SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH INFORMED PRODUCT DESIGN

01.

02.

03.

CONT ENTS

04.

X E N OPHO B I A & R AS I C M

GE ND E R INE QU AL IT Y

RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

[10] FACTS & STAT IST ICS [16] T HE PROCESS [ SK ETCHBOOK/ M AK ING/ DESIGN [24] T HE NEW PRODUCT [ MULT ICULTUR AL SANDALS PIECE ]

[34] FACTS & STAT IST ICS [40] T HE PROCESS [ SK ETCHBOOK/ M AK ING/ DESIGN [48] T HE NEW PRODUCT [ GENDER-EQUAL BENCH PIECE ]

[58] FACTS & STAT IST ICS [66] T HE PROCESS [ SK ETCHBOOK/ M AK ING/ DESIGN [76] T HE NEW PRODUCT [ MULT I-REL IGIOUS CANDL EHOL DER & NECK L ACE PIECE ]

INT RODUCT ION "THE CHALLENGE IN MY MIND IS TWOFOLD: TIPPING THE SCALES AWAY FROM DESIGNING ARTIFACTS TO DESIGNING IMPACT AND MAKING SURE THAT DESIGN FOR SOCIAL IMPACT IS NOT JUST A MEANS TO STROKE OWR OWN EGOS AND ADD GREATER GOOD PROJECTS TO OUR PORTFOLIOS." - EMILY PILLOTON Emily Pilloton is one of the designers that inspired me and prompted me to turn my attention to the subject “How can product design can contribute for a social improvement�. In 21st century, we live in a world that is full of social issues: economic crisis sweeping across the planet, wars and political conflicts all over the world, natural disasters, poverty, diseases are some of the negative statements that are making people lose their hope and no longer be productive and creative. All those issues lead to negative behaviors like racism, depression, inequality, criminality.

Focusing my attention on three types of inequality: Racial, Gendered and Religious and after research on the informed product design, I decided to create three products that stands against each type of inequality. The products that I designed are part of our everyday life: a bench, a pair of sandals, a candleholder and a necklace. I never thought that those four products could send a message to me and all the people through their use, but this fact ended up to be the whole concept of my thesis, to use every mean to fight all kinds of inequalities and racism.

I learned a lot through the time I was building this thesis and the goal that I set while I designing it was to to convey certain messages to the people who will keep this book in their hands, make them think and wonder their own responsibility and power against inequalities. But most of all I want to talk to designers of all kinds and remind them, their responsibility towards society and the encourage them, as Emily Pilloton said: tipping the scales away from designing artifacts to designing impact and making sure that design for social impact is not just a mean to stroke owr own egos and add greater good projects to our portfolios.

The Editor Leontia Pashia

05.

06.

"...UNTIL THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS ARE EQUALLY GUARANTEED TO ALL WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE ME SAY WAR! " BOB MARLEY

07.

XENOPHOBIA & RACISM FACTS & STATISTICS

The effects of xenophobia include: hatred, cruelty, low self esteem, fear, psychological pain and destruction of community cohesion. IT IS ILLEGAL TO PRACTISE RACISM ANYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.

A MAP ABOUT PEOPLE'S WILLINGNESS TO HAVE THE "OTHER" AS A NEIGHBOR

attidute of population toward foreign visitors More Welcoming

Less Welcoming 08.

HOW MUCH DISCRIMINATION IS THERE AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS?

A Lot

Some

A Lot

Some

GENERATIONS DIVIDES ON INTERRACIAL DATING percent who agree or disagree that "it's alright for blacks & whites to date each other by year born All Adults

Born 1977 or later

Born 1965 - 1976

Born 1945 - 1965

Born 1928 - 1945

Born 1927 and later

Disagree

Agree

WHAT IS XENOPHOBIA & RACISM

CAUSES OF XENOPHOBIA & RACISM

EFFECTS OF XENOPHOBIA & rACISM

Originally the word xenophobia comes from the Greek words xénos, meaning ‘the stranger’ and ‘the guest’ and phóbos, meaning ‘fear’. Thus, xenophobia stands for ‘fear of the stranger’, but usually the term is taken to mean ‘hatred of strangers’1. Xenophobia can be understood as “an attitudinal orientation of hostility against non-natives in a given population”

*A physically or economicly negative experience with a particular group which is then over-generalized to all members of that group. *An emotional experience with other groups or specific alien populist group. *Classical conditioning, that is when someone is conditioned to having a fear or repulse from aliens generally, or, from specific group. Ways to instill it would be Dehumanization, mostly by propaganda.

Xenophobia can have a lot of effects on a victim. Victims can become angry, bitter or violent. It can destroy communities and creates divisions within society.

Chronic exposure to racial discrimination leads to more experiences of daily discrimination and it results in an accumulation of daily negative events across various domains of life, from family, friends, health and finances. A person’s whole world can change from experiencing discrimination and they can become depressed, anxious and mentally unwell.

09.

XENOPHOBIA & RACISM FACTS & STATISTICS

HOW WOULD PEOPLE REACT IF A MEMBER OF THEIR FAMILY WERE GOING T MARRY SOMEONE OF A DIFFERENT RACE? fine with all groups

10.

which group?

66% Black

75% Asian

73% Hispanic

81% White

fine with at least one group

11.

12.

MULT ICULTUR AL SANDALS PIECE [product no1]

13.

14.

THE PROCESS

>>>

THE SKETCHBOOK, THE DESIGN AND THE MAKING. HOW MY PRODUCTS WERE CREATED AND WHY. THROUGH THE NEXT PAGES AM SHOWING YOU MY PROCESS AND MY INSPIRATIONS TO THE FINAL RESULT.

15.

THE SKETCHBOOK HOW it ALL STARTED: XENOPHOBIA & RACISM [MULTI-CULTURAL SANDALS IDEA] The idea for the Multi - Cultural Sandals Piece got into my head totaly randomly. I was generally researching for races and people’s roots when i accidently saw this poster which shows 5 different shapes of feet fingers and how each person’s fingers showing his roots for example if your second finger is longer than your first that means that your roots are Greek. Then I took a look on my fingers and realize that my second finger is longer than my first and indeed, I’m Greek. Although nothing of these is scientificly proved I found it a very interesting way to start working on the part of my thesis that stands against Xenophobia & Racism.

So I researched a little bit more about this state, on sandals from different races of the ancient history and also on feet anatomy and if it changes from race to race. Through my research I ended up with the idea of the Multi - Cultural sandals and started sketching and thinking how is this possible to happen. I kept in mind the idea of the puzzle and the playful tone that I wanted my products to have and through the next pages you will see the result of THE SKETCHBOOK! 16.

17.

18.

THE DESIGN DIGITAL TRANSLATION: [MULTI-CULTURAL SANDALS IDEA] The next stage after finding the idea was to visually and digitally translate it. They were some decisions to make for the technical part.

First I had to design perfectly the shapes of the fingers that I was aim to use and also chose the shape and style of the foot holder. For both parts there was the difficality of the material that I wanted to use, the wood. The shapes that I was designing had to be simple and not too complex to be feasible for the cutting machine that the carpenter would use. I wanted them to be simple but understandable and obvious to the user. There was also the issue of the connection of the pieces, I had to found a way to be stable and easy. I took the advice of the carpenter and I ended up to these cylindrical projections you can see on the drawings on your right.

Then were the sizes. I took the ruler and measured the size of my feet to the point that the fingers start to create the foothold ( size 7/ 40). After I measured the height of the finger parts and created the finger pieces using the 5 different races. And my designs were ready.

19.

THE MAKING THE FINAL STAGE: [ XENOPHOBIA/ MULTI-CULTURAL SANDALS IDEA] A man in his Wooden Paradise, Constantinos, a 41 years old man was the one who translated my idea for a pair of multi-cultural sandals to 3D object. And his specialization: what else, except from wood.

Wooden sandals is not something we see everyday and this is why I chose to use this material. I aimed to send a message by my project and I considered that wooden sandals would be ideal to distract people’s attention. The process of the making was the following.

I send the design sheets in digital form to Constantinos. After we decide the ideal kind of wood, pine tree wood, he cutted them into pieces and he suitably prepared them. Then he let the machine do its job which was to perfectly cut the pieces of my “puzzle”. After that, Constantinos perfected them using sandpaper and polish. Finally he made the engravings in between the fingers and glue what had to be glueded.

So with the accuracy of the machine, the creativity of Constantinos and my designs, the sandals were ready to be used functionally.

20.

21.

WE CAN ALL FIT IN THE SAME SHOES. GERMANS

ROMANS

22.

GREEKS

CELTICS

EGYPTIANS

23.

HAVE A MULTICULTURAL WALK.

24.

M U LT I - C U LT U R A L S A N D A L S [ lo g i c & u s e ] The pair of Multi - Cultural Sandals I created, were inspired from a theory that can tell you what are your roots based on how your feet fingers are shaped. The piece includes 5 pairs of wooden feet fingers, one for each race: Roman, Greek, Egyptian, German and Celtic and the two feetholds with blue straps. The user can choose what kind of fingers fits to him and assemble them on the feethold. I used the logic of the puzzle for two reasons: first as a symbolism of the interconnection and interdependence elements that apply my whole project and second to make it playful and enjoyable so the user give attention and wonder why those sandals are designed with this way. Although they are hard to walk and pretty heavy they are totaly functional and fashionable, mainly for women who want to make a difference on their style.

25.

PLAY/ EXPLORE/ WONDER/ LEARN/ FIND YOUR ROOTS/ HAVE A NICE WALK. 26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

"We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters."

Gloria Steinem

31.

GENDER INEQUALITY FACTS & STATISTICS Gender equality is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and is vital to the realization of human rights for all. The overall objective of gender equality is a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.

A MAP ABOUT COUNTRIES THAT HAVE RATIFIED THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

Signed and Ratified Acceded or Succeded Only Signed Not Signatory 32.

GLOBAL ILLITERATE POPULATION

33.

GENDER INEQUALITY FACTS & STATISTICS WHEN JOBS ARE SCARCE, MEN SHOULD HAVE MORE RIGHT TO A JOB. Indian

16

84

Pakistan

14

82

Nigeria

21

77

Egypt

20

75

Indonesia

27

74

China

26

73

Jordan

30

68

Turkey

30

67

S. Korea

39

60

Lebanon

49

51

Russia

49

47

Kenya

53

46

Poland

51

44

Argentina

56

43

Japan

58

41

Brazil

63

37

Mexico

69

28

France

80

20

Germany

80

19

U.S.

85

14

Britain

85

12

Spain

87

12 Disagree

Agree

WH AT IS GENDER INEQUALIT Y

CAUSES OF GENDER INEQUALITY

EFFECTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences.[1] Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; gender binary systems may reflect the inequalities that manifest in numerous dimensions of daily life

One of the main causes of gender discrimination is outdated views of a female’s role in society. Some people view a woman as being the weaker sex, with less education and experience than a man. Even though women today are doing all of the things that men do, with some even being more educated than their male counterparts, some people still have old views that women are not as good as men and do not belong in the workforce or other places.

Gender discrimination is the favoring or picking on someone based on their gender. This can happen in the work force, at school, and any social setting. The effects of gender discrimination are negative for both the person experiencing the discrimination and for everyone around them. Discrimination disruptions productivity in the work place and can lead to unfair promotions or demotions.

34.

AMERICA'S VIEWS ON LEADERSHIPAND GENDER Who makes a better political leader?

Don’t know

Men

Equal

Women

percent saying trait more true of:

Honest

Intelligent

Ambitious

Compassionate

Women

Hardworking

Outgoing

Decisive

Creative

Men

35.

36.

genderequal bench PIECE [product no2]

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THE PROCESS

>>>

THE SKETCHBOOK, THE DESIGN AND THE MAKING. HOW MY PRODUCTS WERE CREATED AND WHY. THROUGH THE NEXT PAGES AM SHOWING YOU MY PROCESS AND MY INSPIRATIONS TO THE FINAL RESULT.

39.

THE SKETCHBOOK HOW it ALL STARTED: GENDER INEQUALITY [GENDER-EQUAL BENCH IDEA] From all the products that I created the Gender-Equal Bench Piece was the only one that the object and the idea came upside down. What I want to say is that first I got obsessed with designing a bench and then it came the concept of the Gender-Equal Bench.

So I started researching The Bench, as an object, as a symbol, its historical evolution, contemporary benches and old school. I was sure that it was an ideal object to use for my project. Then it was the issue of how can I conceptually combine the bench and the social issue that I wanted to talk about, the gender inequality. I started sketching men and women’s anatomy and I decided to use the element of weight and gravity.

Ofcourse someone could say that its obvious that men weight more than women but the key to my project was the center of gravity.

So with the influence of the puzzle logic, I ended up sketching two individual sts that noone could sit on unless the two parts were assembled.

40.

41.

42.

THE DESIGN DIGITAL TRANSLATION: [GENDER EQUALITY BENCH IDEA] The next stage after finding the idea was to visually and digitaly translate it. There were some decisions to make for the technical part.

First, I had to decide the size of the bench as an ensemble and as two individual seats, so it would look harmonic in both ways but also functional and stable. After I decided the sizes I started designing the connection part which are cylindrical projections as the Multi-Cultural Sandals are. Also I had to figure out where each piece must be to have a stable result. I also got in touch with the carpenter and ask him how the parts of the bench should be design to be functional when are connected and unfunctional when are not. Then we came up with the idea of two. three legs chairs and a six legs bench when is assembled.

The shapes of the Bench were all square and with right angles first because of the material, wood and second because on purpose I wanted to give this minimal tone The designs were ready next step: The Making.

43.

THE MAKING THE FINAL STAGE: GENDER INEQUALITY [GENDER-EQUAL BENCH IDEA]

I was talking with a friend, for the Bench idea saying that I was looking for someone for the making and John told me that his father Mr Lewis could help me, a 54 years old craftman, who there is nothing handcrafted that he can’t create with his rooted hands.

Mr Lewis was surprised when I described him what I wanted to do. He used to create crafts that had not any concept behind them but once he got into the point he gave me some very useful advices for the desining part of the Bench that made my work much simplier. He has friends for all the kinds of materials so the next day, we had already the pieces of wood that we would use, cutted, in the sizes that we wanted.

The difference between the Bench and the Sandals pieces was that for the Bench the only mean was Mr’s Lewis hands no machine was involved. So with his hands, vice, saw, old newspapers, wood glue and his imagination my Gender-Equal bench was assembled and ready to use in the next 3 days after I called him. Two unfuctional seats and one functional bench.

44.

45.

WOULD YOU HAVE A SEAT ON one of these chairs?

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47.

GENDER-EQUAL BENCH [LOGIC & USE ] I was inspired the Gender-Equal Bench Piece, while I had some thoughts about how a relationship can only survive if both, man and woman, play equal role in it. Then I tried to generalize the whole subject and started thinking about some keywords for the two genders like interconnection , mutual support, interdependence, interaction, the need and wants.

So while I started sketchind and designing the piece I kept in mind these words and ended up with two seats (chairs) that also have the puzzle logic, meaning you can only sit on if there are connected, either way, if you try to sit on the one piece, you would fall on the floor. I also decided to design the bench this way because I wanted to be an interactivity between the users and the object, for example the process of the connecting, when the person tries to assemble it, he touches it and wondering why is this bench was designed this way, which was my goal at the first place, to make the user think.

48.

CONNECTION NO1

CONNECTION NO2

49.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE: 1. TRY TO SIT ON YOUR OWN, FALL, LAUGH

2. use the element of interdependence & assembLE

50.

3. NOW YOU HAVE A COMPLETE GENDER-EQUAL BENCH

4. HAVE A SEAT AND ENJOY THE EQUALITY

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52.

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54.

"Of all the religions in the world, perhaps the religion of liberty is the only faith capable of purity."

Tiffany Madison

55.

religious discrimination FACTS & STATISTICS Religious freedom is the birthright of all people, but too few governments around the world acknowledge it and far too many people have never enjoyed it.

a map about freedom of religion

Favors the religion of the majority and tolerates other religions Discriminates against all religions and intervenes with religious freedom Tolerates all religions Favors the religion of the majority and intervenes with or limits the freedom of other religions 56.

OVERALL RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGION percent of countries where levels of government restrictions or social hostilities are low, moderate or high

jun 2009

jun 2010

dec 2011

dec 2012

OVERALL RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGION percent of countries where this type of incident occured ABUSE OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES

year 2007

year 2011

year 2012

VIOLENCE OR THREAT OF VIOLENCE TO ENFORCE RELIGOUS NORMS

year 2007

year 2011

year 2012

RELIGION-RELATED TERRORIST VIOLENCE

year 2007

year 2011

year 2012 57.

religious discrimination

N IO

ION S S RE P X &E

FREE DOM OF PE AC E

OCIATION & ASS BLY EM SS LA FU

FREE DOM OF OP IN

FACTS & STATISTICS

FR

EE

DO

MO

F T HOUGHT & CONS

C

C IEN

E

WHAT IS RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

CAUSES OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Religious discrimination is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe. Specifically, it is when adherents of different religions are treated unequally, before the law or in institutional settings such as employment or housing.

Oftentimes, the root is fear. People fear what they don’t know or understand. Sometimes discrimination is ingrained in them from childhood. Many people are raised to believe that any other religion, is wrong.

That is sufficient reason to treat people of different faiths badly. Discriminate against people based on their religion is ignorance. Ignorance of the religion being defaced and ignorance of the religion’s followers

One of the most brutal forms of discrimination throughout history has been religious discrimination.

From the Crusades to the Holocaust, people have used religion as a reason to commit horrifically violent acts against people of various faiths. Millions of people have been persecuted, tortured and killed because of judgments made about their religious ideologies.

58.

RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS

2% Jewish

3% Buddhist

4% Other Religions

5% Hindu

9% Unaffliated

28% Muslim

49% Christians

59.

60.

MULT I RELIGIOUS CANDLEHOLDER PIECE [product no3]

61.

62.

MULT I RELIGIOUS NECKLACE PIECE [product no3]

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64.

THE PROCESS

>>>

THE SKETCHBOOK, THE DESIGN AND THE MAKING. HOW MY PRODUCTS WERE CREATED AND WHY. THROUGH THE NEXT PAGES AM SHOWING YOU MY PROCESS AND MY INSPIRATIONS TO THE FINAL RESULT.

65.

THE SKETCHBOOK HOW it ALL STARTED: [RELIGION INEQUALITY [NECKLACE & CANDLEHOLDER IDEA] When I started thinking about how can I translate my thoughts about Industrial Design contributing to a message for Religious Peace, to products, my sketchbook was my diary. It was my guide to the final result. I started sketching different religious symbols that are universally recognized and thinking what products can I produce to send my message for Religious Peace. My Sketchbook helped me to figure out what i wanted to say and how.

With a lot of caffeine and brainstorming I came up with the idea of the Necklace and the Candle Holder.

The reason was that both of the two objects are strong elements of all the religions all over the world. Each of them has a history behind it. I decided to combine each of it with the most-known symbols of: Islam, Christianity, Judhaism, Buddhaism and Taoism.

Through the next pages you will find out the design and the making of each idea, but keep in mind that it all started from THE SKETCHBOOK! 66.

67.

68.

THE DESIGN DIGITAL TRANSLATION: [CANDLEHOLDER IDEA] The next stage after finding the idea was to visually and digitally translate it. There were some decisions to make for the technical part.

First I had to think about the shapes that this multireligious candleholder would contain. So I mixed up some of the elements that religious candleholders have worldwide and ended up to the shape you can see to your right. Also I chose some of the religious symbols that we see most often. All these shapes fit to each other, showing the mutual support, interactivity and the harmonious coexistence Then were the sizes. I wanted it to be something large and imposing but at the same time functional and real.

So the final piece’s height comes up to half metre and the width up to 35.3cm.

And finally the color. Because of the symbolize of fitting, I also wanted the colors to be blended. So the one piece is trasparent and the other is red that it is considered to be a magical and religious color.

69.

70.

THE DESIGN DIGITAL TRANSLATION: [NECKLACE IDEA] The next stage after finding the idea was to visually and digitaly translate it. There were some decisions to make for the technical part.

First I had to think about the shapes that this multireligious candleholder would contain. So I mixed up some of the elements that religious candleholders have worldwide and ended up to the shape you can see to your right. Also I chose some of the religious symbols that we see most often. All these shapes fit to each other, showing the mutual support, interactivity and the harmonious coexistence Then were the sizes. I wanted it to be something large and imposing but at the same time functional and real.

So the final piece’s height comes up to half metre and the width up to 35.3cm.

And finally the color. Because of the symbolize of fitting, I also wanted the colors to be blended. So the one piece is trasparent and the other is red that it is considered to be a magical and religious color.

71.

THE MAKING THE FINAL STAGE: [RELIGION INEQUALITY, NECKLACE & CANDLEHOLDER IDEA] Industrial Revolution, Machines, Electricity, Materials, Human Intelligence. That are some of the keywords that contribute for the making, the final stage of my MultiReligious products.

I turned into a local factory that makes crafts made of Plexiglass (perspex) which is the material I chose for the two products. Plexiglass is actually a transparent thermoplastic often used as a lightweight or shatterresistant alternative to glass. I found this material ideal for the making of my products because is cheap, easy to find and to work on with details, small and large surfaces and different colors and weights. Also because I wanted to give a contemporary and unique tone to both of products that never have been used in the traditional versions of the products.

So with the help of laser cut tenchology and the designer that set the order, my two products were finally cutted and assembled succesfully.

72.

73.

Make a blend of religions and you'll get a single teaching: peace between humanity

74.

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76.

MULTI-RELIGIOUS CANDLEHOLDER [logic & use ] Candleholder. Is there any object more religional than this? That was my thought and the next thing I know I started sketching symbols and candleholders from all over the religion world. I chose these specific symbols because according to my research are the most well-known and recognizable symbols along the world and the specific shape for the basis for the same reason as the symbols. The concept of the Multi-Religious Candleholder piece is also based as the other pieces on the idea of puzzle different parts fitting into each other. But here I also add the element of blending, showing it with the transparent colors of the Perspex, because I was thinking how, inspite of all the religional wars and conflicts, at the end of the day all the Religions, with one or another way have the same teachings. What I’m trying to say is if someone establish a new religion based on the teachings of the existings, it will really be the Ideal Religion.

77.

IT'S JUST FASHIONABLE SYMBOLS. DON'T LET THEM WEAR YOU.

78.

CHRISTIANITY

JUDHAISM

TAOISM

BUDDHAISM

ISLAM 79.

80.

MULTI-RELIGIOUS NECKLACE [logic & use ] Star and Crescent, The Cross, Star of David, Yin-Yan, Dharmachakra. Symbols from the most popular religions all over the world, collaborate to send a message for World Religious Peace in these weird typographical necklace. With all my respect to all these religion symbols, I carefully lifted them a little bit and transformed them to this display font. As I was looking these symbols for hours to figure out how can I use them to send my message but also without be offensive or political incorrect to any of the believers of them, I came up with the idea of the typographical necklace. The way the letters are joined together to form the word peace, symbolizes the unity and interconnectedness that must exist between religions for the desired effect. The result was a unique, unisex, multi-religious, fashionable necklace.

81.

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84.

CREDITS Art diretor leontia pashia

m odels mikaella cartalli eliza constantinoy constantinos efthymiou

m aking constantinos evangelides lewis loizou mageva plastics ltd

instruc tor professor artemis eleftheriadou

85.

86.