The Good Hearted
A concept developed for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration(Statens Vegvesen) to raise awareness about traffic safety.
Speed cameras are not highly regarded amongst motorists, in fact they are regularly vandalised.
Despite its negative association, the purpose and mission of the speed camera is fundamentally good natured. The speed camera is in essence a tool to ensure safer conditions for everyone on the road, by enforcing safe driving speeds. Its function is commonly misunderstood.
The effect of the speed camera is proven to have a short term effect; drivers increase their speed after having passed a speed camera. Therefore I wanted to create a campaign that affects drivers in a way that makes them keep a responsible speed for longer.
“If everyone kept the speed limits, approximately 60 fewer would be killed and 200 fewer would be badly injured each year.”
- Statens vegvesen.
The initial thought for The Good Hearted was inspired by toys that generate the sound of a beating heart to sooth babies at nap time. The heartbeat is universally recognizable, and has a naturally relaxing effect on humans. This is utilized in The Good Hearted to subconciously reduce stress by displaying the heartbeat in a gentle fading light cycle.
While the fading heartbeat affects the driver subconciously, a concious understanding is also an essential element of the installation.
The concious aspect of the installation involves an emotional or rational appeal that makes the driver aware of his or her own actions. The focus has therefore been to convey this message in a way that is not distracting, but still powerful.
In order to obtain an effect that is long lasting, rather than only effective at the point of observation, I utilized a simple shape to make it both easy to understand, and to recall.
The shape is a simplified and abstracted interpretation of the human heart, masked in a clean red colour that makes it distinctly visible also in daytime.
The Good Hearted is compiled of several visual cues, that together build the understanding of a human heart. When juxtaposing the speed camera, it is a reference to saving lives and encouraging consideration.
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Just the other day I happened to wake up early. That is unusual for an engineering student. After a long time I could witness the sunrise. I could feel the sun rays falling on my body. Usual morning is followed by hustle to make it to college on time. This morning was just another morning yet seemed different.
Witnessing calm and quiet atmosphere, clear and fresh air seemed like a miracle to me. I wanted this time to last longer since I was not sure if I would be able to witness it again, knowing my habit of succumbing to schedule. There was this unusual serenity that comforted my mind. It dawned on me, how distant I had been from nature. Standing near the compound’s gate, feeling the moistness that the air carried, I thought about my life so far.
This is what has happened to us. We want the things we have been doing forcefully to fail. And then maybe people around us would let us try something else or our dreams. We are accustomed to live by everyone else’s definition of success. We punish people for the things they are passionate about, just because we were unable to do the same at some point in our life.
I was good at academics, so decisions of my life had been pretty simple and straight. Being pretty confident I would make it to the best junior college of my town in the first round itself, never made me consider any other option. I loved psychology since childhood, but engineering was the safest option. Being born in a middle class family, thinking of risking your career to make it to medical field was not sane. I grew up hearing ‘Only doctor’s children can afford that field’ and finally ended up believing it. No one around me believed in taking risks. Everyone worshiped security. I grew up doing the same.
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‘Being in the top will only grant you a good life’ has been the mantra of my life. But at times, I wish I was an average student. I wish decisions would have not been so straightforward. Maybe I would have played cricket- the only thing I feel passionate about. Or maybe I would have studied literature (literature drives me crazy). Isn’t that disappointing- me wishing to be bad at academics. It’s like at times I hate myself for the stuff I am good at.
I feel like these concrete buildings have sucked our desires and our dreams. We are so used to comfort that compromise seems like a taboo. We have lost faith in ourselves. If we can make through it right now, we can do the same in the days to come. You only need a desire to survive and nothing more- not money or cars or designer clothes.
Staying locked up in four walls have restricted our thinking. I feel like our limited thinking echoes through this wall. We are so used to schedules and predictable life that we have successfully suppressed our creative side.
When you step out of these four walls on a peaceful morning, you realize how much nature has to offer to you. Its boundless. Your thoughts, worries, deadlines won’t resonate here. Everything will flow away along with the wind. And you will realize every answer you had been looking for, was always known to you.
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