An assignment is given to B-tech students of the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology, and incudes both fashion design and industrial design as part of their
course. A group was formed consisting of five individuals, three from fashion design
and two from industrial design, from this a small business was established with each
individual contributing different skills and abilities to improve the business and ensure
prosperity. The aim of the 5k project is for the business to make a minimum of R5 000
profit as well as to implement the skills obtained over the last three years and provide
the group insight into what it entails to run a business, both positive and negative. This
teaching model encourages the students to learn through real life experiences and
research while still having the security of being assisted through this process by
lecturing staff. Additional input from a graphic designer group provided us with
assistance in branding, marketing, social media presence and photography.

Our design process started out by identifying what each member of the business’ goal and outcome for the product was and the target market they would like to aim at. This was easy as the whole team was able to agree on one thing, we all wanted to develop a product that could help the individual using it and would be a necessity product and need for the individual, namely safety with individuals performing outdoor activities. The team identified a problem within safety associated with the outdoor sporting community. The product is aimed at dealing with safety over design, however we aim to still maintain visually appealing design aesthetics in the product.

With the onset of this project we initially moved in the direction of an
armband that sat on the upper arm. Due to the product (namely a cellular
phone pouch as it is known) having an established market; it only made sense
to “piggyback” on the corporate idea. With the unique addition of a personal
alarm.

Knowing that aesthetic is at all times important in design; the overall aesthetic was crafted to look superior to other sleeves on the market. With a more organic shape the worn object would look futuristic, fast and special. With the addition of a printed on reflective patterning these designs would be set far apart from even the nearest competitor, an example of this is seen in the figure above. 

Prototyping turned out to be a hassle with CMT’s often making mistakes, not following instructions and the prototypes not being clearly defined.

As a group a decision was made to rather set forth into the direction of a wrist band as a better alternative. Holding the user’s keys, and the personal alarm the athlete could have a noise made for them in the case that they could not make one themselves.

This concept is designed to have two pockets. One pocket for a personal pull alarm, and the other for any essential equipment such as keys. The goal of the first iteration was to determine scale. The concept also informed pocket sizes and number of pockets able to fit.

From these iterations onward, the development process was integrated with the manufacturers input.  Key design features were set and changes were made where necessary to best accommodate assembly sequence.

The product falls in the category of sportswear. ARM makes a mark through redefining the concept of a wristband. What separates the ARM wristband form any other modern wearable is that it is geared towards safety. For functionality in relation to safety, ARM gets pulled over the hand onto the wrist with no need for any strapping to secure it. This feature means that the product cannot be ripped of the user.

Pull Alarm: The pull alarm acts as the ARM’s unique selling point. In a case of unexpected danger, an easy pull of the alarm chain will set of a loud siren, alerting anyone in the nearby are that you need assistance.

The ARM logo is branded onto the product through the format of reflective printing. This method allows for visibility in low light conditions. This particular reflective printing makes use of a new carbon black print, replacing the traditional silver print.