The visual design of Virtuoso

This is how Virtuoso will look. 

The next step is to look at how it will work functionally.

Inside design sketches

I've first made a lot of pencil sketches to find the right shape of the inside of the musicbox.
I've found a shape that fits very well with the music theme, it reminds me of a musicstandard.
So I made it in photoshop and made several visual iterations of it to find the best pattern.

First model of Virtuoso

Today I've finished the first model of Virtuoso. It's not very accurate, as you can see, the upper part should be flatter. I've made it with Artiste clay and aquarel by hand. Next step is to make this more shiny. Maybe I'm going to improve this model with some transparent nail polish to see how it will look then.

I'm still working on the design of the inside of the musicbox, which I hope to finish tonight. In the weekend I will create an illustrator design file where I will decide the dimensions.
So little by little I'm starting with the making of the model. To do this, I will be making some more tests (this was test one - form), next time probably with wood and finishing layers.

Inside of musicbox

The visual design on the outside is done. But now I have to design how the musicbox will look when it is opened. I hope to finish this soon, so that I can continue with creating a real model of it!
I'm trying to put some elements of a concert room in it, because the upper part of the musicbox is the part that gives visual feedback and therefore that is where you watch and pointing at. So I'm looking for some kind of form that connects the style of the toy with the looks of a concert room or an orchestra.

Test test

The children were very enthousiastic about the visual designs. Again I've had two groups of four children, both containing two boys and two girls per group.
As predicted, the girls loved the pink designs, but also the original design of Virtuoso and the star shaped one. It was surprising to see that they also liked the blue version I designed for the boys.
For the boys, they loved the star shaped one and the blue one. The boys also liked the one bottom right,  because it had green in it. 'We really like the colors blue, red, green, yellow and orange, because that are boycolors', was their answer on why they liked it. So maybe I should try to add a little more green or even orange for the design of the boyish version of Virtuoso.
Both group also liked the rainbow colored design. But I am not too fond of that one myself.

Most important thing is that the children were attracted to my visual designs. I think it's time now to choose three and finish the inside of the product as well.

(Interactive) Music helps development baby

dutch http://www.nu.nl/gezondheid/2807483/muziek-helpt-ontwikkeling-baby.html
english http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509123653.htm
english http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245312.php

A group of 6 months old baby's followed music classes for half a year.
There were two kind of classes; half of the group of baby's followed interactive classes, where they were taught songs and played percussion-instruments with their parents. The other half followed passive lessons, where they listened to music during play.

The children who took part in the passive lessons didn't really show any difference after half a year. But the children who participated in the interactive lessons turned out to laugh more, were less stressed and communicated better.

They pointed to objects and waved more than the other children and were less sad when something didn't went the way they wanted.

Also the interactive lessons changed their reaction to music. Baby's who followed the interactive lessons were more sensitive to the structure of music.

Laurel Trainor, director of the Institute for Music and the Mind of the McMaster University stated: "Babies who participated in the interactive music classes with their parents showed earlier sensitivity to the pitch structure in music. Specifically, they preferred to listen to a version of a piano piece that stayed in key, versus a version that included out-of-key notes. Infants who participated in the passive listening classes did not show the same preferences. Even their brains responded to music differently. Infants from the interactive music classes showed larger and/or earlier brain responses to musical tones."

Even though the infants listened to music in both music classes and all infants also listened to a similar amount of music at home, the biggest difference between both classes was that one class experienced an interactive exposure to music.

Study coordinator Andrea Unrau concluded, saying:

"There are many ways that parents can connect with their babies. The great thing about music is, everyone loves it and everyone can learn simple interactive musical games together."

______________________________________________________

I believe this really shows the value of letting children play and interact with music at an early age. This is why (real) music-toys as Virtuoso are so important for the development of children. It is not only fun, but playing and interacting with music can stimulate development of communication, take stress away, make children more at ease (instead of all the over-energized toys that only make them over-energized and stressed - like the effect of sugar) and children can create a feeling and affinity for culture and music.

More visual iterations..

The other shapes weren't as popular with the kids as the original shape, which had my preference as well, so I decided to not put too much effort in them and continue with the design of the original shape. I want to design at least three different 'skins' for Virtuoso, so that children (or their parents) can choose their favorite and by that create their first bond with their Virtuoso. I've created four designs now that are definitely in my 'yes'-list. One is based on a star shape, one is based on a cake, one is based on a eastern city and one is based on a mushroom. I'm in love. Now I must find out if my test-panel is in love too.