I had the idea whilst working in the library where I sit in a small cubicle. The cubicle helps reduce the noise a bit (our uni library is surprisingly noisy!) but because it's made of wood, it doesn't absorb any of the noise, it just partially blocks it. While I was at London Design Week this year, I noticed that there was a very prominent trend of felted woolen upholstery, particularly in office furniture, as well as winged chairs with high backs. I only realised later on that these were all acoustic baffles.
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| Joint Design Direction - Source |
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| Wobedo wall hanging - Source |
One company I approached, Wobedo, had a small wall hanging which reduced sound pollution dramatically when you stood in front of it.
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| BuzziSpace desk partition - Source |
There are a number of companies producing this acoustic dampening felt (some of which is 100% wool, others are made from recycled PET), but the largest company designing these products is a Swedish company called BuzziSpace. Though the application of this felt ranges from furniture to lighting, I noticed that none of the manufacturers are using it in a portable product, or certainly not on a scale that you could fit in a rucksack.
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Books I've been reading:
Learning curves: an inspiring guide to improve your design sketch skills - Klara Sjolen
The language of things - Deyan Sudjic
Materials for inspirational design - Chris Lefteri
Presentation techniques: a guide to drawing and presenting design ideas - Dick Powell
Drawing for designers - Alan Pipes
Collapsibles: a design album of space-saving objects - Per Mollerup
