NEW ORDER

Products come in numbers. They never come alone. I dare say there are around a million different chairs on the world today. Their different appearances are determined socially, geographically or economically. This goes for all products. We are surrounded by abundance. Because a simple piece of wood (with a pillow) is just as good a chair as the most exquisite throne.

Alltough this abundance might seem suffocating I think it offers us a great deal. I think we can put this superfluity to our benefit. With this paper I would like to propose some new views on the massive amount of products that surrounds us. And how to put them to use.

The concept is based on an empiric and scientific approach. When the nineteenth century chemist Mendelejev worked on his system of elements he was grouping matter in a way that had never been done before. Instead of seperating organic matter from inorganic he looked at specific weight and numbers of electrons. This new way of organising has proved itself useful untill today.

To understand and explain specific properties of plants, biologists look at the properties plants develop that grow under the same conditions eg in a desert, instead of what type of plant it is.

As becomes clear in the examples mentioned above, sometimes creating a new order is necessary.

Getting back to the world of products I would like to suggest to do the same thing. Instead of putting the chairs with the chairs and the socks with the socks we have to start by asking ourselves other questions that also relate to the products. We have to look at essential but overlooked common denominators.

What does a whistle has in common with a speakerbox, a bird, a doorbell and a telephone?

Or a chewing gum with a carpet, a dog, a powercord, shoes, and a fallen leaf? (all on the floor)

Or a pistol with a blow dryer, a kitgun or a plant sprayer? (they all have a trigger)

By putting products together according to unexpected common denominators new order is created that enables new connections to be made.

These connections lead to new products. In order to turn chaos and overdose around into a design tool

(in the final paper I will go into more detail how this is happening)