Product Design: Creatives re-imagine everyday products for Reform exhibition

Date
21 August 2013

Dumbbells made of mayonnaise containers, a crocodile-lilo created from empty detergent containers or a tea-bag lamp anyone? These were just some of the eye-popping pieces on show at Unilever’s recent Reform exhibition where they worked with our sister agency INT Works to challenge a host of creatives to turn everyday products into something new and inspiring.

Star of the show for my money were the Hellman’s Mayonnaise Dumbbells by the ever-excellent Lernert & Sander, a neat play on the idea of working off your dietary indulgences. But the level of innovation and invention on display was staggering, from Studio Swine’s Persil crocodile to Nick Blakeman and Esther Robinson’s Pot Noodle modular table, Demelza Hill’s Lipton tea-bag lamp to Oak Studio’s airhorns made from modified Lynx deodorant cans. Elsewhere La Bolleur created a drawing machine using Domestos bleach, Dentaku turned various product boxes into small robots and Will Shannon came up with a domestic factory that turns empty bottles into decorative inlay for workshop furniture.

With the constant hovering concerns about sustainability around the design and manufacture process, this was a thought-provoking yet playful look at the power of reconfiguration. Now pass those dumbbells and let me get back to sculpting my guns…

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Unilever/INT Works: Demelza Hill – Blend for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: Nick Blakeman and Esther Robinson – Pot Noodle Table for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: Dentaku – Unilever Vibrobots for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: La Bolleur – Glorix Galaxy for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: Studio Swine – Persil Lilo for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: Will Shannon – Domestoscity for Reform (Photo Brendan Baker and Daniel Evans)

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Unilever/INT Works: Oak Studio – Lynx Airhorn for Reform (Photo Tom Cockram)

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Unilever/INT Works: Installation shot, Cannes 2013 (Photo Tom Cockram)

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Unilever/INT Works: Installation shot, Cannes 2013 (Photo Tom Cockram)

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Unilever/INT Works: Installation shot, Cannes 2013 (Photo Tom Cockram)

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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