• Published on

    Topic direction

    I spoke with Emma about my topic. She suggested that I research people who are designing to change materialistic lifestyles, such as the Slow Fashion movement, Rosanna Orlandi and Guiltless Plastic and Marie Kondo.
    We realised that my topic could either look into materials (through alternatives to plastic, waste etc.) or into lifestyles (small living, downshifting, co-housing etc.). I'm more interested in investigating people's lifestyles and how becoming less materialistic can make people happier. Slow Design is worth investigating...
    I spoke with Lyn about my topic. He suggested that my project could be designing for people who are already interested in alternative lifestyles, or designing for people who aren't at all interested in alternative lifestyles. The outcome would be quite different for each option. He also suggested I look into Slow Design, the evidence of this thinking (tiny houses etc.), and why people are designing and living this way.
  • Published on

    Elevator pitches

    Presented two elevator pitches to the class:
    'I want to design a product or system that encourages consumers to develop methods of living with fewer possessions, and teaches consumers about avoiding waste and dealing with a finite world.'
    'I want to explore the use of biodegradable alternatives to plastic, and design a product from a biodegradable material that challenges our dependence on plastic, and offers a more sustainable alternative.'
    Lyn suggested to combine aspects of the two pitches together, to focus the project. Matt said I should "design a neon 'Don't Buy Me' table sign".
  • Published on

    More Details

    • Plain white glazing for the bowl is good because it won't go out of fashion as fast as patterns, bubble glazing or colours
    • White won't show inconsistencies in porcelain like clear would
    • Could sand the glaze off the bottom when dry instead of using wax, which might be more accurate
    • I should move the rivets in the scraper to the edge to frame the blade
    • I could make a jig to cut slot for blade (bandsaw or vice with thin blade) or CNC in two parts and mill out the slot (which would be the same process as lame)
    • Finish the wood with something natural like beeswax
    • Smell of beeswax will evoke emotions, memories, and honey goes well with bread
    • I should take the white container filled with starter to the fabrics store, try to find a colour linen that goes with all my materials, maybe between oatmeal and light blue to make the white of the bowl really crisp
    • Could use marino if I can't find the right colour linen because it has similar properties to linen
  • Published on

    Hashtags

    I tested the 'hashtag' part of my cultural probe on 7 classmates. The probe asked participants "what are the 5 hashtags that define 'conscious living'?" Right off the bat Hannah asked whether she could look at Instagram to find relevant hashtags. I said that was fine, because in the real probe I wouldn't be there to tell people what not to do. But I suppose I could introduce limitations to the probe when I first give it to participants. However, I want the probe to be quite open to allow people to contemplate the questions in any way they feel fit.

    Two of the 7 participants only had 4 hashtags. I don't know whether this is a problem, because again I want the participant to be able to respond to the probe in their own time and space. I'll need to talk with Emma about this. I wasn't able to read some of the responses. I think if I know two or three of the responses I should be able to work out what the others say with some forensic linguistic analysis.

    Rik edited the instructions to the probe, removing the 'the' that comes before '5 hashtags'. He said that the 'the' made him feel like there could be wrong answers. I also noticed that some of the answers were quite design-related, highlighting the fact that I need a wider sample to include a better variation of people, cultures, lifestyles etc. I should also talk with Emma about going about finding that sample and reaching out to potential participants.