RAdical Interfaces
unconventional web applications, diy electronics and atypical graphic design methods
Abha Patil
Project Description
‘Radical interfaces’ wanders beyond the conventional boundaries of interaction design by rethinking the utilitarian frameworks that dominate the contemporary design industry. It aims to discover the playful and open-ended spirit of making by combining unconventional web applications, d.i.y electronics, and atypical graphic design methods that prioritize experimentation and individuality.
Through five core prototypes such as a font that you can physically pump air into, Excel as a drawing tool, a 3D application that uses words to build, a rotary phone keyboard, and an animation pipeline for a dot-matrix display, I try to articulate ‘radical’, by addressing issues of openness, materiality, criticality, and reflection.
This research combines mutually informed research-creation and observational analysis by developing prototypes, documenting their evolution and reflecting on their intended and unintended uses, allowing for analysis focused on their reflective and critical potentials.
By building open source and malleable tools that can be built-upon, re-purposed or even reinvented, ‘Radical interfaces’ aims to refresh our relationship with technology from being passive consumers to active makers.
BIO
Abha is a multidisciplinary designer from Toronto. She has a background in Architecture and Graphic Design. With over three years of experience, she has headed the visual development of several projects. She has worked with a variety of brands, specializing in brand identity, publication design, typography and illustration. She is passionate about learning, experimenting with new things and challenging her design practice. Lately, she has been learning how to code and finding ways and means to develop frameworks that bridge the gap between designers and code.
She is fascinated by people and places and her work mostly find inspiration from the eccentricities of this world. She loves sketching and the wonkiness of her analog work often finds its way into her digital projects. She also finds it particularly strange to write about herself in third person.