A Step (or twenty) Too Far…

I love design. I love graphic design, industrial design, interior design, architectural design… all of it. Push the envelope and bring a big smile to my face. But eventually, everybody has their own point at which they say “Ok, you’ve gone far enough… dial it back a notch”.

This landed in my inbox not too long ago. It’s hilariously lazy in a way, but in another it’s a bit of an oxymoron in practice. Expend a pile of energy to have the luxury of parking your butt anywhere you want – for about five seconds, which is how long it takes for the pavement to reach up and smack your behind through the rapidly deflating marshmallow-like bubble seat.

The designer, JooYoun Paek, puts it a bit more eloquently, claiming “the balance between exercise and rest would be maintained by wearing this suit”. Food for thought I suppose, but I’m happy to continue walking the old fashioned way.

Thankfully, this was never meant to go to market or midnight infomercials. Paek hopes the provocative piece will “transform the humdrum experiences produced by routine walking commutes into an amusing interactive performance”. Indeed.

As an added bonus, I just can’t help but mention Robert Nightingale’s Hitch Concept, which proves that design has as much a place in absurd (im)practical comedy as anything else.

There are no words.