This week, we asked our students to design a transportable food system for an outdoor picnic. This industrial design challenge may seem pedestrian at first sight- especially for those of us who have to scrape leftovers from a school lunchbox every evening. You might think that a picnic basket is just a box with a handle, but in the hands of a set of eager kid inventors there are many interesting possibilities for innovation.
How to make it easy to transport? Could it be eco-friendly? How could we adapt it for special types of food? Could it be multifunctional? The prototypes ranged from wild : a water delivery mechanism with personal waterfalls to serve food on boats to each picnicker) to pragmatic: a dipping tub for fries with personal lidded sauce containers (above).
Sometimes the picnic carriers were specially designed for a particular food: take this subway baguette carrier made by one team.
Or this sandwich holder- which looks as stylish as a brief case.
Each picnicker gers a personal noodle pod (sealed with a clip). This design demonstrated a clever use of materials and emphasized the modular nature of picnics.
Some of our inventors combined functionality with visual impact. This team's sandwich holder had two interlocking layers creating many different compartments and a very unified aesthetic.
This young designer did a great job making many different receptacles for different food items and we like the washable face on the food tray which adds a playful element to a kids' picnic.
Some designers considered portability and opted to add wheels to their prototypes to create pull along picnic carriers.
…..and if all else fails why not turn your picnic basket into a potential animal trap for the ultimate BBQ?
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