Shadeshares x HAMK - The final product
The final product
Final product and concept art "Light Ring" from Hannu's portfolio
In a joint project between Shadeshares and Häme University of Applied Sciences, students from the design department got to hear Shadeshares' story and design new sunglasses.
Our story seemed to touch the students and they were eager to be involved in building a better future be it a pair of sunglasses at a time.
HAMK's “Smart and Sustainable Design” bachelor's program was the perfect fit for Shadeshares as the principles of sustainable development are at the heart of everything we do as a company.
During the project future design professionals came up with sunglasses that combine interesting contrasts, bold designs and playfulness - in Noora's words "BECAUSE SUSTAINABILITY DOESN'T NEED TO BE SO SERIOUS."
An image from Noora's portfolio "KOSKA KESTÄVYYDEN EI TARVITSE OLLA NIIN VAKAVAA"
In addition to creativity and sustainability students had to think about manufacturing methods as well as commercialism. Take it from us combining all of these elements isn’t always easy. Still the students excelled at this demanding task and they had clearly put a lot of thought into incorporating these topics in their work.
Many new ideas and angles for personalising sunglasses were found in the students’ work. By ingeniously combining birch veneer with other materials interesting designs were created.
The students had a wide variety of modern technologies at their disposal on behalf of the school as well as support from their amazing teachers. They were able to experiment with various techniques such as laser, 3D printing and plant dyeing and managed to do so in extremely imaginative ways.
On top off innovative sunglasses and a fresh perspective on design this project was highly inspiring to us as a company. In the future the personalisation of Shadeshares sunglasses could offer us a way to further expand in Kenya and thus train and employ more slum youths - making an even greater impact.
We want to thank each and every person involved in making this collaboration a reality. Let's keep up the good work!