Creating value from little more than piece of moulded plastic is a challenge that often faces the product designer. The ‘fruit tools’ challenge set us by international housewares manufacturer DKB was a classic case in point. The brief was to create a coordinated range of ‘tools’ that would make those annoying and arduous daily tasks like peeling oranges, extracting the flesh from the hairy outer of a kiwi fruit and hulling strawberries an easier and more rewarding task.
Result
The result of this collaboration between a global housewares manufacturer and a design studio with particular expertise within the housewares arena has led to this simple, elegant and cost effective series of solutions.
Hulling a strawberry has never been easier! Based on the success achieved in America where the tools were launched under the Zyliss brand nearly ten months ago, the range of products have now been launched here in the UK and throughout mainland Europe.
Solution
Observing the tasks being performed by a wide range of users of differing ages and abilities and then clearly identifying the problems encountered is the starting point for any project of this type. Taking this primary information as the starting point and developing initially through simple sketch work and then through a series developmental prototypes, the final form emerges.
