Critical Wayfinding was an academic exploration into using wayfinding design methodology as a means of articulating and encouraging critical engagement with consumer products among a broad audience. This began as a response to the Critical Design movement which, while successfully articulating criticism through design work, is limited in its potential audience.
Designed in response to the theory developed in Critical Wayfinding, this project expands the functionality of an Apple iPhone allowing the user to explore and analyze Hertzian Space. The design brief called for a product that would encourage critical engagement with an existing device, in this case the iPhone, and provide scaffolding for an experience that would allow for this exploration.
In researching the iPhone as a part of Critical Wayfinding, the analysis of the device, the corporation, the vast network of shareholders, technology and the distribution infrastructure that surrounds it yielded an overwhelming amount of information. In an attempt to organize this information into a format that is engaging and reflective of the wayfinding foundations of the project, two large conceptual diagrams in the style of Harry Beck’s London Underground diagram were produced.
A commission to design a number of public internet kiosk concepts which would showcase a technology which allowed several computer workstations to operate from one CPU. Economy, a minimum impact on the public space and the ability to easily transport the kiosks between sites were seen as important considerations.
Inspired by the philosophies of the Futurism art movement, Ixion embodies the themes of testosterone, adrenaline and the rapid adoption of new technology. The device simultaneiously provides a dangerous, adrenaline filled ride while allowing the user to slip effortlessly through the interstitial spaces of the city left by those using out-moded technology.
Long held custom dictates that the service of coffee and tea differ dramatically. While tea is served as a part of a ceremony or ritual, coffee is brewed out of sight necessitating an interruption in conversation to serve the beverage. Polvo was created to bring the ceremony of coffee brewing to this setting.
A new design for a sit-ski based on a simpler form and constructed of gravity fed cast polymer produced for the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers. Produced locally, and as such, can be sold at a fraction of the price of commercial competitive units. Although not suitible for high-end participants, this design provided a viable and exciting solution for beginner and intermediate level sit-skiiers.
The Mo’Hawk is a single piece plastic part designed for the original Punk-Rock Movement. It responds to both the rapid commercialization of the initial movement, and the bizzare uniform nature of collective rebellion. The piece provides a means of converting oneself from glam to punk within the messy do-it-yourself spirit of punk.
Worry, the driving emotion behind air filter purchases, is seldom visually expressed in existing air filters. Filterati was designed to elicit a sense of worry by drawing attention to the amount of particulate in the air, the source of this particulate, and an individual filter’s inability to completely clean the air.
