Measure for Measure
“Connecting people, resources, and places to each other in new combinations, on a real-time basis, delivers demand-responsive services that, when combined with location awareness and dynamic resource allocation, have the potential to reduce drastically the amount of hardware—from gadgets to buildings—that we need to function effectively.” (John Thackara, In the Bubble, Designing in a Complex World)
Designer Harry Trimble’s final degree show at Brighton University admirably picks up this mantle of connecting local people, resources and places. His thesis to bring awareness to the mass of product miles created through the production cycle of many of our everyday objects and to pursue alternative approaches toward a more localised manufacture. I liked the idea of creating a geo-provenance for objects.
One could see the journey was as rewarding as the end result. This type of dialogue between design innovator and expertise is essential to create new ways to approach design. And who could resist the end results: Plumber’s Masher made with the help of local plumber Oz and copper piping and a county currency, the Lewes Pound Coin – created at a nearby foundry in Lewes. (See more objects and stories here: www.harrytrimble.co.uk)
Also engrossed in the concept of measurement was fellow graduate Sophia Fong. With her presentation the aim was to re-evaluate the very tools we use to make products. In ripping up the rule book - she has created a series of very beautiful and usable products: the Mix Tumbler and Displacement Jug amongst them.
