“If you can design one thing, you can design everything.� - Massimo Vignelli
ADNAN ARIF adnan.arif@gmail.com adnanmakes.com
ROLLA
OMNIDIRECTIONAL PROJECTOR
But along with this liberation comes unforseen consequences - The television, with every iteration is slowly disappearing, being reduced to just a frame or music, which resides now in the cloud, completely immaterial, neatly organized in digital playlists, pouring on demand into personalized streams. It is this immateriality that encourages us to be nostalgic about bygone mediums, where the tactility of the format and the player added to the richness of the listening experience - think vinyl records. HOW DO YOU ADD MORE INTIMACY AND JOY TO TODAY’S CONSUMER PRODUCTS? TACTILE PLAY is a research project that explores new archetypes and meaningful relationships with objects. We are now at the cusp of the digital age and one by one, our object culture is being subverted by digital alternatives. We can do more from less and soon, almost all of our appliances are being replaced at a very pace with enabled objects that afford us the ability to be more in control.
In this project, I explored how physical gestures can create a more engaging experience that captures some of the joy tactility that we are slowly losing.
Rolla is an omni-directional projector that allows you to reposition it playfully. Usually, televisions enforce a fixed viewing angle. Projectors expand it with the ability to position it on multiple surfaces but this is either restricted to certain viewing angles. Rolla frees it up by allowing the user to position it to new angles that would otherwise be considered useless and playfully set their viewing preference beyond the traditional tv sitting room configuration.
MUSE
MUSIC REMOTE
Muse is a social remote that encourages exploration and sharing. It could be used in a home setting or work. You can manipulate music with it by rotating the object. Flipping it changes tracks and if you roll it like a dice, it choose a random track. This enables a playful device that invites users to interact and play with. The device uses a Inertial measurement Unit with gyroscope and connects to popular streaming services and is layered with a soft silicon layer to encourage touch. In a time when more objects are becoming digital and music is all about personalization, Muse presents an alternative that is about communal sharing, joy and surprise. A video showcase for TACTILE PLAY can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/184742319
REFLECT
SPECULATIVE DESIGN
Dirty yet clean. At first glance, these objects resemble undesirable organic forms but they are soaps meant to cleanse more than just your skin. Reflect takes inspiration from the oft repeated moniker – “to wash away sin” where the intangible experience of alleviating guilt is associated with the physical act of bathing to create a range of therapeutic soaps. But cleansing isn’t the only act associated with bathing – today, it still remains as one of the few activities where we strip ourselves away from the noise of our devices and reflect.
Reflect intends for its user to anchor these moments into the therapeutic experience of lathering oneself with soap. Each of these soaps are layered – starting from the dark organic exterior to a clear interior symbolizing the unfolding ritual. This project was intended to explore our relationship with objects and how we could extend the value of a tangible experience with an intangible association. We sought to explore soap as a tactile interface by experimenting with scent, color and texture in a bid to see if it could contribute to a more mindful experience. We also researched similar rituals from different perspectives – anthropological, historical and performance.
Each of the shapes referenced archetypal sins - anger, greed, lust, gluttony, pride, wrath and sloth with an added step where the user could generate an individual shape based on their guilt. The soap prototypes were created with molds with future prototypes intended to be 3d-printed in order to create more generative variations.
WESTERN
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND DESIGN
I got my career start with Western, a fashion wristwatch brand based out of Dubai and spent a decade working for it. Seven of which were spent as a product and design manager where I managed a team of designers. I also designed some of the collections, some of which you can see in the following pages.
WRIST
RETAIL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Wrist is a design wristwatch and accessory store that I was entrusted to design and develop. The design was intended to create a visually interesting alternative to the current wristwatch retail archetype. The store layout featured two styles of displays. On the right was traditional way of having one single unit of furniture for each brand.
On the left was an experimental display where display boxes could be lifted up and moved around like a supermarket shelf. They could also be attached to storage boxes to create towers. The storage boxes underneath the display could also be doubled as seating. This customization afforded the store the ability to be creative when it came to visual merchandising. The retail chain eventually expanded to five locations in prominent locations around Dubai and Abu Dhabi that I worked on as well.
THE BLOCK WAVE INSTALLATION / SIGNAGE
The Block Wave is a mechanical installation that pushes out foam cut blocks in a pre-programmed pattern. The pattern mimics the wave of a flag. There is also a clock that follows the same block push principle but that portion of the board was never completed due to budget constraints. It was developed as a signage for the flagship Wrist store at Dubai Mall.
There are two types of blocks. The smaller ones, marked on the left in pink are 5cm longer than the larger ones. They are stationary but when the larger blocks move, they add another layer of movement by appearing to protrude in the opposite direction - so when the larger block is pushed out, the small block appears to be pushed in and vice versa. To watch a video presentation of the signage, please view it here: http://is.gd/NMFaMn
There was also a planned Digital Clock that was not pursued because of budget constraints. It worked the same way as the signage with blocks pushing out to show the current time. Pictured above is the proof of concept.
TRUNKS
WALL CLOCK CONCEPT
Trunks is a wall clock that leans against the way. It’s a minimal, modern update on the floor clock format.
BESTIE
SIDE TABLE
Bestie is a side-table that has a concealed compartment to hang magazines and perodicals. The table is meant to be an intimate night stand that is personalized by the user’s taste in reading material. The table was featured in DXBSTORE in 2013 at ART DUBAI and also was selected by Wallpaper Magazine as part of their Global Trends feature. You can watch a video presentation of the table at the following link: http://is.gd/7Xfs80
Zhair is a chair design that was featured as part of DXBSTORE at the 2012 edition of Art Dubai.
ZHAIR SEATING
WESTERN
BRAND MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATION DESIGN
Western is a fashion brand based out of Dubai and currently sold in 25 countries worldwide. I’ve been working with Western for a decade now. I started there as a graphic designer and by the end of my term, I departed as the Creative Director. During my tenure, I was responsible for rebranding and repositioning the brand. I developed packaging, print and point of sale materials, directed photoshoots and designed exhibition spaces. I was also responsible for design management and was tasked with developing the brand through client relations and territory visits.
TOXXIN
REGEN
BRAND DEVELOPMENT & CONSULTANCY
BRANDING
Regen is a Dubai based real estate firm that required a complete branding package. I designed everything from their logo to their car wrap. BRAND DIRECTION
PRODUCT DIRECTION
PRODUCT PLANNING
I’ve leveraged my experience in the Wristwatch industry as a consultant.
FROMJADEWITHLOVE
BRAND DEVELOPMENT & CONSULTANCY
This includes working with wristwatch firms to develop brand concepts for new product development.
MAKEUP MANTRA
WRIST
BRANDING AND WEBSITE DEVEOPMENT
BRANDING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Makeup Mantra is a leading makeup firm in Singapore. They required a complete rebranding to signal their expansion into televsion. To achieve that, we repositioned them, designed their logo and preprared collatoral materials including designing and developing a website for them.
Wrist is a designer wristwatch and accessories retail chain.
M l S
For the retail brand, I developed the visual identity and stationary, the web presence and all promotional materials.
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ILLUSTRATION
I enjoy illustration. I have done it commercially whenever required and I’ve been fairly style agnostic. These images represent a style I’ve developed that resulted in a range of illustrations, some of which landed me in a few illustration shows and on tshirts.
NOOKA
EXHIBITION DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT
During the 2012 edition of Soledxb (soledxb. com), a a fashion-forward Sneaker festival that celebrates Middle East street culture, I curated a street art exhibit where local celebrated artists collaborated with Nooka, an edgy lifestyle brand out of New York, by customizing their Nookanooka vinyl toys. Highlights of the festival included the Puma Creative Factory, the New Era Artist Series Exhibition and of course, the Nooka Nooka event.
PATTERN
MISCELLANEOUS
I’ve had numerous opportunities to develop patterns for print, apparel and spaces. Some of these have found home on bags, wallpapers for retail and brand spaces and wrapping paper.
For the event, I organized and designed everything involved from Print materials to the modular display stands.
WRIST
MAGAZINE EDITORIAL AND DESIGN
For the retail project, Wrist, we put out a bimontly magazine with the same name featuring articles, interviews with designers and recommended product selections.
ADNAN ARIF adnan.arif@gmail.com adnanmakes.com