Products and Meaning

The idea of “meaning” is very singular and subjective. Nearly everyone had little trinkets or other objects that are very valuable to them--“priceless”--for one reason or another--it could’ve belonged to a relative or friend who is not around anymore, the object has a specific memory attached to it, it could just be something you’ve had for so long it becomes a part of you, your character. However when other come across these objects existing in our world they cannot see or recognize the value they have to us, these objects have value only because we place it on them. Even if we were to explain the back story of the object’s meaning, it could only be partially explained because others do not have the same feelings and memories as us. The object is valuable to us, but they cannot partake in any of that value because they did not share in its experience.

Meaning is an emotional quality, it for the most part cannot be broken down in dollar signs-- a necklace from a recently deceased grandmother is of great worth, whether the necklace is actually worth something monetary is inconsequential--the necklace is meaningful because it came from someone close, someone important, someone not around anymore. Equally, even if the same necklace was worth something--possibly a lot--monetarily, it doesn’t matter to the owner of the necklace because it has meaning to that person, which is a value that cannot be quantified.

So how does this affect the world of the designer and product? Certainly no one, not even designers can design or produce memories that make things meaningful. But certain products, because of what they do, what they look like, how they feel, can produce a kind of meaning depending on the user. For example, a few years ago a product prototype called Rapex (which has since seemed to disappear off the map) was introduced. The product is a condom that is inserted into a women’s vagina that has hooks on the inside, the idea was that in areas with a huge rape problem, such as South Africa, women could wear this and if assaulted, the hooks would hook into the skin of the rapist, causing pain and in theory allowing the victim time to escape. Once hooked onto the skin it would have to be surgically removed thereby identifying the rapist. This is a product that I think means a lot. First, it is a product that was designed specifically to help a major problem, and while it has some detractors, saying that women should not adapt to rape, some don’t have that choice, and this would help at least just a little bit. Also, knowing that a product like this is out there, any would be rapist might think twice. Obviously this product means different things to men and women. Many women are thrilled at the idea of this product, they see this as a great thing, however there are probably many men who are equally not as thrilled, because this product’s outcome hurts men. And even if they would never even think about raping someone, many men I’m sure can imagine some vengeful girlfriend or someone equally as crazy playing some dirty tricks with something like this.