The Princess and the Comb is a double-narrative investigation of sustainability. The first narrative is an unconventional fairy story that tells the tale of a once-upon-a-time kingdom struck down by a bad case of over-consumption. Branching off from this is a second narrative in the form of 11 spirally unfolding spreads that elaborate on certain key concepts that are alluded to in the fairy tale. Both narratives, rather than being decisive rulebooks on sustainability, are exploratory forays into the psychology and complexity of the subject, for instance, examining the emotional dimension of consumption, the human tendency towards ownership or the hypocrisy of technological literacy.

My project is an experimental book form which aims to introduce the viewer to certain ideas about sustainability, over-consumption, and material culture. It takes the form of paperback book, out of which unfolds a spiraling series of spreads (accordion form). The first book is a fictional children’s story and the second book is a set of information spreads about different sustainability-based concepts that lead off from events in the first book.

The information included is not practical (in that it is not a 10-point plan to live more sustainably) but is based on research into consumer psychology and product design theory, and aims to re-present sustainability in a matter-of-fact way, emphasizing that it is an extensive topic encompassing not only environmental factors, but also political, social, financial, economic and ethical dimensions. It will hopefully encourage readers to revise their misconceptions of sustainability (eg. proposing legitimate reasons for why we consume, deconstructing assumptions that digitization is ‘green’, refuting that sustainability implies a lack of progress etc).

The information spreads not only aggegately unfold in accordion form, but feature, within themselves, additional tabs and foldout sections. When the information spreads are completely unfolded, viewers can see how events from the story connect to the relevant spreads (via a color-coded line system).

The layered unfolding structures of the piece serve to mirror the idea of ‘unfolding’ the topic and discovering externalized costs. Viewers are meant to spend time with the project as they discover all the different relationships. The interactive factor demonstrates how designed objects can be more engaging, and thus accumulate more value, making them less disposable. In this sense, it offers an alternative to the avalanche of beautiful, but useless (or shall we say, not-fully-considered in terms of functionality) objects that characterize the current graphic design mainstream.