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KNEE BRACE DESIGN

This knee brace is designed for Incase and figure skating

INCASE

FIGURE SKATING

KNEE BRACE

It is a knee brace design for Incase backpack company to design a kind of product, which can protect figure skater's knee to avoid the risk of ACL injury.

KNEE ANATOMY

Left knee-joint from behind,

showing interior ligaments.

Right knee-joint, from the front,

showing interior ligaments.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is injured the most among all major knee ligaments. This injury happens when the shin is stressed in relation to the femur

 

The following situation causes an ACL injury:

  • body is flexed forward

  • legs are in abduction (apart)

  • landing from a jump

  • knee is rotated

  • foot is rolled over

  • hyper extension or hyper flexion of the knee

Patella fracture is an injury to the kneecap.A patella fracture most commonly occurs from a fall onto the kneecap.

BRAND INTRO: INCASE

“Our approach was focused on creating a system that felt candid and portrayed these ‘real life’ situations as well as the function and beauty of the product.”

Incase, founded in San Francisco in 1997, is a globally respected and iconic lifestyle and accessories brand. Over the years they’ve created some industry bending trends in the bag, sleeve, case, power and even the collaboration space. They’ve even managed to establish a longstanding relationship with a small little brand you may have heard of named Apple.

 

‘Designed for You.’ created the perfect opportunity for us to stay true to the founding principles behind Incase’s brand, but bring a human element and personality to the consumer. It also clearly positioned the brand regarding what they offer and what their point of differentiation is. When we introduced ‘Designed for You.’ we identified four key consumer archetypes that the ‘You’ represented and turned them into categories Incase could merchandise products within.

SIMPLE

ORGANIC

AESTHETIC

ACTIVITY INTRO: FIGURE SKATING

Figure skating is a sport and activity in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908. The four Olympic disciplines are men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (short and long) which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.

COMFORTABLE

ORGANIC

AESTHETIC

DYNAMIC

SMOOTH

RESEARCH: PERSONA

INSPIRATION: INITIAL CONCEPT

DESIGN: THUMBNAILS

FURTHER DESIGN: SKETCHING DEVELOPMENTS

PROTOTYPE: CLAY MODEL/ PAPER MODEL

FINAL DESIGN

  • SIMPLE

  • LIGHT

  • COMFORTABLE

  • CONVENIENT

This knee brace is designed for Incase and figure skating. During Design Project 1 class, I selected Incase for my brand and figure skating for my activity.

 

At the beginning of this project, I went to ice rink many times to experience what injuries will happen during skating. After that, I investigated some information, and also did lots of interviews with many skaters in the ice rink as well as online. According to interview, I found that figure skating have to do many difficult movements during performance or practice, such as double axel, triple loop jump, lutz, etc., which are a great risk to get serious injuries by these movements. Because of that, I tried to create a knee brace which is suited for skaters and also keep the shape and feature from Incase brand image.

 

The shape of knee brace is simple as Incase products. I used simple curve and organic shape to develop the frames. Then, the shape of D-rings are follow the curve from frames. The frame and cuff are put together with one smooth surface, and the shape of hinge is inspired by Incase logo. I put knee sleeve with knee brace together, make users feel more comfortable and flexible but still protect their knee and avoid the incidence rate of ACL or PCL injuries. Figure skaters can jump easily and do their movements safely and comfortably.

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