Katerina Kampari

The Uncomfortable Project

The goal of this project was to re-design useful objects making them uncomfortable yet remain usable. The original item would maintain many of its original aspects yet one simple change makes the object a design failure and frustrating to use.

Most of this woman's work is done using CAD models yet it is simple to grasp her intentions. I personally would like to see these exist as an exhibition and see how users interact with these objects. 

The oreo; a tasty, accidentally vegan biscuit that you would believe has some sort of cult following based on how people react when you bring out a packet. Yet this inversion of the biscuit and filling would make it a disaster to eat, that is if you could get one out of the packet successfully...

 A concrete umbrella, yea... I won't insult your intelligence by explaining why this one is a bad idea...

Now this wine glass, a simple change to the size and orientation of the hole at the top can only lead to you looking prematurely drunk as you attempt to drink from this bad design.

And finally - a spoon... that you have no chance of using to scoop anything up, but that's alright - it's not like you could eat from it anyway...

These seem ridiculous but there are many real example of designs where simple things have been overlooked so that beautiful lemon squeezer you just bought - turns out the pips go everywhere and you barely get any juice... Oh well...

Ross Lovegrove

Whilst idly flicking through some pictures on my phone, I came across this one from a trip to London.

Taken outside the Design Museum, I really just liked how vivid and stylized this concept was, I felt it was time to find out more. 

This is an all electric, carbon fibre design with many small details that aren't evident in this picture, so you should check out the gallery: 

http://rosslovegrove.com/renault/ 

I love many elements of this quirky little car, particularly the subtle lines and little details that make it seem so organic yet you could be forgiven for never recognising the basic outline. This design is a collaboration between Renault and Ross Lovegrove. Before, I had no idea who this man was, turns out is quite well known... he even helped design Sony Walkmans and Apple computers.

’Swarovski crystal aerospace’ – solar powered car, 2006

I really like this piece, it’s strong visually and the futuristic aesthetic defines the type of design I thought I would love to create. Like every well-known designer, he seems to have had a go at chair design too.

Supernatural – chair.’ for Moroso, 2005

“I’m an evolutionary biologist, more than a designer,” The organic flowing pieces he creates definitely have a natural influence, or perhaps even Biomimicry. This investigation has led to Lovegrove fast being one of my favourite designers, I just really enjoy his creations. Particularly those pictured left.

“Highly experimental and with a commitment to transcending the boundaries between science, technology, design and architecture” This quote really resonated with me as I believe there should not be these boundaries, not in an age where creative synthesis is so profound.

There is an emphasis on reducing wastefulness and is a huge advocate for ‘Green’ design. As for how he designs, he said, ‘My design language is a product of conceptual thinking not a product of the design process,’ Can we define this man as an example of good design? I would say yes.