Nick Constantinou MA(RCA) DIC MEng

Industrial Designer - Digital Designer - Photographer

UK Skills With Prizes (SWP) Terminal

Inspired Gaming Group

A new SWP terminal was required to replace the existing "itbox" which can be found in thousands of pubs and bars throughout the UK. There are hundreds of considerations to be made when designing a gaming terminal. Some of these include:

The brief was to create a product that stood out from the competition in terms of style and features, but to still appear obvious that it was a gaming terminal. So as well as appealing to the customers, the terminal had to satisfy the pub landlords. For this reason, the brief stated that the design should allow for a variety of styles, whether it is located in a traditional pub or modern bar. The concept that I had designed that was chosen for development was so successful that it was later decided that it should satisfy the AWP (Amusements with prizes) market as well as the SWP. In other words, the design should be flexible, accomodating options such as twin screen, large screen, button panel, ticket printer etc.

Clear Channel Screen

Inspired Gaming Group

A joint venture between Inspired Gaming Group and Clear Channel UK was formed whereby digital advertising was to be introduced in to bars and pubs. This would invole a portrait 32 inch LCD screen displaying adverts combined with live content. The screen would be fed the information wirelessly. It could show up to the minute football scores, relevant adverts, venue specific content, video etc. A box and frame were needed that would house the screen as well as the wireless receiver. The design would have to be flexible to allow for a variety of styles to match the pubs decor.

The final design involved a frame made out of a low cost aluminium extrusion offset from a wooden frame.

Gala Bingo Tablet

Inspired Gaming Group

Gala wanted to take bingo to the next level. They had already progressed towards paperless bingo by installing touch screen computers in to the tables, designed by Inspired Gaming Group, that allowed customers to not only play multiple books but play a range of other games. Gala now wanted to provide handheld units that would allow customers to walk around the venue playing their games. The handheld computer unit was chosen and it was my task to design the casing. The casing had to be very robust and provide protection against knocks and drops. Unfortunately, since it would be introduce in low numbers at first, injection moulding was not possible. In fact the design was to be very low cost and so a metal fabrication was chosen.

After the intial prototype, there was a request to make the unit more appealing towards the female customers - namely styling the unit to be more like a handbag. Despite my intial concerns I designed several conpcepts like this, as well as a more male orientated version which was my personal favourite.

E-Lounge

Inspired Gaming Group

For Gala Casino I designed a range of multi-content terminals. There are 3 products in the range: E-Lounge (a coffee table style terminal), E-Bar (a bar height terminal) and E-Banquette (a bank of seating with embedded terminals). Each product consisted of a box that housed all the technology and money handling equipment, which we called E-Tech and a touch screen/screens. I came up with several concepts and developed the best one further by making full size foam board models to get a better idea of ergonomics and aesthetics.

My design of the E-Tech housing for each of the 3 products had a common form throughout to keep manufacturing costs low as well as maintaining a strong aesthetic appeal. I also added some illumination with some flexible blue LED strips.

The E-Lounge prototype design is used every year at the ATEI gaming exhibition at Earls Court and other international shows as a flagship product.

Rocker, ergonomic kettle

Royal College of Art final year project

For our final degree show at the Royal College of Art we had to produce a major and a minor project. For my minor project I designed an ergonomic kettle with inclusive design. I carried out research amongst older adults to find out the difficulties encountered when using a traditional electric kettle. The pouring action caused the most problems. An extensive period of market research and idea generation was then carried out. I wanted a design that was inclusive for everyone yet still had a strong aesthetic appeal. The final design has a unique and appealing form that resulted entirely from the functional driving factor. By rocking the kettle on its front 2 legs to pour, the element of danger of holding a container in mid air whilst pouring boiling water is eliminated. Other features include a large power switch, 360 degree power light, easy-to-read water level markings and removable cordless vessel.

I made the final model by rapid prototype and hand finishing until completely smooth. I then painted it in a spray booth and lacquered it. The clear window was made from an acrylic sphere.

My design was featured in Blueprint magazine, October '05.

Clearview

Royal College of Art project

For a "Design For Manufacture" project I chose to take the common ice scraper used on car windscreens and improve on its design. There are a number of different designs already out there but the most common has over 5 parts, sometimes as much as 16. Other designs seem to be ineffective or un-ergonomic. Early user research also told me that very few people use the sponge part. I therefore made the decision to include just the rubber and hard edged blade. I used anthropometric data and extensive user trials on blue foam models to arrive at the most comfortable shape for a hand held scraper. Other features I wanted it to have were:

The shape I arrived at was very popular with everyone who tried using it. An added benefit of the shape allowed me to design it for coextrusion using ABS and TPE rubber. My model was made from acrylic. I thermoformed the general shape over an MDF tool and the second blade was added and glued in to position. Car body filler was used to smooth over the join. I then sprayed it and glued on the rubber blade. The overall design was extremely low cost, ergonomic, simple, elegant and effective. All achieved with just one part.

Tremor

Royal College of Art final year project

I wanted to experiment with combining the sense of sound with the sense of touch to enhance the way people experience music. I made a range of prototypes that produced various tactile sensations over different parts of the body. I realised that this sort of experience paired well with the club scene and the aesthetic could be well suited too. The Tremor tactile music sleeve produces small vibrations up the arm that are triggered by specific frequencies of the music being played in the club via a small in-built microphone. The sensation produced is a unique one that can best be described as a very pleasant tingling. It adds a new dimension to the music and gives you a sense of being part of it.

I later realised that this technology could be used for those with hearing difficulties. Since the sound is literally being physically played up the arm, there is no need for the audible aspect of the music to be experienced in order to have an appreciation for it.

The model of the sleeve was made using a novel technique; silicon was an ideal material to use due to its flexibility, robustness, colour variations and its established use in the clubwear market. By moulding the liquid silicon directly on to fabric I was able to achieve a very strong bond as the liquid cured around the weave of the material. The ultra-thin copper wires were fed down silicon tubes. I sourced extra small vibration motors that were unique in the fact that they were flat unlike most. I mounted extra small high brightness LEDs to the tops of them. Microswitches were installed in the palm of the glove. For the show, the sleeve was controlled using MAX-MSP and some patches that I wrote. In production this code would all be written to a small microchip

The product has been featured on numerous websites such as Twenty1f: fashion for the 21st century and We Make Money Not Art.

Coca-Cola vending machines

Inspired Gaming Group

I worked on numerous projects for Coca-Cola whilst at Inspired Gaming Group. Some of which involved modifying existing vending machines to encorporate new technologies or features and some which involved coming up with brand new ideas for machines. Some of the examples were part of a "brain-storiming" excercise to come up with novel ways of vending drinks. Many of them were designed to tie in with "The Happiness Factory" theme that Coca-Cola were using at the time. To view animations of some of these concepts please navigate to the Animations page .

Multi-Win Roulette

Inspired Gaming Group

Whilst at Inspired Gaming Group there was a need to re-design the Multi-Win Roulette (MWR) terminal. The terminal is used in casinos around the world and allows more people to play on a single game of roulette at any one time. Traditionally, there was a small limit to the number of players that could gather around a roulette table and wheel. To remedy this, any number of MWR terminals can be installed in the casino and a video camera above the wheel feeds live footage on to the screens. The terminals also allow players to place bets via a roulette table interface on the touch screen and input money through the note readers.

The new MWR terminal was to be more modern and also allow for a range of finishes and colours. I codesigned the terminal with the Design Director and also designed some octagonal terminal configurations for various casinos.

WORM - urban accessory

Royal College of Art

Whilst at the Royal College of Art I wanted to solve an everyday problem that many people suffer from, especially men. That is, how to carry your valuables and belongings with you when out and about. Bags are too big, and pockets too small. The items I wanted to design for were mobile phone, mp3 player, keys, wallet and travel card, plus any other small items. It was a tough brief because in essence I was trying to re-design the bumbag! I wanted to design a versatile, urban accessory for the young, modern man. The characteristics it had to posesss included:

I experimented with various positions over the body. The final design was a bit of a breakthrough. Instead of designing a bag attached to the body, I realised that the strap could BE the bag. So the final design is a long, flat, straight "strap" made of cotton that is worn over the shoulder and across the chest and secured at the ends with a strong velcro fixing that sits just above the hip. It molds well to the body due to the soft material. It is secured at the ends by a strong velcro fastening. At one end is a neoprene clasp pocket for easy access, for your mobile phone. The zip toggles are machined aluminium discs. WORM does not compromise your style as it can blend in with any sort of clothing. It is also convenient when not in use since it rolls up to a small size.

The worm was chosen by Urban Outfitters to put on display in their store in High Street Kensington, London. It fitted in very well with their urban style.

Salt and Pepper pigs

To test some Vray render settings I wanted to model some shiny objects so I designed a silver salt and pepper set in the shape of pigs.

Chair 120

I designed this chair to bring a bit of interaction and personalisation in the humble chair. It is made out of high gloss laminated plywood (with bare ply visible at the edges) and chromed steel tubing. The chair has 3 possible positions allowing the user to change the appearance of it at will.