1) What do you think of the ten Long Life design criteria overall ? Which criteria in particular might assist in meeting the challenges created by climate change and how? What criteria would you add or how would you update the current list to account for specific design challenges presented by the Anthropocene?
It is a pretty completed and considerate checklist to see if certain object belongs to long life design. But I would add one more: if the object can provide multi-functional use. Like what we’ve discussed in class, a pencils case/bag could be used as a toiletry when you are traveling. Multi-functions creates the chances for people to take the most use of the object. And since we’ve produced more and more products in this world, it would be great if we can limit the products being made. And in this way we can decrease the pollution we made through factory production.
2) Analyze the design from your home country (in production for longer than 50 years) that you shared in class this week according to the 10 Long Life Design criteria. In what ways does this object/product meet the criteria and in what ways does it not meet them? Address all ten criteria.
The ox-horn comb.
Repair:
It’s unable to be repair once it is broken. However, the material itself is not fragile, it is solid. You will not break it if you accidentally fall it.
Cost:
The price for the ox-horn comb is moderate, ranging from 20-50 US dollars. Surely there are more precious one in market according to the quality of material.
Sales:
For salesperson, they usually would tell the customer that ox-horn is a strong and solid material so the comb is durable and not ready to be broken. And it is good for scalp and hair. So it’s a good product that has a long usage time.
Manufacturing:
As one of the traditional daily objects produced over one thousand years, ox-horn comb was made for a long time. It is the more expensive one in the comb products. So manufacture has and will keep making it.
Function:
It functions well. You can brush your hair with ease. It is light weight, easy to carry with. It looks beautiful, with it’s natural pattern brought by its material. And people believe it is better for you scalp and hair than plastic one since it didn’t generate static electricity.
Planned Production:
The production is able to scale to a certain moderate scale, but not a mass one, since the material is actually an animal products.
User
Customer who owns the comb usually recognize its value compared to the plastic or wooden comb. So they prefer to cherish it caring them with attention, trying not to break it, making it long lasting design.
Environment
The material ox-horn is animal product, I’d say it is sustainable. And the production process requires hand crafting which does not really generate pollution which is bad for the environment.
Design
It is a beautiful item, usually it is one piece with elegant curves and pattern of natural horn. It is flat, easy to be carried with. And the material itself is nostalgia, it is not a plastic or any artificial material. It is a natural material which makes user feel intimate.
3) Next week we will visit Tea Drunk NYC, a Chinese tea shop founded by Shunan Teng. Please visit her store website and learn about her work and pop-up shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. How does this business seem related to Long Life Design? Despite being a new business, which of the Long Life Design criteria do you think it might be able to fulfill over the next 50 years, and why? What are two questions you have for the owner, Shunan Teng, related to long-life design and sustainability?
* please note we will walk to Tea Drunk, located at 123 West 7th street, about 1 mile away from Parsons. Please prepare for walking and the day’s weather.
I didn’t find much information related to the question. However, Tea Drunk stated that they strive to run a sustainable tea business by taking care of the premium tea selection, the protection and respect for the traditional production process in order to product authentic tea.
I would say the Sale User, Design perspective would make it go further in the next 50 years. The education on customer about the tea production, its origins and traditional philosophy of tea, would really help foster the sense of community. And within this community, chances could be taken to educate more people about the sustainability within tea production.
Question :
What are some sustainable effort made for the tea packaging and drink ware?
Talk about the sustainability related information of the product transportation.
4) Please watch the following design talks video on Regeneration Design and answer the following seven questions on your LP.
– At the start of the program Industrial Designer Fumikazu Masuda says, “we cannot continue like this, there is no future in mass production and consumption.” Do you agree?
Yes I agree. The increase of objects existed in our daily life became exponential as the mass production generated by manufactures. I cannot imagine an earth crowded with different objects. And it is time to change customer’s perspective about satisfying. It is not that owning as many as products is good, but owing the products that perfectly fits and was personalized/customized for your needs is good.
– What was the transformative experience that made Matsuda realize he had a responsibility for what he designed?
One day he took a walk, and he saw one piece of junk was abandoned nearby a river. And then he later realized that junk was a washing machine he designed. He then realized that designer should be responsible for what they design and made. If not, these mass production products would be abandoned everywhere and be wasted. This leads to his idea of regeneration design.
– Do you think you would take better care of objects if you had to repair them?
Yes I believe so indeed. And this is what I do often with things I think I shall keep. Like some of the electronic products. I often get parts or batteries online to repair my products. Or I will even upgrade them following the tutorials online to make them adapt to my higher user demand.
– What are examples of materials that you could design with today, that could later return to the “natural cycle” (such as the bamboo that Masuda mentions)?
I know someone in India, who has no design background, invented a dining utensil of one-time usage, like tea spoon and fork. Normally these spoon and fork for fast food industry are made of plastic, we all know they’re cheap and convenient to be thrown away. However, they are harmful for the environment as they got recycled. So this guy uses flour and other eatable materials to make the spoon and fork, so basically you can eat it after you finish your food as a cracker.
– Masuda says, “nobody wants to leave the next generation with nothing but trash.” Do you think designers should consider the ability for their designs to be repaired, as part of their initial design process? What else might help create less waste?
I do think considering the recycle process is essential for the design process, even though it is a hard thing to accomplish. And it is hard for electronics products design, since the material and structure is super complicated, it would need a lot of effort to come up with recycle or repair solution. I also think the repair solution should include the self-repair process.
I think adding reusable material or parts in the products is another good thing for creating less waste, since there would be more recycled material could be used in the later process.
– What are the two things that Masuda says designers should be mindful of when designing (see timecode 20:00)? Why does he say this is important? Do you agree?
I think he made suggestions about creating design that are more sustainable or so-called more regeneration-like design. First is designer should create simple design without using much resources (for example: materials). To me, this reminds me of the long-lasting design we learned. Less materials in a lot of times means easy to repair and easy to maintain. The second thing he said is designer should use natural resources in this way the design of product recycling part will take less effort. And if there is a necessary recycling process for the product it should also be easy to do for users. Designer cannot separate recycling from product design.
– What are you overall thoughts on this video? Did you enjoy it?
I enjoyed it. I think apart from the long-life design, this opens another perspective of how to make the design more sustainable and long-lasting, which is to learn from regeneration design.
One of the lady in the video mentioned the personal sentiment really helps to foster the idea for keeping and maintain the products they own, because these products bear memories so they want to keep it.
The video also gave other example of reusing the materials from existed old products like kimono or paper. They are very inspiring.
I also like the point that recycling cannot be separated from the design of product itself. However, it is really a lot of effort expected if designer
