Bronze A' Design Award in Baby, Kids' and Children's Products Design Goes to Kango Baby Multifunctional Carrier by Fatemeh Sadeghi

The Work

Project

Kango Baby Multifunctional Carrier

Function

Multifunctional Carrier

Category

Baby, Kids' and Children's Products Design

Discipline

Industrial Design

Industry

Kids

Colors

Goldenrod, Peru, Dark Gray, Wheat and Cadet Blue

Images

5

Client

FSadeghi

The Recognition

Laureate

Fatemeh Sadeghi

Country

Iran

Recognition

Bronze A' Design Award

Edition

2020 - 2021

Design ID

#107176

Credits

Image Credits

Photographer Mandana Rostami, 2020

Design Details

Unique Properties

The main goal is to increase the period of carrier using time and parents can have close contact with their baby and baby can be close to his parent’s heart. The ability to rotate it from front to back and vice versa without others helping will transfer the child’s weight towards the body of parents. The sticky bag under the carrier removes the need for another bag for the baby or parents’ personal items. The outer layer can be used as diaper changing. The shoulder straps does not gag the baby.

Inspiration

When I was watching a kangaroo’s documentary, I got that the females carries her child in their pouch for entire life. Most people believe that hugging babies for a long time will result in dependency while studies show that what matters to infants is being close to the heart of their parents. So I decided to redesign a carrier in a way that parents would like to use it more. In this way the child won’t have any unresolved emotional needs and may have a better spirit for when they’re grown up.

Research

Baby carriers, have been around for almost a thousand years and before the start of the nineties decade, parents from all over the world used different clothes, shawls and even bed linens to carry their children. While being simple these carriers weren’t an obstacle for parents everyday work and as a result, they were able to embrace their children for a longer time. Still many of the traditional types of carriers are used in developing countries. So by considering the history of this product I tried to plan a modern design matching international taste.

Challenge

The most important challenge of this project was the rotation of the carrier without the help of others, while also preserving the child’s full safety and health. Another challenge was the correct location of locks for changing the diaper when the baby is put down on the back rest. The most important inner factor is people’s an scientific idea about certain colors belonging to the girl or boy child. According to research, this way of thinking has no biological standpoint and humans may show interest in certain color spectrums according to culture and biology. And for this reason and also not imposing certain colors to certain genders, 4 season themed color groups has been considered.

Realization and Technology

After checking ergonomics of the users (both parents and children) a final cutting pattern was prepared for the fabric and in the next step a template (format) was made for cutting the cloth and by putting the template in the cutting machine, fabric and fibers that are below got punched and cut. Then viscose wool was putted in between the cut linen fabrics and the sewing process was done by industrial machines. The reason to choose this material is the product’s special users. Considering that children’s skin is sensitive, both the outer layer which is in contact with the skin and the inner layers are made up of natural materials.

Operation and Interaction

Under the carrier a bridge is sewn that is the same size of the carrier’s width. So that we can change the direction of the carrier from front to back and vice versa without completely opening it. This bridge has the ability to move and rotate on the belt that is under the carrier and gets connected to the body. In order to keep the child safe in this process, an additional layer of carrier strap is sewn to the bridge, and this strap will hold the baby inside the carrier for the rotation process.

Project Duration and Location

This project began in the October of 2017 in Tehran. The first 8 months was for preliminary research and the ergonomics of users’ bodies. After that was checking similar products in the market. And After that, the archetypes were reviewed for design and etudes. In June of 2018 the first maquette was made and in the next months, many more Replicas were made that progressively looked closer to the main model and in the end, after making the final prototype, the early model with real material was produced in the July of 2019. This product has not been shown in any exhibits.

Specifications

Width: 380 mm x Height: 485 mm The depth of the product is interchangeable according to the body of the child. You can place your baby carrier in the washing machine and set the temperature for 30 degrees Celsius. You should spin the machine on the lowest speed.

Keywords

Archetype, Carrier, Ergonomic, Kangaroo, Baby, Hug, Diaper Changing Bag