Obsolete Website Design

After designing some posters for the campaign I started designing the associated website.

I wanted to keep the design simple and clean and make the products the main focus of the website.

I decided to have a pages that:

 -introduce the idea of obsolescence and what the campaign is aiming to achieve

-a gallery that contains a wide range of obsolete items initially found by myself but then could be added to by the public. The objects would be broken down into categories based on their reason for being obsolete.

At the moment these are: restriction, superseded, component and accessory.

-an area that is a place for company and consumer to relate to one another. Perhaps providing helpful information on their products and help in fixing items.

Here is the website so far - if it's a bit small to see then here is a link to the website:

http://www.alexbrittain.com/100.swf
or
http://www.alexbrittain.com/200.swf for a bigger version.

Obsolete poster designs

So, after deciding I want to completely focus on the objects themselves, I've been thinking about how I can communicate this idea using the objects.

I have been thinking about designing a website and campaign that highlights the issue of obsolescence but creating a database of obsolete objects and their reasons for being in this state.

 I would also like the website to be a place where companies could promote the longevity of their products and could communicate with consumers directly. It seems that with some companies and specific products you have to go through a third party if you wish to fix the item yourself.

Although I understand that companies obviously want to make money and it raises the question what would be in it for them? Well, as I have found there are some companies such a Vitsoe and Huit that use the sustainibility factor to their advantage. Also, I think you have to remember that oil, which is found in thousands of everyday products, is a finite resource and as the years progress and amounts decline what is going to replace oil in plastics as the only alternative available currently is worse for the atmosphere.

I wrote a tagline for the website/campaign which would be:

To inspire the longevity of products; both on a consumer and company level.

I then started designing posters; each poster would focus on a particular object and why it could be seen as being obsolete.

British Plastics Federation

Found this article from the British Plastics Federation entitled:

“WHAT HAPPENS TO PLASTICS WHEN THE OIL RUNS OUT AND WHEN WILL IT RUN OUT?”

It is a really interesting article as it raises both the positive and negative points about oil in plastics but I found this quote to be most interesting:

“Is Substitiution of Plastics an Option?”

No -   In 2005 the GUA consultancy found that 40% of the life cycle energy cost of products is determined by the use phase: plastics are in general more energy efficient in the use phase than alternative materials.

• Production of plastic products uses far less energy compared to traditional materials
• Substitution of plastics by second best alternatives gives at 26% increase in energy consumption; and a 56% increase in global warming.

So, in fact at this point in time, there is no suitable alternative to plastics. Therefore it raises the question what will happen to all our products when oil run out?

Also, will people start to develop alternatives to plastics and is there enough time to find a better alternative before oil runs out?

Pentalobular screws on my iPhone

So after finding out about these pentalobular screws, I started having a look at my own Apple products.  I found that they didn't exist on my iPhone 3G, however they do on my iphone 4S.

Here are a couple of photos:

Thanks to the macro lens I was able to get a real close up shot of the screw head.

Finding this makes me wonder what other components in products are restricting our access to fix them or if there are specific components that are not as well made as they could be.

This got me thinking about the printers they discussed in the film 'Pymarids of Waste', where they claim that there is a piece that is designed to break after so many hours of use.

Would like to investigate this further.

Pentalobular Screws

Searching around apple products I found an article somebody wrote about Pentalobular screws on a gadget blog.

The author writes:

'They are new and rare.The screws require a special screwdriver rather than a standard Phillips-head jobby, making it harder to get hold of the kit required to crack open your iBlower.'


I then found this video from ifixit that explains to users these types of screws and how they can go about opening up their phone.





It just seems really strange to me how apple seems to be making it more difficult for people to fix their own products.
Perhaps it is because of safety issues, although it is probably more likely the fact they want to keep all repairs completeted within Apple grounds.

Fix it yourself Websites

So I started thinking about how easy or difficult it is for consumers to repair their own products when they break.

If some companies are telling consumers it is cheaper to buy a brand new product than for them to fix the part for you; is there a way around this: to fix the part yourself.

I started looking for companies that could provide specific parts for products.

I came across ifixit and their stance on sustainability is:

Fix the Planet Repair is recycling! The best way to keep electronics out of landfills is to keep them working longer. Toxic electronic waste is a global problem that we are working to solve. Self repair saves you money and helps the environment!

http://www.ifixit.com/

I then found fixya where consumers can discuss specific problems with products. Users can gain points for the amount of solutions they give and can also earn achievements based on their solutions.

http://www.fixya.com/

True Cost of an iPhone

Found this really interesting website

http://www.mbaonline.com/cost-of-iphone/

 Apart from loving the design, it is really great how they use the format of scrolling to get you to interact with the information. It really does make you realise the lengthy process and many factors both social and economical that are involved in making an iPhone. I really like this idea of revealing what is kept undercover.

Sony: Futurescapes

Found these through an article on obsolescence. They raise some really interesting questions about our future and how our use of finite resources will shape our social situations of the future.

Hyper Innovation




Centralised Survival



Shared Ownership



Prosperity Redefined

Articles on obsolescence

Just found a few interesting articles on obsolescence. Some of them I found on personal projects so I think it's important to keep in mind the importance of bias. In the first article it is interesting to read the users comments to get a more varied view of the topic. http://tomfishburne.com/2012/04/planned-obsolescence.html http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/trapped-on-technologys-trailing-edge http://andrewschar.com/2012/04/24/planned-obsolescence/ http://samueltucker.co.uk/2012/04/18/built-in-obsolescence/ From this last article it led me to a feature Sony are running at the moment called Futurescapes; looking at potential futures of our world.

Back to the objects themselves.

So after our SAS presentation I started trying to work with this idea of the treadmill/treadwheel however I feel this was distracting me from my interest in the obsolete objects themselves. I tried some filming of a treadmill and even somebody running on a treadmill and had the idea of objects coming past on the machine. However, I feel it just wasnt working and any way of me placing objects on the machine whether it be physically or digitally wouldn't look as good as I envisaged in my head.

Instead of trying to find an analogy to our situation and our relationship to objects, I decided to start working with the objects directly. I started sourcing obsolete objects; hoping to find objects which have been made obsolete for numerous reasons.

 I borrowed a macro lens and started taking photographs of lots of different objects and parts of objects which may have broken. Here are some of the inital photos:

Presentation to SAS

So the other day we each gave a presentation to Matthew from SAS giving an overview of our project. For this, I made an interactive PDF where I discussed the idea of obsolescence and how it is affecting our everyday lives. Although I have yet to finalise how the visuals will look in my final outcome I have become interested in the idea of a treadmill or treadwheel and how, in terms of the idea of upgrading we are moving forward and developing but can never reach the biggest and best products since new items are constantly being produced.

Interactive Presentation

This week we were asked to create an interactive piece that demonstrated our area of interest for this project. For this, I decided to focus on the idea of product lifespan. I was interested in making a series of experimental pieces where as the user rolled over certain elements, they would begin to fade away; reminiscent of how we interact with everyday objects their lifespan is lowered as we use items. For example a lightbulb. As the user then rolls over the element for a second time it re-appears; resembling how we have to replenish our objects when they break. I feel that for this piece I perhaps went too abstract; without an explanation the pieces wouldn't make much sense. However, I was really interested in the interactivity and how the relationship between consumer and the replenishment of products. At the end of the interactive pieces I started thinking about the idea of some form of 'obsolete community' where users could interact with one another and discuss obsolete products and how they could be fixed.

Hiut Denim

Really interesting jeans company who put 'a history tag' in their jeans so they can be traced wherever they go.

http://hiutdenim.co.uk/blogs/story/5649492-the-history-tag

Although their jeans are a lot more pricey than a pair on the high street they're proving so popular theyre currently not taking any more orders.

It seems there is a market for providing higher quality products that will last longer.

Vitsoe - Against Obsolescence

Vitsoe are a shelving company in London who have a strong stance against obsolescence within products.

They say:

Planned obsolescence is the design and manufacture of products that are deliberately intended to have a limited useful life.

The result is that you are forced into an everlasting cycle of replacing, repurchasing and repeating. Vitsœ stands against this world.

Outside there is what Dieter Rams would call an “impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.” Most people call this a sale.

Sales are generally for clearing stock before it becomes obsolete.

For 50 years Vitsœ has stood against product obsolescence, which means you can still add shelves to your old system.

That’s why we do not have any obsolete stock and why we do not have a sale. It’s an avowedly long-term and single-minded attitude.

The Story of Stuff

Products made from oil

I started thinking about just how many products we use on a daily basis that contain oil.


I found a few websites that give lists of thousands of everyday objects that we use that contain some element of oil.

http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/11/9-shocking-things-made-fr_n_570796.html#s89403&title=Plastics

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/classroom/wwo/petroleum.pdf

http://www.care2.com/causes/unquenchable-thirst-the-1001-things-we-do-with-oil.html

Virtual Globetrotting

After our class discussion I began to think about the ideas that media companies present to us about energy and the reality of what oil rigs look like and what people actually do on them.

It seems that in everyday life we are hidden from the realities of energy and their origins. In some ways, I feel that we take this for granted; especially when thinking about the idea of the object and all the processes oil has gone through in order to be part of materials such as plastics.

I found a website called virtual globetrotting, where people accumulate photos based on various topics; one of them oil rigs.

I also started becoming interested in the idea of maps and how the invention of the geological map completely changed the way we were able to detect possible oil.

Most of the oil rigs are fairly bad quality due to the fact many rigs are far out at see like this one near Norway.

However, I also found it really interesting to see this oil rig called the 'ocean america'. It really puts in perspective the scale of oil.

I then found a section under events called 'no longer there'

It is a collection of photographs that show objects, people, and architecture that have disappeared on bing maps or google earth. What interested me is the transitory nature of something like google earth and what happens to the old imagery as we keep updating it and the reasons behind this need for updating.

Here are some images which intrigued me:

A building affected by Hurricane Katrina before and after.

It makes you think about what happens to all the images that happened in the past - we are constantly updating our image of the world to its present state.

I then found a documentary from 1974 which shows the construction of an oil rig. It really was enlightening as it really closes the gap between oil and what is produced or fuelled by it.

http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=4209

Class discussion - all the energies

In order to help us progress with the project and to have a greater understanding of where our energy sits within all the energies we had a class discussion addressing some of the issues we had found out.

Some ideas and topics I came away with were:

-planning for generations to come - how indigenous tribes used to plan for 7 generation whereas now it seems that we are not planning this far ahead.

-transportation costs/waste costs

-footprint

-the sounds of energy such as the sounds of wind turbines

-the government - in Britain a government is usually only in power for a few years so it is difficult for them to put in a long term energy plan as when the next party arrives they may have different views on these issues.

-the idea of sacrifice and planning. also long term versus short term reward.

-how energies are represented such as green/non green propoganda.

  -organic food and how it is packaged- what kind of person would want to buy it

-making people feel positive about doing 'their bit' for the environment - is this fake?

-global/local response to energy

-objects - making people want products they don't need

At the end of this discussion we were set the task to create a one minute video that communicates our idea for what we want to focus on for our final outcome.

The Oil War - Nigeria

Researching for this project has made me realise just how many disparate but important factors oil affects. Everything from government to money to products as vast as pharmaceuticals.

One of the issues of the moment one of the people at Imperial brought to my attention was how Oil is affecting the people of Nigeria at the moment.

It is claimed the oil industry was supposed to save the Delta but instead has brought misery and poverty to many who live there.

It is also being stolen by many people who live their in order to make money for themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17793234

 

Nikola Tesla and free energy

Nikola Tesla is a man who, throughout his life, experimented heavily with electricity.

Dubbed 'the father of free energy', not only did he develop the AC current that we use today but he claims he also made a way of producing free energy to all by using electricity. People's homes could be powered by an electromagnetic current tower that would send waves similar to radio or wifi that homes could pick up up to around 25 miles.

However, these ideas were never fully put into practice due to financial constraints and some people even claim that oil companies tried to suppress the development of his work due to the money they may potentially use.

This for me raises the question of what would free energy mean to our world today and how would this change the economy.

As well as this reading articles based around his life it also puts into question the validity and bias that many arguments contain relating to energy.

At this point in time, everybody has the opportunity to use the web as vehicle for their opinions and i feel, especially with oil, you have to be careful about who is writing the article you are reading and where they have gained their information from.

Here is a couple of documentaries about the life of Nikola Tesla

Movements / Communities

I became interested in this idea that Rob Hopkins has been implementing in that it takes whole towns and communities in order to make a more substantial impact on reducing the amount of oil we use.

In researching this, I came across two more movements; although far more radical, are interesting in the numerous ways they think about evolving society. From architectural planning to the economy they even analyse our purpose for living and make complete overhaul plans for a new world without the reliance on any fossil fuels.

The Venus Project


http://www.thevenusproject.com/


So this project was initially started up by a man named Jaques Fresco and he has designed a future where people live without money and without the need for any fossil fuels.

After watching the film however, a few things didn't seem to add up or raised questions in my head. Despite this, I am interested in his idea of a total redesign of the way we live at this moment in time. He believes this is the only way we can sustain living on this planet for generations to come. However, in order for this to take place, the entire world would need to agree to this way of life for the total overhaul of living to begin.

The idea of making big decisions as a cohesive world is an interesting concept in itself especially with the way countries interact with each other at the moment. It makes you wonder what would happen to government, politics, aristocracy... as peoples' views around the world differ as to how the public should be governed.





I then found another movement called the zeitgeist movement

TED Talks

So in order to start gaining a broader understanding of issues that may revolve around oil, I started watching some talks on the website TED.

I began by watching a talk by Rob Hopkins, who is the leader of a transition movement. It promotes community-led responses to battle climate change. He discusses the idea of scale; how smaller communities of people can make a bigger difference than people on their own or cities of people.

He also goes on to discuss the idea of alternative money. Areas such as Brixton and Lewes have already started adopting this idea by providing money that can only be used in that area.

He claims urban food production is also a stepping stone to becoming far less dependant on oil and other fossil fuels.

http://www.transitionnetwork.org/



Here is a video from their website about what the transition towns are doing and how they are making a difference. I became very interested about reading about these kind of towns. It felt like a really positive solution that was actually starting to make a difference.

It also appeared not to stereotypically 'green' and I think this is important if you are trying to introduce people to a new way of thinking about energy.



This second talk is by a man called Richard Sears who discusses the idea of peak oil and how to cope in a future world without oil.

His summary of our oil problem is that innovation and technology will over take our oil use even before the oil ever runs out.