"The animation of products is at least as important an aesthetic factor as form, color, or material." Ben Hopson
The first week of the new term at UID started off with a joint project for all first-year students. The idea for the kickoff project was to let the students get familiar with each other, the facilities and the staff. The students were divided into nine teams and each team was to design a kinetic mechanical vehicle that would get one passenger across a track. The participants were not allowed to use wheels, and they were not allowed to simply make a walking machine. They had to find some way to translate the movement of the rider into a motion in this vehicle.
The industrial designer, artist and educator Ben Hopson from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York were responsible for the workshop, together with UID&s Jasjit Singh and Demian Horst. Hopson is the creator of the discipline of Kinetic Design, which involves the aesthetic design of physical movement. Hopson also calls it "the choreography for products".
On Friday the race took place and the participating teams were called: Speedrazor, Erikinetic, Danish Tart, Candinator, Lilla Snigeln (The Little Snail), Prof. Zoidberg, Crawlfighter, El Toro and The Team. The race was won by Crawlfighter who reached the finish line in only 27s! In second place came Speedrazor, and third came Lilla Snigeln.
Other awards distributed to the teams were: "Most Scandinavian vehicle", "Art Award", "Out of the Box", "Engineering Award", "Worst Honorable Prize", "Golden Dinosaur", "Most Elegant", "Best Team Work" and "Fuskare Pris" (i.e. Cheater&s prize).
