Decomposing A Thesis: Gun_Smoke

1. Hypothesis: “I  believe that through creating a product that is a visual metaphor for child soldiers shooting guns in Uganda (and informing the user of the issue through the packaging it comes in) I can use restaurants as a tool to create a dialogue about the problem and motivate people to support the Gulu Children of War Rehabilitation Center through funding.”

The goals of this project are to educate the public on the problem of child soldiers, to create citizen interaction, create a path of guidance to help children, and promote global partnership. Incense in the shape of an AK47 in a matchbook that gives a brief background of the problem while functioning as a stand.

2. She researched by interviewing a religious leader, online research, book and film research, market research (looking at Tobias Wong’s matchbook product) and material research. The designer failed to research system design for the restaurant component of the project.
3. Research informed the designer’s material choices, system organization choices, and the conceptual aspect of the product (smoke as metaphor for soldiers).
4. Material Research: the material used for packaging was coded to nonflammable finishes so that it could act like a stand and the herbs of the incense were a product of Uganda. Lack of relationships thought out for the distribution of her product ( product-restaurant, restaurant-diner, restaurant-World vision, diner- friends, friends-internet, packaging-product).
5. The material research informed the material usage, she used the gesture of restaurants handing out matchbooks after dinner though this is not a contemporary idea. The lack of research on modern methods of distributing matchbooks and the missing information on the relationships  of the system have left her project disjointed.
6. 1.  Online research-understands the facts of the Child soldiers’s problem,talks to religious leader, and does film and book research.

2. Research of organizations
3. Market Research-matchbook
4. Concept Development: Connection between gun smoking and incense smoking + begins to develop connections and develop a system.
5. Material Research
6. Decides on Material and packaging
7. Finalizes system concept of relationships between product-restaurant-user- organization- and children?

8.  The herbs of the incense comes form Uganda and therefore create a relationship and between the project and geographical location. The matchbook is made of recyclable paper. The materials do reflect the country represented in the product though the user doesn’t know this because the package doesn’t convey the information.

9.  Feasibility of Project:

1. Socially: This project is not socially feasible or effective enough because of the method used to encourage the user to use the product and participate in the system. For example why would you be given incense at a restaurant…the product should be married to the scenario. A married product to a restaurant could be breath mints.

2. Environmentally/Materially: The project is environmentally feasible because the product burns down and the packaging in recyclable. The aspect of using herbs native to Uganda could help the local economy of the country.

4.Economically: The project is not economically feasible because the restaurant is either donating 10% of it’s proceeds to World Vision or the diner is paying 10% more of their bill to support World Vision. The method of funding World Vision should be thought out and integrated into a better overarching system-Such as planning out the assumed relationships.

5. Functionally: The project is conceptually feasible and does function by itself though the system designed does not function well.  


Vanessa, Jay and Amanda