We have a winner! It took a bit longer than expected to come out with the results, but ladies and gentleman the final decisions are made [insert drums here]…
It is a pleasure to announce Real Time Chat by the Brazilian designer Layla Cavalcante as the winner of the competition. The project has been awarded with USD$1000 cash and we’re looking for a venue to exhibit it (if you are interested on exhibiting please contact me). Aside from the winner, the jury gave a honorary mention to the project Powdered Neem as Fast Food Condiment by Jude Genilo, Rahman Faizur Rafique and Ommul Fatema from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.
And without further ado, the projects:
First Prize: Real Time Chat
How would you describe your proposal?
Using social media’s vocabulary my proposal is to make people start real-time conversations.
My project consists of a simple “add-on” patch that can be placed on your headphones. Each patch consists of a instant message status such as Online, Free for Chat and Busy. These patches are made of magnet and can be easily changed.
Imagine you are on the subway going home, while you are listening to your own music you can also be “Available” this is an opportunity to get to know people around you. It is also a great way to integrate the immigrant population because immigrants will have a opportunity to find out who is “Free for chat”.
What problem you are addressing?
Integrating the immigrant population.
What does it fix and how?
The problem I am addressing to is loneliness and how technology can close us inside our own world. I plan on solving it by making people interact more with their surroundings. Not only immigrants will benefit from it, everyone will.
I often see people on first world always using cellphones, facebook, ipods and my project is a simple solution that will build upon this behavior and bring people back to the real-world.
What makes it important?
It is a facilitator to start conversations. Communication is the most important form of interaction.
Imagine an immigrant living far away, on his way home he will now have the opportunity to start conversations, making the journey quicker and also interact with people around him in order to practice his english. It will be a win-win situation if the person talking to him was very lonely and spend most of his time with virtual friends.
How do the photos or renderings illustrate the concept?
I illustrated my concept with a modern poster. I tried to apply elements that are being used on the internet today to bring the attention of people that are into eletronics.
Minimal layout, illustrations, and soft colors.
Honorary Mention: Powdered Neem as Fast food Chain Condiment
How would you describe your proposal?
The project aims for reducing appetite and preventing fats from accumulating in the body through the use of powdered neem as a condiment in fast food outlets in major cities of First World countries. Powdered neem is produced from the leaves of a neem tree, which is native to Third World countries such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tree can reach a height of 15 to 20 meters. The leaves of the tree can be dried and crushed into powder. This powder can be placed in containers similar to what is used for salt and pepper in fast food outlets. When used in food such as hamburgers and French fries, consumers will consume less of the product and will ingest properties that prevent absorbing fat from the food by inducing defecation.
What problem you are addressing?
Obesity
What does it fix and how?
The project addresses the problem of obesity. In many First World cities, people have developed a fast food lifestyle. Instead of homemade cooking or going to restaurants that provide healthy but costly meals, they prefer to eat in fast food outlets such as McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut. These fast food chains are seen everywhere, serve food fast and are relatively inexpensive. However, these outlets sell high calorie and high fat food items such as fried chicken, burgers, hotdogs, French fries, pizza, etc.
By using powdered neem as a condiment, consumers will eat less of these high fat food items. Neem leaves are bitter in taste. When sprinkled on the burger, it will be less tasty thereby discouraging the consumer from eating more than he/she needs. Then, from whatever he/she has indigested, the powdered neem contains properties that induce defecation; thereby preventing the absorption of fat in the body. The digestive system is cleaned in the process. If the consumer uses neem powder on a regular basis, he/she will loose weight and address the problem of obesity.
What makes it important?
In Third World countries, neem is used traditionally for a variety of purposes. It is considered to have medicinal properties; making it effective as an anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, contraceptive, solution for constipation and sedative drug. For this reasons, people use neem as a food ingredient and as a herbal tea. As a result, they remain healthy and fit.
Through the proposed project, First World citizens who habitually take their meals in fast food restaurants will benefit from what the Third World residents have been doing for generations. They will be healthy and fit as well. To ensure the success of this project, the government should mandate all fast food outlets to make neem powder available on each of their tables (akin to salt and pepper). It should also promote powder neem through advertisements and sales promotion campaigns. First World consumers will find it easy to eat less since the powdered neem is just on top of the table and are convinced (through advertisements) of the need to use these. They will also be persuaded that this is the easiest alternative to becoming slim and healthy. Other alternatives are dieting, exercising, weight training, starving oneself and joining the TV show “The Biggest Loser.”
The project is likewise culturally acceptable to First World Consumers in urban areas. They will continue with their lifestyle of not cooking homemade meals and eating at high calorie but reasonably priced fast food outlets. They will keep on getting food at their convenience (since these outlets are all over the city) and with fast service or delivery. The project, however, saves the consumer from the negative consequences (read: obesity) of such a lifestyle. They will eat less fatty foods, which will eventually be flushed out from the body given the properties of powdered neem condiment.
How do the photos or renderings illustrate the concept?
The photos show the effect of using powdered neem in terms of eating less. The first photo depicts a person who eats French fries purchased from a fast food restaurant. Since the food taste delicious, he ingests more than enough which will cause him to become fat. The second photo simply shows what a neem tree looks like. The third photo shows powdered neem being sprinkled on French fries. The fourth photo illustrates the consumer’s reaction to French fries with powdered neem. Since the condiment is bitter, he will eat less of it.
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