This year’s Innovation School

Innovation

Product Design graduates investigate connections, celebrate differences and reinvent narratives through their future-focused designs

Words: Holly McPaul

This year, Product Design students at the Innovation School were finally back in the studio, once again surrounded by the remarkable atmosphere, culture, and community of The Glasgow School of Art. Not even a global pandemic could stop them from producing refreshing and innovative designs. This year’s graduates focus on a wide variety of topics including shaping experiences for the future, designing through evolutionary and speculative lenses and more, all on display at the Degree Show. Do you enjoy eating? Are you curious about where your food comes from? Would you like to experience something new? Gabby Morris’s project Dish the Dirt is a multi-sensory dining experience that aims to help visualise the impact soil has on the food we eat. Morris has created hand-crafted ceramic plates, each unique to the eating experience, and is also running a multi-sensory tasting during the Degree Show.

Lesley McCluskey has designed an innovative brand consultancy titled All-In. This project supports small businesses to collaborate and produce one-off experiences that help create community cohesion and build upon the local economy. Speculating on the future of Glasgow, Hannah Roche explores evolution and extinction in 2080. This work revolves around a speculative ‘multispecies integration act 2030,’ where

Dish The Dirt, Gabby Morris, Product Design

Scotland has granted nature constitutional rights and becomes a refuge for all species in light of climate change and the ongoing sixth mass extinction. Roche re-evaluates our relationship with nature through policy, senseware, and mapping, using various memorabilia to imagine the changes that the city of Glasgow goes through after the introduction of the act. Many of us find the topic of sexual health uncomfortable and daunting to talk about. Rachel Corrie’s project Join In is an experiential pop-up safe space with a twist. Join In dives into how we can have informed, but informal, discussions in environments where we feel the most comfortable. Imagine the relaxed setting of a pub layered with informative data on sexual health. With this combination, Join In hopes to encourage open communication and conversations while also offering the opportunity to gain more information on sexual health, and provide support within local communities. Victoria Jamieson’s project In the Noe is a communication toolkit designed to engage people in discussions about menopause. In the Noe aims to overcome stigma by addressing perception and reality through the means of education and emotional awareness. It invites those who may not be experiencing menopause to engage and begin to understand the effects it can have on a daily basis – enabling us to all be in the know. Amandine Fong’s project Clota All-In, Lesley McCluskey, Product Design aims to address how we can use Join In, Rachel Corrie, Product Design

design to think about new ways to connect to an environment, and its involvement in the creation of more-than-human narratives. Using the River Clyde and Glasgow as an environment for exploration, the project looks at the Clyde’s role within the city, and asks how we can rethink our relationship with it and collectively imagine its future. Looking into the future of performance running, Lucas Cheskin investigates the question: will the product come before the athlete? Cheskin delves into topics of fairness, equality, and the essence of future sport through speculative design practice. The resulting project The Melius Games aims to create a conversation surrounding technological evolution and its impact on performance running athletes in 2052. Do you have possessions around your home that are worn and tired, that you rarely interact with but just can’t bear to throw away? Molly Nicoll’s brand Re-bonding redefines how we look at and treat our tired belongings. In contrast to mass consumption, Re-bonding offers the user a chance to reconnect with their tired possessions and discover new value. At this year’s Degree Show, there is much more to unpack and discover. Product Design graduates have worked incredibly hard to produce passionate, engaging and unique projects. It is clear to see that innovation has well and truly materialised within the GSA.

The Innovation School Degree Show runs 1-12 Jun in the Haldane Building, 24 Hill Street, Glasgow. It is also available to view online at gsashowcase.net