Press Releases

Product student wins RSA Design Directions Award

Final year BA (Hons) Product Design* student Martin Charlier has been awarded the RSA Design Directions “Body and Mind” Award. Martin’s project, an innovative look at medical intervention and social attitudes to hygiene, netted him a cash prize of £1,250 and a year fellowship of the RSA.


Martin's 'ImmuniCam' design

The annual Design Directions scheme, organised by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, challenges professional designers-in-training to apply their skills to difficult social issues. As part of their course, Ravensbourne product students tackle a unit dedicated to answering a dedicated brief, and the RSA “Body and Mind” award caught Martin’s attention.
Martin focused on ‘civilisation illnesses’ – how western society has a very high proportion of people suffering from asthma or allergies, compared to developing countries. Theories suggest that this is caused by an over-sensitivity towards cleanliness and sanitation in urban environments, which in turn means people are exposed to a less bacteria and germs from a young age, denying their immune system the opportunity to develop fully.

To combat this, Martin’s project asks people to think about this issue. “The idea behind the project is to spark debate, and to get people to ask themselves: are we too preoccupied with cleanliness? I’m not saying that good hygiene is a bad thing – of course it’s not. But have we now crossed a line where we’re at risk of harming ourselves by not letting our natural defenses work hard enough?”


The bacteria-infused cartridge toy

He explores the idea of lifelong exposure to low-level bacteria, starting at a young age, through “ImmuniToys”, products that continually introduce children to germs in order to strengthen their immune system. Martin developed a line of toys and products to serve this purpose, and produced packaged prototypes to help the judges view these as realistic products. His designs target a wide age range, and include:
• A cuddly toy fitted with a cartridge that exudes bacteria, which is replaced every 6 months, to gradually build up a child’s immune system
• A ‘digital pet’ (similar to a Tamagotchi) using nanotechnology to ‘interact’ with the bacteria and parasites in your gut, to remove the stigma associated with useful bacteria
• A webcam, mostly for use in rural areas where children may only attend a physical school and classroom once a week, which can detect when a child is sick and pass that bacteria on to other classmates via their webcams, to mimic that natural ‘sharing’ of diseases that normally occurs in a classroom environment
•

The 'virtual pet' for gut bacteria

The judging panel, chaired by Marco Steinberg from the Helsinki Design Lab, liked the bold, confrontational nature of Martin’s approach and his imaginative use of design to challenge some of the implications of our cultural and social behaviours.
“It was a very open brief, which encouraged us to look at ‘out there’ ideas for inspiration, such as science fiction or biotechnology,” Martin continues. “Even so, I’m surprised – and pleased – that they liked my project. It’s not really a typical design project, which identifies a need and then solves it. These products solve a need we don’t really have yet, but it asks you to think about whether or not we will need them in the near future.”