Der Companion
»If you're not paying for the product, you are the product«

The question of what effects the fast, mostly digital, world has on our body and mind will probably only be able to be analyzed and understood after this development has been completed. However, that we are changing faster than probably ever before in the history of humanity is undisputed. And also the fact that many people today feel overwhelmed - overwhelmed by a flood of information and data that comes in at an ever faster frequency to us daily.

What if there was indeed a product that could facilitate difficult tasks for people and even partially take over them completely? A product that works in all areas of life and supports you, in work and in private life — a product that is so simple that it does not even need an additional device. The result of these considerations was a kind of implant directly on or in the body. Products of this kind already exist (microchips driven by body energy or data storage in the DNA), but in this thought experiment we have tried to give these existing approaches so much function that a product has arisen, which is always on the side of man, because it's part of them. An extension for the human body that is inadequately equipped for today's communication society. The Companion.

size: 200 x 140 mm
extent: 76 pages
open thread stitching

Although the project is fictional in this form, similar solutions will be developed and researched on similar approaches.

The manual is not a classic brandbook, it's more like a thought experiment: what is simplicity at all? Can life be easy? What would that mean for the future? Where could designers contribute to actually create a simpler life for the society? Does a product that promises to make your life easy and carefree really makes your life easy and carefree? How could a product that really does look like? Would this product be something good?

team members: Sema Köse, Lisa Rudolf, Steffi Schnuck, Anja Wagner
competencies: illustration, text, layout, printing