I started my play off with a competitive game of Deadliest Warrior. I was the Monk, my favorite character. After swiftly defeating my opponent, and dominating the subsequent rematch, I decided to switch to a game of Chinese Chess. After yet another amazing victory, I was awarded a delicious mango by my now humbled boyfriend. At this point my creative juices where really flowing, but I decided to really lock-in to the creative mood by carving a few more designs into a piece a soapstone I've been working on. Now that I was in the zone, it was time to mind map the sink.
I have attached mind map in case you would like to follow along.
Sink:Basin Mindmap.docx
I started my mind map with the notion that sinks/basins are placed in the bathroom, the mudroom and the kitchen. In the bathroom scene, I flowed about the pedestal, and the faucet and came up with the idea of creating bathroom pedestal art. For example, the pedestal could look like an animal hoof, in the style of the greek/Roman statues. Or, it could look like the leg lamp from The Christmas Story. Talk about some comic relief!
In terms of the Faucet, I thought the shape looks like a bird neck, so what if the faucet had the face and neck of a swan and the faucet knobs could be the Swans wingspread. If done well, I think it could be an elegant and artful touch. The thought of swans reminded me of when I studied in Amsterdam, because I frequently saw them in the canals. Also in the Netherlands is the town of Delft which is famous for Delftware. I think there would be a pretty large market for Delftware patterned basin- my mom included! I also thought a light indicator or a sound indicator would be a great addition to a faucet to help conserve water. The faucet would light up when a certain amount of water is used so that the user knows when they are being naughty if they use more, and when they are being good if they use less.
In the kitchen realm, the sinks typically get greasy and grimy. Through a series of Star Wars connections, I came up with the idea of a smart sink that would possibly use nanotechnology or even biotechnology, or laser technology- the possibilities are endless. Who doesn't want a sink that cleans itself?
In terms of the material and appearance of modern day sinks, society has gotten boring. In the days of the Greeks and Romans, they made things elaborate with tile mosaics. What if a sink basin was made out of tile and made into a mosaic? The tile would need to have a glaze over it in order to increase its 'cleanability'. But it would definitely add to the class of a bathroom and could even become a status thing.
Finally, the mudroom was a little more difficult for me to brainstorm as I am not normally the user of one. But I do remember using it to give the dog a bath. A hands free shower addition to the mudroom sink would definitely make dog baths easier!
I can really see your connection to nature and the environment in these ideas - animal hooves, swans (a lovely image), a water use indicator (very sustainable-minded), and a smart sink that cleans itself without needing nasty stuff like Comet. I also counted eight ideas - I wonder if some doodling and doing your mind map by hand might have let you spend more time just throwing ideas out so you could have a few more. There's good stuff to riff on here, though - I think it would be very funny to see a sink standing on two legs (maybe in stillettos?). Or having the water turn an ugly color or start making an obnoxious noise or somethingif you use too much...
First of all, I think that any product that includes lasers or nanorobots is automatically a great idea. Also, the leg shaped pedestal would be delightfully tacky.
I think it would be interesting to see if something as simple as light turning on would create a sizable reduction in water consumption. Maybe it could also be a super bright LED that would gradually get brighter as you use more water and eventually it would become annoyingly bright? Would annoying people cause them to consume less?
I agree with you that modern sinks are kind of boring. There is also something so charming and interesting about things that have been hand built rather than mass produced.
I like how you took your silly ideas to another level and included each in context. I definitely think it would of been a good idea to add in some sketches to your process-it will add a personal touch to your ideas. i love the idea of a sink that cleans its self, comes a great advantage for those of us that don't have the time to do it ourselves.