My design work varies from the poetic to the pragmatic. With self-initiated projects, I tend to design for the domestic sphere, at the scale of the individual, and often without a lot of technology. My academic projects involve greater ethnographic research and participatory methods and tend toward systems-, service-, and strategic-design. The images below represents the "making" aspect of my design practice, often in collaboration with Stephanie M. Tharp and our studio, materious.
One of the most pernicious problems facing Americans now—with no sign of abating—is adult and childhood obesity. While the war on obesity must be fought on many fronts, education of both parents and children is one important approach. These standard ceramic dinner plates are decorated with nutritional information, including: caloric content of hundreds of food items; average metabolic rates varying by age, gender, weight, and activity level; and typical caloric expenditure for numerous physical activities.
NUTRI-PLATE
Educational dinnerware, set of 8
Ceramic
2005
Nutri-plates are intended to spark conversation at a dinner table and, through repeated exposure, to educate subtly and effortlessly even solitary diners. In the same way that children might passively learn US geography by having a national map on their bedroom wall, Nutri-plates offer seamless, daily opportunities for learning and discourse with the hope of affecting better nutritional and lifestyle choices.
An everyday object that is largely inert, is transformed into a potent educational and social instrument.