〰️Brief 02: One Sheet

A hands-on opportunity to understand the systems patterns and relationships in a problem space

🎯 Invitation

How might we use one sheet of material to design a product to be as simple, cost-effective and waste efficient as possible?

🔍Background

“The environmental impact of shipping includes air pollution, water pollution, acoustic, and oil pollution. Ships are responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants.” Schrooten L, De Vlieger I, Panis LI, Chiffi C, Pastori E (December 2009).

“It is easier to ship recipes than cakes and biscuits” — a quote attributed to John Maynard Keynes

This brief is about experimenting with forms, techniques and materials and considers the global supply chain as a resource. Laser cutters, CNC's, sewing machines and inkjet printers are all made to accept standard sheet materials available globally. Instead of shipping bulky, complex products around the world, can we hijack existing material flows (of raw and waste materials), utilise locally available fabrication methods and design products that could be made anywhere by anyone?

Inspiration video by designer Rafael El Baz from GoodWaste

Eco CMYK by Raf El Baz (printer ink made from food waste)

Good Waste - off cut sheets of marble from sites in London that would otherwise go to landfill, repurposed into desirable products.

Maltida folding photo stand by Chifen Cheng and Ewan Alston

🔗 Constraints

Material

The object should be made out of one, standard sized sheet, that is commonly available and compatible with appropriate machinery. You can make (or grow) this sheet yourself, find it or purchase it but you will need to account for its origin and display the waste (if any) alongside it. NO MDF and avoid international shipping (Amazon). Consider the restrictions we are under due to covid - where & what can you make? What materials can you source in spite of compromised supply chains (there is a world-wide acrylic shortage for example)

Protohaven - proto-shield facemask https://www.protohaven.org/proto-shield/

Fixings

In addition to your sheet you can use appropriate fixings and components like wires, light bulbs, bolts and bands. (Consider disassembly and end of life - screws, bolts and push fit is preferred to glue)

Open Desk stool

Scale

Your object when disassembled should fit through a standard uk letter box - 254mm x 38mm

This is up to you; using your preferred design research strategy (loose associations or other) rapidly identify possible objects and techniques relevant to your interest area. Document this ideation visually as a divergent spider diagram in Miro.

Design

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image

Detail from Studio Wall Drawing: 5th June 2006 - High Resolution - “Large Field Array” (14x14x3 pixels) ..... (300) 2006 © Keith Tyson https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/keith-tyson-4918

Make

Try multiple and diverse techniques and ideas before you settle on one. You could create a tool for cutting, punching or bending. You could create a material to go in a cnc or laser cutter. You could create a template for sewing or a recipe for a sheet. Whichever you choose you must document it and it must be repeatable, evidenced by instructions.

Lasso Shoes : https://lasso-shoes.fr/en/

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Supply Chain

Map out the final supply chain of your object annotating impact on people, planet and profit. Track where your sheet and fixings are from, and consider the end of life of your object. Display this next to your object.

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💾 Submission

You need to document Brief 02 as a gitbook page. The hero photos count towards your proposition and the rest counts towards your portfolio.

There is a copy of this template in your project area

📐pageTemplate for: Brief 02

👀 Examples

Postable Garden

https://wikifactory.com/+othertodaystudio/the-postable-garden

Candle

https://wikifactory.com/+othertodaystudio/f%C4%93nf%C4%81

Lamp

https://wikifactory.com/+othertodaystudio/gaiga

Stool

https://wikifactory.com/+othertodaystudio/pik-stool

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