Elements of Style
Good product design is tactile: it engages the viewer to touch. Such is the case with designing with cardboard.
The simple act of touching an object changes the relationship with the viewer from passive to interactive. With Cardboardesign’s Liquid Cardboard the object, a small corrugated disc of cardboard, upon being held, transforms. The disc flips in your hands: a seemingly simple shape becomes another, then another, and again another of this handsomely tactile cardboard. The five Liquid Cardboard shapes can be combined together to build totems around bottles or vases – almost a toy for adults. Even the name Liquid Cardboard engages thought and creativity.
A simple touch and your mind is open to possibilities.
Cardboardesign also has a line of furniture: chairs, desks, stools, and toys all constructed of cardboard. Not only fun but eco-friendly. Their booth at the New York International Gift Fair was a mob scene last January.
There is something about cardboard.
I am reminded of Frank Gehry’s now classic Wiggle Side Chair & Wiggle Stool, both from 1972. The viewer contemplates (still) these designs almost doubting: can I really sit on either? Not only are they strong but the seams of exposed corrugated cardboard invite you to touch, to caress even, its surprisingly soft edges.
How exciting to find beauty in the everyday materials which we usually just throw away. Now at least with recycling, the design world is looking at ways to give waste another life.
Scott Hamm
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