[POTW: 1] Assignment One: Objectified

I recently watched Gary Hustwit's design documentary Objectified - for the first class assignment. The idea that objects and our relationships with them should grow more fondly over time really resonated with me while watching the film. 

 For this assignment, I decided to remake my PS2 and an old Nano-pet keychain. I chose these two objects as they have a fair bit of sentimental meaning and a sense of nostalgia for me. I got this PlayStation in early Dec. 2000, as a late birthday gift. Over the last 23 years since, I've spent countless hours gaming on it, and have lugged it around in several moves across the country. The nano-pet was another object that I've had for a long time and surprisingly it still works. Given that we're in an age where everything is disposable or made to be obsolete - it feels like stumbling across a rare gem when something is built to last.   

Co-founder Bill Moggridge, and designer David Kelley from IDEO, both talk separately about the emotional relationships that people have with objects; as well as sentimentality, and interactive design experiences. Bill mentions the aspect of 'wearing in instead of wearing out", whereas David Kelley talks about a briefcase that he inherited having more value because of sentimentality. 

Bill Moggridge, about his experience of interactive design while designing the first laptop "Grid Compass" - (paraphrased).

“...I found myself forgetting all about my physical design, and realizing that everything I was really interested in was happening in my relationship with what was happening behind the screen … interacting between me and the device was all to do with the digital software and very little to do with the physical design … Design a whole experience … called interaction design.”  - Bill Moggridge (IDEO)

Another quote that I found interesting:

" We now have a new generation of products where the form bears absolutely no relation to the function.  Look at something like the iPhone and think of all the things it does.  “Form follows function” has been annihilated by the microchip. " - Alice Rawsthorn

Thinking of the form and functionality of objects, newer generation gaming consoles and cell phones come to mind. - The PS2 was the best-selling console on record and was only discontinued a decade ago, yet since its discontinuation, there has been 3 new gen. PlayStation consoles, each becoming obsolete faster than the ones prior or requiring more money, accessories, or a constant internet connection to function. The same can be said with most newer Apple products, Xbox, and Nintendo.  The PS5's design was aesthetic, with form first over its functionality. 

 


 

- K.