The Slinky!

Sitting alone in my dorm on a Sunday afternoon, I can’t help but look around me and notice that the only object not considered “design” are the half-wilted yellow flowers plopped in the clear cylindrical vase on my roommate desk. However, even that is design if we consider the arrangement of the flowers and the way the florists had cut them. Design is all around us, whether we notice it, or simply take it for granted. The forks and spoons we eat with, the bed we sleep in, the video games we play, they are all design.

My greatest fascination with design occurred when I was about four years old and my parents bought me my first Slinky. At first glimpse, the rainbow-colored circular coils did not impress me very much, but curiosity led me to hold out my fingers and lift the coils up by one end. The movement of the coils back and forth, up and down, created a wave that blended the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violent colors of the rainbow together; in certain parts of the slinky, the colors disappeared and turned into shades of gray. I was too young to realize that by mixing colors together, I could create a new color; I thought it was magic!

My older brother, who was then six years old, had apparently played with the Slinky at school before, and demonstrated the “walking down the staircase” trick. I did not understand that it was gravity that allowed the Slinky to “walk,” and became even more fascinated by this mysterious toy. I must have spent the entire day pulling, tugging, and throwing the Slinky like a whip, mesmerized by the vibration of the back and forth movement of the coils and the high-pitched “slink slink” sound it created. Every night, before putting the Slinky away into the toy box, I would compact the coils together and rub my index finger up and down the corrugated surface listening to the soft “zzzzzttt” sound it created.

Although I grew up and eventually lost interest in the Slinky, I continue to be fascinated by the mysteries of color and the genius designs humans were able to discover in this world. I hope that in the future, I will also be able to make my own discoveries and leave an imprint in the world of design.

sources:
http://www.sz-wholesale.com/uploadFiles/upimg8/Rainbow-Slinky-Spring-1318.jpg