BSc Product Design
Hugo Matthew
Design as a creative outlet has taught me an invaluable range of skills, turning my persistent inclination to tinker into an ability to create both refined and tangible products. I'm excited to work with likeminded people who share my aspiration to create things that are both unique and exciting.
Yew
Yew aims to provide value to both users and British farmers from which the wool is sourced. Wools from native sheep breeds are currently considered a low value commodity with very few uses. Yew presents an opportunity for wool inclusion into the skincare market and highlights the importance of deeply exploring a material's potential uses; especially one that's renewable, biodegradable, readily available and locally sourced.
Consumers within the skincare market are becoming increasingly conscious about their own environmental impact but struggle to identify products that suit their body, and brands that fit their values. Yew's branding is simple, direct, and clearly outlines its material usage and communicates the individualised function it provides.
Favouring mechanical exfoliation has allowed for the use of multiple wool types, in which their varying micron level/coarseness is exploited to provide an individualised exfoliating effect. The inherent hygroscopic and insulating properties of wool extend the life of the soap greatly, through a more consistent and controlled depletion of soap through the felt.
Wooli
Ones control over their environment is essential to nurturing both a productive and relaxed mental state. Wooli is designed to accommodate and reinforce a flexible routine, through ritualistic interaction and individual connection with its user. Remote workers are less likely to receive motivation and guidance from their peers and need help creating a clear boundary between work and leisure in their living space. Giving the user control over how their environment looks, feels and works for them individually was a key finding within primary research and was central within the reframed brief.
Unique, grounding and visually tactile natural elements are promoted through the use of SolidWool, a wool-resin composite that uses specialist wool from upland sheep. The utilisation of organic and sustainable wool that is currently considered ?worthless", benefits both the welfare of the sheep its sourced from, and the farmers that raise them.