new project

We now have our new project for next semester. We were given the choice of three projects as part of the D&AD student awards 2009. I chose the brief to create a product for a contemporary antarctic explorer synonymous with the values of Fortnum & Mason. I chose this brief because it was different from anything I have done in the course before and presents many new challenges. I wanted to explore a brief that involves a subject that I am not very familiar with to give me a greater depth of knowledge in new areas.

I started by creating new cultural probes. In these, I included a label for the user to put on objects in their homes that they would miss if they were to go on an expedition, a chocolate bar with a question asking what luxuries they would take on an expedition and a map of the world for the user to mark the places they would like to visit and what they would take with them. I have handed out two packs to people who enjoy walking and visit different locations around the world. Now to wait for the results...

final idea

My final idea for this project developed from an idea to display tattoos and meanings behind them by bluetoothing them to posters when you walk past. This then moved on to an idea to have interactive posters that use a touchscreen to draw on whenever you want. I wanted to make this idea more commercially viable so it became an interactive advert. 

Companies can select where they want to advertise, upload their company logo and font using the website. When someone draws on the touchscreen poster, it recognises lines created and transforms them into a design to advertise a company. Anything the user writes is written in the company font. 

I wanted to encourage people to express themselves and involve the general public more in the design of posters for their favourite companies.

100 ideas

The results of my cultural probe packs and photos the users took allowed me to generate over 100 ideas. These range from interactive jewellery to allow you to display meanings and stories behind your tattoos, public art posters that use a touchscreen so anyone can draw on them, to piano doorbells that let visitors to play their own tune and stamps on the bottom of everyones hands with their signature to avoid it being forged. The interests and lifestyles of un-tattooed people helped me generate ideas such as, weather forecasting garden pebbles and networked photo frames that let you write hand-written messages to friends and family.

tattoo inspiration

                                                            

          

I love looking up tattoos on the internet and in books and finding new, inspiring tattoo artists such as Alex de Pase. I currently have three tattoos (soon to be more) which I have drawn myself. Finding new artists inspires me to draw more and shows people who judge the tattooed that tattoos are more than just ink. 

insights board

Getting the results back from my cultural probe packs allowed me to take various insights. These included, "people are scared of the permanence of tattoos, people worry about the pain, meanings behind tattoos can be misread, people can be judgmental about who a tattooed person is and what they represent, can be seen as self-indulgent and vain, can be used to express passions and believes and people can have similar lifestyles but differing views on tattoos." 

These insights, along with photos taken by the people who took part in the cultural probe, helped me generate my 100 ideas...

cultural probe results

I created cultural probe packs for tattoo artists, people being tattooed and un-tattooed people and got back some interesting results! A tattooed wooden manikin, face paint tattoos drawn on people and a variety of opinions. Tattoos were described as "foolish vanity" and an expression of "art and your interests". In general though, un-tattooed people were concerned about not having the perfect design that they would be happy with for the rest of their lives. I also found that tattoos artists and people who get tattoos are passionate about them and most have stories and meanings behind them. However, these meanings can be distorted by others.

inspirational image

An image that inspires me is a tattoo artist painting by Quwatha Valentine. It illustrates a modern style of tattooing through a traditional realist painting; showing the various mediums on which art can be made. 

I have been exploring the various perceptions people have of tattoos and how these perceptions are being challenged by images such as this one.