by Herman Manson (@marklives) Benjamin Hubert comes across as pissed off. You would be, too, if you just gave up 4500 hours over the previous five years to free pitches. He dismisses the thousands of ‘signature’ furniture pieces (chairs, chairs and more chairs) turned out by designers every year, arguing that the chair has been a focus of design for several thousand years — it’s been done (actually, Artscape’s seating could possibly be made just a tiny little bit more, well, ass-friendly).
Ok, so his three-man studio spent all that time to pitch 128 freebie concepts a year, 65 of which got accepted, resulting in 52 prototypes launched, of which only 48 launched commercially. So, a 37.5% hit rate, says Hubert. Frankly, he can use his time better. How many problems can designers solve if they took the 20% of their time now spent on freebie pitches to solve real problems?
Put his time where his mouth is
Hubert promptly put his time where his mouth is, offering 44 days a year of studio time to solving design issues that are actually more important than the comfort of our junk-food-padded backsides. As a result, in the last six months his studio has jumped from three to 10 people and he gets to hit the design talk circuit. It’s taken him five years to get to the point where he can comfortably break the great life plan for (European — South Africans mostly just shake their heads in wonder) designers, as set by the design establishment.
Now he’s going from pissed off to passionate; you can actually track that process in his conference talk — it’s a new kind of wonderful and maybe a first for Design Indaba.
Hubert picked four causes and asked four question to help inform his design process.
Cause 1
Maggie’s [Maggie’s offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their families and friends]
Question:
How can we be more charitable?
Answer and result:
Our first touch-point with charities are often their collection tins or boxes. They stand around at till points, waiting for the odd couple of rands. We all think it goes into the store manager’s cigarette budget. So we’ve learned to look past it.
Hubert and his team have set out to make it unmissable. The titled head takes the posture of a slight bow: an offer of thanks for each donation, a human gesture to acknowledge the humanity in giving in receiving. Money is removed through the bottom of the container — improving its functionality. Tests show an 83% increase in donations received through these collection boxes.
Cause 2
Woven Image [sustainable stand-alone acoustic system to fit open plans spaces]
Question:
How can we listen better?
Answer and result:
So you have an open-plan office (with only the boss and the FD safely esconced in glass cubicles); it’s great but terribly noisy. How do we improve the sound quality in such spaces in a way that doesn’t rely upon existing architecture but is as flexible as the changing teams and work force?
The answer, Hubert believes, lies in a modular standalone acoustic system that can grow and shrink as per the space and people’s requirements. The material? Hemp. The result? A system that is 100% recyclable and has successfully reduced noise levels in open-plan office spaces.
Cause 3
The Carbon Trust
Question:
How can we become more accountable?
Answer and result:
Worldbeing is “a self-directed wearable and app supported by the Carbon Trust that tracks carbon usage, empowering consumers to make better decisions and driving real change,” according to Hubert’s website. It’s like a fitness app that pulls in your social network and expands our choices in how we behave to reduce our carbon footprint.
Cause 4
Acts of Random Kindness [Rabbi David Masinter’s ARK — Acts of Random Kindness — movement]
Question:
Can we quantify the unquantifiable?
Answer and result:
Can we change the world for good? If we start with ourselves, responds Hubert. He has designed a digital ecosystem and app that allow you to measure your daily good deeds, and allows you to document and share your own kindness (yes, I also shuddered at the thought).
So, in short, use what you are good at to do some good. Manage your time and formally set aside some of it for projects you feel passionate about. It will make a difference.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.
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