Product Intimacy

At this point it may seem a bit unclear as to what I’m talking about, so I wanted to take this chance to point out some basic examples of intimacy in objects and the everyday. These are not exhaustive, but are a few items to help generate further discussion of what intimacy can entail.

One of the first examples that I can think of is the much hyped Ipod.

 The product does have some flaws. I hate the smudgy fingerprints on the back of it. I hate the smudgy fingerprints on the front of it. I hate the scratches that the face has received. But all is redeemed by the sensation of directing the control wheel with my finger. The whole experience with getting an ipod is a very intimate procedure. The packaging is pristine and encourages and delicate and thoughtful opening. The elements are revealed with anticipation. I cannot recall any product where opening the box enhanced the experience of the actual object. Perhaps that’s a bit strong to say. I am a package hater, but the experience with the ipod box is phenomenal. Is that intimacy? I believe it is helping to define the simplicity and beauty that one will expect from their interaction with the actual product. There is a coolness of the metal back as it sits in your palm, and your body and mind fully anticipate the interaction after doing it once.

So what are some of the intimacy issues: Size, materiality? Interface, aesthetic design? How much is the apple brand itself part of the experience that creates develops our intimacy with it? If I am an apple lover who eagerly awaits every new release my interaction will be preprogrammed much differently than an apple hater. As a design issue brand identity is a bit harder to discuss with respect to intimacy. While materiality, interface, etc. may be based in reality, the brand identity is a much more invented notion. How can I argue that apple is a more intimate brand than microsoft, when they both are large multi-national corporations focused on generic and predictable products?

So what other product issues could lead to descriptions of intimacy? Perhaps a car interior? A well design car interior contours to your body, surrounds you snugly, but comfortly and in time can begin to feel like an extension of one’s own body.

Interestingly intimacy can exist for objects which we ordinarily show no particular affection. A packaged toothbrush sitting on the shelf in the grocery store holds no particular alliance for most of us. We may have a favourite brand, a preferred colour, but at the end of the day, it’s a utilitarian tool. However through use, it because highly intimate to the point that we develop very rigid rules about what can happen to it for us to still use it. A mass produced generic item is transformed into a personal item that is to be touched by no one else, due to its interaction with out bodies.