- Hey there.
It's Morna and I thought it would be interesting
to make a video that looks at all the different aspects
that I relate to the design of one product,
and so in this video we're going
to be looking at this product,
which is called Pulp Storage by Midori.
It's something that I recently
picked up on holiday in Barcelona,
and it's a pretty interesting little product.
So, stick around.
(upbeat music)
So the simple act of looking at a product,
and asking why it's been designed in this way
can produce a lot of valuable information.
Whether you are a student of design or a seasoned designer,
every time we look at and question a product design,
there's things to be learned.
In this video, we're gonna be looking closely
at functionality, parts, form,
materials, appearance, and overall quality.
If you find this video helpful and want to see more like it,
let me know by either liking the video,
or leaving me a comment.
So let's start with functionality.
Pulp Storage functions as a small storage box
or a pencil case.
It is stackable.
So if you buy multiples, they can be stored
on top of each other.
It also has a removable lid that locks
in place with an elastic.
Now with functionality, whenever I'm designing a product,
I always think about where the product is used,
and where it is stored because a lot of times,
these places are different.
For example, a vacuum cleaner is used around the house,
and then it's stored in a closet.
In the case of Pulp Storage, it could be used and stored
in many places such as your desk, a shelf, in a bag.
So when we're looking at the design,
we should ask ourselves how does the design
respond to these different situations?
In situations where you might want easy access
to the contents, for example, on your desk,
the elastic can be stored in the channel
on the bottom surface making the lid easily accessible.
In situations where it needs to be locked like in a bag,
the elastic can be brought over the lid to lock it in place.
So let's talk about parts.
The act of like listing off a bunch of parts
may seem trivial, but it's actually really important.
You know as product designers,
we need to acknowledge all the parts in an assembly,
because each part has a purpose.
When you list all the parts, you can start to see
how each of the parts plays a role in the overall design.
In the case of Pulp Storage,
the parts are the main container, a lid,
an elastic, two pairs of eyelets.
It appears like one half of the eyelet
has a kinda mushroom head like feature,
and the other half is like a ring.
So these eyelets kind of snap in
on either side of the main container.
And then there's two metal crimps
to hold the elastic in place.
Let's start by describing the overall form.
Overall the form is a rectilinear box or cuboid.
One thing that becomes obvious is there's two main parts.
A lid.
A main container.
One question is like how does this lid stay on.
There's actually three features that lock the lid in place.
The most obvious is the elastic,
and it holds the lid on with compression.
The second is the indent feature in the lid
and main container that ensures the elastic
does not slide side to side.
The third feature is the recess in the lid.
This recess reaches down into the main container,
and locates the lid in space with the main container.
There's also a small amount of friction
between these two parts.
Meaning the tolerances between the lid
and the main container are tight,
so this friction fit helps to keep it in place.
Now, the main container has these five recesses in it.
You can see on the bottom here.
My guess is that these are for strengths.
When you typically when you add
these kind of interruptions in the surface,
whether it be something like this,
or a slight curve to the surface,
even the slightest curve, or ribs,
these are all added to strengthen the part.
Now, the lid doesn't have these repeated recesses,
but it does have one recess throughout the whole thing,
and that gives it strength, so you can say
that this recess in the lid actually serves two functions.
It strengthens the part but it also locates the lid
into the main compartment or main container.
Now can we just zoom out of this conversation for a minute,
'cause I need to ask you a question?
Have you ever noticed that while we're talking about form,
we're also talking about functionality,
material, and manufacturing processes?
It's because form is so intrinsically linked
to these other aspects that it's impossible
to talk about one without the other.
Next up is material.
I looked at Midori's site and this product is made
with 100% waste material.
So, once the elastic is removed,
the whole container can be recycled.
Now the egg carton like quality
that kind of first attracted me to this product,
the kind of unusual use of materials,
I guess for this type of product,
is due to the fact that it's made in a similar materials,
and similar process to egg cartons,
and it's a kind of like pulp slurry
that they then mold the pulp into different forms.
So in terms of appearance and kinda overall qualities,
let's talk about color.
The color is actually due to the different materials
that are used to make it, the kind of waste materials.
So for example, this light colored one is made
with milk cartons and newspaper.
The gray is one just newspaper,
and then there's also kind of a beige colored one,
and that one's made with cardboard.
So what really attracted me to this product
is its interesting use of materials,
and this kind of overall quality of soft,
and this quality of soft is like really consistent
throughout the whole product.
Everything from the soft paper surface texture,
to the lightweight in your hand,
to the not cold temperature in your hand,
and hear I'm thinking of unlike something
like metal or glass which is cold in your hand,
to the soft muted colors, to the fabric covered elastic.
All of these things are soft.
It even makes a soft sound when you put the lid on.
And here I'm thinking in contrast
to something like a living hinge,
which is made out of plastic, or a zipper.
You know, those sounds are more kind of jarring and snappy,
whereas this is just this really soft sound.
So another really nice aspect about this product
as a pencil case is that it's made of paper.
I mean, it's waste paper, but it's also the thing
that you write on with pencils or pens,
and when it's a pencil case, it becomes the thing
to store your pencils or pens.
So, that's the video.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Let me know in the comments, and we'll see you next time.