Some friends and I stopped in the MoMa design store yesterday and played with all the great gadgetry on display. As we came across a pair of salt ‘n pepper shakers, an interesting debate came up. The shakers look like this:
The question is: which is for salt and which is for pepper? My friend immediately said pepper would go in the ‘angry’ shaker (the one with down-turned dotted mouth) and salt in the ‘happy’ one, while I thought the exact opposite. And thus began a rather long conversation about our food preferences and what emotions we associate with salt, pepper and other spices.
In retrospect/post-conversation, I am just now appreciating the design of the tiny shakers. The brilliance of the design lies in the lack of specification for ’salt’ or ‘pepper’ thereby allowing the owner to add his/her own voice and opinion to the overall function of the product. What a subconsciously subtle and effective way of engaging the audience. Definitely piqued my interest and made me want to own those spice-dispencing creatures!
Filed under: Inside My Mental Cavity | Tagged: conversations, design
The pepper is angry!
it’s not angry, it is sad. by it, i mean the pepper of course. (it is sad b/c more people like salt than pepper)
I just saw this now… so cool! I love the idea. I bet they did think that when they made them, too. To me the salt would be happy, but only because I’m borderline obsesssssssssssssssed with salt. I put it on everything! yum.