While cruising around CORE77, the go-to ID blog, I stumbled upon this post, praising a
Vacu Vin product for dispensing candy and nuts.
I think it's utterly useless and a waste of material.
CORE77, however, does point out a few things that maybe justify its existence.
1 - It's good to see designers exploring applications of new materials. Their use of silicone in the product truly reflect the properties of the material (flexible, elastic, tacky- in the sticky sense of the word) and was the right material choice.
2 - The form of the bowl and lid, when closed, create a water-tight and air-tight seal, two qualities that are important in food container design.
And here's where I think it lacks:
1 - What's the point? Most candy that I'd be dealing with or putting in the containers would already be in an easy-to-dispense bag. Why would I need more clutter?
2 - While I think the form is quirky, in order for it to work, the bottom (as CORE77 describes it, "bundt cake pan" shaped) needs to be in a plastic (probably an HDPE) in order to be practical (weight wise.) However, I've noticed that a lot of food containers are now going to glass & ceramic route- and this form would be TOO heavy in either of those materials.
3 - One of their main selling points is the idea of "hygenic" dispensing of snacks. However, the form and scale of it really limit what you can put in it. M&Ms, which is what they use in the video for example, you can just easily tilt and roll out of the bag. It's other finger foods that would need a container like this- foods like chips, which you have to reach into the bag for.
I'm sure there's other details to either nit-pick or praise, but that's all for now. It just infuriates me a little that this product received a 2010 Good Industrial Design Award (Netherland-wide.) If this is the best design to come out of The Netherlands in the past year... I'm a little saddened by that.
):
Here's the video of the thing in action, set to 70s porno music:
Here's the original
CORE77 article, and here's the product on the
Vacu Vin site.
Ksenija
