So often digital products and experiences lack the aesthetic quality that comes from handicraft, and the speed with which digital technologies become obsolete often preclude the use of natural materials and time-consuming manufacturing techniques. I would like to explore how craft traditions can be brought into the center of interactive digital design.
I believe Sweden’s cultural design heritage joined with the Institute’s core philosophy will create an especially rich arena for exploring the integration of these digital and craft disciplines.
At the beginning of the last century, the Swedish Society for Industrial Design linked artists with industry with the motto of “More beautiful objects for everyday use.” Visiting Sweden I have felt the resonance of this movement. With a social-aesthetic philosophy based on that of the German Werkbund and the Bauhaus school, Swedish craftspeople and designers proved that it was possible to utilize contemporary technologies without sacrificing aesthetics and utility. I believe that we are again in a predicament where mass manufacture, digital technologies, and a globalized economy stand to threaten the quality of the goods and experiences we design and use. LCD faces on gold Rolex watches may not be the solution, but what is?

INSPIRATION: Brio
In an older issue of Svensk Form Magazine I read an article explaining that Brio has sought to reinvent itself in recent years in the face of significant challenges. Strategies have included exploring innovative products, new marketing, partners and distribution channels, lowered production costs, and repositioning as a hip brand for active mobile parents. Through this all, CEO Thomas Brautigam explains that the key challenge is in “making Brio modern while retaining its credibility.” These ideas inspired me to think about Brio’s position through the lens of “what could digital technologies do to enhance these much-loved traditional products–products that almost must be made of wood?” While the growth of manufacturing in Asia threatens the livelihoods of local craftspeople, this company’s brand is built on high quality Swedish design and craft. I think that this problem has many interesting facets including:

•    Natural materials and high-craft mixed with digital technologies
•    Globalized manufacturing versus local craft traditions.
•    Lower environmental impact through longevity (“heirloom electronics”)
•    Software layer updating to maintain a product’s relevance (keep up with intellectual sophistication of a kid as they grow; or, stay culturally modern)
•    The socio-economic issues involved with business planning for a high-quality/high-fashion brand that people will want to invest in over cheaper lower-quality options

EARLY INTERESTS
•    I am interested in the perceptual dissonance created when combining digital technologies with natural materials and high quality craftsmanship. This dissonance is often the result of the relatively short useful lifespan of digital components contrasted by the relatively long potential useful lifespan of objects made from natural materials.
•    What emotional impact is involved with having natural materials and high quality craft in a physical human-computer interface? How can this be done in a way that is not merely a case modification (i.e. rosewood case on a laptop) but rather in a way where the digital technology and the physical object are in harmony, are intrinsically related—feel naturally born together.
•    How can the high quality object act as a lasting platform for technology? Is it possible to make any computer/electronic hardware components swappable or to use mature and relatively simple digital components so that they can match the object in useful lifespan?
•    Can a high quality object have a longer useful lifespan when a software layer can be swapped and updated to match the interests, abilities, culture of its owner? Imagine a growing child with a chair and table that can be physically adjusted as they grow taller, and when its height is adjusted, the sophistication of the interface and content grow to match the intellectual development of the child.
•    Can a digital object create less of a negative environmental impact when its useful life is extended significantly by having the qualities of an heirloom electronic (high quality craft, natural high quality materials and appropriate digital technologies)?
•    Wood is a classic natural material for high quality crafted objects and when farmed responsibly can be a renewable resource. It is also biodegradable and requires relatively less caustic materials and processes in manufacturing when compared to most plastics used in digital products today. There are also a number of wood based recycled materials that could be utilized while keeping the effect of natural material. There is an international competition called Sustainable Wood that has a deadline of June 2009. A goal would be to submit the results of this project as a proposition that augmented functionality through interactivity could extend a wooden products useful life.