FREITAG wants you to report examples of bad design

is bad design having a moment? at the very least it’s having a spotlight thrown on it. after learning from alice rawsthorn the 8 categories of bad design you should know in order to avoid it, swiss accessories brand FREITAG now wants you to report it. during milan design week 2019 it presented an installation inviting designers and consumers alike to swing by to confess their sins as well as the sins of others.

images courtesy of FREITAG
photo by das bild

upon arriving to the installation – titled ‘UNFLUENCER – de-sinning the designer’ – visitors were given a receipt and asked to write down their confession. after that, their was a choice between entering a confessional and discussing the sin with someone else; or continuing independently, to attach your sin to a wall covered in everyone else’s.

in addition to confessing their consumer and design sins, visitors were invited to lose themselves in an immersive light installation. designed by swiss artist georg lendorff, whose work often features large scale indoor and outdoor video projection, he created a spatial video installation made up of hundreds of hanging threads. together they created a matrix, upon which light was projected, illuminating the dark viaduct and inviting visitors to lose themselves in a state of flux.

photo by claudia zalla

‘discussions about bad design – and that means all our own flawed ideas too – wouldn’t just be funnier and more exciting; they would also be more honest and inspirational’, FREITAG explains. ‘just like it’s more freeing and truthful to talk about our stupid, unnecessary and unsustainable shopping mistakes. after all, neither consumers nor designers are immune to negative forces, constraints, simple errors or delusions.‘

photo by claudia zalla

to commemorate all of the sins that were reported during the event, FREITAG has created an anonymous confession feed on twitter. if you missed the installation, you can still post your confession with the hashtag #UNFLUENCER.

photo by claudia zalla

project info

company: FREITAG

installation: UNFLUENCER – de-sinning the designer