REWRITTEN CRITICISM - refer to DESIGN CRITICISM for the original

The Adventures of Justin.

The Propeller Trivet

by Justin Lim

10182160

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I stand outside the self proclaimed “best design store in Australia” not knowing exactly what to expect but not without expectation. Being located in one of North Sydney’s premiere suburbs does not leave much to the imagination in terms of who I may or may not meet there. A tall man in a suit brushes past me without so much as a glance and reaches into his pocket to alleviate it of his all-in-one MP3/PDA/Mobole phone.

I return my gaze to the store with undeterred conviction, ready to walk in but still nervous about whether my t-shirt and jeans combination will make me stand out among the tall and eloquent suits.

My first step in, and my eyes meet with an employee’s who strains a smile and somehow manages to ask me how I am without seeming to care at all.

I am comfortable now. This store is no more intimidating than the average retail store anywhere else. Sure they seem to stock what is the upper echelon of designed goods, the contemporary, the innovative, the unfamiliar. And sure many of their customers seem to have superiority complex as they browse, but when it comes down to it, Australia’s society seems to determine that if you own a store, your aim is to make money. I potentially hold money and this employee is going to suck-up to me in an effort to get it.

“Fine thanks” I reply and continue my journey down the path of design.

Strangely though it is not the store, nor the people who I find intimidating, but rather the goods the store sells, for I am a student of Industrial Design and seeing what the so called avant gard of the industry are producing is surely a task that any student would find both inspiring and intimidating. I can only describe the feeling as a general sense of awe that engulfs me as I touch and interact with the product lined shelves, inspired by what I could achieve, intimidated by what may be expected.

Upon my exit, head spinning with the likes of Newson, Allessi and Copenhagen, I come across something that I must confess to me seemed like a toy definitely not marketed toward children. Positioned liberally on what the retail-gurus would call the “impulse unit”, a long symmetrical object lies stationery. Could it be that the society has progressed to the point where shops can advertise and sell in plain sight, instruments of this phallic nature? Or is my mind as some would suggest, one-tracked and typical of the male species?

I stare a while longer, What are you? Are my initial assumptions correct? I reach down into the void and grasp the object tightly, pulling it closer for inspection. The surface is soft and rubbery like the soles of my shoe, textured differently though like goosebumps on a cold day. My relief is telling as my assumption is quashed, for an object of this texture would surely not be aimed at gratification of that sort.

So what are you, strange and peculiar object? What purpose do you serve? What can you do?
The object stares at me blankly, offering not response other than a thin groove which runs around its entire form. A metal pin positioned centrally along its body also returns my gaze. Could it be that these elements which constitute this object’s design are indicating that there are other forms that this product could take?

“Yes!” the metal pin continues its unwavering stare, “twist me!”

I hear the designer speaking with me through his design, the positioning of the pin, its deliberate exposure, the thin groove along the form, It is as if the instructions are embodied in the product!

I comply with the command and as I do so the object opens up and silently clicks into an “X” or cross formation. The object exhales and rests as it achieves the symmetry it craved once in motion.

But I am still puzzled. The mild satisfaction of realising how to operate the product is tainted by my inability to answer the question of its purpose. “What the hell are you?” I ask again frustrated as I begin to test the limits of the objects function. But alas no amount of rotation is satisfying my thirst for the designer’s knowledge. Surely after telling me to twist, the designer has left something else for me to realise this products intentions!

It sits there in the palms of my hands, silent as ever.

Perhaps it’s a weapon? A contemporary ninja star? A contemporary religious ornament? An anti-vampire device? A reusable marking for where the treasure may be buried?

Still nothing.

You disappoint me design. You held such promise. At least in you original state I had an idea of what you could have been!

My interest wains and as I go to replace the object to its rightful position my eyes are drawn to a card which I had previously not seen.

Propeller Trivet $29.95
Jakob Wagner
Menu

Ah… you’re are propeller trivet… WHAT THE HELL IS A PROPELLER TRIVET? My renewed interest quickly turns to rage as what I thought would hold the key, only raises more questions.

Ready to commit the criminal act of property destruction, my patience is up and this so called Propeller Trivet has seen the last of me! I firmly return the product to its place, ready to make good my afore mentioned intentions when my eyes are further led to a box of packaged “Propeller Trivets”. Atop which is a picture of the mystery object with a pot sitting atop the cross formation.

My eyes widen and the sweat I worked up dissipates as the cold truth of realisation raises my skin till it feels like the product which I had just enraged me.

Shame Mr Wagner! With all your knowledge, with all your expertise and professionalism could you not have spared a moment to think of poor me? And I mean literally poor me for there is no way that I would give my hard earned $29.95 for what serves the same function as my $2.95 set of three cork coasters at home!

And yet with this regained sense of composure I once again return attention to the Propeller Trivet. Perhaps it’s not your fault Mr Wagner. Perhaps it is the fault of incompetent staff at this store. They could have positioned the product closer to a picture of it in use! YES! You are forgiven Mr Wagner, but don’t you think you could have improved your product by speaking to me about the products purpose like you did about its operating procedure?

“Look around you Justin,” the Trivet speaks, “Am I the only thing in this store that you didn’t understand at first? Am I not the same as that god awful Juicy Salif? Or the Banana Peel Door stopper?”

Perhaps you’re right Trivet. Perhaps you are part of a wider genre, a genre that speaks a different language, a new language. One that products like you attempt to teach us however frustrated we get. Are you trying to tell me that you believe you could be the way of the future? We could do away with our cork and laminated foam coasters and all have Propeller Trivets?

“Perhaps not all…” it replies after a long silence, “look at my price Justin, do you think all people can afford me? Or for that matter deserve me? If you, a person with a design background took this long to interpret me, how can someone not used to my kind ever accept or be deserving of me in their household?”

I look at the product, now with a slight understanding of where it was coming from. Its price dictated who bought it. Its form did the same. This was reverse discrimination. There’s no restrictions placed on who can buy the Propeller Trivet other than if you can afford it. But if you buy it without understanding it what is the point?

The Propeller Trivet sits there in all its glory finally content that it has got through to me. But I am not yet appeased.

What do you offer me that my cork coaster at home does not already offer? Do you hold more? Do you protect more? Why am I paying so much more for your services other than to line the pockets of those who produced you?

My cork coaster at home comes from a long line of ancestors all derived from the loping of cork trees in exotic countries. Sure this is destructive to that particular ecosystem, and sure the people who harvest the cork may be undergoing harsh and deadly conditions for minimal pay but in today’s society it seems acceptable and justified by a lower cost of the end product. Perhaps you can better this Propeller Trivet and maybe that is why I may be willing to part with my money for you.

“As you hold me you can tell I am made from silicone. that means that my origins lie among the coastal regions of countries such as your own Australia. I am dredged and large amounts of sand are displaced to achieve my basic elements, so that ecosystem, much like your cork coaster’s ecosystem is adversely affected.
Where large numbers of your cork coasters are able to be punched out of sheets of cork, I am pressure moulded, as you can tell by the material I am made of, the conditions I must withstand and the form I have taken. I also have a pin sticking through the middle of me which some one had to put there in an assembly stage.
Why are you paying more for me? Because I am more expensive to make.
What are you getting from me in return? I will do the same job as you cork coaster, but I can withstand up to 500ºC and I am water and chemical proof so you can put me in you dishwasher. Therefore I will last longer than your el cheapo cork coaster at home!”

But the Propeller Trivet has more parts and the addition of moving parts. This means a greater chance of part failure and product failure in general!
Furthermore, its extra parts counter the theory of designing toward ideality! Where Genrich Altshuller, theoriser of TRIZ would have me design toward pure functionality, you suggest otherwise! TRIZ and Ideality in particular requires me to reduce parts, reduce weight, reduce labour! You do nothing but increase!

The Propeller Trivet sits silent in my hand.

No that is not enough Propeller Trivet you still have not offered me enough for my money. What else have you got? Do you store better than my easily stackable cork coasters?

“Ah hah! I can better that. My closed long slender form, which I saw you salivating over earlier, allows for a new style of storage. Remember that new language I speak? Well imagine me talking to you like your forks, knives and spoons talk to you. I can be stored along side these essential eating utensils and over time you will come to except ME as an essential eating utensil! You will grab your cutlery and I will be part of this elite group!”

I find this very interesting, and I begin to be further attracted to the intrigue of the Propeller Trivet.

This does not go unnoticed and it pipes up again, “Have you ever cooked on a fire? Or seen a movie where they’re cooking on a fire? Is this not what cooking and food is about? That after millennia of technological and human advancement you still cook in essentially the same way.
Now look at the picture on my display box of the pot sitting upon me. Does this stir you?
Mr Wagner has created me so that when you eat, you see a link between society today, and society in the past! Not just because Jan Michl has told you I am only a redesign of the existing coaster but because I reference your earliest ancestors. Because your kind has always needed to eat!”

I am taken aback. This product is talking to me from a very post modern frame of mind and it is beginning to change my point of view.

Meanwhile the store is beginning to clearout. I check my watch to find that closing time is upon us and my conversation with the Propeller Trivet will soon be at an end…

Unless I buy it.

The Propeller Trivet notices this as well and makes its closing statement. “Justin, we’ve been communicating all this time and I’ve shown you all my cards.
I’ve taught you a new language that you knew nothing of earlier. A language which only people like you can understand. A language that puts you in a small and unique group of people. This could have massive social implications for you!
You know what little I offer environmentally is rooted in my longevity. A fact that you have found fault in theorising my part numbers constitute increased risk of failure as well as pulling me further away from so called Ideality.
But you have also found out my core value lies in my aesthetics. I am far more attractive than your cork coaster could ever be and I go from being a tool you use to a symbol of your humanity. A symbol of the past in a form of the future.
Justin when it comes down to it, there is nothing more I can say or do than to ask you whether you like me?”

Indeed the Propeller Trivet provides a compelling argument tinged with faults but shining in many other aspects. As often is the case where one is faced with seemingly equal arguments from each side it may come down to an external influence.

“Not on my salary…” I say under my breath as I make my way out through the now half closed roller door.

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References

• Information on TRIZ and Ideality gained from 3rd Year Industrial Design Product Technology notes. Should you wish to explore first try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZ
• MICHL, J. On Seeing Design as Redesign personal copy from first year design course reader. Should you wish to read try: http://www.designaddict.com/essais/michl.html
• Try http://www.oresund-design.org/ and http://jakobwagner.dk/ for information on Jakob Wagner
• Try http://www.menu.as/ for information on the Propeller Trivet and other products

Thanks to:

• Top3 Design for not kicking me out... straight away.