Sustainable design
Sustainable design
My responsibility
Everything— Rapid Research, Interaction Design, Visual Design.
Institution
Taiwan Tech
Timeline
2 months
OVERVIEW
Loofah bank is a series of loofah piggy banks that use loofah as the main material, relying on its naturally changing color to remind users to keep saving money. It combines the concepts of feeding and saving to remind user to save coins, and to develop a series of minimalist style animal shapes.
Background
Taiwanese produce 4000 metric tons of loofah annually, yet it is largely considered a material solely for cleaning due to its natural fiber. Observing this stereotype surrounding loofah sparked my curiosity to explore the material's potential beyond its traditional usage. This project aims to challenge the existing expression of loofah and discover new possibilities by investigating its properties and potential applications.
Design Process
In order to systematically uncover the hidden potential of materials, a material-driven design process was employed in this project, consisting of three steps: tinkering, focus groups, and visualization.
Material Exploration
During the tinkering phase, various experiments were conducted with the loofah to gain an understanding of its unique properties. It was discovered that the loofah had a fur-like structure and changed color in sunlight.
In the focus group sessions, a group of six college students aged between 19-22 years old were interviewed. The term "Lively" was frequently mentioned by the interviewees to describe the loofah.
Finally, the data and feedback gathered from the tinkering and focus group sessions were integrated, and the decision was made to use "Lively" as the core user experience to describe the loofah. A visualization was then created to accurately document the "Lively" experience, which demonstrated the user experience from various perspectives, ensuring that the full potential of loofah was defined and discussed.
Design Concept
The classic piggy bank has been a staple for generations when it comes to teaching children the importance of saving. However, once the piggy bank has reached full capacity, it often gets ignored to a forgotten corner of the house, rendering it useless and making it unlikely that more coins will be saved. This leads to the question: can we design a new container that continues to stimulate users to save even after the piggy bank is full?
Material interaction
The design concept is to encourage users to continue saving their coins even after the piggy bank has reached full capacity. With the changing color of the loofah, this concept creates a visually engaging experience that reminds users to keep saving their coins. As users save coins, the color of the loofah becomes darker over time, providing a continuous visual reminder of progress. When the bank is full, users can install a new loofah and continue the saving experience.
In addition to loofah, wood is primarily used as an additional component in the design. The goal is to complement the visual experience of loofah with a similar texture and color. Additionally, wood provides sturdy support to stabilize the organic form of loofah.
All components of the animal-shaped piggy banks are made of wood (yellow areas). When the loofah becomes dull, the user can simply remove it manually by following the steps. The components are attached to the loofah shell using basic screws and nuts.
