Cardboard gadgets don't need unwrapping

June 11, 2009

At first glance, it looks like these gadgets have been carefully wrapped in brown parcel paper – but on closer inspection, you can see they are made entirely out of cardboard.

Artist Kyle Bean, has produced cardboard replicas of gadgets like iPods, the Nintendo DS, and laptop computer’s as a comment on how quickly technology becomes out of date. The 22-year-old design graduate from Brighton bends, folds and glues recycled corrugated cardboard to recreate the intricate shapes of the gadgets before adding a small battery pack inside to make a tracing paper screen glow. He says each item takes him two days to create and is a statement about the way many people see modern technology as disposable … not because he can’t afford an Apple iPhone 3GS. “Although I’m generally fond of new technology, it does irritate me how new gadgets make old products obsolete so quickly in today’s society,” he said.“Most people know the feeling when you buy a new camera or phone, only to find out that a month later, a better model has been released.“We are so used to upgrading and throwing older items out. In short – nothing seems to last very long at all. My design is a response to just that. “I thought that making recycled cardboard ‘disposable’ clones of these gadgets would be an appropriate and engaging way of illustrating this observation.” The ‘Disposable Technology’ artworks have been shown at a number of exhibitions where people have enjoyed both looking at them and the message they convey. As for real-life gadget, Kyle says he could not live without his laptop or DSLR camera.

Posted in: Packing & Packaging