Playing with electricity

3D printers invite designers to re-explore plastic objects that seemed out of reach for most of them, and allows us to re-examine what was till now forced to become standardised, dull, heavily mass-produced objects.

Sockets are a perfect example: they are the first points of interface in the house and yet they exist almost as a visual interference in the interior. Manufacturing with 3d printers allows for more specific, contextual or playful designs that would not be viable in a mass produced environment.

four designs offer to treat sockets as a point of interest rather than interference.

But more importantly, an open file for users to create their own interpretations of what a socket could be is offered, and a platform with a business model offers a home for those interpretations., This way, By setting the playground wide enough, we can create a community and a new life for an almost dead object.

Designed for Droog design’s “Design for download” project.