Thingy

Thingy is a conceptual product design project that challenges common assumptions about the relationship between form and function. The project deconstructs and recombines product components as modular “language units”, exploring alternative ways that objects might be designed and understood.

Many everyday products already use interchangeable parts. For example, a vacuum cleaner from Dyson maintains its core function of cleaning regardless of which attachment is used. But what if the central body itself could change? Could the same system transform into something entirely different, such as a clothes hanger or an umbrella?

This question led to an exploration of fully modular products without a fixed main body. By dismantling and reconstructing familiar objects, I reduced them to their core conceptual elements and reconsidered the habitual link between a product’s shape and its purpose. Through this process, the project investigates how modularity might open new possibilities for design innovation.

This project was developed as a graduation project in the BFA Industrial Design programme at Konkuk University. I worked collaboratively with two other students throughout the design and fabrication process. The final outcome was presented at the university’s graduation exhibition, proposing an experimental and conceptual modular product system.