Industrial Design

fistful

Essa Johnson

Exhibition

See it On Campus: Level 2

See my work in Rennie Hall!

Visitor Info

fistful

Textile-based interventions for trauma therapy.

My objective for this project was to create a series of interactive sensory objects primarily designed for women who have experienced sexual assault or trauma to be used in therapy settings.

My biggest purpose in life and as a creative person is to help others. The best way I know how to do that is through making and teaching.

With this project, I hope to create a tiny possibility for solution to one big open-ended problem that could help women going through trauma therapy to use. I want to create space for solution for those enduring pain from trauma and open the conversation of possibilities of what healing can look like.

**Why the Stools?** I was inspired by a form of light therapy that is used in trauma therapy called EMDR. The element that makes it successful is bilateral stimulation. “Bilateral stimulation is just **rhythmic, alternating stimulation of the left and right sides of your body** ” How it works is “Your limbic system —the emotional center of your brain—begins to calm down as the amygdala (your brain’s alarm system) reduces its activity. Meanwhile, your prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thinking, becomes more engaged.” in simple terms “**emotional intensity decreases while your ability to think clearly increases**” –*live mindfully psychology*

Felted Stool

One of my experiments in this project was creating a soft, sensory rocking stool. It can rock on the bent side or not rock on the flat side. The design requires the user to consider their movement, asking them to be present while sitting. It’s upholstered with felt I handmade using the felting loom, the felt was then glued to a wood form and finished with a decorative overlocking side stitch.

This is the base of the felted rocking stool. It’s completed with a sturdy plywood top and 3 layers of rubber plywood for the curved part which was created using a wood lamination.

Wood Stool

My next experiment was the wooden stool to accentuate the raw form and rocking function of this design. Made using three layers of rubber plywood and walnut veneer for a nice appearance for the bent lamination wood and a cherry wood top for the flat sides seat.

Using the same form for the bent lamination as the felted stool, I started by making the curved base for the wood stool.

Felted Stress Balls

The last exploration I did was creating twelve identical felted stress balls. The material, size and stitching stay the same while the filling and colour are unique for each ball. I ended up using them for a workshop where I tested how weight, texture, colour and feel affect the way we feel and interact with objects.

Some fillings include: poly-fill, tinfoil, play-dough, paper, plastic, beads, marbles, etc.

After feedback and consideration I made one final ball. In my testing, users found some colours and textures to be overwhelming.

So, In this iteration I made sure to keep the colours more neutral and change the filling to play-dough which has a nice hand feel similar to most stress balls. In my second round of testing it deemed to be a hit!