Ode to a Sterno Cook Stove

My mother found this Sterno Cook Stove for at a garage sale earlier this year; I needed the Sterno itself, not the cook stove, but the cook stove came with the Sterno for the same price, so my mom bought the whole caboodle. I used the Sterno and saved the box and the cook stove—put them up on display (hey, I liked the graphics on the box).

OK, so Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy knocked out all our power (electric stove included) this week. And then I remembered this kitschy red box up on the shelf. Well, this little Cook Stove rocked up some coffee, some soup, and a bunch of other heatables until we were able to get our power back.

Nifty little folding trick, Sterno goes in the bottom.

Not so sure I'd use it to "heat baby's bottle", but hey, it was the '50s.

Compare and contrast

Straightforward, dynamic and powerful logo for HVAC,
 

and beautiful, functional streamlined design of the object:

Versus:

Canned (well, bottled), boring, and confusing package design for what I can only guess is BBQ sauce? It doesn't say!

Coco Lopez...upended.

Scenario: a cruise through the grocery store. Sighting: death knell for the cans of Coco Lopez. While I admire the "thinking outside the box" (please excuse this tired phrase) of the packaging, I wonder if this is really necessary. Cans of cream of coconut are recyclable (and this plastic is not) and you can get every last bit out with a spatula.

So does the upside-down dispenser really improve this product for the competitor Coco Real? I suppose if you only wanted to make one piña colada it would be useful to have a container that you can close and put away in the fridge. But piña colada for one doesn't sound very fun, even if you only have to "simply squeeze".

Dirty Water

I've got my students making some packaging for a project this month. Meanwhile, taking a walk minding my own business, I spy this new beverage in a shop window with some compelling packaging.

This concoction is Dirty Water, which turns out to be tea. The blurb says that if "you drink this Dirty Water, a child will have access to safe, clean water for a whole year."

The website is less clear about what to do, but it's an interesting concept nonetheless. An informal poll of my class indicates that teenagers like to drink gross looking stuff. Especially ones with a cause.

Hasty Pudding

Trader Joe's often has nice and evocative packaging, but this pudding box design makes even the vanilla look fun!

Roast Pretz

OK, Japanese snacks are an easy target, but I never realized that "Salad" is the flavor of the Pretz...so what does Roast Pretz taste like? I'm afraid to find out! I'm even a little afraid of the salad flavor.

Fab packaging

In the Mattress Factory gift shop in Pittsburgh, PA, I bought a fantastic pair of earrings that were made even more interesting when I realized that the mounting card was actually a cut out "N" for the Nathan Hall, the designer of the jewelry. He's also a composer, visual artist, collagist and much more. The only problem is now that I won't wear them; I've tacked the whole kaboodle up on my inspiration board!