Water purifiers are becoming more common sights in our homes, thankfully because of more attention being paid to one’s health. Because of that popularity, water purifier designs are also undergoing a shift away from the stereotypical white products that dominate the market to objects that can stand proudly in the middle of any kitchen. Most of these, however, still adhere to certain conventions, particularly the use of shiny metallic surfaces to mirror (no pun intended) the appearance of most kitchen appliances and cookware.
This water purifier concept design, however, bucks the trends in more ways than one. Not only does it eschew the smooth curves of many water purifier designs, it actually embraces the rawness of blocky shapes, turning the appliance into a graphic design object. Even better, this design even lets you customize your water purifier to your tastes (pun not intended again).
Designers: Yejin Shin, Cheolsu Park, Hyunjeong Lee (BEBOP)
More design-conscious water purifiers try to display a pleasing image, which usually translates to generous use of soft curves, light colors, and minimal details. The Hyundai Quming Delight concept only checks that last item, because you might not even recognize it as a water purifier for being devoid of almost any and all identifiable features. It looks more like a piece of Mondrian sculptural art or giant toy blocks glued together, which is perhaps the thoughts that the design intentionally wants to evoke.
The use of geometric shapes, particularly blocks, gives the Quming Delight a very different personality from other water purifiers. But what makes it even more special is that some of the sides of these blocks can be swapped out with other colored panels, opening the doors to customization and artistic expression. It’s probably going to clash with a purely black or purely white kitchen interior, but it will stand out in a good way.
The design is also bereft of visible physical controls, and the only way to operate it is through a touch control panel in front that’s cleverly hidden behind a translucent color finish. It doesn’t seem possible to change the colors of this part of the machine, though. And the lighting for the buttons also seems to be fixed to a faint white glow.
Thanks to its simple shape, using the water purifier is supposedly simple as well. The filter canisters are conveniently hidden behind the removable front panel, while the blocky faucet can be used and removed using a simple twisting motion. That said, it does mean you have to touch the faucet every time you want to turn it on, risking contamination from the dirt on your hands. There is also no catch basin in this design, which is a must-have for anything that dispenses liquid, and it would have been trivial to add yet another block for that component.
The post Blocky water purifier concept brings a fun touch of graphic design to your kitchen first appeared on Yanko Design.