2018
Final Major Project, AUB
Infographic / Product Design / Exhibit
Designer, Maker, Researcher
Copper has been used for over 10,000 years and more than 50% of the copper ever extracted from the earth has been unearthed in the last 28 years. Used in a variety of industries from health care to engineering, I decided to focus my final major project on it's effect within electronic waste and recycling.
44.7 Million Metric Tonnes of e-waste were generated in 2016. 20% has been documented, collected and recycled whereas 80% has not been documented and is most commonly sent to landfill or to be incinerated.
To explore the issues revolving e-waste recycling and understand how it effects each of us in our day to day lives.
A physical art piece portraying a world map in the form of an infographic. This data represents the amount of e-waste produced per person on average per country.
Among a variety of different primary and secondary research a highlight was my tour of the recyling facility in Bournemouth.
Bournemouth Recycling Centre
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Bournemouth Recycling Centre
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Further research led me to visiting local scrapyards to gather as copper items to deconstruct and examine.
Copper wiring
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Copper cables
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Section from a copper boiler
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Deconstructed wi-fi router
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Wi-fi router
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Initiated through my research I found a niche within the network industry that led me to better utilise our electronics to have a beneficial impact on the environment.
Custom made wi-fi routers
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Vase router - engraved detail
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Vase router - bottom
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Plant router - cutting cress
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Looking at the effect electronic waste has on our world became fascinating and led me to create and portray my findings in a visually intriguing way.
Sand blasted detail with engraved text & map
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Overall design hung up
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World map represented within copper and etched in acrylic
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Combining my 3 months of research and experimentation led me to create an art piece that represents the amount of e-waste per person, per country. The line thickness represents the amount of e-waste while the visual language of this infographic came from my deconstruction of circuit boards and electronics. Plaques below the piece revealed factual information about how copper affects us in our day to day lives.
Close up
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Information board alongside the art
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Copper Map
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From initial research to final product, this process was extremely rewarding and allowed me to display a variety of skills. I learnt a lot during the creation of my final piece so felt it useful to document it here.
After analysing hundreds of recycling statistics I was able to compile and visualise the information into this infographic utilising circuitry as the visual language:
Hand cutting 24 plaques of locally sourced copper, sanding and polishing each piece to ensure a clean finish.
Using a vinyl cutter to etch the entire design into black vinyl - meticulously removing each section line by line to reveal the final look.
Precisely layering each of the 24 squares of vinyl onto the copper ensuring no bubbles, missing sections or imperfections.
Generously given an entire wall in the exhibition space, I planned the location of the piece and hung the design alongside a plaque and information.
