Once again, the course I am studying has produced another 'web-sensation', in overhypespeak, but this time its our second years, with the phone | not phone online store.
The stores founding principle is "to offer our customers expressive new interactions, rather than be driven by technological innovation for its own sake or by maximising our revenue streams", an idea I'm *kind of* exploring in my dissertation, that the hi-tech product industry is lead far to much by engineers and marketerrs rather than designers. Instead of offering new features in hi-tech products, we should be seeking to discover new experiences.
Headed up again by Graham Pullin and with the addition of Innovative Product Design lecturer Jon Rogers, the project was novel as it was the first time outside of our design studies module that the IMD and IPD students were working together. The results, as you can see are fantastic. I think the addition of the IPD course lead to a real desire to make both innovative, well made and aesthetically pleasing objects. Although the objects of the Museum of Lost Interactions (MoLI) were laboured over, the addition of people who can work in the realm of objects is always going to help create pieces which are more robust.
I think the differences between phone | not phone and MoLI is that whereas MoLI was charming and cerebral, slightly more research-based, PnP has been grounded securely in the realm of design as a business, reflected in the coverage both projects have recieved. Its interesting to see that when Wired picked up on MoLI it was first in Bruce Sterling's Beyond the Beyond blog, whereas PnP was picked up by GadgetLab.
Again this has got me thinking about my final year project and what route to take, or even to possibly do both. Ultimately, I would like to produce a project that could be masss produced, but I am also interested in tackling things on an intellectual level. Something that got me interested was Fiona McGowan's 4th year project for 'The Fear' where she mentions that critical design was a major driving factor of her project, more observing other peoples work to inform her own (proof that critical design does what it says it should, huzzah!). Might be an idea for me, to create some design ideas which I can then translate to a final, market ready-type prototype.
Anyway thats todays thought, I vow I WILL keep updating this.
Cheers
Sx
