Toast-or-Consequences:
Unusual Studio Task Puts Students to the Test

In an ongoing product design studio, University of Cincinnati juniors put their professionally honed skills to the test in a first-ever toaster assignment.

Brad Hammond, associate professor of industrial design, recently instructed his industrial design studio to brainstorm ideas for a "deconstructed" toaster. Confused about what that is? So were they, and that's what Hammond was hoping for. "For juniors, I have to assign something unusual. They've been working professionally in co-op for several quarters. It's a challenge to come up with something that none of them has seen before. The goal is to get them thinking in new ways," he explained. It's the kind of assignment that has brought UC's industrial design program top ratings. In surveys of professionals in the field, UC is ranked among the top two programs in the country.

So, let's go back to defining a "deconstructed" toaster. Deconstruction is a term borrowed from architecture where it refers to a philosophy or style that breaks the elements of classical or traditional buildings down and then reshapes them in radically unexpected ways. Two outstanding examples of "deconstructed" architecture can be found on UC's campus: Peter Eisenman's design for the Aronoff Center for Design and Art and Frank Gehry's design of the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. So, the basic assignment for Hammond's students called for them to break down a toaster into its different elements and then rebuild it in a unique fashion.

The young designers did just that, and several of them chose to "rebuild" the humble appliance to resemble their favorite deconstructed buildings. For instance, Peter Hanchak of Ann Arbor, Michigan, created a toaster that strongly resembles Eisenman's design for UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. What he liked best about the assignment was that, just as with deconstructed architecture, people have a strong reaction to "deconstructed" consumer products. "It was a challenge figuring the best way to represent a building while still keeping it a toaster, but it's great that people have strong opinions and reactions to it," he said.

Similarly, fellow student Lan-Ting Liu of Taiwan created a toaster inspired by Gehry's Vontz Center. "It was fun figuring out how it could work. It's cool, and it's a fun product. Here, I could design a toaster that angled at a dramatic, supersharp point. During our co-ops and in other studios, all that we do has to be very marketable. With this, we could think freely, develop new perspective and focus on form," Liu explained.

A few students opted out of designing a deconstructed toaster and opted for even more originality by designing "deconstructed" coffee grinders. One, Jennifer Sedwick of Cleveland, ultimately created a grinder that she likened to an "inverted and crashed" Seattle Space Tower. "To me," she said, "Deconstructed architecture looks like an earthquake has hit. It's not so bad that the buildings become rubble. They function, but they're fractured. It may seem random to the casual viewer, but I think it makes buildings (and home appliances) more interesting. Still, it was hard to compartmentalize something this small. I think I'll leave it to the architects."

Mike Tinstman of Easton, Ohio, found that the assignment corresponds with his developing philosophy of industrial design. (For those unfamiliar with the field, industrial designers create the appearance and functions of most of the products we use in daily life, from the toothbrush in the home, to appliances and large construction equipment.) Industrial design at its best, according to Tinstman, is about putting a lot of fun and interest into the product. "Everyone should have works of art (in the form of consumer products) in their home" he said.