#csm2013

Visiting your old studying stomping ground is a surreal and equally exciting experience. I walked through the doors of Central St. Martins, in the middle of the new Kings Cross development, and the nostalgia hit me. This was the place I studied for two years of my life. It was a place I loved and loathed in equal measure... as any student feels about their University at times.

However this time, walking through the doors, I also felt a buzz of excitement–as the school’s degree shows were taking place. We visited week two of the degree shows, with courses such as BA Graphic Design, BA Fashion, MA Industrial Design exhibiting.

In this post I want to briefly talk about two projects which stood out to me, because they focused on one theme which intrigues me.

A few years ago the advent of the smartphone and the development of other types of personal and social technology presented a brave new world to us all. It was a world where we would be more connected than ever with each other. Technology would give us all the ability to connect with our real world in a deeper way... or so I believed.

But what has actually happened, I argue, is that technology has made as more insular and introvert. We have gotten so used to social networking that our face-to-face social interactions have become awkward affairs. We have become so dependent on technology that our hands innately reach for our smartphone if we have been without it for a few minutes. The device which was meant to connect us has actually turned into a distraction when I meet up with a friend for dinner. I’m so consumed with taking a picture when I see something beautiful that I forget to look with my own eyes and feel everything that naturally comes attached with such a sight.

So is the solution to burn all technology and start all over again? No. There are many wonderful things which personal technology has afforded us. But I think on the sliding scale of technology interaction vs. social interaction we have gone too far.

I believe some of the projects I saw at the degree show are trying to redress this balance. To not do away with technology altogether but to find ourselves, and each other, in technology again.

Gexiang Wang’s (www.gexiangwang.com) (BA Product Design) Nokia Memory Box is a wonderful innovation whose basic principle is about bringing people together through photos. The memory box works by using a mini-wireless printer built within the box’s lid, which drops photos into the box for safe storage. The aim is then, at a later date, to open the box with your family and friends around you and share – in a tangible form – your memories once again.

I think Gexiang’s idea is a wonderful method of using technology as the centre of group social interaction. It utilises something that’s useful about technology, along with the wonderful experience of sharing memories with friends and family.

Cecilia Chen (www.ceciliachendesign.com) (MA Industrial Design) has developed a rather humorous and thought-provoking concept to my greatest annoyance of people not paying attention during dinner.

Her project ‘WEIGHING UP THE SMARTPHONE PARADOX’ “...lliterally strikes a balance in our addiction to mobile technology through two sets of specially designed scales. For each set of scales, one end of the crossbeam is attached to a plate holder on which each diner’s plate is placed. The other end has a phone holder attached to it where each diner’s companion’s phone is locked using a small clamp. When the food arrives and the plate is placed on the holder, the scale is balanced so that the plate sits perfectly on the table while the phone hovers mid-air. If one diner’s companion wants to use his phone he will have to press down on the screen of the phone causing the diner’s plate to lift up at the other end of the scale, spilling the food.”

http://vimeo.com/68676258

What I love about Cecilia’s idea is that it is obviously extravagant, and possibly over engineered, but what it does is spark conversation and self-reflection–through humor. I love how industrial design, in this scenario, is used to spark conversation rather than solve a usability problem.

As a founder of Invention Bone, I loved how both of these ideas epitomise our belief that creativity can be used for social good. Although they were very different projects they focused on bringing people together and use creativity (technology) as vehicles to achieve this.

Until next time,