✹ Fan Project 

Worshipful company of Fan Makers is undertaking this programme to support emerging designer makers in the development of new forms of fan making. The ambition is to create a wider awareness of the fan, new markets and ultimately new fan practitioners. This agenda has initiated a partnership with UAL’s Material and Spatial Practices Programme - MA designer maker is taking part of this programme as well.

On 17th November 2020, there is an exhibition of prototype, test, design development and research conducted in Chelsea college of Arts and I have been joining in this events as well.

In my project, I’m researching on the relationship between human and shiny object - how it works with our attention. The research shows that people attract to shiny object because glossiness connotes water and water is the resource of life, reasonably that the preference for shiny object is human instinct.

Moreover, human instinct can be attracted to other quality as well for example by moving object or object that create sounds.

Human life is unstoppable - we are continuously moving our body all the time. When we put a piece of jewellery on, the jewellery is also dangling along with our body and create a sparkling effect on its high polished surface as well.

The research from Journal of Consumer Psychology ( Meert, K., Pandelaere, M., & Patrick, V.M., 2014 ) explains people tend to like something that they spend more time looking at. Presumably, these two qualities, glossiness and mobility, can catch people attention and can be visually appealing for most of the people.

In this project, As the fan is used for circulating air around the particular area, the user has to flip the fan repeatedly in either direction to create air circulation. With this principle, I try to explore the movement of traditional hand held fan and enhance their movement by using reflective material.  

By creating circular lines along with the fan movement, it encourages people to not only pick them up but also play and flip them back and forth as well. Once people flip them back and forth - the shiny surface also reflects light into a different direction and cause dazzling effect in the surrounding area, With this mechanism, this fan encourages the use of hand held fan in another way.