BlueSky 2018

Jason Guan is a 13 year old, insecure, self conscious nobody currently living in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He enjoys lounging around, watching Rated R movies, and sleeping. 

Inspiration: Believe it or not, one of my main inspirations came from Kickstarter. While we were on the Look, Listen And Learn stage, we were presented with a video from Kickstarter of some guy who had created something called the “Coolest Cooler”. It was, without a doubt, one of the single greatest creations I have ever seen in my life. What really stood out to me was the thought of taking something basic, like a backpack or a clock, and elevating it to make it a lot more helpful and utilitarian.

Prototype 1: Sketches All I had for my 1st Prototype were some sketches I had made to finalize the designs for my Stand. Also, I created the name of my product. The SmartStand. Yeah. Just rolls off the tongue.

Portable Fan Water Bottle Holder Pencil Holder Sleeves for Sheet Music Foldable Instrument Stand Wire Stand Frame

An interview with the client, Ryan Baker: J: Ok, first question. Are you currently satisfied with your current stand in Band R: I think that the stands are decent, but occasionally you’ll get a really horrible stand. J: What do you mean by “horrible” R: You know. Those really garbage stands that fall down whenever you put, like, 3 sheets of music on it. It would be nice for you to solve that as that’s one of my biggest issues. J: Ok. Any other issues R: Well, sometimes if there’s like a slight breeze, my music will just fly off of the stand. That’s kind of an issue for me. Also, whenever I use a book, it doesn’t stay open. If you can solve those, then that would be pretty good. J: Alright. Do you have any other issues you have in Band or while practicing that don’t relate to the stand problem R: Well, I sometimes get thirsty while I’m playing, so I usually keep my water bottle under my chair, but it’s really inconvenient to have to reach all the way down to get water. Also, I’ve seen that a bunch of the stands are cracked and have duct tape on them. If you could help make them shatter resistant somehow, I think that would benefit everybody. J: Ok. Thanks for the help. R: Yep. No problem.

Hello there, person currently reading this book. My name is Jason Guan and in this book, I will be talking about something I participated in called Blue Sky. I hope you enjoy.

Blue Sky has many names. It has been called Genius Hour, 20% Time, or Passion Projects. It was developed by the company 3M, then adapted by Google, and eventually Apple. Blue Sky is pretty much when a company gives their employees a certain amount of time during their shifts to work on whatever they’re passionate about in hope that their creations will benefit the company.

During one of our classes, we had to create a Keynote explaining our project and what it will be. These are some of the suggestions and feedback post-it’s I was given.

Prototype 2: Prototype 2 was actually physical. This was when I had actually started to create things. The backings for my stand were actually the front and back covers of a binder. These already had the sleeves on the sides, and had rubber on the sides for the attachments. I had originally superglued the backings onto the stand.

Final Prototype: My “final” prototype was really horrible. I had tried to superglue the backings on, but they kept falling off. I really started to panic at this point, so I copper wired it together. The attachments had begun to arrive, so I had tried to attach them on, but I couldn’t figure out good ways to attach them. For the water bottle holder, I had a hook attached to my stand, which was supposed to hold the water bottle in place, but it was very selective. It was not good.

The LAUNCH Cycle is a method for creating, or more specifically, designing. We used this process for the creation of our BlueSky projects. Here’s what it stands for:

L - Look, Listen, And Learn A - Ask Questions U - Understand the Problem N - Navigate Ideas C - Create a Prototype H - Highlight and Fix

How I fixed the items: Portability: I had bought magnets, and I had discovered that the stand was steel. I had glued the magnets to the binder backings, so they could be detached. Clamps: I had glued more magnets onto the sides, so that when you have books, the magnets attach together. Attachments: I had used some spare fabric to make both a water bottle and fan holder. I had also glued these to the stand, and they didn’t ruin the portability. Revamping: This mostly related to the design of the stand. I had scrapped the copper wiring, and used the magnets instead. Now it was portable, as well as getting the job done.

Video of me working on the stand: (Sorry I’m out of frame for part of it)

Things I had to fix: Clamps Portability Attachments Revamping

How can I create a music stand that does more than hold your music

#1: Cardboard Attachments Concept: Using cardboard to strengthen the Stand Why It Failed: Cardboard was too flimsy and spray paint was expensive.

#2: Supergluing Base To Stand Concept: The frame would be strengthened and it wouldn’t move. Why It Failed: This would ruin the concept of being portable.

#3: Attaching Platforms To the Base Of The Stand Concept: This would almost completely eliminate the risk of the stand falling over Why It Failed: Again, this would eliminate the chances of it being portable.

Here’s A List of some questions and problems that came up during the creation and brainstorming of my project.

Question #1: How much will it all cost Solution: To combat this issue, I researched all of my supplies on the websites where I found them, and tried to find cheaper alternatives or to scrap any ideas that were too expensive.

Question #2: Will the stand be able to support the weight of the additions Solution: I researched the weights of the materials I used to create my stand and used items I had on hand to test the weight. The objects I used were an old camcorder and a steel water bottle. The stand stayed standing, and it also stayed standing after I had correctly added all the attachments to it.

Setting Up: For the exhibition, I was put into the Quality Education group. Our main theme was supposed to be a classroom, so not much setup was needed. We had put up inspirational posters, and labeled each section to fit the theme of our projects.

LAUNCH! When the people started trickling in, our theme worked our just as we meant for it to do. The food matched the theme, and the people seemed interested in our projects. Our group didn’t choke up anything, and I seemed interested in my topic and well rehearsed. Flip to the next page for a gallery.

My first ever idea was some sort of utilitarian phone case thing that pretty much “did more than hold your phone”. However, some quick Research led me to the “shocking” realization that my “creation” already exists and is on Amazon for much cheaper than it would take for me to make it.

My Final Idea was created while I was in Band class, and I had heard one of my friends cuss in anger that his stand kept falling down. I went over and asked him if he was having trouble, and he replied with very angry words that his stand did not work well. I then took it upon myself to create a stand that not only didn’t fall down, but did a lot more than hold your music.

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