Tonicha is a multidisciplinary designer originally from a quite town in Norfolk she moved to London 5 years ago to undertake a undergraduate degree in Graphic and Media Design and came back to UAL to complete her postgraduate degree in User Experience Design. Tonicha creates both digital and physical experiences that are engaging and thought-provoking. She is interested in designing for social/ecological change and how technology shapes human behaviour, she enjoys working collaboratively and believes that working across disciplines and diverse areas of expertise enables designers to come together to solve complex sociocultural and technological design problems.
Contours of Self
Contours of Self is a series of wearables depicting the experiences of people with invisible disabilities.
This project explores the material embodiment of the lived and felt experiences of people with hidden disabilities, using a somaesthetic design approach.
The Somaesthetic design approach involves designing with the body, by engaging participants in deepening the experiences of their own felt bodily sensations, in this project I encouraged each participant to look inward to describe feelings about their specific condition and combined this with their lived experiences that they spoke about to co-design their own distinctive and personal outcomes that encompassed that part of their identity.
Each wearable was designed with three individuals with three different conditions, the conditions represented in this project are the following: Chronic Migraine/PoTS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lupus (SLE).
Each outcome incorporated a sensory quality that relates to the person’s condition, for example the Weight of Fatigue Sports Jacket had a secret layer inside which was a weighted vest of approximately 2kg of small poly-pellets to illustrate the weight of chronic fatigue, it was disguised as a sports jacket to represent the expectations of society that if you “look well” you should be able to do all the activities any other “normal” person can do.
Contours of Self is a series of wearables depicting the experiences of people with invisible disabilities.
This project explores the material embodiment of the lived and felt experiences of people with hidden disabilities, using a somaesthetic design approach.
The Somaesthetic design approach involves designing with the body, by engaging participants in deepening the experiences of their own felt bodily sensations, in this project I encouraged each participant to look inward to describe feelings about their specific condition and combined this with their lived experiences that they spoke about to co-design their own distinctive and personal outcomes that encompassed that part of their identity.
Each wearable was designed with three individuals with three different conditions, the conditions represented in this project are the following: Chronic Migraine/PoTS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lupus (SLE).
Each outcome incorporated a sensory quality that relates to the person’s condition, for example the Weight of Fatigue Sports Jacket had a secret layer inside which was a weighted vest of approximately 2kg of small poly-pellets to illustrate the weight of chronic fatigue, it was disguised as a sports jacket to represent the expectations of society that if you “look well” you should be able to do all the activities any other “normal” person can do.