Unique Pen
Mass produced objects are seen as ‘generic’ and therefore are valued less by the public. Small interventions in the design process can affect the value of the product, and as a knock on effect, also its longevity. How can designers change the customers’ opinion and therefore their behaviour towards mass manufactured products?
As an example, the Bic Cristal is beautifully designed and highly engineered, a humble masterpiece. Yet very few people have ever bought one, instead it is inherited when it has been left on the side, clearly not cared for. Eventually it will be thrown away, its full potential unrealised, its life cut short.
From the simple interventions shown in the video it is possible to change how an object is perceived. From a cheap, mass-produced, disposable object, to one that is valued, and cared for and consequently, an object with greater longevity.