Objectified: Pencil vs. Printer

A couple of weeks ago we watched the documentary film Objectified, and many a time since that day in class I have found myself pondering the idea of  (how the film put it) "our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them". Each little detail in a product's design has purpose and makes an impact. The film asks the viewer to think about what the objects with which we surround ourselves, might reflect about us.

While stumbling through images and company websites, I found two dramatically different objects that struck my attention. One is a manufactured product, the other-meticulously handcrafted.

The Printer:

"Printing Your Toast" is a design by MA student Othmar Muhlebach, that recently won second place in the 2009 Berner Design Awards.The idea of this re-designed toaster (which resembles an ink-jet printer) is to stack slices of bread like you would paper in printer. The bread is then fed into the design from the top, it's then toasted and ejected onto the base. Additionally, the toaster could be modified to burn any kind of graphics on the bread  run through a USB device!!




The Pencils:

On the complete opposite end of the product design spectrum are the pencil carvings of Dalton Ghetti. Dalton, who works as a carpenter, has been making his tiny graphite works for about 25 years. He uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations – a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife.According to Dalton a standard figure will take at least a few months, but the longest he ever spent on a piece was two and a half years.

Resources:
http://elitechoice.org/2009/12/08/othmar-muhlebach-designs-uber-chic-toaster/
http://oddstuffmagazine.com/extraordinary-art-on-pencil-tips-by-dalton-ghetti.html