Kai Ponniah

For my capstone project titled ‘Activation’; “an outward facing project aiming to activate public awareness and engagement” (CDS3002 Studio 1 Brief), I chose to focus on Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the horrific conditions of the slave labour practices which are ‘necessary’ power our technological world – our devices.

This was a twelve-week project which was built on findings from a Design Research Kit (DRK) which I created to gather data regarding people’s experiences with mobile devices, their history with such, and if they knew what is really required to make these products that we now experience much of the world through. (see next tile)

This data was translated into an infographic, informing the final outcome; a newspaper publication called ‘Mobile Minerals & Margins: Today in Tech’. The purpose of creating my project in this past medium was so that it could act as an object which drew out the reader from the digital world – in order to ask the question that many DRK participants could not answer: “Do you think the benefits of mobile devices outweigh their drawbacks?”.

As we all know, we are not going to suddenly stop buying new phones – but the next time the upgrade is imminent, it goes from an unconsidered impulse to a conscious choice – let us slow down our collective consumption.

This is my proposal for the Melbourne Cinémathèque 2026 Identity. I chose to focus on the illustration and emotion of light, sound and colour through a digital modification of an image I took – to speak to the diverse catalogue of Arthouse films screened by Cinémathèque in their original, intended forms.

Preceding my capstone ‘Mobile Minerals & Margins’; was the ‘Instruction’ Project and my response, GeoJig; a play-based learning, jigsaw-block puzzle tool, which taught children ages five to seven years old about geography and temperature, while developing their problem-solving and fine motor skills.

One of the most valuable electives I took during my degree was an Industrial Design unit called ‘Ceramic Mould Making and Casting for Design’, where I created a series of cast objects I called “Vessels”.

I learned not only about plaster moulds, ceramics and glaze formulas, but about myself and my passion to make things with my hands, just as well as on a screen, which altogether broadened my creative horizons, (in)directly benefiting every project I did after this.