Benal Johnson

Experience designer and maker

Info

About 

Resume

Public Work

Netherlands Pavilion @Expo Osaka 2025
Dinner in 2050 @COP28
Poetic Technologies
Capital One Commercial Card*

Projects

Experiments
Sketchbook
Cultivate*









Poetic Technologies

Considering novel ways of interacting with (smart home) technology using tactility, emotion, and personality. 
Berkeley Master of Design Thesis
 Fall 2022

Introduction

At present, we primarily interact with technology in our day to day behind graphic user interfaces through our smartphones, computers, and home smart devices. Smart devices especially are these monolithic hubs designed to be clean and ultramodern, utilizing only the most cutting edge technologies to enable their interactions. Yet, why do they have to be designed in this way with these specific interaction modalities? Could they be playful? Rich with tactile interaction? Could we create more relationships between people and technology by incorporating personality into our technologies? 

These questions are explored through the creation of three speculative smart home devices as part of my Master’s of Design Thesis at UC Berkeley. You can read the entirety of this thesis here. 

Render of the final set of devices






Prototyping

I utlised several prototyping and finishing techniques to bring these smart devices to life in the most realistic resolution possible. Each piece is bespoke, requiring a 3D printed shell that is primed, sanded, and painted to create a smooth surface finish. Additional pieces are vacuum formed, laser cut, or mechanically held in place. Each smart device was actuated in different ways through stepper motors, servo motors, or custom constructions that allowed for specialised movement.