Love is BLIND! (boxes)
A research and design project designed to help young adults connect and openly discuss friendship through cutesy collectable blind box figurines.
Role
Developer and Designer
Dates
November-December, 2023
Are we Connected?
As a generation continues to grow and change during turbulent times, Generation Z members have often commented on their lack of education about the outside world and everything that inhabits it. Most notably, many Gen-Zers have complained about being a ‘lonely generation’ — as the first generation truly raised on modern attention-grabbing algorithms, many feel ‘robbed’ of proper social circles and are unsure where to start. As reported by CNBC, 73% of Gen-Z report feeling alone sometimes or always — a number that’s been on the rise.
How Might We….
Provide an inviting space for Gen Z to discuss community and their attachment styles?
Enter: The Trinkets.
In recent years, the trend of collectible figure ‘blind boxes’ has skyrocketed. Tags discussing these popular collectible blind box brands such as #sonnyangels have amassed over 200,000 videos on TikTok. Not only are these tiny trinkets making waves across digital platforms, but they’re poking their heads out in physical events as well— many collectible fans have organized get-togethers to meet up with fellow collectors and trade to flush out their collections further. Through meeting to talk toys, fans come into the space sharing a common ground to talk to others, allowing for the furthering of new friendships through shared hobbies and the ability for these collectibles to become mementos of bonds made through these meetups.
Figuremania is in full swing at these meetups!
The Solution?COMBINE!
Love is BLIND! (boxes) sets out to fuse these two social phenomena together to create an open discussion of togetherness and community. To achieve this, the various blind box figurines a user could potentially draw are all designed off of a particular ‘love language’ — a categorization of both social and romantic preferences that many younger adults like to utilize in their process of self-understanding. The brand encourages users to gift certain characters to those who they think best reflect each love language, promoting talks of what people in their lives mean to them as well as increasing potential sales. Trading events and meetups can also be set up to prompt discussions on healthy social boundaries and what it means to care for others — albeit, all conveyed in a playful and light tone to fit with the brand’s general aesthetic.
