The archive · Design & Visual · Product decision · 2019
Haptic Architects made its portfolio a sculptural, touch-led index
Haptic Works 2019 turned a practice's portfolio into a sculptural index, placing project text on page edges so reference itself felt tactile.
Haptic Architects
What it had to solve
Haptic Architects needed an index of its work that was easy to reference while expressing the practice's touch-led approach to design.
How it works
Haptic Architects' 2019 project was a sculptural index of the practice's works. The brief combined a practical need—making project information easy to reference—with the practice's emphasis on touch.
Its key move was to put textual project information on the edges of the pages. That turned navigation into part of the object, so the portfolio communicated the practice's touch-led approach through its own physical format.
Why it lands
- It makes a functional information system express the same idea as the work it describes.
- The edge placement turns browsing into a physical interaction instead of leaving the portfolio as a neutral container.
What it did
The portfolio became both a reference tool and a physical demonstration of Haptic Architects' touch-led design approach.
What you can take
When the subject is a design practice, let the information system embody the practice; the format can make the argument before the reader reaches the details.
Since then
The supplied D&AD archive preserves Haptic Works 2019 as a project for Haptic Architects, but gives no wider production or audience figures.
Sources
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