Products for Religious People

I did this a couple of years back for short design brief to design a food product. I wanted to design something for religious people, and having been raised in a Catholic environment, I decided to focus on that religion in particular. Catholics participate in the Eucharist or holy communion, where they receive a wafer that is supposed to be the body of christ, and some wine that is his blood. Well, as a product I thought-"What an opportunity!" So, if it's good to have a bit of Christ one day a week, why not start everyday off right with him? This led me to what I call "Jesus Flakes". I actually made this. I purchased some regular corn flakes, and sprayed them with red food dye and re-baked them, that way when you add milk, the milk turns into the "blood" of christ. So you have both the body (flakes) and blood (red milk) of christ. On the back of the box was a nice maze where you help Jesus find the lost lamb etc~I thought you could even include a free "Shroud of Turin" in every box...I always loved getting prizes in my cereal. As to wether I possessed the magic juju to turn the flakes into little pieces of Jesus...no one has told me they could taste the difference.

Design A Day 7: Death Packages

This idea is for a service and a product. While it might be a bit morbid, death is one of the few facts of life we can all count on. It seems silly to not think about it until you already have one foot in the grave. I've unfortunately had too much experience with what happens when you don't plan for it properly. So, this led to me to a service that I am condensing to a "death book". It could be a service provided like a broker would insurance. This would take care of all of your decisions if and when the time comes. There are a lot of things to cover when you are either dead or close to dying. Also, if you are in an accident, you have a lot of decisions to make. Just saying "I do not want to be hooked up to machines or resuscitated" is not enough-what kind of resuscitation, how many times etc. need to be addressed, as well as what kind of service you want, religious beliefs to be respected or lack of them. It would have other legal aspects such as who has power of attorney over you, if you want your organs to be harvested and these days, passwords for your accounts and computer info. This service could all be done online. This segways into another idea I had following it, what to do with the hunk of meat you used to call your body after you are dead. Their are a number of options, most are exploitive of your grieving family, and some not only rob your family of wealth but harm the earth that is still around after you are not. While I want to be incinerated (still not the greenest option, as those burners need fuel to burn you, and it releases harmful materials into the atmosphere etc) a lot of people want to be buried in a casket. Those options are the costliest monetarily as well as environmentally. So, I pictured a huge biodegradable egg crate impregnated with plant seeds. The inside (where what was you is) would be packed with fertile soil, and instead of your family bringing flowers to your grave, they can be visiting the flowers that your body help make, or even a tree growing using you as food. I would pick a nice santa rosa plum tree-they are delicious and only produce fruit for about 2 weeks a year. I feel the same about my productivity at times. Also, those plums have a tart skin and very sweet inside.... I think Ill stop there with the comparisons.

Design A Day 6: The Scollar

I'm sure there is something exactly like this somewhere. Ive only seen knit ones that are a solid collar, but I can imagine there are ones out there with buttons. But hey, nothing new under the sun-and this is my design with my materials. So, I figure this takes the best part of the scarf and amplifies it, because you dont have to make an effort to wrap the scarf tight enough to really warm your neck and it stay put. I made it tall enough to reach up to your ears to help keep you really warm, or you could just fold it over if you want it shorter. Personally, I like it because it hides that unsightly double chin. Scarf+Collar=Scollar. Yup, reeeaaal creative.........sigh.

Design a Day 5: LED Mood Rings

Most everyone remembers mood rings, but for those who don't:
"A mood ring is a ring which contains a thermochromic element, such as liquid crystal. The ring changes color in response to the body temperature of its wearer. The color is said, by some proponents, to indicate the emotional state of the wearer"-Wikipedia
I thought we should bring these back with today's technology-an LED. This time, it could actually work. If the user had a way to control it, not just it telling the user what mood it thought he/she was in. That way, you could start communicating with people in a more subtle way.
"Don't talk to so and so when his ring is purple" or "ask the boss for a raise when his ring is red only". It would be fun to figure out what everyones colors meant.

Design a Day 4: Pre-Cell Phone Stressed Jeans

Some time ago, maybe in the 80's, we started to wear jeans that were distressed to make them have an appearance of being worn before we bought them (while writing that I realized how funny and ridiculous it seems). Well, with today's society, I thought my design should add to that. I figure people like to show off their cell phones in one way or another. Maybe these jeans could be for aspirational owners. Can't afford an Iphone? Buy jeans that make you look like you have had one since you had to wait in long lines to buy one. I figure you could buy them based on the model you wanted to own or do own, and if you did already own the phone, it would slip right into that groove right out of the box.
Now I would just have to avoid the temptation to charge 200 dollars for the jeans, with a 60 dollar monthly ownership fee.......

Design a Day 3:Light Wall

Im not sure how I would want to implement this idea. I just noticed I always loved keeping track of the light casting inside whatever room Im in during the day, and thought it would be a neat design element or graphic for telling time. This could be made into a watch face graphic even, or maybe a light installation in a room with no windows to help people feel more comfortable....maybe an office.

Design A Day 2: Sunny Side Up Candle

This was a silly Idea I had a while back. I remember thinking this could possibly be designed 2 ways; either the entire candle be made so that when it melted it looked like a sunny side up egg, or the base would be a sculpted piece to look like an egg white that held a candle which would melt into the yolk of the egg. I just had a funny image in my mind of walking into someone's house and there be a lot of sunny side up eggs lying around, maybe even all the yolks being different colors. Id make sure that these are not egg scented candles though....blech.