SPINE, 2014 - For a project called DesignThis! I was given the opportunity to create my own assignment based on things I find interesting. As a lover of visually beautiful things, I was looking for an excuse to experiment with Product Design. I was always intrigued as to why we use certain products everyday and never think about why it looks the way it does, or why we love them so much. That's why I challenged myself into taking on new fields of design like Animation, Branding (Loyalty) and Product Design with my briefing being:
“How can I turn a worthless/disposable
product into a designer product?”
The product I chose to change from disposable to design is a clothing hanger. To me, the interesting thing about clothing hangers is the fact that they are bought and treated like disposable products, yet we use them for years. During my research I noticed that most people don't care for clothing hangers, while when asked, they do have a lot to say about them. I summarized my results into an infographic that would help me during the design process.
With this information I started building up a solid concept. The main goal of my product was to make people actually want to buy a hanger, and fall in love with it. With a strong and fresh Brand Identity I wanted to bring a new meaning to clothing hangers as we know it. I wanted clothing hangers to be viewed as the backbone of your closet, a necessary in any fashionable home and the spine of all of your favorite clothes. Therefore I created SPINE: a new way to hang.
I soon discovered that designing a physical and offline product is a lot different from designing for screens. You need to think in three-dimensional space and physical usage and gestures. I started reading books on Product Design and planned in brainstorms with Industrial Product Designers. Next step was getting my ideas onto paper.
Building a Brand- and Visual Identity is not something I do a lot. I wanted SPINE to be fresh, modern and sophisticated. By creating a young and sexy Look-And-Feel and combining this with a bold and outspoken Tone-Of-Voice, I was dedicated to turn a disposable clothing hanger into a designer made SPINE.
