|
DESIGN FOR LIFE - from 'The Scotsman"
Sometimes it’s the most simple of tasks that present a design conundrum. Everyday problems are accepted as inevitable: the dried toothpaste around the mouth of the tube, that blue fluff that accumulates in the washing machine. But for every person who’s prepared to sit back and accept these little miseries, there’s a designer out there trying to make life better.
Take Dominic Skinner, a design graduate from Leeds Metropolitan University. His experience of working on building sites revealed a problem of horrifying proportions. It had nothing to do with hard hats or rivets and everything to do with those cups of tea and biscuits that builders are reputed to be fond of. The conundrum was, in the absence of a china teaplate, where does one place one’s biscuits between dunks?
Having exhibited at the Salone Satellite exhibition, Skinner’s design was soon snapped up by contemporary design company Mocha. The concept is so simple it’s staggering that no one thought of addressing it sooner. At the base of the mug is a circular cavity, designed to hold three biscuits - one imagines Rich Tea or Digestives would be ideal, while Wagon Wheels may exceed the size limitations.
The ceramic dual-purpose mug is here to avoid a biscuit avalanche every time you tilt the mug for a sip. With one hand freed during a tea break, productivity rates in workplaces around the country may soon skyrocket.
|
