Hot Can

 

The Hot Can from the outside looks like any other canned food item, but it's what's inside that counts. When punctured water mixes with limestone which produces heat. After 8-12 minutes the canned for is ready to enjoy. Although Hot Can has been producing this product for almost 30 years, it has recently re-branded it's can and now has a variety of different foods such as vegetarian and halal options. Not only does this can heat its self but it stays hot for up to 45 minutes. It has a self life for up to 5 years and its durable can can withstand harsh conditions. Recyclable and cost effective this is the perfect solution for a hungry design student stuck at school all day. What this can was originally designed for was survival situations such as military or natural disasters.

 

For pictures and more information visit Hot Cans website at:http://www.hotcan.com/about-hotcan/why-hotcan/

eco-PERCH

The eco-PERCH is a sustainable hideaway that takes only 5 days to build and can last up to 15 years. This housing unit is ideal for the private business owner that wants to get away but doesn't want to work out of a caravan. It could also be used for hotel or just for a home away from home. What makes the eco-PERCH sustainable is its use of photovoltaic solar energy, a composting toilet, rainwater harvesting system and a methanol fuel cell. All of this is contained within a 6m x 8m space. The entire frame of the building is made from wood and has a roof surface covering the entire outside.

As seen in the floor plan, the eco-PERCH can sleep four and includes a kitchen and a washroom. This unit can be installed virtually anywhere, in a forest, amongst the trees or anywhere imaginable. The eco -PERCH was designed by Blue Forest, an architectural firm in the UK that specializes in tree houses. It will be launched at a convention this May with pricing between 80, 000-95, 000 USD.

Images from:http://www.gizmag.com/eco-perch-tree-houses/21669/pictures

Coffee Cup Stain Painting

Hong Yi is a 26 year old Malaysian artist that has recently caught the public's eye when she created a portrait of Taiwanese star Jay Chou made of coffee stains.
 To watch Hong Yi, aka OhiseeRed paint with a coffee cup visit this link Jay Chou Portrait
Red's painting was inspired by a song where it starts with lifting a coffee cup off of a saucer. This is also how her video starts. Through the song it goes through a story of a girl traveling in time and falling in love with Jay Chou. Her coffee portrait portrays this through the tones of the painting. This portrait took 12 hours to complete and proved itself quite the challenge. Depending on how concentrated the coffee was it could bleed too much or not enough into the paper. As well since it was made of coffee, each ring is a permanent mark.
Yi has also done paintings with other objects such as a basketball to make a painting of Yao Ming.
Pictures from:http://sweet-station.com/blog/2012/03/coffee-stain-portrait/

Inspiration

This biggest project this year in packaging is the package of nothing. To start this project I visited http://www.flickr.com/photos/miadcommunicationdesign/sets/72157615594727916/ to see what other students had done for this same assignment. From there I brainstormed ideas of "nothing"that could be put into packages.
This is the list that I came up with.
cooties
intuition
motivation
luck perseverance
reassurance
voices inside your head
long arm of the law
a taste of your own medicine
personal bubble
chastity
water from the fountain of youth
 social life

After creating a list of possible items to package I narrowed it down to cooties or a taste of your own medicine. After looking into how I would package each I decided to go with a taste of your own medicine. I then began to brainstorm ideas of the types of packing I could put the "medicine" in.
This is the list I came up with:
pill bottle
blister pack
cough syrup package

The type of package that I thought would work the best would be a cough syrup package because cough syrup tastes bad, just like a taste of your own medicine.

The tone of my package is sarcastic and therefore uses witty sayings in place of medical terms. For example for the active ingredients instead of being medicinal I put traits such as pessimism, over confidence, bossiness, arrogance ect. It also will include information in the drug facts such as "Stop use and ask a doctor if attitude does not go away, if behaviour worsens or persistent feeling of depression."
I then found a die line of a cough syrup box and began to map out where the different information would go. I also researched different packages that the design would be similar to a cough syrup package. These are a few of the ones that I am taking inspiration from.

From here I am going to take the inspiration from these packages and create the finalized version of my own.

pictures from:lovelypackage.com

Biodegradable Urn

Death, a sensitive subject that most designers stray from, Gerard Moline has tackled this and created a biodegradable urn that goes back into the ground and plants a tree. It is made from coconut shell, compacted peat and cellulose. Other companies have used Gerard Moline's urn as an example to make others out of different biodegradable materials such as paper, sand and gelatin, cornstarch, bamboo, and recycled paper. You can chose what kind of plant you would like to grow as well. Or you can even chose to have an urn that breaks down in water. It floats for a short period of time that sinks into the water. 

Images from:http://flippies.com/adflipoff/biodegradable-urn-new-life-through-death/

Information from: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Biodegradable-Urn-Death-Life-Plants,news-13997.html

http://news.discovery.com/earth/biodegradable-urn-110517.html

http://bigthink.com/ideas/38299

Mc Donald's Advertising

Being one of the largest fast food chains in the world, Mc Donald's would be expected to have the best advertising. I have come across several clever advertisements from Mc Donald's that could entice almost anyone. 

In this first advertisement a lamp post was wrapped in brown vinyl to make it look like coffee pouring into a cup on the side of the street to promote free coffee. This was done in 2009 in Vancouver. It was important for Mc Donald's to promote their free small coffees because their biggest coffee competitor, Tim Horton's has their annual Roll up the Rim during the same time period.

The second advertisement doubles as a billboard and a sundial. As well as having the time the billboard shows what kinds of food you could get during that particular time of day. Designed by Leo Burnett with the help of an engineer this billboard was put into place in Chicago in 2006 in the perfect location so that it would work properly.

In Sweeden for the arrival of the new Big and Juicy Burger this advertisement was put into place. It is oversized napkins. The napkin in the ad was made out of actual napkin material. As well to promote the new burger, newspaper sized serviettes were also placed into new papers.

These last two ads promote the 24 hour store. The first advertisement is located in Australia and uses the refection of the glass and the second uses a bun to look like the moon. 

For more clever ads by Mc Donald's visit: http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2010/01/06/clever-and-creative-mcdonalds-advertising/

Skateboard Sculptures

3D sculptures take life from old skateboards. From toys, to sharks to fire hydrants, Japanese artist Haroshi. Through his teenage years Haroshi was an avid skateboarder and was very familiar with the different parts of the board. "Without skateboarding I am nothing," Haroshi says. It was only natural that he was partially emotionally attached to holding on to his old boards and took to collecting other peoples pieces of their boards as well.
The way that he goes about making the sculptures is by finding decks that fit together then cutting, shaving and polishing them. What stands out for me is the vivid colours and the fact that all of his creations are from recycled material. 
These are a few of my favourite pieces of his:

Click here to see and interview with Haroshi about how his boards are made: Interview
Information and pictures from: http://haroshi.com/artworks/