This was a university project in collaboration with Matter Design, a design studio based in Bath, England. They provided the brief of exploring the experience of food on the go, finding opportunities for design intervention, and proposing functional, inclusive, and sustainable product design solutions.
During the ideation stage, I explored three different concepts:
Workplace Lunches: tackling the issue of employees not being satisfied due to distractions.
The Homeless Lunchbox: How can the homeless keep a whole day's food warm and dry?
Portable Spice Case: Helping those who 'self-season' tackle transporting their fragile cargo.
After a lot of research and consideration, as well as the limits on how I can carry out user research, I decided to pursue the third idea further - the portable spice case.
I took inspiration for the design from a variety of different places - some of them rather abstract. I needed something tactical and impact proof, small in size and also recognizable.
My initial sketching drew me towards the taco shell for inspiration on the product's shape. I thought this could be a really fun way of incorporating the function of the product into its form.
The next step in the design process was prototyping. I made my concept from card paper, after working out the measurements in Solidworks. This allowed me to get a real feel for how big the product is and the practical side of carrying it around day-to-day.
I also carried out a stress test, carrying it around in my bag for 48 hours. This allowed me to see any weaknesses in the design, and the areas where the product was experiencing the most damage. A cardboard model is perfect for this, as it shows damage much more clearly.
The most damaged areas were the corners and the bend of the exterior shell. This test allowed me to recognize this and reinforce it before making the final product, which was really useful.
