Blume is a planter that combines the longevity of potted plants with the beauty of cut flowers. It comes with a digital educational experience to help everyone cultivate their green thumb.
Overview
Blume is a custom-designed planter. Blume's one-of-a-kind physical design enables it to maintain long lasting potted plants in its outer ring, and feature beautiful fresh cut flowers in the center vase. It comes with a digital experience that is designed thoughtfully to help even worst home gardeners succeed in their personal horticulture journey
What I Did
Secondary Research
Interviewed Users & Subject Matter Experts
Physical prototyping
Wireframe & key app flows
Branding
Packaging Design
3D Renderings
Rich Photography
collaborated with Industrial Designer on future forms
Working interactive iPad display module
01.
Opportunity Area
Benefits of Plants
Attention
The mere presence of plants in an office setting boosts one's ability to maintain attention.
Raanaas, Ruth K., et al. "Benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity in an office setting." Journal of Environmental Psychology 31.1 (2011): 99-105.
Air Quality
Plants remove toxins from the air around you, up to 87 percent of volatile organic compounds (like formaldehyde) every 24hours.
Wolverton, B. C. Douglas, Willard L. Bounds, Keith "A Study of Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement" 1989 for NASA
Health
Patients in rooms with plants required less pain medication, had lower heart rates, experienced less anxiety, and were released from the hospital sooner.
Park SH, Mattson RH. Ornamental indoor plants in hospital rooms enhanced health outcomes of patients recovering from surgery. J Altern Complement Med. 2009 75-80
Expert Perspective
“It’s not that hard to take care of plants, you just need to pay attention to small signals they give off. The most common reason people kill their plants is overwatering”
– Hazel
Horticulturist
An Apprehensive Plant Owner
“I just kill every plant I buy, so why would I even bother?”
– Nemo
Potential User
02.
Crafting something real
Physical Design & Components
The Blume planter combines the beauty of cut flowers with the longevity of potted plants. There is a three part system; the drain plate, the planter, and the vase.
Visual Identity & Design System
The visual identity was created with nature, greenery and living things in mind. There is a simplicity and airiness to the identity. The logo features a leaf and a flower bud in mirror image.
Photography Assets
I needed generate content of Blume in various lighting conditions and contexts. As well as relying on 3D rendering software, I also utilized my knowledge as a photographer to shoot some lifestyle photos as well as UI assets for the app.
Digital Experience
The app provides contextual reminders to help everyone cultivate their green thumb. People have a choice between either Pothos or Succulents. Both of these plant types are extremely hard to kill, making it perfect for beginners. The app guides users through 4 key stage;
Unboxing Experience
I wanted to craft something that felt genuine and elegant while. I utilized an existing die cut to add a sense of realism to the final renders. The card that comes in the box features a QR code that will take the user directly to the App Store to download the Blume App.
03.
Conclusions
Results
I presented my final presentation and got high marks on need, framing, process, craft, communication, and design impact. I then produced the installation, with an interactive iPad Display and a poster for my exhibition.
Next Steps
I worked with my friend and industrial designer Dan to explore future forms the planter could take. I then modeled and rendered them to paint the picture for my final presentation. Combining nature and technology is a deep passion of mine and one I hope to continue in my future work.
