GAMETIME pILLOW
OSU 2022 WINTER MARKET
———————————— HYPOTHESIS
Sports fans feel disconnected from their favorite teams while watching from home.
The at-home game time experience differs from the thrill of watching your favorite team play live in person. This noticeable disconnect highlights an opportunity for design to intervene and elevate the overall at-home game time experience.
It is hypothesized that by designing a product that fosters a deep connection to the game, we can help sports fans at home feel more connected to their favorite teams while watching from home.
ROLE
OSU Annual Winter Market
Project Partner
TEAM
Katie Bush
Olivia Doland
DURATION
December, 2022
3 months
———————————— OSU 2022 WINTER MARKET
The annual Winter Market is an on-campus exhibition of products produced by third-year industrial design students at The Ohio State University through the duration of the Autumn 2022 studio course. Eight "houseware" products were designed to strike a balance between addressing the needs of users, to meet the demands of small-run production, are produced within the constraints of a limited budget, and to evaluate different approaches to sustainability.
Fifth Annual Design Winter Market | Urban Arts Space (osu.edu)
———————————— BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Johnathan Chapman’s book, Meaningful Stuff, Design that Lasts, posits that sustainable design should go beyond material efficiency and recycling to also encompass emotional durability, ensuring products remain relevant and cherished by users for extended periods.
He uses the hadal and epipelagic zones of the ocean as metaphors to explore depth and longevity in design.
The epipelagic zone is the most shallow and turbulent layer, where many basic products lie.
The hadal zone is the deepest layer; its rarity and quietness represent meaning and experience that only few objects have.
———————————— BRAINSTORMING
The concepts were narrowed down to one final idea: a sports themed pillow made from jerseys and repurposed ball material.
———————————— MARKET ANALYSIS
Analysis was performed on various sports themed pillows on the market through a meaning vs. price point matrix.
It was found that there is a gap in the market for a highly meaningful product at a mid-ranged price point.
We aim to close this gap by designing a product that will elicit a strong sentiment for around $40.
A cost breakdown analyzed the fixed, variable, and labor cost of this process.
12 pillows were made in total for an estimated cost of $1.93 in material costs and 5 hrs 10 mins of labor per pillow.
———————————— FORM EXPLORATION
———————————— FINAL FORM
———————————— THE GAMETIME PILLOW
The GameTime Pillow can be used for football nights at home or in the stadium.
The 24” elongated shape allows for versatile use and comfort while watching from home.
A removable pillow and long strap allows sports fans to use their GameTime Pillow on the go as a convenient bag for any tailgating necessities.
———————————— ADDRESSING SUSTAINABILITY
Materials were sustainably sourced, with secondhand jerseys and balls being used to construct the shell of the pillow.
The recycled poly blend stuffing was sourced through InReturn, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit who provides job and life skill training to those with neurological disorders.
In addition to material sustainability, we drew from Johnathan Chapman’s book, Meaningful Stuff: Design that Lasts in order to design a product with strong emotional ties. Emotional connection to a product can play a positive role on the product life cycle, encouraging long lasting use.
The buying process of these pillows includes a personalization booth, where buyers can stamp on words, phrases, or names of their choosing. By allowing the customers to have a firsthand role in the making of these pillows, we hope that the emotional tie to their GameTime Pillow is strengthened.
