A University of Brighton graduate has teamed up with Mattel to turn unwanted Barbie and Ken dolls into sustainable technology.
Tom Meades, who graduated from the university in 2017 with a degree in 3D Design and Craft, is co-founder and chief designer of Brighton-based design studio gomi.
The company has worked with Mattel’s Barbie brand to create a limited-edition range of portable Bluetooth speakers, power banks and tracker tags using recovered materials from Barbie and Ken dolls and accessories.
The range, called the Childhood Memories Collection, combines recovered toy plastic with other hard-to-recycle materials to create colourful marbled designs.
Each item is handmade in Brighton, with no two products featuring exactly the same pattern.
Gomi is also inviting people to send in unwanted Barbie and Ken dolls and accessories so the materials can be reused in future products.
Tom said: “Barbie has been such a big part of so many people’s childhoods, so there’s something really exciting about taking these familiar objects and giving them a completely different life.
“Instead of seeing waste as something that has reached the end of its story, we’re asking what it could become next. We wanted to make that idea tangible – and create something people would genuinely want to keep.”
The speakers and power banks are powered using repurposed e-bike batteries, while the products have been designed so individual parts can be repaired or replaced rather than the whole item being thrown away.
Components are secured with screws rather than glue, allowing the products to be taken apart and serviced.
Gomi is also offering trade-in, repair and upgrading services as part of the project.
The Childhood Memories Collection launched on 24 September, with products being released in limited monthly drops.
Tom has continued working with the University of Brighton since graduating, including tutoring Product Design students.
He has also co-founded Creatives Run, a Brighton-based initiative which connects students and emerging creatives with established professionals.
Tom added: “Brighton has such a strong creative community, and the University played a huge role in helping me develop my approach to design.
“I’ve always been interested in taking something that would otherwise be considered waste and asking what it could become. This collaboration takes that idea somewhere completely new – taking a material associated with childhood and turning it into something designed for everyday life.”
The collaboration is intended to highlight ways discarded materials can be reused in products designed to last longer and be repaired rather than replaced.
To see the products head to gomi Sustainable Tech Products with Repairs for Life
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