Melt Seattle Campaign
- Melt Seattle
A campaign to end the "Seattle Freeze"
Fall 2010
Professor Kristine Matthews
Group Members: Ruth Arellano, Erica Coombs, and Tony Tran - Melt Seattle is a campaign centered around a public exhibition to address the social phenomena known as the "Seattle Freeze." The Seattle Freeze has been identified mostly by transplants to Seattle who notice that locals are diffifcult to get to know because while they are outwardly friendly and polite, they have little genuine interest in getting to know other people outside of their established group of friends. While many theories surround the root of this attitude from a saturation of introverted techies to the damp, cool climate, no one can come up with a solid answer to what has made Seattle so cold. Having lived in the greater Seattle area my whole life I was surprised to learn about the Seattle Freeze and believe that with a little conscious effort and sincere conversation we can warm up Seattle!
- For the site of our campaign we choose an iconic Seattle location: the coffee shop. Recognized by many sociologists as the "third place" of social interaction next to work and the home, the coffee shop has become more of a place for individual work with patrons buried in their laptops and headphones. Along with colorful window graphics announcing the campaign, we would replace the small individual tables with one long communal table to encourage a more social environment.
The table would "connect" people sitting across from each other and encourage conversation by prompting them to ask one another questions. In this case the snowflake motif serves its double meaning as points and connections between people.- A wall directly behind the table would give more information about the origins of the Seattle Freeze and feature quotations from locals about their personal experiences with "the Freeze".
- Cups made for the exhibition would feature questions to ask people throughout the day. Since they would be printed on carryout cups, visitors would still be able to participate in the event even if they could not stay to sit at the table while also carrying the main message of the campaign beyond the exhibition space.
Coffee sleeves would also reveal a quotation when opened to summarize the idea behind the Seattle Freeze. - When the coaster is flipped it shows the "Seattelite's translation" of what it really means when someone says, "Let's do something sometime." Coasters also provide information about the exhibition.
- Finally, a photobooth would be installed in the cafe as a place to document the new friendships made at the Melt Seattle exhibition. The booth would encourage visitors to also express their personalities with each other while leaving one of 3 frames behind to document their experience at the exhibition.
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