background.

See a plant you like? Scan it! Raman spectroscopy is used to identify what the species is.

Care For

A hand holding a black pen with a keychain attached, writing on the stem of a potted succulent plant near a window.

Want to look after your plants and know how well they are getting along? Give them a quick scan!

Person holding a smartphone displaying plant care information about a succulent money plant, with succulents on the screen and traffic in the background.

The PlantSpotter analyses the chemical composition of your plant and feeds back to you that plants current health and needs.

Person holding a smartphone in an outdoor setting displaying a plant identification app focused on a Chinese Bellflower with a blurred urban background.

After data is passed through the analysis engine you have access to a plethora of data about that plant.

Small green succulent plant in a terracotta pot on a white surface, with a blurred yellow object in the background.

Armed with this information you can look after you plant actively. Now you can own any plant you wish, limited only by what you can find!

Flowchart demonstrating a plant tracking system. It starts with a plant spotter capturing plant data, which is sent to a cloud-based analysis engine. The app on a smart device receives app data and the plant data is used to inform a community platform. The community platform provides dynamic content to followers, represented by groups of people labeled NG Followers.