Priz
2017
The formal aesthetics of extension cords has remained untouched for years, putting this product among standardized product categories where the design of it has not been questioned but accepted as it is. We need and use these products very often in different settings in our daily lives and at the same time ignore their presence, hiding them in cabinets or pushing them in the corner of a wall.
Priz explores new forms of interaction with these long cabled objects with careful attention to its details that would make it a visually and functionally pleasing product.
In our living environments we often try to hide our extension cords, especially when they are not in use. Are some of these products that surround us actually unattractive when they are not functional? Why do we put things into our storage? Do we really like using our products or do we just tolerate their visual appearance as long as they are functioning?
The aim with this project was to find answers to these questions and design an extension cord that would become more like a jewelry hung on a wall that we would like looking at in our living space. The design is simplified and stripped to its most basic nature. The designer believes that "aesthetics is a function". In this product, aesthetics allows us to open more space in our storage at home.
The product minimizes the use of semantics as much as possible, this way it communicates less and visually stays silent. To achieve this, affordances are used which triggers our actions without a thought. Plug and socket's affordances are designed in a way to encourage user to put it together and hang on the wall intuitively when it is needed. On the other hand, its form also invites the user to pull the plug out naturally to use the product.
Extension cord has total length of 2 meters and uses CEE 7/1 sockets and CEE 7/2 plug standards.
