Part III of the Design Agenda's group project. Read
Part I and
Part II.
[N.B. This project may contain sexual references and may be NSFW.]
The next step in our project was to produce some more refined sketches and renders, and to create personality profiles for each of our containers.
Container 1
Container 1 (known initially as Vanilla) is sweet and innocent. It is a cute white furry ball which smells like vanilla. Inside, though, it hides it's secret - the food you crave that others wont go near... Essentially, it is an airtight container with a scent embedded in its outer silicone shell that masks any unpleasant smelling food, meaning that you can bring your pungent fish cakes for lunch and no one else need know.
Container 2
Container 2 (the bondage container) is a show-off. It is a latex strapped cage that can be handcuffed to your desk. It's for displaying your most precious food items to the world, but not letting them have it - you can look but don't touch... Using a complicated latex cage as a cover, this container can be used to protect your cookies from prying hands. Great for food that you want to show off but don't want to share.
Container 3
Container 3 (the latex bag) is a tactile exploration, concealing a hidden delight. It allows you to play with your food without getting dirty. For the food that you want to squish and squeeze, but still want to eat... The shape of the container was based around that of a normal clear plastic food bag, but we decided that we wanted to use gloss black latex to echo the fetish aspect of the product, and to hide its contents from the user. The latex allows the user to play with their food, incorporating both the blindfolded and groping fetishes.
Container 4
Container 4 (the Peeping Tom) is coy and coquettish. It hides away behind it's beautiful case, but you can peep at through the etched screen. Just don't let it catch you! The idea behind this container was voyeurism and narcissism - beautiful food sits on a mirrored base and is framed behind an intricate carving. This was very much inspired by traditional oriental paintings of a couple being watched during coitus. The design shown in the render required further refining to produce a more aesthetically beautiful box, echoing the food inside.
Container 5
Container 5 (the edible container) is a delicious temptation. Nibble away at the container, but don't eat too much or you'll have to eat its contents too! The container is made from rice paper, the sweet, edible paper used in sweets and cakes, and is totally edible. The concept it all about self-restraint. As the container is temporary, it is up to the user to savour the experience and see how long they can withhold from eating the whole thing and relieving their short-term gratification.
Unfortunatley, we were only able to render three of the containers before the presentation (container 1 actually broke the rendering software multiple times!). After the Christmas break, we resolved to buy materials and begin making the prototypes. We realised quickly that due to time constraints our prototyping would mostly be cannibalising existing products to give a flavour of what the final products might be like.
