The idea came from my older ceramic work, when I was inspired to design for a sense of touch for the first time. We live in a hegemony of vision and I wanted to rearrange hierarchy of the senses . The human body was the starting point. I spend a lot of time observing people’s habits and how they interact with objects and living space. I came to the conclusion that most everyday things are designed mainly to fit the surface of the furniture and the house itself. It seems that people feel more pleasure from buying than from using products. Going against this trend, I wanted to create objects that are nice to use and suit our body.

I narrowed my work to tableware because eating is the perfect activity to emphasise the sense of touch and the pleasure aspect in my design.

Hedonomy was my diploma project in the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. Dr hab Marek Średniawa was my mentor during the process. After defining the design challenge, I conducted research and observed people while they were eating. Then I chose a few of the most popular eating positions, excluding sitting at the table. Finally I took moulds of parts of our body that have contact with tableware while we are eating. I then started making prototypes and testing them with potential users until I had developed the most suitable result. This series of experiments plays the biggest part in decision-making, but I also took good care to ensure that the shape of the objects is attractive and pleasing for users. I have continued developing this project since graduating and hope to find a manufacturer to bring this idea to the people.

Do we still sit at the table during the meals? Is the table a relic? Hedonomy is here to meet people’s changing needs and to address their pursuit of a comfortable life. Comfort was the key guideline during the design process. The dishes were created in such a way that they adapt to various positions people take while eating. Their surface fits the shape of the human body, not the table. The collection reflects the Design for All trend – it can be used in modern apartments with no dining room, but it is also suitable for disabled people who have their meals while lying in bed.