Dry ingredients organizer
Problem & Synthesis
Many people have a dry ingredients basket. Containing elements like garlic, onions, shallots and ginger, this basket quickly becomes an organic clutter. The retrieval of most ingredients is then more difficult and/or time consuming.
When stored in big quantities, it’s easy for the user to lose track of time since the purchase. The chances of the ingredients rotting are increased, while the organic waste accumulates, accentuaing the clutter.
The ingredients move around very easily, as they do not have ‘their own place’ in the basket. Furthermore, when getting rid of the organic waste, a user might throw away good ingredients, like a clove of garlic.
The good thing about the basket is the intent to display the ingredients, which, in theory, should help the user when cooking.
Iteration process
My first concept was a colander-like basket. The organic waste would slide through the holes and fall into a a receiving bowl. The user would then lift up the basket to expose the shedding, which they would easily throw away.
My second concept was more focused on separation of ingredients. It was an elevated tray with compartments. The holes were still present for the shedding to fall through. There was a second tray right under it, that the user would pull out for the organic waste discardation.
I decided to merge both ideas to further my ideation process and ended up with the following:
I realized that the model was too high to have its place on a kitchen ountertop and the compartments were not big enough. The overall shape of the design did not suit the "sheet material" directive we were given at the beginning of the project. I had some more thinking to do.
Concept as solution
The solution proposed functions like a colander with multiple compartments.
The walls of the compartments and outer tray are angled to further facilitate the process of spotting the right ingredient.
Holes are found to the side of the tray to create handles for user.
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To get rid of the waste, the user will first lift the compartments out of the tray by using the handles located at the front and back of each compartment. Afterwards they use to tray to through away the waste in their compost bin.
The user can shake the whole stucture to accelerate the shedding process, in order to dispose of the organic waste.
The slits follow an articulate pattern in order to create openings large enough to let the organic waste through, and yet small enough so that small components, like a small garlic clove, don’t fall out of the compartments. They also have aesthetic value.
The compartment don’t really have physical vertical edges, to exploit the different ways of making way for the shedding.
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Further renderings
The tray is made of clear acrylic, which allows user to see the pattern on the compartments and the amount of organic waste currently contained by the tray.
The compartments can be made of colored acrylic with low opacity metal or wood.
The compartments are laser cut and bent with 91 degrees bends. They have a thickness of 1/16 inches.
Holes are found to the side of the tray to create handles for user.
