Week 7: What is a proof of concept project?
Current research question:
How can a material story be told of underutilised/wasted local New Zealand materials through homeware design, to provide comfort and familiarity to a space?
Proof of concept brief
An outline of my plan for the next 6 weeks are detailed in the document. Important points are summarised below.
Project description
In the next 6 weeks, I would like to gather and experiment with different New Zealand materials. I aim to refine my scope by defining ‘New Zealand materials’ and the material I will continue to design with in my thesis year, through an iterative making process. I envision the exploration to look similar to the knitted lamp I made in Design Practice 1, where I experimented with the properties of strong wool,
Timeline
and in combination with a new skill of domestic machine knitting, to give form and a purpose to the fabric. In Design Practice 2, I would like to take this further by gathering different materials and pushing my design development further.
I will gather multiple material samples and go through a process of rapid ideation and analogue prototyping to develop a form that complements the material. I aim to create a series of 3-4 mini projects, made with different materials. I hope something in the exploratory process will reveal their potential for products in the home environment.
