Building Blocks
Building Blocks is folded so that the reader has to follow a spiral path to read it. Page numbers and a magenta guide line help readers follow along.
A guide to sustainable thinking through making
Building Blocks is a 32-page mini zine designed to encourage 10- to 12-year-old boys to engage in sustainable thinking through making. It challenges the reader to consider materials from a new perspective and cultivate a more critical view of consumption.
Building Blocks was the product of an in depth research process. My research indicated that adults tend to be more set in their ways than children and that pre-teens in particular are the most likely age group to not only deviate from the behavior of their families, but also to integrate their new ideas back into their families. Another research insight was that boys are less likely to have been exposed to the breadth of making than girls of a similar age. The original intention was to create a making workshop for boys, but the start of the Covid 19 pandemic forced me to pivot the output of the project to the zine format.
For this project I was exploring the biomimicry design spiral process. The design spiral is a design approach which makes use of many design thinking techniques but frames them around the rules and processes of the natural world. It focuses on taking inspiration, both practical and metaphorical, from the biological world. To reflect the spiral process in Building Blocks I employed a spiral motif, shown on the front and back covers. The zine is folded and cut from one sheet of 11 x 17 paper with no waste material or fastenings. It unfolds along a double-sided spiral path to further underscore the spiral motif.
