Linfeng Zhang

Here is Feng:

Born in Anhui, Chnia;

Majored in Industrial Design from 2017-2021;

Studied business model prototype at London Business School in the spring of 2023；

Currently a second year student at RCA Service Design;

Was a intern designer at Design3;

And now a intern service designer at Crisis;

Recent design experiences include probation service collaborated with MoJ & Catch22, a play & child-centred project collaborated with London Play & Awesome, and the final project, which is a six-month, critical, exploratory project around closure narratives, off-boarding experiences, plush toys, and sustainable design.

Future plan would be more about social impact, music, and freedom.

She gets up and pours herself a strong one

And stares out at the stars up in the sky

Another night, it's gonna be a long one

She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry

She wonders how it ever got this crazy

She thinks about a boy she knew in school

Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?

She's so far gone, she feels just like a fool

My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things

You set it up so well, so carefully

Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things?

You're still the same old girl you used to be；

Our (Me & Jada) last design at Royal College of Art is about the Ending. It is a six-month, critical, exploratory project around closure narratives, off-boarding experiences, plush toys, and sustainable design. The aim is to enhance the lifespan and value of stuffed toys through standardisation covering hygiene and safety.

Compared with fashion, plush toys with similar workmanship and materials are areas that are neglected by sustainable forces. Plush toys are hard to recycle, and people are easy to establish an intimate connection with them, so that it is difficult to let go, which leads to a common phenomenon: there are a large number of plush toys hoarded in people's homes, from hundreds to even thousands. “For those stuffed toys in my home, I really want to do something,but I really do not know what is the answer".

We found that there are basically two types of plush toys at home: residents, which are those we fall in love with, and passers-by, which are those who have just been played for a little while. For the residents, actually they want to keep those toys for a long time, to keep the intimacy bonds between toys and their children. Passers-by take a large part of their soft assets, and parents do want to get rid of them, and most importantly, they want to feel good to get rid of them.

For the residents, the continuation of the relationship is hindered by parents not knowing how to keep them intact, clean and childsafe. For those passers-by, the rewarding farewell experience is hindered by people, e,g, the next owner's hygiene, safety and standardisation concerns. And there is an intersection: Hygiene, Safety and Standardisation.They are not included in the services we buy, but they have been, or are, or will soon be, seriously hindering the continuation of a good relationship.

Critical & Macro Thinking – We learned this diagram from Joe Macleod, an expert in designing endings for business. We had a wonderful, rich and industrialised starting experience, but what about the closure experience? The off-boarding is now barren of emotion and meaning. Closure in narratives attempts to preserve the moral and social order. Only by facing up to the importance of closure experience can we honestly meet human-product relationships and master the ability to improve these relationships.

HMW empower parents with the knowledge, resources, and capabilities to consistently maintain the optimal condition, cleanliness, and child safety of children's beloved furry companions? HMW develops a seamless off-boarding service that guarantees hygiene, safety, and a rewarding transition for used stuffed toys, facilitating their acceptance and suitability for new owners seeking to provide them with a second life?

We would like to introduce our company…starffy. As a company, we dedicate to make stuffed toys shiny again. Partner with stuffed toy companies, we offer caring knowledge and tools to families and second-hand businesses, help them take better care of their stuffed toys. Our service consists of three parts, Starffy Hub, Starffy Tools and Starffy Support.

This is a platform that provides consumers with knowledge on the care of stuffed toys. We collaborate with toy companies to create tailored care processes for different types of plush toys. By scanning QR codes printed on the tags, consumers can access Hub for specific care information. Besides, when they decide to part with their toys, they can easily find nearby second-hand toy businesses through our platform. For those lacking cleaning products, Hub offers direct purchase options for care tools.

Which we called, starffy tool——A set of tools specialised for stuffy toys. We are different from the existing cleaning products on the market, as we will directly work with toy companies to develop customised cleaning products for different stuffed toys. Our products are professional and easy to use.

We also provide cleaning consulting service for businesses around second-hand stuffed toys, which is called starffy support, so that we can remove the current barriers on the reselling of stuffed toys. With our professional cleaning knowledge and tools, these second-hand businesses, represented by charity shops, are able to sell stuffed toys with hygiene and safety guarantees.