Categories

Helping Form Balanced Diets

More about highlighting an issue than developing an end-all solution, the Completing Absence collection of conceptual dinnerware is the result of an examination into the influence an object has over a user’s decisions. The stack-able ceramic plates balance perfectly only when arranged in the correct order, encouraging the user to eat recommended portions in a specified sequence while discouraging indulgence and shifting the user’s idea of satisfaction from excess consumption to task completion.

Designer: Petra Schmidt

No Hassle Tea Tumbler

The Kicker Tea Tumbler, the latest concept from Kicker Studio, combines a teapot, infuser, and heater into a minimal tumbler that subtly incorporates technology to ensure that each brew yields the perfect cup of tea each time. The “low tech” feel and natural materials preserve the sensory experience of sight, touch, and smell of traditional tea making.

Designer: Kicker Studio

Inflatable Furnishings

The Bojaki collection of inflatable, foldable, flat-pack housewares & furniture aims to integrate the user into the manufacturing process, strengthening the user’s bond to the piece while easing on transportation & production costs. Though the fabric looks soft & squishy, it is very rigid making it sturdy enough to hang or hold the weight of a sitting person. Consistent use of buckles, strings, & eyelets to bind the unique fabric ensure aesthetic continuity though shapes & purposes vary from piece to piece.

Designer: Jy-Yeon Suh

The Graceful Spout!

Roofers are specially designed lids for jugs, thermos and teapot with the purpose of making liquid pouring an easy experience. When we pour from a regular spout the liquid tends to drip and settle around the spout opening, resulting in limescale formation. The graceful redesign solves the issue plus keeps the bottle completely covered.

Designer: Shota Aoyagi

Plate Watches What You Eat

What if there was a way to make food intake more visual and track all of it? What if there was a way to embed data directly in food? Printable RFID tags will replace barcodes on food packaging, enabling this concept called Nutrismart. A plate reads out our food and works as an invisible diet management system. When placing a cupcake on the plate, it’s scanned by an RFID reader inside the plate. Feedback can be sent to a computer or mobile device where one can witness an infographic of sorts about their eating habits.

Designer: Hannes Harms

The Science of Food

When we sit down to eat we rarely consider the actual physical & chemical processes that occur in order to make our food as tasty as it is. If you think about it, a kitchen isn’t all that different from a laboratory. With this concept in mind, the Eating Objects series of “tableware tools” encourages diners to interact with their food on a multi-sensory level. Used in combination with an animation guided table, the user is instructed step by step to create their unique dish, creating a more in depth & challenging eating experience.

Designer: DesignGoat

New Store Promotes Post Graduate Design

Itchin’ for something new and different instead of the mass produced stuff on the market? Check out ContemporaryLab, an online store dedicated to promoting the very best post-graduate design. All of the products are unique and most are sustainably produced. The online concept was set up by Emma Brocklesby; an undergraduate, who worried about how she and other undergraduates, could work in design if employment opportunities remained scarce. With this in mind, she took the decision to start up her own business. Smart Girl!

Designers: Various

Mass Production Gets Personal

Mass manufacturing doesn’t mean that products must sacrifice variation & individuality. Focusing on this concept, designer Thomas Hunt developed Mea, a line of ceramic tableware that allows users to personalize individual pieces through the use of ceramic additive manufacturing. Upon ordering, users simply input the date, time, location, & a personalized message which is then codified in an attractive & unique pattern onto the exterior of the object. An outstanding gift idea that won’t be soon forgotten.

Designer: Thomas Hunt

Between The Lines

Inspired by the emotional connection between object and user, designer Camilla Fucili has created Between The Lines, a collection of dining objects that aim to inspire a sense of play and storytelling at the dining table. The collection includes common dining objects such as plates, utensils, glasses, and a tablecloth, but each presents a unique and articulate twist on the familiar.

Designer: Camilla Fucili

New Meaning to “Light Washes”

Be a sport and just look at the pre-picture and try and guess what this is. If you’ve spied the Electrolux logo and have concluded it’s probably an appliance, you’re right! Indeed it’s a dishwasher combined with a dining table light! The idea is to have a functional light stationed right above the dining table, so that you have easy access to routine dishes like plates and spoons.

Designer: Kim Joonmin

When a Knife and Fork Get Together…

I spent several minutes staring at the Twin One knife and fork companion set. It’s a nice modern design by Adrian and Jeremy Wright (omg are you guys brothers?). Minimal, appears well balanced and definitely made for durability thanks to the nylon and over moulded rubber but the “awesomist” feature is the two can connect to form a sort of spring-loaded chopstick. I WANT ONE just to try it out. How about it guys? Oh, question… what’s up with the missing spoon?

Designer: DesignWright for Lékué

Get a Grip

I’ll admit, I’m not a chopstick sensei, and when it comes to salad I still haven’t mastered the traditional fork and spoon method.  Now, if I had the SL27 LINK I could hide it in my palm and trick everyone into thinking I was a one handed pro at both. Even if you’re not worried about your pride, the handy LINK makes serving food super easy by turning any 2 pieces of flatware, including chopsticks, into a versatile instrument that anyone can use.

Get Eggcited!

Similar in form to the iconic 1960s Ovalia Egg Chairs, this egg cup design of the same name by Anima Dinamica is both playful and functional. The Egg Chair is oven, microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe, and can withstand temperatures from -50 C to 300 C.  The resting back ensures an even heat spread and adds stability to the upwardly concave seat to ensure that your egg experiences maximum comfort… right before you eat it. After all, a happy egg is a tasty egg. Get it here.

Designer: Anima Dinamica