EYES FOR PRODUCTS
What if we started to see products as our friends? Would we take better care of them? These hand-painted eyes can be attached to our products with the aim of strengthening the emotional bond.
Emotional connection
As a product designer, I like to focus on preventing waste. Fortunately, there is more and more attention for making, producing and buying more sustainable products. Despite this, many products are part of our lives for a shorter time than in the past. Why is that?
I suppose a lack of emotional connection is also an important factor. When people don’t feel connected, it´s more likely they care less about keeping their products.
Can anthropomorphism help us become more sustainable?
Anthropomorphism is the ‘humanization’ of non-human things. For example: talking to a car, computer or coffee machine. Some people already do this, usually with products they feel connected to. By providing products with eyes, they become more ‘human’ and hopefully we feel more connected to them.
EYES FOR PRODUCTS
EYES FOR PRODUCTS are made of glass and painted by hand. They are attached to a card made of recycled paper. The eyes can be detached from the card and attached to a desired product with the integrated adhesive layer. This way people can give their product a face and (hopefully) feel more emotionally connected to it.
Image: Painting the pupils on the glass eyes.
Image: The designs for the cards that will carry the eyes.
The origin of EYES FOR PRODUCTS
In December 2023, my boyfriend and I participated at´The Sustainable Christmas Market´ organized by Cafe De Ceuvel in Amsterdam. The theme of our market stall was ´MAKE IT COUNT´. In response to the market I created this design. Our message: “Instead of getting you excited about buying new things, we tried to find ways to strengthen the connection between you and the products you already have.” Additional benefit of EYES FOR PRODUCT: No one has to have a lonely Christmas 😉
Image: Our market stall at ´The Sustainable Christmas Market´