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Hacked design focuses on function and inspired invention. As the concept of hacking becomes a positive one,
it drives a new generation of makers to use it as a design principle.
It is earnest, spirited, quick, enthusiastic, empowered and fun. This trend is not about beauty – although it creates objects
that are both beautiful and functional.
This design movement updates traditional DIY ideas of repair through open-source technology, community initiatives and
a modern look and feel.
Hacking becomes an energetic, optimistic design approach. Hacked design is about interrupting and adapting original
products. This creates something fresh that performs in a way better tailored to people’s wants and needs.
A democratic design approach for an open-source world.
As the new hacking drives a generation of makers to use it as a design principle, Google-sourcing,
apps, 3D technology and social networking enable do-it-yourself design.
The search for alternatives that are more community friendly and sustainable than the current factory set-up puts the
focus on open-source making, local sourcing and small-scale public workshops.
In The Femur Table by Kevin Byrd, a femur bone is modelled
and 3D printed to replace a traditional table leg.
Repair is updated to showcase inventive technology, while repurposing – as we give objects a new function – becomes
an innovative way to design.
Sugru hacking putty hardens overnight and repairs almost anything,
while the Job Dispensers by François Dumas & Erasmus Scherjon
show how a putty aesthetic can be applied to making from scratch.
Revolutionary materials like Sugru allow us to fix and improve almost anything, leaving objects looking customised rather
than invisibly repaired.
The identity-preserving Bitmap Balaclava by Andrew Salamone was
knitted on the Hacked Knitting Machine.
Swapping the working parts from one machine into another can change function. For example we can transform an old
knitting machine into an internet-enabled one.
Museum of Design for the Poor is a project by Qiu Zhijie’s Total Art
Studio, where repurposing is the basis of design.
Young designers are now being taught repurposing as part of traditional design theory.
The Chromatic Typewriter by Tyree Callahan replaces letters with
colour pads to create contemporary art.
Hacking can be used to update existing objects but also to imagine new ones by disrupting old traditions.
Daniel Michel ran a Google search for vase and patched the image
results together to create this unique piece.
Google-making is the idea that virtual objects, cobbled together from online search results,
can be made real through 3D printing.
Minale Maeda created a downloadable pattern for a customisable
furniture range to reduce the customer’s carbon footprint.
Design in a post-digital age can be downloaded, customised and assembled at home using materials recuperated locally.
Simulen by Jean Katambayi Mukendi is a prototype for a
simple electric machine designed for easy repair to combat
power cuts in Africa.
Playing with closed-box technology allows us to take control, be creative, explore new function and possibilities that can
be a source of inspiration for product development.
In Reset, Wali Barrech, a student at the Royal Academy of
Fine Arts Antwerp, uses a hacked aesthetic for high design.
The hacked aesthetic is one that has crept into art galleries, design fairs and catwalk shows through creatives with a
shared revolutionary spirit.
The Peripatetic Paraphernalia series by Maaike Fransen
repurposes household objects for an imaginary nomadic lifestyle.
Inventive lifestyle designers, inspired by ideas of repurposing, are rethinking objects so they have more than one function.
The Forget Me Not series by Ruben Thier emerges as a new
design aesthetic for technological products.
In response to the call of if you can’t open it, you don’t own it, designers are exposing the inner workings of their products.
The Armour Bag by Gambiologia incorporates electronics and
discarded items into its design.
Kludging, a Brazilian term for the method of reworking objects and electronics, looks like steampunk
design updated for a digital age.
Sandy Huffaker photographs refugees in San Diego that have
created their own currency with which to trade.
Hacking on a local level can mean everything from carving out your own currency,
to giving Hollywood blockbusters a Swahili twist.
IDEO analyses Shanzhai as a business opportunity and platform
for innovation.
Shanzhai, Chinese logo-free imitations are being rethought by think tanks like IDEO who recognise their power to meet
the lifestyle needs of local people.
Turning Rice into Pilau documents the practice of narrating
Hollywood movies with a local Tanzanian twist.
VJs provide a live voiceover for movie audiences where subtitles are unavailable, peppering the original dialogue with
community gossip and unscripted jokes.
DIY becomes DIY culture with the The Maker’s Bill of Rights
by Mister Jalopy of the Maker movement.
The Maker’s Bill of Rights is a hacker-friendly design manifesto that promotes home repair,
transparency and expandability for all products.
LOOK A LITTLE FURTHER
FOLLOW:
Zach Hoeken Smith and Bre Pettis, Founders of MakerBot Industries
www.dolectures.com/lectures/the-joy-of-making-something/
BE INSPIRED BY:
The Power of Making Exhibition
www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/power-of-making/
SEE:
The Brazilian Gambiologia movement and the philosophy of kludging
www.gambiologia.net/blog/gambiologia-presentation/
READ:
Open Design Now by Bas van Abel, Lucas Evers, Roel Klaassen,
Peter Troxler on the new open design revolution.opendesignnow.org
Macro Trends Credits: Hack-tivate
Slide 1
Title: Peripatetic Paraphernalia series by Maaike Fransen, 2011
Source: maaikefransen.com
Slide 8
Title: Femur Table by Kevin Byrd, 2011
Source: work.kevinbyrd.com
Slide 15
Title: Table & Chair from Inside Out Furniture series by Minale Maeda, 2011
Source: www.minale-maeda.com
Slide 2.
Title: Technology Will Save Us DIY kit
Source: technologywillsaveus.org
Title: Chromatic Typewriter by Tyree Callahan, 2011
Source: As seen at news.cnet.com
Title: Cabinet from Inside Out Furniture series by Minale Maeda, 2011
Source: www.minale-maeda.com
Title: Reset by Wali Mohammed Barrech, Royal Academy of
Fine Arts Antwerp, graduate project 2011
Source: Show/Off, issue 4, 2011
Title: Nightstand from Inside Out Furniture series by Minale Maeda, 2011
Source: www.minale-maeda.com
Title: Design for this Century lecture notes by Clive Dilnot
Source: As seen at www.flickr.com
Slide 3
Title: The Hybrid Project by Readymade Projects, Monica Brand,
Francisco Lopez & Daniel Hakansson, 2009
Source: As seen at www.dezeen.com
Title: Interventions series by SpY
Source: spy.org.es
Slide 4
Title: The Hybrid Project by Readymade Projects, Monica Brand,
Francisco Lopez & Daniel Hakansson, 2009
Source: As seen at www.dezeen.com
Title: Thing-o-Matic by MakerBot Industries
Source: V&A. The Power of Making exhibition
Slide 5
Title: Peripatetic Paraphernalia series by Maaike Fransen, 2011
Source: maaikefransen.com
Slide 6
Title: DIY Speakers demo by Daniel Hirschmann
Source: As seen at technologywillsa veus.org
Slide 7
Title: Technology Will Save us gallery, 2011
Source: technologywillsaveus.org
Title: Refugee Garden series by Sandy Huffaker, 2011
Source: As seen at sandyhuffakerjr.blogspot.com
Slide 9
Title: Femur Table by Kevin Byrd, 2011
Source: work.kevinbyrd.com
Slide 10
Title: Sugru hacking putty
Source: As seen at www.thinkgeek.com
Title: Job Dispensers by François Dumas & Erasmus Scherjon, 2011
Source: As seen at www.franklintill.com
Slide 11
Title: Chromatic Typewriter by Tyree Callahan, 2011
Source: As seen at news.cnet.com
Title: The Bitmap Balaclava by Andrew Salomone
Source: andrewsalomone.com
Slide 12
Title: Museum of Design for the Poor by Qiu Zhijie
Source: Leap, August 2011
Title: Simulen by Jean Katambayi Mukendi
Source: As seen at www.pixelache.ac
Slide 13
Title: Chromatic Typewriter by Tyree Callahan, 2011
Source: Tyree Callahan/westcollects.com. As seen at news.cnet.com
Slide 14
Title: WGSN street shot, London Fashion Week
Source: WGSN
Title: Google Vase by Daniel Michel, 2011
Source: daniel-michel.com
Slide 16
Title: Simulen by Jean Katambayi Mukendi
Source: As seen at www.pixelache.ac
Title: Simulen by Jean Katambayi Mukendi
Source: As seen at www.pixelache.ac
Slide 17
See above
Slide 18
Title: Peripatetic Paraphernalia series by Maaike Fransen, 2011
Source: maaikefransen.com
Title: Peripatetic Paraphernalia series by Maaike Fransen, 2011
Source: maaikefransen.com
Slide 19
Title: Forget Me Not by Ruben Thier
Source: rubenthier.nl
Slide 20
Title: Armour Bag by Gambiologia, 2008
Source: As seen at www.gambiologia.net
Slide 21
See above
Slide 22
Title: IDEO Shanzhai
Source: As seen at patterns.ideo.com
Slide 23
Title: Turning Rice into Pilau:
The Art of Video Narration directed by Matthias King, 2011
Slide 24
Title: Open Design Now book cover
Source: Open Design Now by BIS Publishers (ISBN: 9789063692599)