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A small orange goldfish swims in a rounded glass bowl filled with bright red gravel. The bowl is tilted on its side, resting precariously on the edge of a light wood plinth.

Psalt Design create a stunning goldfish tank with a difference

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Date
11 September 2012

Anyone who’s ever won a goldfish at a funfair or bought one off a man in a pub will know they’re pretty dull pets. Owners try lots of things to ramp up the wow factor with models of castles and scuba divers but at the end of the day these little swimmers are able to resist all such attempts. But hang on a minute (or double the length of a goldfish’s apparent attention span) as Sheffield studio Psalt Design may just have found the solution.

Their excellent Bubble Tank adds an element of danger to proceedings, appearing as it does to be about to slip off its surface. Of course it’s not going to (that would be psychotic), it’s actually a really clever, beautiful bit of design that merely gives the illusion of instability and must be a conversation starter, even if said conversation starts “Um, dude, your goldfish tank is melting…” Each one is hand-blown and Psalt’s David Powell, Richard Bell and Tom McKeown very much see themselves in the context of Sheffield’s rich craft history.

The Bubble Tank will be on show at next week’s London Design Festival as part of Tent London.

Two small fish swim inside a clear, organically shaped glass vessel filled with water. Red gravel lines the bottom of the container, which rests on a dark, rectangular plinth.
Above

Psalt Design: Bubble Tank

An organically shaped glass fishbowl contains two small orange fish swimming over a bed of bright red gravel. The bowl sits against a plain white background.
Above

Psalt Design: Bubble Tank

A clear glass sculpture with a smooth, organic shape rests on a dark rectangular plinth. The form is rounded and bulbous, with a flat top and a curved base that dips at one end.
Above

Psalt Design: Bubble Tank

Two small orange fish swim in a rounded glass bowl filled with turquoise gravel. The bowl sits on a dark wooden ledge overlooking a blurred restaurant interior.
Above

Psalt Design: Bubble Tank

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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