Protect Your Fruit

Nobody likes bruised fruit, which is part of the reason why I am proposing my fruit air pockets for industrial use in transporting fruit, and in my research I have found several other creative ways to protect your fruit.

These knitted fruit cozies are cute but I don't know how practical they are in actually protecting fruit.

Then there is this Hermes apple holder. They have created this lambskin apple purse specifically to protect your apple in a stylish way. If its between this or a bruised apple I think I'll go with the bruised because this holder goes fro $395, a little more than an apple is worth to me.







Then there are these banana hammocks. The ones on the right seem a bit impractical because not all bananas are shaped the same. While the one on the left seems like a practical idea in its simple design to fit all shapes and sizes...of bananas.



There are also these foam fruit nets that Harry and David often use in shipping their product all over the world. They allow fruit to be packaged next to each other in a box without casueing fruit on fruit bruising.




And then there are these blister packed blueberries. I love this design because blueberries are so easily squished and giving each berry it's own protective bubble seems like a great idea. However, I wonder how easy it is to actually get each berry out without squishing it because you'd have to push from one side to get anything out of a blister pack.





I hope that my fruity air pocket would eliminate the need for all of these products becuase not only would it protect the fruit in transportation form the growers to the consumer but would continue to protect the fruit up until the moment it is eaten.

Air Cushoning Cube

I envision my fruit pockets to be something like bubble wrap and having a cubic or somewhat
flat shape.

For the material I am thinking something like bubble wrap because bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material commonly used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres provide cushioning for precious or breakable items.








Fruit is often put in situations where it can easily be dropped or knocked over and a cubic shape would stop it from rolling away.




This is another interesting shape because the somewhat round sides mirror the general shape of the most fruit while the flat top and bottom would stop it from rolling too far.

I want these!

Coca-Cola has always been very clever with their marketing. They not only come out with memorable ads but every so often come out with an interesting take on their otherwise classic look, and these retro cans are by far my favorite! I think Coke should reproduce these as a kickback can.

Here are some other great examples of Coke ads and collectible bottles


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/cocacolaads6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/08/02/collection-of-cool-coca-cola-ads/&usg=__BNoEW1BhyThiIl1lDG88vXU8bv0=&h=600&w=450&sz=145&hl=en&start=73&um=1&tbnid=GnEpa2nfQTAa9M:&tbnh=135&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcoke%2Bbottles%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26start%3D60%26um%3D1

http://badicalbeatsrecordings.com/images/WE8Bottles.jpg

http://www.clevelandleader.com/files/cavalli-coke.jpg

http://techtreak.com/img/cocacola_9595.jpg

Fruit Packaging

The way a fruit is packaged is determined by the type of fruit, how easy it is damaged, its shelf life, distance it is to be shipped, and its value. The high-value fruits are placed in trays that have pockets to hold individual fruits and are designed so that when they are stacked in a carton the fruits don't come in contact with one another. The less bruise-able fruits are hand-placed into cartons based on a pattern determined by the carton size and the fruit size and is designed so that the fruit fits in the carton with no room to move. This prevents fruit on fruit bruising during shipping.


If a fruit is not packaged in a facility at its picking site it is piled into trucks and transported to a packaging facility. Bruising and rotting is common during this process and limits the sellable product.


My thought is, why not have a product provide each fruit with its own plastic bubble? Such a device would create a protective air pocket around each piece of fruit and prevent all bruising. Less bruised product means more sell-able product and a higher profit margin. The fruit pocket could be made of a biodegradable recycled plastic and could either be circular or square. Such a pocket would allow all fruit to be piled into trucks and boxes without the worry of bruising. It would also eliminate the need for extra packaging material with delicate fruits. Another upside to such an addition to the fruit industry would be that when a fruit is to be shelved at a grocery store a stoker could just dump the fruit into its display bin instead of having to handle each piece of fruit.

Juice Skins

For project 1 I have been trying to come up with a new way to package fruit. A way to ship fruit in a way that it can also be displayed. Eliminating the need for a person to handle each piece of fruit as they stock it at the grocery store. In googling images of fruit packaging I cam across amazing fruit juice packaging by Naoto Fukasawa. This Japanese industrial designer has created a series of individual juice containers that have the look and feel of the fruit they contain. Fruit "juice skins" exist for banana, strawberry, and kiwi along with a "silken tofu skin" for a carton of soy milk. I imagine that these fruit skins would make drinking the contents of the box much more enjoyable than a plain juice box.

Tea Tea Tea

Tea is a wonderful thing. It can warm you up on a cold day and sooth your throat when you are sick. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. I know I personally have at least 8 different kinds of tea in my cabinet and I would have more if I had the room for them. I love the variety of flavors available and the way each flavor can provide a different feeling. To me jasmine tea is a comforting flavor to help digest after a meal while I look to Apricot Ceylon to wake me up.


An aspect of tea that I find really interesting is that it is present in cultures all over the world. Tea is believed to have started in China, as they have the earliest record of tea consumption, around the 10th century BC. To this day they continue to carry out extensive tea ceremonies and see tea presentation as an art.

Stackability

It has come to my attention that there is a lot of wasted space in grocery stores. The direction I am taking for assignment one in my winter senior studio is eliminating that wasted space in shipping and stocking. Costco has started this trend in their redesign of the milk jug. With a simple change of shape these jugs are cheaper to ship and better for the environment. The condensed spout provides a sturdy base for another layer of milk jugs allowing more milk to be stored in one place.

Why not apply this redesign to other products like juice and soda bottles? Eliminating the tall spout would allow more product to be stored on shelves with a better use of space. The stackability of a product would also allow for better organization in a refrigerator, as things would be able to be stacked on top of it as well as next to it.

Label Me This

With every great product should be a great package and with wine the only packaging it really needs is a label. If you don't know a lot about wine, like me, a label could be what a purchase is based on. I know when I go to the store to buy wine I first decide if I want red, white or rose and then pick a bottle based on which label is most visually appealing to me, and then hopefully that cool label goes along with some full tasting wine. This website definitely found the coolest of all cool wine labels and any of these would get my attention among the crowded wine shelves.

http://www.thecoolist.com/amazing-wine-labels-30-creative-and-unique-wine-label-designs/

I am for food that...

I am for food that influences my thoughts and satisfies my soul. I am for food that enhances my life, enriches the moment and fills my belly.
I am for food that inspires.

I am for food that allows me to travel without getting on a plane and is creative. I am for food that brightens my day and is prepared to perfection. I am for food that makes me want to eat it.

I am for food that is unique and changes my outlook on life. I am for food that is one of a kind and creates an environment. I am for food that creates a party in my mouth.

I am for food that inspires ideas and makes my mouth water. I am for food that makes me think differently, alters perceptions, and compliments life. I am for food that changes experiences.

I am for food that encourages imagination and makes me want to eat it. I am for food that is straight from the sources and is perfectly proportioned. I am for food that transports me to a better place.

I am for food that excites my taste buds and changes and provides an ambiance. I am for food that allows me to savor the moment.

Just the Start

Well, I'm not really sure what to even write about but I'm starting, that is the first step. The words will come eventually.

This studio term is definitely a different way of doing things. We aren't focusing on products just yet, more abstract concepts of food art. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all this...