A calculator, but for words.

Tapico is a tactile typewriter that encourages deliberate reflection and intentional living. Day to day, year to year.

A static device, it is designed for the user to carve out a space and time to journal, reflect and/or write. Tapico is designed to be an antithesis to the prevailing "do anything, anywhere, anytime" design trends endemic to modern devices.

In my research paper, I outlined how we live in an increasingly fast-paced world where the paradox of progress implies less life-satisfaction despite more opportunities, where the NFL Super Bowl made $11.1 Billion more than the FIFA World Cup despite having 15x less viewership in 2022 as a result of (distracting) ads.

We need tools and schools of thought that champion the human element in our relationship with technology, particularly in terms of intentionality, focus and rest.

With this project, I aimed to explore how design practices founded on principles of transparency and honesty in the exchange of value with a consumer can be leveraged to decolonize and de-capitalize modern design.

I discovered the dangers of the attention economy after observing the trend in devices designed to do less. This was intriguing to me as it seemed counterintuitive to most devices on the market whose aims were to do more, serve more, be more.

The beauty of these products is the human-friendliness they exhibit: thanks to the e-Ink displays, they are respectful of the natural circadian rhythm, and they encourage direct interaction with the device, choosing reach-and-touch interactions over point-and-click.

Unique solutions to uniquely human problems.

Due to online subscription services, proprietary filetypes and closed-source software, the aforementioned devices don't give the owner a sense of true ownership over a product they supposedly own: closed systems designed for human usage, but not human ownership.

I chose to design for human ownership through design for repair (and assembly by beefy human-sized fingers) at every step of the development process, thus freeing Tapico from the qualms that other products in this category face.

I designed in three main "checkpoints" where the components snap together with a satisfying click. The audible and haptic feedback helps the user feel that they are doing the assembly right.