Corensis® Medical Kiosk from Arçelik is a medical measurement terminal. It offers automated hospital registration and medical measurements. This is enabled with high precision medical sensors, advanced algorithms, and AI assistance (Artifical Intelligence).

Omuus created the concept design, CMF design (Colors, Material, Finishing), industrial design, and visual UI concept (User Interface) of the Medical Kiosk.

Medical Kiosk improves efficiency when medical staff can focus on healthcare. It provides contactless interaction, a new demand raised by COVID-19. Antimicrobial materials and sanitation of the contact surfaces were part of the concept from the beginning.

In detail

The medical measurement process is guided on a large touch-screen, where an AI assistant shows the actions. In the concept, life size real people were considered most approachable. The screen may include private information. Sidebars and handles block the view from others, and private information can be found at the bottom of the screen, blocked by the user.

Medical Kiosk is used by people of different sizes and ages, including users with physical disabilities. Users sit and stand at different stages of the medical measurement process. These requirements set a challenge for ergonomics design. Manually adjustable settings would be too complicated. Automated adjustability was considered expensive and fragile to implement. Therefore automation was considered only for a blood pressure monitor that needs to stay at heart level. Side handles and ECG handle bar on the front help to sit down and get up, as well as to rest hand while blood oxygen is measured in the finger hole on front.

Medical Kiosk includes several sensors for the medical measurement. Their positioning for different users was concepted and tested with the client. In the concept, the floor and seat were a combined weight scale, so a disabled user does not have to stand up for weight measuring if it is difficult. Measuring the length of the user requires momentary standing. Fixed seat with arched front enables medical measurements while seated, as well as the standing position. There are grooves in the seat to prevent slipping. Backrest was considered, but without it is easier to sit down.

Use in hospital also regulates materials. Medical Kiosk is not used in invasive care, yet it has to be easy to clean, and stand strong detergents. Antimicrobial materials and sanitation of the contact surfaces were part of the concept. The materials used in consumer products were considered more approachable than clinical materials. New natural and natural imitating materials were studied during the design process. Materials with a softer appearance were implemented in the seat and as accent materials.

Medical Kiosk has a long service life. The design and materials are expected to be long-lasting. Timeless geometric forms are created with extruded aluminum pillars on corners. They are created from one mold. Sheet metal is used in the maintenance door and below the screen to ensure privacy while seated. Maintenance door on the back of the Medical Kiosk can be used as an information board. Sheet metal on the floor is textured to avoid slipperiness. Side handles are also created from one mold. Parts are replaceable and economical to manufacture.

Collaboration between Arçelik and Omuus started in 2016. Together we have created products like Smart Assistant speaker Arçelik Asista, awarded Point-of-Sales device Beko Sardis, webdesign for Token Inc., as well as Research and Marketing.

Corensis® Medical Kiosk has received multiple awards:

 A’ Design Award & Competition – Bronze A’ Design Award

Medical Devices and Medical Equipment Design Category

• The World’s largest, most prestigious and influential design accolade, the highest achievement in design. 

 Doktorclub Awards 2020 –  R&D / Innovation Practice of the Year

• The Pioneer of Digital Transformation in Healthcare, and the Leading Phycisians – Only Platform in Turkey.

 MedTech Breakthrough Awards – Best IoT Healthcare Platform 2020

• Recognize the top companies, people, platforms and products in the health, fitness and medical technology industries today.

Arçelik works for a sustainable future through technology, human resources and production power. As Europe’s fourth-biggest white goods company, Arçelik operates in 146 countries with 12 brands (arcelikglobal.com).

Omuus is a strategic, material driven technology design agency based in Helsinki, London and Beijing. We are rooted in Nordic design sensibility with knowledge of global market preferences with sensitivity to business.

Inquiries: info(at)omuus.com

There are many fantastic trend agencies globally that provide color reports. So, you might ask, why do we create a new service?

We want to achieve a revolution of color reports – to go beyond the traditional mediums. Compared to traditional color reports with 2-dimensional color data, the 7SEC. CMF Futures is serving the technology industry with actionable CMF tools linked to actual material technologies.

We started the work with a mindset to learn from you, the users. We tested the accuracy of our own strategy with global surveys to industry experts. We asked amongst other topics, what was generally working for them and where they felt was space for improvement with the current services they were commissioning to. One of the hypotheses in our strategy was that traditional format of a physical book was constraining to the space and time. E-learning is growing in importance and we want to create tools that provide flexibility in where and how you learn. Digital learning is the quickest growing market in the education industry, with a whopping 900% growth since 2000 by KPMG (https://e-student.org/e-learning-statistics/).

An ongoing strategic direction for us is to continuously improve the interactivity level and improve on the inspiration of the future reports. Our volume I, Utopia e-book, is answering also to the trend of CMF industry going towards phygital– holistic physical and digital product and service design – and how we as CMF designers need to master both aspects.

If you want to be invited to be part of the co-creation journey, send us a note and you will receive the future surveys too.

In the survey we asked what the industry experts consider as a priority of all the trends. 87.5% answered: sustainability with futuristic twist. The report is based on our extensive 7SEC. Material library with over 12 000 material samples from our network of material suppliers. The global pandemic has accelerated some of the mega trends, with lasting impact in consumer behavior and we are exploring the implications to the brands and to the CMF design in the report.

When we started the research for the volume I, we had to acknowledge the sheer fact that we only see the beginning of the changes driven by the aftermath of global pandemic to the material technologies and to the CMF design. This crisis demands strategic thinking, creativity and co-creation to come up with innovative solutions that support the global consumers.

These CMF directions reflect general insight, current material technologies and best practises based on the information available now, and cannot contain all the information needed to determine the future for specific brand strategies. Yet we are sure these directions cannot simply be ignored.

As a method for the 7SEC. CMF Futures© we research wide amount of data, analyzing into technology industry specific CMF trends and translating this with global material supplier’s solutions. Our trend reports will aim to deliver interactive CMF samples for multisensorial experience and easy implementation to your product portfolio. The CMF directions are created with material technology specific colors through the science of Applied Color Psychology to match technology industry.

Utopia e-book: sustainability with future twist

In a world of climate change, technology break throughs, demographic changes and shifts on many fronts, the concept of utopias has become a life line of hope for us today because it gives us something to strive towards. It motivates us to rethink the structures and methods of the last century and find entirely new, better solutions.

We can see today the return of Utopianism through the concept of sustainability that becomes the utopian horizon itself. The global drivers for theme Utopia are the growing consumer attitudes towards sustainability and safety due to the pandemic. Along with the consumer behavior, corporate attitudes and regulations around the world are driving sustainable strategies. The CMF trend report is created celebrating this mindset, with actionable tools for sustainable materials for technology industry. You can access the report here.

Content of the e-book:

– Mega, macro and micro level trends

– Supportive data

– Industry benchmarking

– Mood boards

– Inspirational videos

– Digital 3D CMF

– Material directions

– CMF color directions fit to technology industry

– Language variants: English & Chinese

If you need Chinese language variant, please contact our China team at WeChat omuus_China

Utopia CMF Collection.

The CMF report is supported by limited edition CMF Collection, to be released August 2020. Since this is a novelty service for which we are collaborating with the suppliers means that the physical CMF Collection is under development. You can preorder the collection here.

The 1^stvolume of Utopia focus on the sustainable bio-materials, composites and transparent materials, sourced globally from our 7SEC. Material Library supplier base.

Content of the CMF Collection:

– Curated collection of physical CMF samples: unique custom-made reference CMF samples and supplier material samples

– CMF coding with material supplier information

– Material technology information

– Language variants: English & Chinese

If you need Chinese language variant, please contact our China team at WeChat omuus_China

A final thank you: with gratitude to the industry experts for answering the surveys and helping to form the volume 1 directions. Thank you Business Finland for supporting our digital mission, and enabling long dream to come true. Cheers to Omuus global team for yet again talented team work. We are in awe of all the brands and suppliers that has been highlighted in this report of the strategic work towards sustainable future. Let’s work together for better tomorrow.

Stay safe!

Annina Verkkomäki

Chief Creative Director

7SEC. FUTURES ©

7sec-cmf.com

“ Working with Omuus team was a very positive, inspiring and enriching experience. With the help of the Omuus team we got the keys to create a coherent visual look to support the brand creation and growth to global markets.“ – Susanna Kääriäinen, CEO Kultavilla.

OMUUS is one of the service providers for Business Finland innovation voucher. We love to be part of bringing new innovations to market and will help you every step of the way to achieve your company goals.

The innovation voucher is a grant for a new product or service development for Finnish Companies.It is intended for SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) who have a new product or service idea with international potential, and for which the company needs external expertise. It is worth 5000€ +VAT, incl. 1000€ +VAT self-financing contribution.

Here is an example of a project we did a few years back for Kultavilla.

KULTAVILLA

The pure Nordic nature captured into cuddlesome textiles that enhance our wellbeing. That is what a finnish weaving company Kultavilla offers. Located in Helsinki capital area, Kultavilla offers green and healthy textile options for consumers. Driven by the love of natural wool and the passion for designing functional woven textiles resulted to completely new combinations of natural materials, Kultavilla woollens. Their textiles exhibit the nature’s organic structures and soft colours, functional for cold winter or for milder seasons.

Omuus was supporting Kultavilla’s expansion from a manufacturer to a brand with an independent product line. The assignment covered a creation of cohesive brand look, brand creation support and a growth plan for the international market. Kultavilla received essential tangible tools such as brand elements, design guidelines and informational tools to communicate according to its values. This resulted as confidence to grow the company according to its values – credibility from authenticity.

Testimonial from Susanna Kääriäinen, CEO of Kultavilla:

“Working with Omuus team was a very positive, inspiring and enriching experience. When we started the co-operation Kultavilla had operated as a service provider for weaving services. We wanted to start creating our own productline alongside being a service provider. The main goal for the process was to create visual brand identity to support the marketing of new products and services. Omuus design drivers workshop started the project by clarifying our own value base and the foundation we would start to build on Kultavilla brand, which was realy helpful for us.

With the Design Drivers workshop Omuus managed to ’doug out’ the source of inspiration for Kultavilla, that had been the heart of the brand for many years: mystic Finnish forest. Omuus managed to woke up thoughts, feelings, product ideas and gentle feelings from the early days before we founded Kultavilla. Thoughts that had been left aside in entrepreneuer life, that had a significant impact when we founded the company and should be communicated through Kultavilla’s new visual look.

Omuus took under consideration global trends, consumer groups and defined a consumer group for global markets and used them to create the guidelines for our website and new product categories for the future. What we got was informative tools, ho to communicate according to our values in social media. With the help of the Omuus team we got the keys to create a coherent visual look to support the brand creation and growth to global markets.

During the co-operation Kultavilla got also concrete visual elements, such as coherent logo, business card, fonts and instructions to create a new website, but also confidence to grow the company according to its values where credibility comes from authenticity.  The Omuus team was very dedicated and reliable in their work. As a customer, I felt being the most important customer at that moment. I definitely recommend working with Omuus. “

We would love to hear your idea, just contact us via email or

Give a call to Annina Verkkomäki +358 40 7680127.

Here is a service package we offer, that will be tailored for your specific needs:

7SEC.^(TM)Startup is a complete service package to get started.

The package will give you a position where you can start implementing your plan.

• An assessment of the potential of innovation voucher.
  Support to fill the innovation voucher application and end report.
  The decision of granting the innovation voucher is made exclusively by Business Finland.
• The package can be tailored to your needs.It is a deep dive into a specific area of design;
  or a lighter and more comprehensive study of multiple design areas.
• A joint design brief and targets to best achieve your goals, and reviews to follow the progress.
• The cost of 5000€ +VAT can be covered by an innovation voucher, or purchased separately.

OMUUS is a CMF design agency (Colors, Materials and Finishes). The volume 1 of our article covered impacts to the China market and how the situation has affected the product and service design.  

In the volume 2 we have a look into how has the epidemic changed the emotional and psychological behavioural aspects of people’s lives, and how the color design can have profound comforting, soothing and relieving impact to consumers that are in the search for new rituals for their everyday lives. We also share about the impacts to the material technologies, what are the winning recipes, what should companies invest to their future material portfolio, and what materials are perfect for product development. 

How does the situation affect to colors in design?

Grace Boicel, Omuus creative Director & Applied Colour Psychology specialist

 ‘Colours have a profound psychological influence on human emotions and behaviour.

Most of us can remember looking at a rainbow appearing on the sky filling us with hope and wonder. We can also remember a day where everything isgrey and the sun seems to be far away.

In these difficult times many are looking for comfort and safety. Not all of us can enjoy looking at the sky and even be outdoors as much as we want anymore.

Did you know that colors can make us more active or calm us down?

Colors help us feel uplifted or calm down anxiety by positively influencing our mental wellbeing. Whether it is in the way of surrounding ourselves, visualising or dress in colors. Colors can be stimulating or smoothing depending on the intensity and saturation of the color. The stronger stimuli the stronger effect on us.

In Omuus we use colour psychology as the foundation of our work. Color is an incredibly powerful phenomenon used to influence us every day of our lives. It can influence our mood, behaviour and feelings; making us move quickly, feel relaxed, take action, eat more and spend more.

Simple changes in colors, can lead to big changes in sales, conversion rates and much more. If you are working with colors within your business it is important to get this right. We are happy to help if you would like to know more.’

How materials are changing and developing due current situation?

Anne Taitto, Omuus Materials Director

Certain type of materials have had increase in the demand due to the virus impact to product expectations from consumer or businesses. For example materials used in medical equipment, protective clothing and gear, as well as materials that are being used for leisure activities and hobbies. In addition to these, the production of plastic sheets for the protective shield has massive increase in demand.

Many companies have transformed their production to answer to the demand, and now produce above mentioned along with their original products. From OMUUS supplier network some of the fabric suppliers and sewing factories have started the protective clothing production and chemical producers have started to produce hand disinfectant under the emergency conditions. It is great to see companies being able to be flexible to meet the demand, and also new collaborations emerging, working together to find solutions.

The demand for easy to clean, anti-bacterial and anti-viral material has risen. Beside health care, the request for these health promoting materials is for high traffic locations to protect passersby and shoppers in public transportation and market places. Due to the virus impact globally, I believe this direction in materials will have long term impact and become an expected hygiene factor across industries.

Another material and supply chain impact with the lock down has been that production has moved from the world back to country of origin. For consumer electronics this will increase the need for suppliers to be able to produce high quality specialty finishes to be able to meet the standards.

We want to thank Grace & Anne for sharing their thoughts about current situation and how it has affected to their world.

Interested of future market specific trends? Contact us and let’s discuss more of your needs!

Annina Verkkomäki +358 40 7680127

annina.verkkomaki@omuus.com

The Macro Wanxiang series of products designed by OMUUS has been launched! We are honored to be able to collaborate with Macro and being part of combining Nordic Design Style with Chinese Lifestyle. The product portfolio is based on the natural elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air that are closely tied to everyday life and the product features. The Wanxiang series is created to meet the younger generation requirements ofhigh performance and high quality of life.

The article from Macro of the Wanxiang series launch.

Writer Macro

Macro launches new products ~

1^st April, Macro Wanxiang series of Gas Water Heater [淼] was launched on the platform of JD.

17^thApril, Macro Wanxiang series of Stove [焱], Hood [飍] were launched.

Redefine new generation of good appliances.

Combination of Nordic Design Style with Chinese Lifestyle

In order to create products that better meet the needs of young users, Macro has designed in cooperation with the Nordic top industrial design team to integrate the Nordic modern style with Chinese bathing and cooking lifestyle. It took more than one year to design and develop the Wanxiang series of products.

“We started designing on both ID and CMF. After studying the Chinese lifestyle, we have a common understanding that how to implement our ideas into products,” the product design team introduced.

Macro breaks the mindset, applies natural elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air which are closely related to people’s life to the design, to create the products design concepts.

Gas Water Heater [淼]: Innovative Technology, Comfortable Experience

The overall pure appearance of Wanxiang series of gas water heater [淼] are inspired by water. The combination of flowing water shape and visibly light materials creates this shining right-angle curved-screen water heater, which realizes the naked-eye 3D effect on the appearance, can be well integrated into the modern home environment, and has the practicality of easy cleaning.

During bathing time, users care most about the water temperature. Only when the water temperature with almost zero-fluctuation, it can give users a more comfortable bathing experience.

In 2008, Macro pioneered the “zero cold water” technology in the industry, and the Wanxiang series of gas water heater is equipped with an upgraded version of the “zero cold water heat cruise system” which ensures heat preservation. People can enjoy hot water anytime at home.

People are also very concerned about the water flow when using water heaters. Wanxiang gas water heater uses a “flying-flow supercharged engine” to maximize the water flow rate to 100% of the common water flow rate. Even for users who live on higher floors or using water at peak hours, they can take a comfortable bath.

Stove [焱]: Even Temperature for Delicious Stir-Fried Dishes

When people are cooking, if the stove cannot control the fire very well, the bottom of the pot will be unevenly heated, which means that the dishes won’t be tasty and the pot are easily got burnt.

Wanxiang series of stove is inspired by fire and flame. The overall design is about dynamic and simple modern style. The unique “cornice design” of the outer ring fire cover enables to gather the central fire better to meet the users need of stir-frying with even temperature.

Through technical upgrades, Wanxiang series of stove has up to 5.2kW of thermal load and 65% of thermal efficiency, which are higher than the national first-level energy efficiency standard. It saves energy and gas.

Hood [飍]: Take Away Cooking Fumes, Keep Delicious Smells

Long-term inhalation of cooking fumes during cooking is not good for health. In order to quickly and effectively remove cooking fumes, the Wanxiang series of hood uses Macro’s unique patent “double arc smoke-guiding structure” in design, and cooking fumes automatically flow upward along the curved arc surface.

After optimizing the structure, the exhaust volume of the hood can reach up to 22m³/min in maximum. The cooking fumes can be exhausted right away. Even cooking in an open kitchen, the kitchen will be still very clean after cooking.

When people are focusing on cooking, they just need to wave their hands to turn on/off the hood or adjust the exhaust level.

Anti-fouling And Easy to Clean

The problem of cleaning hoods and stoves has always been one of concerns of the industry and users.

Wanxiang series of hoods and stoves are coated with advanced nanotechnology in the industry. The glass panel is hydrophobic and has excellent anti-fouling capability. Oil stains can be easily wiped off, making daily use more convenient.

Wanxiang series is another original home appliance launched by Macro for the living habits of Chinese people. It is specially created for the quality life of young people and meets the dual requirements of new generation families for high cost performance and high quality of life.

Please note below Keywords in this article:

万象：It’s the series name of the gas water heater, stove and hood. In Chinese, it’s a Taoist terminology, meaning everything or sight in and out of the universe. Hereafter translated as “Wanxiang”, which is the pinyin of the word.

淼：The gas water heater’s name. This Chinese character 淼consists of 3 same Chinese characters, which is 水. 水means water. 淼means huge amount of water. Hereafter kept as 淼. The pronunciation is “miao” in pinyin.

焱：The stove’s name. This Chinese character 焱consists of 3 same Chinese characters, which is 火. 火means fire.  焱means flame of fire. Hereafter kept as 焱. The pronunciation is “yan” in pinyin.

飍：The hood’s name. This Chinese character 飍consists of 3 same traditional Chinese characters, which is 風. 風means wind. 飍means the look of runaway frightenedly. Hereafter kept as 飍. The pronunciation is “xiu” in pinyin.

Congratulations to our partner HONOR for the launch of flagship series HONOR 30 and HONOR 30PRO! Wonderful to see the success of the long-term development process and the brand experience of the event.

The HONOR 30 and HONOR 30 PRO launch was held 15th of April 2020 in China. Popular Chinese actor Li Xian revealed the product in his Weibo account showcasing the smartphone.​

HONOR camera smartphone 30 PRO+ was ranked second best in DxOMark’s tests according to GSMARENA. ​​

All the tech specs for HONOR 30 PRO.​​

HONOR 30 & HONOR 30 PRO LAUNCH EVENT

HONOR 30 & HONOR 30 PRO LAUNCH EVENT

HONOR 30 LAUNCH MATERIAL

HONOR 30 LAUNCH MATERIAL

HONOR 30 AD FOR BAZAAR

HONOR 30 AD FOR ELLE, ELLE MEN & MARIE CLAIRE

HONOR 30 AD FOR VOGUE, GRAZIA & YOHO

We at OMUUS believe design has an important role to solve challenges globally. The impact of Covid-19 has changed our daily lives for good, only time will tell what are the most successful scenarios. The virus has accelerated the trends that we have predicted – digitalization – this is the largest digital education program the world has ever seen. The acceleration of the need to design with empathy – the importance of supporting your community and find innovation that is truly helping in saving lives. We believe in the creative community to work together, to keep inspiring each other and creating new ways of working with the possibilities that these changes brings. WHO and The United Nations are asking design community to join to find solutions.

People are seeking for safety and hyper hygienic material solutions to promote public health to stop the pandemic from spreading. We gathered thoughts from our specialists for two articles, their insights to our new ways of working and the market changes.  In this first part we will talk about the impacts in China market and how this situation has affected to product and service design.

How has the COVID-19 changed China market?

Jenny Cui,OMUUS China CEO:

‘The impact for China & Chinese market is huge:

China as the first place of virus outbreak, we were shocked suddenly. The most terrible period was right during the Chinese New Year, which made people’s mood over sad compared with previous peaceful & happy new year atmosphere. The original hopeful New Year felt hopeless, which lead to an overall emotional impact of all local people.

From daily life perspective, everything online like teaching, working and shopping are blooming, while offline economy has had a terrible hit. Especially for restaurants, who had to start finding ways to delivery rather than eat-in options. This caused a huge request on the food packages. Also, many super markets had to start selling semi-finished food rather than raw materials, which creates need for packaging. The material needs behind the increased consumption are huge for both for anti-bacterial & eco friendly materials.

As long as the virus keeps spreading worldwide many local companies, especially the manufacture & foreign trade companies businesses dropped terribly. Many of them quickly changed their business from original into Medical supply manufacturing & trading to ensure their business. A large number of new mask production lines has been built up shortly, and the “Melt-blown fabric” and “Tyvek” materials for mask and medical protective clothes are urgently needed. At the same time the price of these materials is getting higher and higher.

The intent to buy clothes & accessories for regular consumer has changed into materials, that can provide protection, like TPU jacket & PVC gloves for their daily commuting protecting, as well as the resins for goggles.Since people are having more time to stay at home, the pajamas & slippers needs are raising increasingly, as well as the in-house fitness equipment, such as yoga mats. From daily necessities perspective, since people keep washing hands, liquid soap & hand creams needs growth significantly as well as masks & room fragrances.’

How the situation affects to product or service design?

Jarkko Saunamäki, OMUUS Principal Designer:

‘Coronavirus is a dark horse expected to affect on megatrends. Health and wellness were already a strong trend, and in the crisis aftermath it will likely intensify further. A demand for related products and services is expected to continue the growth.

Physical products may approach the requirements of clinical products in materials, cleanability and use cases. Remains to see, if this will affect on the trend of sharing economy, due the fact that social caring has increased. Cleanability and antimicrobialwill become a marketing argument, such as ergonomics, usability and sustainability were.

The usage of digital services boomed in the crisis, and revealed the bottlenecks in usability and reliability. New virus specific applications and services are already launched.

The economy moves in cycles. Research and Development often predicts the upcoming change and budgets are cut down in the economic downturn. The product development may take years, and investing only in the economic upswing may lead to wrong timing with the market entry. In a crisis some freeze, others see opportunities for new products and services. ‘

We want to thank Jenny & Jarkko for sharing their thoughts about current situation and how it has affected to their work. In the second article we will cover the topics of CMF in this changed situation, and material technologies answered by our specialists. Stay safe & tuned!

To get to know how Team OMUUS work during the quarantine, we will share some home office inspiration to our Instagram stories in upcoming days, go check it out!

‘Consumers would naturally build a more sustainable futurebecause they would have comfortable options available.’

OMUUS interviewed Elena Amato the founder of Ponto Biodesign “when biology and design meet”. In this article we will talk about Circular Design, why it’s so important, what is happening in the field of Circular Design and what Ponto Biodesign got to do with it.

Can you introduce yourself and your company Ponto Biodesign?

My name is Elena Amato, I’m a Guatemalan designer currently living in Brazil. I’m passionate about circular design, material development using biofabrication and thinking about creative applications for those new materials. I’m the founder of Ponto Biodesign, which is an experimental lab and design studio based on the concept of “when biology and design meet”. Currently I’m researching bacterial cellulose growth using agricultural waste as nutrients for the bacteria. I’m using the bacterial cellulose to make natural, compostable materials for applications in consumer products. Ponto biodesign is still on its early stages but I have a lot of positive engagement from people.

I’m studying for a master’s degree in Design focused on materials and sustainability at the University of the State of Minas Gerais, so I decided to merge Ponto Biodesign with my master’s research for the next year and a half. The aim of the master’s project is to grow bacterial cellulose using banana peel and develop two kinds of materials for fresh fruits and vegetables packaging. The idea is to develop a natural and compostable alternative for plastic trays and PVC films currently used for these types of fresh products.

What is the story behind Ponto?

I started learning about circular economy and biofabrication in 2018 for my graduation project. I designed a more sustainable packaging system for handmade personal care products, manufactured locally with natural ingredients. In order to the packaging’s components flow in integrated and regenerative loops, I decided to use compostable materials. While researching, I started reading about bacterial cellulose and how it was being used in fashion as an experimental alternative for leather. Since the first day I started working with bacterial cellulose I was fascinated by the material and its possibilities. After a lot of experiments, I finally got a great natural, compostable, colorful material that could be used as packaging.

When I finished my graduation project, I just couldn’t stop testing new ideas, so I kept researching and creating new materials. In April 2019 I had the opportunity to be featured in a Design magazine and I was very happy to see that a lot of people were interested in the materials and wanted to buy them for their products. It was then, that I decided to found Ponto Biodesign. I began to work with bacterial cellulose but someday I would like to include fungi biofabrication and grow different kinds of materials.

At the beginning I started with a paper-like material, made purely with cellulose and natural pigments. Then I made biocomposites using food waste like orange peel, eggshell and coffee and after that I began growing the cellulose using food waste as nutrients to feed the bacteria. Every material has its own characteristic some are more flexible, translucent, brittle, smooth and even transparent.

Even though people are interested in buying the materials, we are still on a prototype stage and we still have a long way to go in order to be commercially viable. In the future, we hope they can be used for wallcovering, lampshades, toys, packaging, etc. Thinking about their application is one of the things I like the most about the process. I can’t wait to see Ponto Biodesign’s materials being produced in a wider scale and available for everyone to use.

I like to use the terminology Growing Design, created by the researchers Camere and Karana, to describe my work’s approach. In Growing Design, the materials are grown by living organisms without changing their genetic structure; designers are actively involved in material production even using DIY processes and the materials developed are intended to be used in products today or in a provable future.

What was the gamechanger in your life that motivated you to specialize in circular design?

Sometimes we blame consumers for not taking an action into building a sustainable future, but I think that if designers create thoughtful solutions, using healthy materials for the environment, building smart services, connecting stakeholders in a wider system, and thinking a lot on their experience, consumers would naturally build a more sustainable future because they would have comfortable options available.

According to research conducted by the Design Council, approximately 80% of a product’s environmental impact is defined at the initial design stage. It’s exciting to think the potential design has to reshape the future. It is very important because it has the ability to make changes from the internal business structure to the services and products that they offer to users. Knowing that, as a designer, I felt like there was no other option than to take responsibility for what I created. I wanted to actively design more sustainable options for consumers, thinking in the entire product’s life cycle starting from the material composition.

A lot of the waste we produce comes from packaging, so I want to create healthy and practical options to people and show that it’s ok to use single-use packaging when they are made with the right material. A lot of materials in nature have a short life cycle. The thing is that those materials are meant to return safety to the biological cycle in a short period of time.

Why do you think circular design is so important today?

We were born in the linear economy system, where we feel it’s natural to extract materials, manufacture products and then throw them away. But where is that “away”? We are just making huge piles of mixed materials, wasting and contaminating the resources of the planet.  The whole universe works with circular flows: our lives, energy, the climate… everything flows and one thing feeds the other. We were trying to force a linear system that obviously isn’t working.

I think that circular design is very important because if we only take resources but don’t feed them back into the system, eventually we won’t have resources anymore. We have a limited amount of resources that are meant to continuously transform into new formats, but those huge piles of mixed materials that we are making are disabling that transformation that we need in order to renew the resources.

I am thrilled to see so many initiatives around the world working to create alternative materials that can help the transition towards a more Circular Economy. For too long, we’ve been ignoring the fact that products are made with elements that are not safe for humans and nature. It’s time to start cleaning our products and processes and start working like nature does, where nothing is waste and materials flow on integrated and regenerative systems, returning safely to nature as nutrients to be a part of the material cycle again. I believe biomaterials are a great tool to promote transparency, local collaboration, fair trade, social and environmental responsibility.  In the near future, biomaterials are going to be everywhere, in medicine, fashion, packaging, toys, furniture, buildings, etc. People are asking for safe and sustainable products.

What are the greatest challenges for circular design?

For me, the greatest challenge for circular design is education and awareness. We as a community need to work together as a system and be conscious about the importance of making the shift towards a more circular economy. The easiest thing to do is to continue doing things the way we’ve been doing them. It’s easier to ignore the problem than to re-organize and re-think about material source, manufacturing process, consumer behavior and how we discard the products we buy.

Specifically, in material development using biofabrication, there are many initiatives with awesome ideas, but it is still a challenge to get the production into a wider scale because a lot of them are still researching, and in early development stages. I find companies like Ecovative, Malai, Make Grow Lab and Boltthreads an inspiration. I hope researchers and startups that are working in this field persevere so biofabricated materials can be available in wider scales and available for more people in the near future.

Another challenge is to change the impression that circular design is a utopic ideal, which only non-profit organizations work on in order to save the planet. Actually, circular design is about financially sustainable solutions. Circular design, besides being necessary in order to continue living in this planet it, has to be lucrative.

Where do you see circular design in the next 5 years?

I believe we will be more aware of the responsibility each of us as members of the community and as professionals have. There will be more regulations that benefit companies that are working towards a more circular operation and penalize those that aren’t. We will see a lot more sharing services in consumer products, more reusable and refillable products, more options of energy from renewable sources for the community, more healthy materials available, people demanding less plastic and pesticides and an increase in the demand of locally source products.

I think that in the next few years, circular design will be more a requirement than an extra feature. Circular design will be essential in every level, since the early stages of the conception of products, the materials used, the manufacturing process, how it’s delivered and the services that will help connect the product with the users and with other companies. Transparency will be a must; there will be more brands and products with tracking codes that will give the information of the whole production chain to the consumers.

Of course, I also like to think that the future will be a lot more bio. Our buildings, energy, clothes, nutrition, health, etc. will be more connected with nature and we will operate in a more symbiotic way with our environment. That means that we will have to design our physical surroundings with and for the specific characteristics of our local environment. The intersection of biology, technology and design will be a powerful tool for creating more sustainable solutions. In five years, we will see a more consolidated platform of what will drive the circular bio-economy in the future.

How would you describe your materials to an alien with 4 adjectives?

Natural, microbe-made, colorful, waste-based.

We want to thank Elena Amato for sharing her insights about Circular Design and wish the best of luck with Ponto Biodesign. We recommend to keep an eye on this future proof company here!

Do you want to know more about sustainable packaging materials? Contact us and let’s discuss more of your needs!

Annina Verkkomäki +358 40 7680127

annina.verkkomaki@omuus.com

Surface Design Show London

February 11-13 2020

This time Per Boicel at Omuus attended Surface design show in London at the Business design centre.

Priestman Good Design studio presented ‘Get Onboard: Reduce. Reuse. Rethink’ to attack the aviation problem of plastic waste at long flights. Colour Hive gave a forecast of colour, material and finish for spring and summer 2021.Furthermore there were as usual some surface materials that stood out in the crowd.

RETHINKING THE MEAL TRAY.

Aviation design is a central area of work for Priestman Good Design studio. ‘Get Onboard: Reduce. Reuse. Rethink’ is attacking the aviation problem of plastic waste at long flights.Their aim is to reduce waste in the meal service.  The economic drive is to reduce weight – a central factor in aviation design. The average passenger use estimated 500g plastic cups, cutleries and other items per person per long flight journey, all end up in waste. They have explored a vast range of food safe materials that have been developed for the catering industry, from cups made from coffee grounds, to algae, bamboo and rice husk.

In average every passenger is using three plastic water bottle on every journey, before boarding, at journey and at arrival. Priestman Good came up with this refillable bottle made of biodegradable and commercially compostable bioplastic and cork. The shape of the bottle has been specifically designed to be more efficient for travel, and fits within the pocket of an aircraft seat back. It could be refilled on stations at the airport or inside the plane.

TREND REPORT FOR SPRING AND SUMMER 2021.

Colour Hive gave a forecast of colour, material and finish for spring and summer 2021.

Trends to look out for in short:

Factory – Nostalgia- Looking back to Artisan craft, imperfection in materials and finish.

Reverie – Romantic approach old style in a new way, Love and Lyricism.

Clarity – Clean and considered, Purity unpolluted colours and materials.

Alice – Immersive and Subversive, Escape from the real world into the dream world references to 60-70ies psychedelia

These images are example of Colour Hive Factory trend with products created of recycled waste, with imperfect finish.

Surface Design show 2020 placed bio-design surface, materials and solutions in the very centre surrounded by conventional materials made of wood, ceramic tiles and different imitation of natural materials with a few new creative products.

An inspirational example beyond imagination is London based Italian company MirroPlus. Demonstrating a thin lightweight mirror material, similar to the “liquid mirror” in the Movie Matrix.

A good start for a New Decade is an interview with Karen Haller, an international author, speaker and teacher in the field of Applied Color Psychology. Having studied color for over 20 years, she understands how color affects and influences us yet how businesses and designers can use it to influence behavior.

Per Boicel from Omuus interviewed Karen about her new book about Colour that was published in 2019, covering the aspects why color psychology is such an important subject nowadays and what is the future for color psychology.

Karen, your new book ‘The Little Book of Colour’ is doing really well – Congratulations!

Thank you Per, I’m thrilled how well the book has been received in the UK – The Sunday Times named it as one of their Top 10 Design books for 2019.

The book is being translated currently into a further 12 languages so interest in the book is spreading world-wide and it shows that colour is making a comeback which is great news seeing how we have been living in a colour drought for the past decade or so.

Colour psychology is relatively unknown in many countries, could you tell us a bit what your new book is about?

The Little Book of Colour is about how to use the psychology of colour to transform our life. We are surrounded by colour and it influences everything we do. When we connect to colour, we connect to what we feel, and when we connect to what we feel we connect to who we are. Our fascination with colour has been around since the dawn of time with philosophers, physicians, scientists, psychiatrists studying this phenomenon – such as  Empedocles – c.490-c.430 BC, Aristotle 384-322 BC, Newton 1642-1727, Goethe 1749-1832, Jung 1875-1961, Bauhaus 1919-33, Wright 1939- and many more. This book explains the evolution and theories of the science of colour and my studies under the tutelage of the well-known expert in the field, Angela Wright and how the reader can then apply this to their everyday life.

What was the real gamechanger in your life that motivated you to specialise in colour psychology and work with colour science?

The epiphany moment that I described in my book was when I was studying Millinery in my twenties back in my native country Australia. I was sewing chocolate brown feathers on a teal blue hat and seeing the impact of the colours together stopped me in my tracks. I found myself saying out loud “Oh my God it’s colour”. I had no idea what it meant; I just knew I had to find out more. I was completed obsessed with why did I liked one colour and not another one? Why does some colour make us happy and some anxious? Why did I want to wear a colour one day and not the next? Why does the colour in one café want me to come in and sit for a coffee and another not?

So, I studied everything I could but there were so many questions left unanswered. It wasn’t until I was in the UK and I took a course run by the colour psychologist Angela Wright.  Angela could answer all my questions with deep understanding of why and how colour affect our mind, emotions and influences our behaviours. This is when I had my eureka moment – what I had been searching for was called Applied Colour Psychology. I stayed with Angela for a year and I think I drove her nuts by asking her so many questions until it all came together which has led me to doing the work I do today.

Why do you think a book about colour psychology is so important today?

This book is putting the knowledge of how to use colour in a positive way in the hands of everyone. It shows how you can use colour as a form of self-expression no matter who you are to express the authentic you by combining your own intuition with logic and rationale. This book takes the fear out of making the wrong colour choices or getting it wrong. It shows how you can be in control of your own colour choices without the need to slavishly follow trend or copy others.

Per: The famous saxophone player Charlie Parker learned at very young age after failing at his first public performance, that is something called Key Signature – the set notes are played in order to create a piece of music. Is this the same with colours? Is that why some colours clash and feel completely out of tune, because they are not in the right key?

Yes, that’s right, intuition can just take you up to a certain point.  It’s not able to answer why, just what and then it’s up to the client or student to blindly trust the one with the intuition. To know the logic and innate relationship between colours is crucial if we aspire to have a much deeper understanding of the science of colour to create consistent, repeatable results. Using a colour out of harmony is like blaring a saxophone out of key, it’s just painful to listen to. Using colour out of harmony is just as painful for our senses and creates a dis-comfort and a dis-ease which is why I would feel comfortable in one café and not another.

In what way is your new book different from others?

This book is for the everyday person explaining in a very conversational way what colour actually is and why it has the impact it does and influences us how we think, feel and behave in so many different ways. The book also shows how you can bring colour into your everyday life from the clothes you wear and relationships, the colours in your home to your workplace. The book guides you in how you can connect back to your authentic self so that you can express who you really are no matter what the occasion or situation.

In what areas do you see colour is used without the structural knowledge and ‘just’ by intuition?

I find working with different companies that often the colours are arbitrary chosen for products and branding without there being any logic or rationale to back up their choices. Often colour choices are simply based on copying what everyone else is doing in the market, going against the norm or following the latest trend without fully understanding the impact the colours are having on their brand or the message it’s conveying to their ideal customers.

What are the greatest challenges for colour psychology?

Initially I was looking to write a book about Applied Colour Psychology for the designer industry however the response was “We use our intuition”. I found it interesting that design professionals are willingly to attend courses in lighting, materials etc but not when it came to building on their existing colour knowledge which typically was the colour wheel. From my many conversations it seemed there is a belief that “colour is something we already know”. Intuition is definitely one part. Having the science, logic and rationale is the other. So, I decided to change the audience I was writing for – if the designers didn’t want the book then I’ll share the knowledge with the everyday person so that they could use it.

So even though I wrote the book for the everyday person, I’ve been really surprised that the biggest uptake of the book has been the design industry. The response has been really positive with many saying it’s clarified many concepts for them, and they are now able to add the logic and rationale behind their colour decisions when speaking to their clients.

The former president of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), Susie Rumbold said, “This book is a fascinating introduction to the science of colour psychology and how to apply it. The power of colour to influence human behaviour is only just beginning to be fully understood and this book provides a wealth of information on how to improve lives by changing environments. A great tool for design professionals and interested amateurs as well.”

Where do you see (or want to see) colour psychology move in the next 10 years?

I want to create a colour revolution, a world-wide paradigm shift. To show that colours isn’t something we should be scared of or worried we are getting it wrong or feel we the need to follow trends or fashion. Instead how we can all use colour in a positive, conscious way to authentically express who we are and create spaces that we love, support and nurture us. That’s why I wrote this book.

 Thank you, Karen, for your time and work. As partners of Angela Wright’s teaching, we at Omuus also want to promote the same understanding of why and how colour affect our mind, emotions and influences our behaviours.

Download FREE first chapter
If you would like to download the first chapter of The Little Book of Colour for free then head over to The Little Book of Colour Free Chapter.

Buy The Little Book of Colour
If you would like to buy The Little Book of Colour – How to Use the Psychology of Colour to Transform your life then head over to The Little Book of Colour website.