One Great Image

100 Words

Thoughtless Food uses design to stimulate debate and discussion about the amount of food waste we all produce. It makes a statement about how little we consider the effort used in producing our food. It is a bespoke food waste bin made using traditional craft techniques – the amount of effort expended on it is obvious. The bin can only be filled – never emptied. When full, the whole bin must be disposed of – dramatically equating the wasted effort of constructing the object with the more abstract effort wasted in producing the food which has been taken for granted.

Studio Shots

Now that the bin is finished and the plaque is on I’ve taken some pictures in the product design photo studio. These are just to show what the finished piece looks like – the ‘One Great Image’ deliverable won’t be taken in such a boring setting.

 

Brass Chemical Etching

After trying out the different materials and styles for the plaque I decided that the one I was going to go for was the brass with chemical etched writing on it.
To start I printed my text onto TTP (toner transfer paper – normally used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards) using a laser printer and spent about  20 minutes ironing the transfer onto the sheet brass.

This transfer protects the areas of the brass which are not to be etched from the abrasive chemical. I ended up doing 4 iterations – trying different sizes and styles. The first ones I tried etching the text into the brass and for the other I protected the text using the TTP and etched away the surrounding areas.

Once the design had been transferred on I put it in the chemical etching machine which is basically a spray bath that eats away at any of the brass which isn’t covered.

After about 20 minutes in the machine the plaque was ready to come out. Once out I gave it a quick polish with some steel wool to remove the protective transfer.

Thats the four attempts (above) – as you can see 2 of the transfers didn’t quite work so I didn’t bother putting them in the chemical spray machine. So the choice was between the text being etched into the brass and it looking quite polished and clean or the text being raised and easier to read but looking worn. I ended up going for the more worn looking one.

So that is the final one which will be screwed onto the bin. I’ve already got some old fashioned domed and slotted brass screws. Although it doesn’t look as clean and polished as the other one I feel that the overall style and look of this ones suits the project’s visual language much better. It makes the plaque look as if its decayed over time, giving it an almost antique appearance which I like and feel encourages people to appreciate it more.

Deciding on Plague

Today I’ve been trying out a few different styles/materials for the plaque which will be placed on the front of the bin. I’ve tried one in plywood (as I’ve posted about before), one in black plastic and one in brass. I’ve also changed the wording a little that goes on the plaque – made it a bit shorter and more succinct. I think the brass one goes best with the overall ‘feel’ and aesthetic of the project. The prototype one (pictured) is a little hard to read (due to problems when making it which I’ll post about later) so I’m going to remake it and hopefully oxidise it so that the lettering stands out more.

Plaque

The next big decision was what was going to be on the plaque below the opening. I’ve decided that it will be a sort of short introduction/summary of the project as a whole. I think this will help as it will make it more apparent what the bin is for and the what the thinking behind it is. I’ve not decided on a final material for it but have done a quick mock-up of what it might look like using some plywood. The user would remove this to keep as a memento before the bin is discarded. Almost like a small ornament which would remain in the home to remind people to be more appreciative of their seemingly endless food supply.

This plaque will be placed just below the opening – again echoing the design of a post box.

I only had access to the laser cutter at the last minute today, so the wording of this will likely change – right now it is a slightly updated version of the 100 words that I submitted for the degree show.

Making the Surround

Recently I’ve been working on making the surround which will go around the opening of the bin. I used a thin (about 1.5mm) sheet of basswood which I laser cut to the right shape then painted with 5 coats of matt black spray paint.

I’ve also painted the inside of the bin black to create the impression of more space. It also helps to reinforce the idea of the post box – looking into a sort of blackness – and therefore the idea that food can go in but nothing comes out.

Sanding and Oiling

Today i’ve taken about 3mm off of the top and bottom surfaces of the bin so that they are now exactly equal to the thickness of two of the layers. I’ve also given it the first few coats of Danish oil. I started oiling with a mixture of 60% oil and 40% white spirit (so that the wood absorbs it better) then worked up to pure oil.
Half way through the first coat.
Second coat finished.

Overall I’m happy with the way it looks – the oil really brings out the natural colour of the woods and increases the contrast between them.

Opening

Over the past few days I’ve been working on a few different things – mainly trying to get the actual bin itself finished. The opening was cut out by drilling 6 holes (one near each corner and two in the middle) then roughly jigsawing between these holes – I then used a chisel to remove the remaining wood.

It was then sanded on each surface until smooth.

After that I filled all the small gaps between each of the segments and layers by rubbing in a mixture of bees wax and pine rosin. So the outside is pretty much done now and ready to be oiled using Danish oil.
I’ve decided that I will make some sort of surround to go on the opening as I feel that being able to see the flat edges of the segments is distracting. I may also spray the inside matt black to give the feeling that there’s more space inside – to reinforce the post box idea.
I did a quick mock up of the sort of surround i intend to make using card which I coloured in with black marker. The final will probably be made out of plastic (a non eco-friendly material) which will remind the user of how unsustainable wasting food is.

The two other parts of the project I’ve been trying to finalise are the title and what will be on the plaque below the opening. For the name/title of the project I’ve been thinking something like ‘Thoughtless Food’ (trying to emphasise how little people really consider where their food comes from and what’s gone into producing it) but I still haven’t made the final decision. For the plaque I think it will be a short explanation/summary of the project itself but I’m still unsure wether this will be something the user can take out and keep or if it will be binned along with their food waste.

The next big decisions once the bin has been finished are the ‘one great image’ and the 1 minute video hand ins – more to come on these later.

Degree Show Catalogue

Although the project is not over, we have all been asked to submit a short (under 150 words) summary of our project along with a picture which represents it to be used in the degree show booklet. As my final piece isn’t completed yet the picture I’m using is quite ambiguous and just shows some detail of the wood working/style. Summary:

A critical design project based around the amount of food waste that we all produce. The project aims to make a statement about how little we think about the effort and resources that have gone into producing our food and how carelessly we throw it away.
Simply, it is an intricate food waste bin which can only be filled – never emptied. Each bin is painstakingly crafted using traditional decorative woodworking techniques – making obvious to the user the amount of effort expended in constructing it. It is sealed so that once filled the bin must be disposed of along with the food waste inside – instantly and visually equating the obvious wastefulness of discarding the object with the more abstract wastefulness of the resources and effort used in producing the food which we have taken for granted.

Practising the Opening/What’s next

Today I had a go at cutting the slot out of my bin which the food waste will go into. Luckily I practised on my mark 1 prototype first, as it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I’ve decided that the best way to do it is to drill four corner holes then jigsaw between them but getting the angle of the drill right is quite difficult on the curved surface.

I’m going to have another go at it tomorrow then move onto the actual one. I think I will also put a small wooden surround on the opening just to make sure it looks as neat as possible.

The next big decisions are the name of the project and what is going to go on the little plaque/card below the opening. I’ve had a few ideas regarding this but no concrete decision has been made.
I’m thinking it’s either going to be a sort of explanation of the project and/or something which the user takes out and keeps after the bin is full and has been disposed of.
I could also go a bit more out there with it since my project already exists in a sort of fiction (as in it’s a bit more of critical/discussion piece – not something practical that people would buy) and make it a sort of dystopian “This card states that you have wasted all the food that you are allowed to.” kind of thing.

Defining the project

* is a conceptual project based around the amount of food waste that we all produce. But rather than simply discouraging people from wasting food, the project aims to encourage people to think more about the resources/effort that have gone into the food which they are discarding.
Simply, it is an intricate food waste bin which can only be filled – never emptied.
Each bin is painstakingly crafted using traditional decorative woodworking techniques – making obvious, to the user, the amount of effort and resources expended in constructing it.
It is sealed so that once filled the bin must be disposed of along with the food waste inside – instantly and visually equating the obvious wastefulness of the object with the more abstract wastefulness of the effort used in producing the food which we have taken for granted.

*I don’t quite have a title/name for the project yet.