Crater
Crater is a pendant necklace designed as part of a research project: Objects with Meaningful Associations. In this project, I interviewed individuals and designed personalised products inspired by their life stories. These products contain meaningful associations to significant aspects of the user's past, present and anticipated future.
“I always remember my dad coming home from one of his shifts with his black coal face”
I drew inspiration from Karen's vivid recount of daily routines from her childhood: "Dad would always collect me from school and I always remember his big hand holding my hand". I sought ways of using the imagery of coal to bring about positive memories of Karen's father, using a piece of anthracite coal much like a gemstone to reflect the significance and closeness of Karen's relationship with her father.
Experimenting with various pieces of anthracite coal.
Karen's life Story
Karen is a 58-year-old working in accounting and living in a heritage-style Sydney home with her partner and two miniature schnauzers. Karen's family moved between England and Australia several times throughout her childhood. As a young adult she developed several hobbies: "I used to sew [...] I used to knit [...] I used to go to tech to learn wedding cake making and decorating [...] I really loved doing that". In the future, Karen hopes to move to a small city off the south coast of Australia with her partner and two dogs to lead a more relaxed lifestyle.