Two Inanimate Objects

Book

I think of knowledge, words, use of language, reading, academia, data, research, something to read in leisure, something to read as an assignment, transfer of ideas. I think of preservation of ideas, learning new things, facts, chapters, prologues, epilogues, introductions, authors who write, readers who read, and the symbiotic relationship between them. I think of the library, where most people have access to books. Barnes & Noble is a prominent bookseller. I think of expression of ideas through words. I think of how books have preserved knowledge and ideas for hundreds of years before the internet. I think of how ubiquitous books are. Essentially, books are considered fairly important around the world. People sometimes carry around certain books to be noticed for being a certain kind of person. People read books to learn but also to keep up with the pace of the world. People are very trusting and reliant on books for facts and ideas. In this sense, books are an enabler for people to make claims and turn in assignments.

Hair

I think of the hair on the head first, and then hair elsewhere. I think of hair colors: black, grey, red, blonde, brown. I think of hair as a sign of youth and virility in many cultures. I think of having no hair for some people. Sometimes baldness is viewed as strength. Hair is often a means of expressing oneself. I think of curly hair, straight hair, wavy hair. I think of the fact that you can't help the kind of hair you have naturally. Hair in different areas of your body, hair grown through evolution. How did people come to grow hair as a physical benefit? I think of hair gel and the many artificial things that people do for style. How important style is to people these days. I think of how hair style often determines one's class and the judgments made about someone.

Combinations

Style and knowledge seem to be potent elements to be mixed. I think of the possibilities of books about hairstyles. Books about the history of different kinds of hair. Perhaps the possibility of a knowledge website about style. I think of a very stylish coffeetable book, like Kramer's coffeetable book about coffeetables. Another possibility is a very fashionable phone that also includes a wi-fi connection, since it incorporates style with access to knowledge. Along the same lines, a pocket netbook that looks cool could also fit that idea. There is also the possibility of creating some kind of organizer that is personalized to an individual's tastes. I did a project for a Marketing Entrepreneurship class once that had the idea of creating an online calendar that could be personalized to the user's style in order to express themselves, but it also was a tool for sharing with friends what the user was doing or planning to do so that they could follow them and connect with their friends closer. Essentially, I want to shoot for something that offfers style and fashion that is also helpful for kids in their academic pursuits. Since our persona is a high school freshman, it is a difficult time in their lives in which self-image is a big issue, so style would obviously be an important matter for them. But discovering who they are and doing well in school is probably equally or more important. So a device or innovation that fulfills both needs of this persona is an ideal product for us to come up with.