Designed for Disaster
August 4, 2009
The next time there’s an emergency like a local power failure or a large-scale blackout, will you be able to find your flashlight? How about a portable radio for listening to the news? While many people own those items, they often end up being buried out of sight, deep in drawers or closets, never to surface again, simply because they aren’t that attractive.
Why is the look of such a utilitarian product important?
“When something’s more beautiful, maybe you’ll leave it out rather than trying to hide it under the counter, which is a good thing,” says the New York designer Harry Allen, especially when time is of the essence.
Mr. Allen isn’t the only designer giving emergency-preparedness items an overhaul. Shopping in Manhattan and online, he found a number of products offering an appealing blend of form and function.
At the Home Depot in Chelsea, he admired a white HomeHero fire extinguisher for its streamlined design. Its bright red pull pin and push-button operation would make it intuitive to use, he said.
Online, Mr. Allen selected the Torch flashlight by Jonas Damon for Areaware, which has a wood handle and an LED that runs on batteries. “I like the idea that when you’re reaching for your flashlight, this looks like a flashlight,” he said of its clean, unmistakable shape.
But Mr. Allen cautioned that style should never be considered more important than function. The best products combine both, he said, but in a pinch, “I would rather have a life raft that saves me than a life raft that looks good.”
Quotes are from http://www.nytimes.com/ where you can get more information
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