Monday, 12 September 2011

Experience Enrichment: Kitchen Tongs


Product Poster


Product Usage Story Board
Orthographic Drawing (CAD)

Rationale: “Kitchen Tongs”

Kitchen Tongs are often designed with a distinctive look. The looks of it often replicates each other’s appearance. It does not look intimidating nor friendly in the user’s eye. At times, the normal look of it triggers a sense of performing a duty. But of course consumers are used to its normal appearance.  Redesigning cooking tongs allows design revision its usual design allowing changes towards its ergonomic, materials, innovation applied and as well as its aesthetics.

Figure 1: New Design - Kitchen Tongs
Usually, tongs were designed with a spring hinge, straight body, and the head that replicates the shape of a sea clamp. These new design however, is all inspired by a sea mussels. With this newly redesigned Kitchen tongs, it offers you sleeker aesthetics yet retains the function of a kitchen tongs which can use both for cooking and serving food.

The sleek shape, size and weight of this Kitchen tongs promote good ergonomics in terms of handling the product. It does not create tension towards the wrist cause of its subtle curvature shape, lines and light weight construction therefore can easily manoeuvre in different motions. This characteristic promotes an overall good ergonomic of the product reason to establish a pleasurable “living relationship” between the product and its user.

The materials used are aluminium steel, abraded and sandblasted then hard anodized and revolutionary plastic base that can be joined with anodized aluminium. The hinge is an integrated nylon that serves as the hinge and spring. These materials are common but joined together in an innovative manner ensuring the products durability and hygienic impact towards food safety.

The Kitchen Tongs delivers an eye pleasing experience. The anodized silver aluminium steel enhances the subtlety of lines and curvatures on the outside while the obsidian bright green highlights the inside. Furthermore, the anodized aluminium gives an elegant and solid build just like the mussels’ shell. The plastic on the inside though contrastingly serves like comforting and nurturing extension of the user’s hand. This kitchen tongs is designed to deliver aesthetic looks that is appealing towards the consumer.      

This everyday hand tool, Kitchen tongs, is designed for consumer to have a more pleasurable product that enriches and enhances their experience while interacting with it, in this case – pleasurable cooking. Practicality is presented through the simplicity of the design and easy usability. Although it’s simple it is ergonomically built for consumer’s safety and experience. The subtlety of the shape and lines, contrasting materials and finish is visually appealing and gives a psychologically pleasuring experience. The design although not revolutionary delivers an innovative construction approach through the joining of anodized aluminium and plastic base materials together. The design approach towards this product delivers elegant contemporary product with utilitarian respect that effectively demonstrates integration of design elements and principles.