Product Design

Mark McKenna

Hi, I'm Mark, a product design student from Dublin. I like to express myself through my design solutions by using situational narratives to guide the design process.  

I am enthusiastic about pushing boundaries and possibilities as well as looking for alternative solutions to avoid stagnation, apathy and the mundane in how I would like to live my day-to-day life. My design ethos is to encourage people to nurture the passionate sides of themselves and to evoke positive feelings in everything I make. 

Piazze Nua

Piazze Nua means new squares, squares being the areas in cities and towns where people gather. Piazze Nua is an LED based interactive dance floor for use in public urban areas. The objective of this product is to encourage community engagement and provide social and cultural opportunities for urban areas suffering from problems such as:  
Underutilized space 
Anti-social behavior 
Isolation in urban environments 
Worsening mental and physical wellbeing. 

The dancefloor uses motion tracking software to identify users on the dancefloor and have the LEDs react to their movement. The LED lighting pattern represents the Dublin City street map grounding the project in its environment and solidifying its identity.