Post Consumerism

The second assignment for design studies was here already. Another week, another group meeting and further discussion. Last week we had to research 'Post Consumerism' and discover what exactly it was all about. Then on Thursday 27th at 12:30pm, I met with my group to have a quick discussion and share our views and thoughts on this up and coming topic.

There were mixed views as to the ways in which post consumerism would change people's lives but overall everyone decided that those who wanted to adapt to this way of living, would in turn have a major change in lifestyle; however the extremity of the change would be entirely up to the individual.

Post Consumerism relates to products that have been reused or recycled by consumers. It is a change in lifestyle where brands are no longer dominant and being seen in the same clothes more than once will be the 'fashion'. Those who conform to this will no longer rely on huge supermarket chains, they will grow their own food and purchase anything they can't produce themselves from local shops, their personal values will change and their 'needs' will overtake their 'wants'.

I also personally feel that through this way of living 'Sustainability' and 'Green' methods will be easily and increasingly adopted for all the right reasons, rather than a fad and a business opportunity that looks good to clients.

Below is an image of our group meeting and a quick brainstorm that we carried out on this topic:

RSA Project - CIRCLE

This was a project brief set by RSA as a student design competition. The brief was to design anything for the elderly that would make life easier at home, prolong their time at home or that could be put in place in existing purpose built housing. I chose 'B: Purpose Built Housing'. When first given the project I started to think about the stereotypical views of the elderly and the type of environment a care home provides them with. So the question that I asked myself was 'Why is it that the elderly will sit for hours and tell you all about the 'Good Old Days' and their past but they never tell you of something fun or exciting that they did yesterday?'. So I have created a pod that encompasses fun, family, being social, reminiscing and creating new memories. It also has a retro theme to take them back in time, to help them feel young again and multiple other aids to keep them and their brain active. A space they can take their family and have a good time and get away from the clinical, horrible environment of the care/retirement home whenever they want. There would be multiples of these within the grounds of the home, each individual would have their own pod. I have also given it the name 'Circle' as I believe not only are circular spaces more social - in a circle everyone is equal. These are my final presentation boards for the project: