Here Comes The Sun
Would you try the Social Distancing picnic blanket?
- Absolutely.29%
- I'd rather not.71%
The competition has ended.
A design for safe socialising
15.5.2020
Translation: machine translated
The DIY blanket "Here Comes The Sun" is designed to make social distancing easier. It is designed so that you and your fellow human beings can sit together two metres apart.
Circles, arrows or lines - the symbols that mark two metres are becoming increasingly common in public spaces. They are intended to help us comply with the hygiene and behavioural rules recommended by BAG. I am grateful for these guidelines. On the one hand, because sometimes I don't know whether I'm judging two metres correctly. On the other hand, because the odd chalk drawing on the road has already brought a smile to my face. I find the "Here Comes The Sun" blanket by British designer Paul Cocksedge particularly charming. Unlike most signs, this design doesn't just mark a two-metre distance for situations where we are queuing. It is also intended to help us maintain the recommended distance in social situations such as a picnic.
Normally, the designer and co-founder of Paul Cocksedge Studio creates spatial sculptures for design festivals. But they have been cancelled in droves this year due to the lockdown. To keep himself busy, Paul has instead been walking through the London neighbourhood of Hackney once a day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. "It's almost like watching a Netflix series - we're in a surreal time," Paul explains to me. Over time, he gets the feeling that, despite the restrictions, his neighbours are longing to come together again in public spaces and parks. Without further ado, he decides to find out how design can help make group gatherings possible - without flouting the rules of behaviour.
"My house has turned into a small workshop where I make prototypes and try things out to develop new ideas. I wanted to create something positive that looks to the future," says Paul. After designing three or four other prototypes, he came up with blankets as a solution to become a guide for people while they sit or sunbathe together. "There are different ways to mark a two-metre area, but a circle felt the most beautiful and natural. The shape mimics how people naturally gather."
The fabric ceiling consists of a connecting circle and four separate seats. These can be placed around the outline at a distance of around two metres. Paul decides to offer the pattern for download via Instagram so that everyone can make their own sun blanket. The "democratic design" is intended to encourage people who are still in lockdown to get crafting. "I'm looking forward to seeing what people make of the design," says Paul.
I feel exactly the same way. Even if I'm not sure whether this design will catch on: As a lover of round things, the idea that meadows could be filled with these colourful circular blankets in the future makes my eyes light up.
Pia Seidel
Senior Editor
Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.chLike a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.
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