Ambessa Play | Sara Berkai
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Detailed Description
Ambessa Play co-designed a DIY flashlight with refugee children, working with Pentagram. We tested the DIY flashlight with children in Calais and Dunkirk, as well as Hungary and Sudan.
Project Details
- Does your design take social and cultural challenges and human wellbeing into consideration?
We dedicated a lot of time to studying participatory approaches to design and also where risks where participatory research could be harmful to marginalised populations such as refugee children (e.g. making false promises or excluding any folks).
Children are our co-designs and actively shape and lead the design of our kits.
- Does your design support sustainable production, embodying circular or regenerative design practices?
We have designed the kit as modular as possible meaning we can replace the kits. Based on children's suggestions, we have designed our packaging so that it can be used as shadow silhouettes and have a second life as an educational and playful resource, outside of being thrown away.
- Does your design use principles of distribution and open source?
This relates strongly to our values at Ambessa Play. I have created a page on our site titled 'Show Your Work' based on Austin Kleon's book.
https://ambessaplay.com/pages/documenting-our-process
The page showcases books that informed our design process. I also recorded a 30 minute video on our design process to share more information about our collaborative design process in refugee camps.
- Does your design promote awareness of responsible design and consumption?
This took time and work. Our design for the kit took roughly 3 years and time volunteering first in refugee camps. We partner with locals and grassroot NGO organisations already based in camps to engage in open dialogue [cultural/social aspects].
We also emphasis sustainable materials (our packaging is plastic free).
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