I was delighted to be invited to the University of Brighton Graduate Show this week, a fantastic showcase of student creativity and talent which annually turns the Grand Parade campus into the biggest gallery on the South Coast.
One of the reasons for my visit was to see the work of Design & Craft student, Amelia Rae Perry, whose project, Objects for Loneliness, explores how design can be used as tool to help tackle loneliness. It is a subject Designing for the Future students have tackled before and it is always interesting to see a new perspective. Amelia began her project by considering loneliness as a condition affecting older people before soon coming to realise that anyone can be lonely.
The design outcomes include a flat packed Money Box which Amelia describes as :
“Shaped like a Pig, this plywood, flat pack Money Box is created with the idea of shared experience. Imagine, you and a loved one who lived far away and you didn’t get to see each other much, (this case, my inspiration was my Poppa who lives 189.4 miles in Nottingham). This tool is about sharing, the idea is you send this to your loved one, and you keep one as well, and you both use the Piggy Bank to save up to see each other”
I also really liked Hello Neighbour aimed at people not digitally connected:
“The idea behind Hello Neighbour came to me when using the community Facebook group “The Hanover Community Notice Board”, this forum is used by local people in the community of Hanover, Brighton to talk and discuss issues and ideas. However, I thought that this platform is something that not everyone can be a part of. …. so how could I design something to help connect people, and in addition bring back the art of letter writing. This message kit, connects you with other people in your area to create new relationships with people you may not cross paths with”
Really good to see students exploring this sort of social issue and doing it in such a thoughtful way. You can see Amelia’s work at the University of Brighton Graduate Show now until 10 June 2018. More details HERE