DIY Paper Speakers

Coralie Gorguechon has a strong concept of removing and heavily reducing the “bulk of plastic packaging” in a number of electronic products, ideas similar to our space saving smart materials project.

Her work is very methodical and starts with her deconstructing the products she wants to re-design, like an “amplifier, speaker and radio”. This reduces the electronics to their “basic components” and allows her to fit them onto a “single sheet of paper”.

“The idea was that the sheet of paper become the object, with no complicated assembly needed”. Coralie has designed a produced a number of kits and sets that would enable any consumer to easily produce a speaker from scratch. “Graphical representations” and “circuit icons” would instruct users to “build the object” through connections. The “lines” which represent wires are “printed with conductive ink”. This enables the paper surface to become “functional” when connected to a source of sound.

The DIY concept of the work links to the “Lack of humanness” project undertaken by ECAL Swiss university students. The kits provide consumers with an increased knowledge and understanding of day-to-day electronics. The simplicity of the new products is really strong, it creates an easily accessible message, giving the new kits a wider target market. There is an element of fun of building your own products, yet this fun is supported by a strong sustainable message. The work coincides with our chosen use of paper as a material and mirrors our concepts. The idea of producing a kit is an exciting concept, something that we could push forward. Dotted lines could communicate fold lines, allowing our pop-up idea to take shape.

Stinson, L. (2013). WIRED. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2013/12/a-tiny-speaker-made-out-of-paper/.