The key to a healthier diet starts by redesigning the refrigerator.

Posted on 30/09/2021 by Sarang Sheth

“Displaying vegetables and fruits makes me remember to eat them”, said one of the target users in an interview with designer Tati Ferrucio while she was developing The Fresh Fridge.

The Fresh Fridge relooks the very brief of the refrigerator. Most fridges are designed to perform one prime function – keeping your food fresh for long. The Fresh Fridge, however, also considers other aspects like the contents of the fridge and the behaviors of the user, and promotes a lifestyle that gets you to eat healthier, more nutritious food like fruits and vegetables. With a transparent door, the Fresh Fridge feels like the produce section of the supermarket. The fruits are kept on display, reminding you to eat them when you’re hungry, and the transparent window actually discourages you from wanting to keep unhealthy food in the fridge, in case other people see it and judge your eating habits.

The Fresh Fridge is an ecosystem featuring the fridge itself, and a smart display above it. Designed by IDSA Student Merit Award-winner Tati Ferrucio, the Fresh Fridge focuses on the complex system of a healthier lifestyle, rather than just on individual food items. The smart display above the fridge comes with a touch-sensitive surface and a built-in camera. It acts as a sort of hub for all information, allowing you to manage inventory, order fresh food online, watch recipe tutorials, and bond with friends or family members while you prepare food or while eating (you also get the added bonus of being able to show your mum you’re eating healthy!)

Underneath the smart display sits the main fridge, designed to be a slightly more compact companion to your regular fridge (where you’d store all your day-to-day meals, groceries, drinks, leftovers, etc.) The Fresh Fridge comes with compartments designed specifically for different kinds of healthy foods – leafy greens go on top, where it’s cooler, while fruits and veggies occupy the lower spaces. The trays even account for prepared/cooked items like salads, burrito bowls, smoothie bowls, or cut fruits, with slide-in areas for airtight containers.

The top of the Fresh Fridge becomes the perfect area to prep your food. The ingredients remain easily accessible below, while the smart display on top lets you tick off items from your inventory and even prepare meals by watching recipe videos or chatting with your nonna who guides you with their tips. Plug-points built into the top of the Fresh Fridge let you hook up appliances like blenders, induction stoves, or rice-cookers, while a slide-out tray makes mise en place easy, allowing you to chop, dice, peel, mash, season, or garnish your food.

As you take food from the Fresh Fridge, the smart display on the top lets you tick it off, helping the fridge track inventory for a more planned grocery shopping experience. It’s not entirely clear if the Fresh Fridge also reminds you when food’s spoiling, although that would be an extremely handy feature in making sure you don’t waste anything!

The Fresh Fridge approaches the appliance’s design rather uniquely. The clear (slightly textured) glass on the front really helps inform the interiors, which Ferrucio designed keeping organization in mind. Each of the trays (made from recycled plastic) come with horizontal shelves that help you neatly organize and present your food. The trays feature a modular section on the right too, letting you add containers with dividers, airtight storage boxes, microwave-friendly lunchboxes, etc. Lastly, a mild light on the inside helps illuminate the Fresh Fridge like the refrigerated aisle at supermarkets. The light activates the minute the camera on the smart display notices someone approaching the fridge or walking by, and the fact that the healthy food’s put on display for you really helps condition the mind into eating healthier, more nutritious meals!

Designer: Tati Ferrucio

These veggie-shaped sand toys help kids cultivate a love for nature… and vegetables!

Posted on 29/01/2021 by Sarang Sheth

Turn anything into a game and kids are sure to be more receptive to it! I mean, it’s easier to feed a child using the ‘Here comes the choo choo train’ trick instead of directly feeding them food, right?!

Tati Ferrucio’s Veggies Sand Toys take a similar route by turning vegetables into sand-toys. The toys are hollow so they can be filled with sand, and come with uniquely shaped leaves that act as handles for the child to hold. Paired with a neat digging tool, the Veggies Sand Toys enhance children’s curiosity for exploring nature and their ability to socialize with other kids and adults.

“The idea of this project came from observing the natural landscape in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and how families occupy and make use of the outdoor environment. I realize that Rio has many beautiful natural parks and beaches, but none of them were well equipped to promote outdoor play for children”, said Tati Ferrucio, the designer of the toy-set. The standard set has four toy vegetables (carrot, beet, onion, and potato) and two shovels (one kids-size, one adult-size) with three interchangeable heads and interchangeable foliage too. What’s even more clever is the fact that you can bury the toys into the sand, perfectly mimicking how carrots, beets, potatoes, and onions are grown under the ground too! The Veggies Sand Toys are designed to both entertain and educate at the same time… and if somehow kids can cultivate an appreciation for vegetables in the process, that’s just another massive win!

The Veggies Sand Toys are a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2020.

Designer: Tati Ferrucio

This frolicking feline-inspired lamp was designed to spark joy!

Posted on 15/12/2020 by Sarang Sheth

There isn’t a universe in which a cat frolicking around with a ball of yarn isn’t fun. Whether you like cats or not, there’s no denying that they’re a curious, entertaining species and if it weren’t for them, the internet would be a very different place.

The Miau lamp by Tati Ferrucio embodies that element of playfulness with a lamp and holder that’s inspired by a cat playing with a ball of wool. “The design concept was developed in order to allow the customer to make an emotional connection to the product. It intends to link user’s emotions to the lamp through their love for animals or even the memories of their first pets”, says Ferrucio. Made from wood, the cat comes with positionable arms, allowing you to make it stand, crouch, or sit down, while the ball-shaped light comes with a cord that literally wraps around the cat in a chaotic fashion, tying the two elements together quite literally! The cord can be unwound to create distance between the cat and the lamp, allowing you to use it as a floor-based light, a tabletop light, or even have the lamp hanging off your mantelpiece. No matter how you position it, there’s always visual drama between the curious cat and the chaotic ball of wool. Ultimately, it evokes a positive emotional connection and sparks joy, no matter how old or young you are!

Designer: Tati Ferrucio