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Works

Nurtura

A baby mobile featuring Vancouver wildlife 

In collaboration with Carolina Marques
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External Partners:
  • Walrus Design Inc.
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Roles:
  • Industrial Designer
  • 3D Designer
  • Visual Designer

Nurtura is a compact baby mobile designed to introduce an infant to Vancouver’s wildlife. It serves as a form of décor while enhancing cognitive and physical development among infants. It keeps the child entertained with its contrasting colours during periods of wakefulness, as well as soothe the child to sleep with its abstract movements during periods of rest. The mobile introduces one of Vancouver’s endangered species, the red squirrel. It showcases a playful representation of flora and fauna, encouraging the child to become familiarized with its natural environment. Nurtura is constructed from soft felt, maple wood and metal hardware, keeping sustainability and longevity in mind. It comes packaged in compostable cardboard, along with a booklet explaining assembly and use. 

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The mobile is meant to fit over the user’s crib, making it accessible to families who are renting and unable to drill holes into their ceiling. Nurtura is an attractive alternative to mass-produced plastic mobiles that saturate in the market today, and offer local, sustainable and uniquely Vancouver.  

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  • Research
    “I’m not sure, to be honest, I can’t say that I identify more to either side, because I still live with my parents so I speak a lot of Vietnamese and do Vietnamese family things, like I still feel connected to the Vietnamese culture, but not so strongly because I was born here. But I don’t identify as more Canadian either…” “To be quite honest, I’ve always felt a disconnect in which country is my home country, so don’t really know.” These are some of the responses, we received from initial research through a questionnaire about Identity. Drawing from this survey that we sent out to 1st and 2nd generation immigrant youths as well as mixed and third culture individuals, we mapped out their responses and drew common themes which are safe space, common ground and community.
  • Process
    We started out with the goal of connecting immigrants closer to their culture, but as the project evolved, we realized we had to look deeper than that. Through our primary research, internal questioning and reflection, conversations with peers and mentors, and the process of iteration, we arrived at the goal of lifting up youths so they feel belonging and acceptance. Eventually, we landed on two main activities that fulfills our core themes: a microaggression card game and a mask-mapping activity. We have iterated various versions of the workshop, what it would look like, and how it would play out with pandemic restrictions.
  • Prototyping
    We conducted material exploration for the mask-making activity, experimenting with felt, paper, plaster wrap, foil and other materials. The base had to be comfortable to use, be structured enough to provide participants with a framework but also lose enoughthat they could excercise their creativity. Eventually, we settled with papermache for its ease of use and low-skill engagement. For the card game, we mapped it out in Miro and created simple card prototypes to play with. We iterated several versions of the game, varying the prompts and responses to provide the smoothest and most genuine interaction while at it's core, educating participants and prompting conversation.
  • Engagement
    Through Miro and Zoom, as well as in-person, we conducted mini-workshops of the card game and the identity-mapping activity to test the outcome, facilitation and validate the impact of the workshop.
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