calendar
.Dot
From the paradox: “The beauty of the time passing” or “The enjoyable frustration of delay”
People use calendars most often to keep track of their daily appointments or of other people’s birthdays. The habit of marking off the days and weeks can sometimes feel a bit like a chore, rather than representation of one’s day.
Dot. is a month calendar in which users set a line to mark off each day of the month. Similar to a connect-the-dots puzzle, the lines form a figure at the end of the month. Each figure is one of Alessi’s iconic designs from the past decades, such as ‘Magic Bunny’ and ‘Juicy Salif’. Users can simply write appointments and birthdays next to the corresponding dot.
The activity of marking off the days, which very slowly reveals the hidden image, can be a bit frustrating: people will have to wait almost a month until they know what the image entails. The user is also discouraged to connect all the dots at once, because doing so will essentially take away the primary function of the calendar. However, the frustration will turn into gratification at the end of the month, which makes it a rich experience.
Dot. is part of the series “Darker Shades of Joy”, a research project carried by Sara Ferrari and Steven Fokkinga at TU Delft. To read more about the project please click here.
