The success of “Incognito”, the jewellery collection designed by Ewa Nowak
09 / 17 / 2020
The winner of the 1st edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Poland (2018) has designed a metal “mask” that protects our image from facial recognition algorithms used by modern cameras installed in public spaces.
Every day, hundreds of cameras are watching us, facial recognition systems are becoming more and more accurate and the place of current speculations about the future is occupied by sophisticated and advanced technology. Cameras are able to recognize our age, mood or sex and precisely match us to the database.
Thinking about this, Ewa Nowak conceived “Incognito”, a design between mask and jellewery, made of brass and contoured to the shape of the face.
Eva devoted much time to study the shape, size and location of the mask elements. First of all, she made one drawing in her sketchbook. When she tasted the design with the DeepFace algorithm, which is used by Facebook, it worked! As she says, “the form almost entirely resulted from the function of this object.”
Besides being useful, “Incognito” is also an aesthetic object, that “could maybe be a kind of commonly worn jewellery in the future”, as Ewa desires.
The collection won the Mazda Design Award at the Łódź Design Festival, but Ewa has been repeatedly awarded in competitions for designers and her works have been showcased at exhibitions in Poland and abroad, as happened at the Roca One Day Design Challenge Poland 1st Edition, where she designed an innovative combination of washbasin and faucet called “Mist”. She participated together with Jarosław Markowicz, with whom has established the NOMA design studio, where they both deal with industrial design.
Moreover, Ewa also designs jewellery for the her newly created brand, Ferja, where she combines her experience as an industrial designer with the freedom of expression in the world of art.
What do you think about the design? Would you wear it?