Little man paperclips Design process

Let’s all cheer upDesigning for recession

The brief

THE BRIEF

The brief

The brief

The brief

The UK is in a recession. Individuals are concerned about their homes, their jobs and their finances. Design an object that will make people happier and optimistic about the future.

The brief

THE BRIEF

The brief

The situation

The brief

The brief

THE BRIEF

The brief

The response

The brief

Research & PositioningDesigning for recession

www.suck.uk.com

Products with personalityThe work of SuckUK

www.alessi.co.uk

Products with personalityThe work of Alessi

www.doyoupoken.com

Products with personality Making connections with Poken

Encouraging optimism

www.theoptimistconspectus.com

Encouraging optimism

www.wefeelfine.org

Encouraging optimism

www.see-the-opportunity.com

What makes us happy?

www.ted.com

Three “Happy” Lives

The pleasant lifeHaving as many pleasures as possible

The Good Life (engagement)Flow. Losing yourself in your work and activities

The Meaningful lifeIn service of something larger than yourself

“Have a beautiful day”Design the perfect day

“The Gratitude visit”Write a 300 testimonial to someone who has changed your life for the better. Visit them and read it to them.

“Fun vs Philanthropy”Helping other people provides longer lasting happiness

Three elements - work, play and love

What makes us happy?

www.ted.com

Happiness is synthesised

No matter the outcome of an event, our happiness is not affected

We basically convince ourselves that whatever happened was for the best.

Natural happiness - what we get when we get what we wantedSynthetic happiness - what we make when we don’t get what we wanted

Not getting what we want could make us just as happy as getting it!

Reduced freedom of choice actually helps us synthesise happiness

Our longings and our worries are overblown because we have the capacity in us to manufacture our own happiness.

What makes us happy?

www.ted.com

Flow

After a certain level, additional money does not make you any happier.

Pleasure and lasting satisfaction comes from activities that bring about a state of “flow”

Losing yourself in an activity

How does it feel to be in flow?-completely involved in what you are doin-A sense of ecstacy. Of being outside of everyday reality-great inner clarity-knowing that the activity is doable-a sense of serenity-timelessness-intrinsic motivation

Recession related products

Using humour to deal with crisis

Relevant design

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Observation Happy people in London

friendship

escape

entertainment

surprise

Observation Commuting

tiring

grey

mundane

crowded

Observation work

mundane

grey

clutter

Design direction What do I want the product to do?

Entertain

make people smile

help people be more optimistic

Find ways of making daily actions more entertaining and enjoyable.

What areas of our lives can be improved?

homecommutework

Concept generationDesigning for recession

Concept generation

Concept generation

Concept generation

Concept generation

Concept generation

Concept presentation: cheering up the home

A microwave that lets you record messages for each other

Concept presentation: cheering up the office

Concept presentation: cheering up the tube

Technology exists to programme LEDs

Design direction

Paperclip chosen for development given the time constraints and its simplicity.

Visited a shop with the product

Response:“It looks nice but it’s all about the packaging”

Direction of development:Improve the presentation of the product

Concept developmentDesigning for recession

Packaging research

Packaging objectives

Present the product so customers ‘get it’low costprevent theft of productmaximise salesdoesn’t add too much time to the production processMinimal environmental impact

Branding

Branding

Initial packaging ideas

Packaging development

Final packaging

Final packaging

Final packaging

Technical specification

Laser cut 1mm Black styrene

EPS file provided to the laser cutter

The result