Above are a selection of fire alarms from other parts of the world. The middle image in the top row is the common UK fire alarm that most people would recognise. This is the alarm that i wanted to use, but it is far too similar to the existing money box that it seems uninteresting to try and create it myself.
The other alarms could be posibilities, but the main issue is that they are almost unrecogniseable as alarms in this country. Because of the shape and colour of the alarms it could be assumed that this is what they are but at the same time the product could end up just being confusing and leave the audience why the alarm looked like that.
This alarm is an alarm clock based on a hammer and bell analogue alarm. It is quite a clever use of the analogue style alarm and is kind of ironic that the creator has turned something analogue into something digital. The fact they are using the style of a serious and important alarm as an alarm clock built specifically for novelty is quite funny.
I could use the analogue style of bell and hammer alarm as part of a design for my product but it is likely to be very difficult. It would impossible to modify an existing alarm but equally as impossible to craft one myself.
This is another design for an alarm but this time the alarm is concealed behind a door. This is a much more realistic style of design that I could use for my money box because of the simple shape and existing mechanism (door opens to reveal money inside). The only problem is that I don't think it is recognisable as an alarm at all apart from the bold type on the door. I like the simple shape but I don't think that this idea could be used as my money box.
This is another design for a completely analogue alarm. In this instance the handle is pulled to release high pressure gas through a horn which creates the loud alarm noise. As interesting as this product is, I think it is far too complicated in shape to be turned into a money box of any kind.
Instead of the alarm, this time I looked into a siren light. The design of the siren light is easily recogniseable and immediately gives the sense of emergency so it would relate well to my brief. However, the design is again complex and doesn't really have any existing relationship to a money box. There is o way for the money to go it or come out, and the inside is filled with a bulb and electrical parts. Again, I would not be able to use an existing light because of the materials used to create it and I would not be able to craft it myself because of the complexity.
Looking at a different style of the siren light, this design would have exactly the same problems as the previous one and I don't think it would work at all as a money box.
The fire blanket seems to be a surprisingly good existing design to link with my brief. The main things that I notice are that it has a really simple shape to work with which I think could be crafted myself out of lightweight materials such as a thick card and strong glue. In terms of design, it has a large flat surface on the front which would be useful for adding instructional images and type.
It has the tapes which create an easy way to open the box but also can be easily resealed to make sure that the money box is re-useable. Maybe the only problem is the ambiguity of the box because it could really be anything unless labelled and placed correctly.
The fire extinguisher is undoubtedly the most recognisable symbol for an emergency that there is, though I'm not sure if it represents a fire or an emergency more. In terms of design the extinguisher is far too complex to work with and would be quite unrealistic to use in my design.
After looking at these I think that it is probably the fire blanket that I can work with the best so I need to develop the idea further and see if it is realistic to use as my product.
I also found these emergency signs while I was looking for images of the equipment.
The signs are definitely immediately noticeable as being directly linked to all emergency and evacuation situations and could be really useful to use on or with my product.
The simple, bold type and illustrations are clear and leave no room for confusing the message.
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