junho 13, 2013

Juicy Salif


Juicy Salif - Alessi

If you are a product designer, you definitely know this object.
If not, you must be wondering if that is a spider, a flying saucer or Superman.

Considered one of the icons of industrial design, the project was conceived in 1988 by  Phillippe Starck and is now part of the Design Collection at the Museum of Modern Art of New York. This citrus squeezer (yes!) is one of the most famous and controversial products of our times.

During college I heard a lot of critics to Juicy Salif: "It's beautifull, but doesn't work!", "A nice product, but who wears it?", "Serves very well as a decorative object, but for daily use... I don't think so.".

In the beginning I believed what I heard - after all, these people have more experience than me, studied a lot more about design... They must know what they're talking about, right? I confess it took me a while to question that affirmative, and I never asked any of them if they had in fact tried to squeeze a lemon on Juicy Salif.

Luckly enough, I happen to know a person who owns this product, and she happens to be my sister. Who, by the way, is also a designer! (Who else would have this juicer if not a designer?!) So I had the chace to ask someone with both theoretical and practical knowledge on the matter.

In april this year I was at the Desmodromic Design Workshop by Ligia Fascioni and in the first part of the workshop she talked about this product as an example of "design dogma".
I thought it was awesome when she literally pulled one of these squeezers and a bag of oranges from behind the curtains and asked us to try with our own hands. Finaly everyone would discover if Juicy Salif was really just a pretty body, or if there was something deeper in it.

The lesson from this story is basicaly this: Experiment.

Let's not just repeat what other people say. Let's study, research, get to our own conclusions, have our own opinions and impressions about things.
We can also apply that to all other relevant areas of our lives.
It's worth give it a try. ;)

--
Valéria Carvalho: product designer, works in the design studio of an automotive company. Interested in studyinn trends, conscious consumption, semiotics, education, and some other things that can help make the world a better place.

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