LCD Weekly Issue - 016 - The things we don't think about

Apr 29

🏔️ Words from the mountains

I got inspired for this week's newsletter by an Instagram post from the New York Times style magazine about the world's most important chair—and it is not the chair you think it is. Some pieces of furniture are so unobtrusive and chameleon-like that they hardly feel designed, and the Monobloc chair is such a piece.

"Depending on where you land on the affordability sustainability axis, monoblocs are either a triumph of democratic design or a mess of disposable mass consumption." - This quote from TMagazine suggests you can view the Monobloc chair from two contrasting perspectives.

These monobloc chairs are widely available worldwide because they are comfortable, practical, and cheap. The cheapest I could find online was 13 euros. When the Monobloc Chair breaks, you throw it away as easily as an empty plastic coffee cup. We don't think about them because they are always around; they are a bit like fast fashion without fashionability.

So, what does this chair have to do with life-centered design?

From a life-centered perspective, you can say many things about it, such as how and where the Monobloc is produced and transported, its impact on the environment, etc.

But I like to talk about its invisibility. This chair is an example of most of the products we own today that we take for granted. We don't think about them because we have no real relationship with them. So if it breaks, we replace it without blinking an eye. The monobloc chair doesn't claim to be anything, but other products do.

For example, nowadays, you must have a reusable water bottle because that is sustainable. But is it? In the last year alone, I received three reusable metal water bottles as a gift, and they are sitting on a shell in a cabinet. We give so little consideration and personal value to one water bottle that it becomes a fashion item, and now you need one for different occasions and suddenly need 10 of them.

We don't think about our unobtrusive or fashionable items, so if they no longer serve us, we get rid of them and let someone else take care of our trash. We, as designers, can play a role by designing products and services that ensure that relationships with our products last. We must help consumers build relationships with their products beyond just consuming them.

🐅 LCD in the Wild - Do your know your water bottle?

We have a little gift for you. You can do this week’s LCD in the Wild by yourself, with your colleagues, students, or friends.

Download the Water Bottle Exercise and the Eco System Mindmap that goes along with it for free.

Have fun! Please let us know how it went

🪄 Inspiration- The Shitthropocene

The Shitthropocene is a new documentary created by David Byars and supported by Patagonia, an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work covers everything from statelessness in the Dominican Republic to America’s Public Lands. His latest film is a mock anthropological investigation into why everything is shit and what we might be able to do about it.

The Shitthropocene is a journey from the cellular-level origins of our lack of impulse control to the ways our central nervous systems have been hacked in the name of capitalism. It’s also about how we might begin to save ourselves from ourselves. Plus, there are dancing cave people.

🔥 Hot in the School- LCD Talk #1 with Thorsten Jonas

Thorsten Jonas will join us during the first LCD Talk to explore the relationship between life-centered design and UX design. Over the years, we have received many questions about how to apply Life-Centered Design in the UX space. And it is time to answer some of them with Thorsten, an experienced UXer and sustainability advocate.

During our conversation, we will discuss Sustainable UX, its differences and similarities with Life-Centered Design, and why both approaches are relevant now.

In the first 40 minutes, Thorsten & Jeroen have an in-depth conversation, followed by the Q&A where you can ask questions about UX and Life-Centered Design.

Join the LCD Talk #1 and learn about Sustainable UX

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So, that's all for this week,

👋 See you next Monday!

Jeroen

Jeroen Spoelstra

I am a passionate designer and mountain biker focusing on bringing people forward using a human centered approach. As a designer you could call what I do Social Design, but nowadays there are hundreds of different design names. So for me I am a designer and try to be humble to the world. I like solving issues together with other people in co-design and I love helping people reach there goals.

I find inspiration in mountain biking, traveling and in my current home the Spanish Pyrenees. I use sports, traveling and being outside to get inspired for my work as a designer.

Design to me is constantly shitifing between making meaningful products to creating impactful and real solutions/ approaches/ business that can make a difference.

The Design profession shouldn’t solely be reserved for the designer (in developed world), but for everyone! I design for impact and help people bring out their little designer in himself or herself. I am not saying everyone should become a designer, but I do think people can use a little bit of design to help themselves forward in their personal/ professional life.

https://www.unbeatenstudio.com