You buy it, you break it!
A slight twist on what you’d normally read in department stores and otherwise cramped china shops, but in these cases it’s exactly what you need to do.
These products encourage the user to really get involved with some hands on DIY, destroy it yourself!
Jordi Canudas’ “Less Lamp” won’t even function as a light until you physically break open the ceramic shell with the supplied pickaxe, rendering each finished lamp unique to you. Almost endless possibilities, limited only by your taste.
Next up is the “Do Hit Chair” by Marijn van der Poll. A stainless steel box which, again with a supplied sledge hammer, you bash into shape. Forge yourself a seat, or to be honest whatever else you fancy. ”I make a cube” Marijn says, “you create a chair”.
And finally a mention to Mey and Boaz Kahn’s “Fragile Salt & Pepper Shaker” set. No tools needed this time, but it still encourages you to emphatically break the artistic ceramic vessel. Snapping the design turns it into a useful salt and pepper shaker set.
“Breaking is an experience of impulsive outburst, but this time is an act that builds rather than destroys”, a bold statement which which can be applied to all of these. Involving the user, and encouraging them to become the co-designer, these custom artefacts could be the start of the future of product design.
Thanks to Wired Magazine for the original inspiration behind this post.
