Coral Fruit Bowl – Design Report

For my upcycling project I chose to design a decorative fruit bowl, made from recycled cardboard. The aesthetic I was going for was something in the realm of Memphis design, an aesthetic defined by its bold colors, clashing patterns, and abstract shapes. I wanted a bowl that also felt organic, using blobby shapes and natural patterns like spirals and coral to steer away from the clash of geometric shapes seen in Memphis design. Although this is the aesthetic my final design is categorized by, I used many aesthetics as inspiration.

Aesthetics and Inspiration

My initial idea for this project originated because I wanted to make something practical, that I could use in my house, but that was also aesthetically pleasing and decorative. During my brainstorming I glanced at my fruit bowl on the counter, a wired, mundane bowl, and it was the centerpiece of our island. As soon as I saw it I knew that was something that I could make look aesthetically pleasing, decorative, and functional, instead of mundane, and poorly made.

As soon as I landed on this Idea, I found myself thinking of all these different shapes and interesting forms this bowl could take. I want this bowl to feel natural, using organic shapes, smooth curves, spirals, wavey and fluid patterns, all incorporated into one to make up this bowl. Using that as I jumping off point, I started researching aesthetics. I came upon many that sparked my interest. The blobject aesthetic, incorporates soft, rounded, almost liquid-like forms, it is highly sculptural, smooth, and exaggerated curves. Retro-futurism also stood out to me, a culmination of bright, welcoming colors with glossy or soft-touch materials, playful rounded forms that feel futuristic yet nostalgic. Psychedelic Modern, which uses wavy, fluid shapes that feel almost surreal, and bright, clashing colors like neon pink or electric blue. Another of course, is Memphis Design, the aesthetic I believe my bowl most fits into, is bold, fun, and colorful with exaggerated curves, it utilizes bubbly, playful shapes with vibrant contrasts and abstractness.

Blobject Designs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retro-Futurism Interior Design

Psychedelic Modern Poster Design

 

 

 

 

 

Memphis Aesthetic Interior Design

Vintage Sculptural Blobject Catchall / Fruit Bowl – ODD EYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memphis Milano Sol Fruit Bowl – Ettore Sottsass

Retro Murano Fruit Bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruit Bowl Mediterraneo – Alessi

 

After all my brainstorming and research, I solidified my idea, a fruit bowl that is a blend of organic fluidity and playful modernity, incorporating curves, spirals, and bubbly shapes to create a design that feels both natural and futuristic. Inspired by aesthetics like Blobject, Neo-Memphis, and Psychedelic Modern, the bowl will have a flowing, sculptural form. Its rounded and bulbous elements will make it feel lively and welcoming, while a bright, uplifting color palette—perhaps electric blue, citrus orange, or a glossy pastel—will add to its charm.

 

Materials

As much as I wanted to go in depth and make a high quality fruit bowl, I unfortunately don’t have the skill or material to craft out of glass, metal or wood. I decided my best approach would be using cardboard and paper mache. Cutting unique, fluid shapes out of cardboard and piecing them together with the paper mache into a bowl shape. Getting the materials was not so much a challenge as using them, because I’m making this bowl out of recycled materials, they tend to have rigid or angular shapes. To achieve soft, undulating curves, I need to use my materials creatively, layering pieces together, sanding them down etc. Finding the right balance between stability and aesthetic fluidity is important, a bowl with exaggerated spirals and curves might be visually striking but could compromise functionality.

Sketches from my notebook (intriguing shapes + concept sketch)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering materials (Recycled cut up cardboard, glue, sand paper, paper mache)

 

Another important aspect of my project is the color and finish, which will be a challenge, as I said recycled materials can be rough, uneven, or inconsistent in color, so I may need to sand, coat, or paint them to unify the look. A glossy or matte sealant could help create the sleek, “blobby” finish I’m aiming for, making the final product look more polished and intentional rather than obviously upcycled.

This project will require experimentation with form and material manipulation, but the result—a funky, organic, and vividly modern fruit bowl—will be well worth the challenge.

 

Constructing my Bowl

After gathering enough cardboard from my roommates and neighbors, I used my sketches of shapes I thought would fit my aesthetic and make for a decorative piece, as a reference for cutting out shapes on the cardboard. I drew rough sketches of the shapes I wanted and then went in with an exacto knife, carfully following my lines to cut out my shapes.

I cut out similar shapes in descending order to create a 3D aspect to my bowl, which I would glue together and then sand down to become a unified 3D shape. this was a tedious process, as I checked up on my individual shapes after the glue had dried, I realized that the thickness of the cardboard in layers made it hard to manipulate into the bowl shape that I wanted, which changed my design into something less 3D which was ultimately good because with thinner pieces I could get the shape and aesthetic I was going for. I sanded down the edges of the cardboard, as they were the most rough, and glue them to a strong base. As I anticipated, the material was flimsy and not forming into the bowl shape I needed it to, I was really hoping the paper mache would add some structural integrity and make the material more moldable. Thankfully my prediction was correct, after paper maching, I propped the shapes up in a cardboard mold, that would ensure the paper mache dried the cardboard into a bowl shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper mache drying in the cardboard frame.

 

I let the paper mache dry and sure enough it dried into the shape I was going for. Once completely dry, I sanded down the edges more, and sanded the paper mache that wasn’t uniform with the rest of the bowl. I was deciding between acrylic paint or spray paint, I needed something that would fit the glossy, bright aesthetic I was going for. My neighbors had some glossy green spray paint so I went with that. I spray painted multiple layers onto my piece, and it turned out looking some what how I had hoped in terms of color, it wasn’t as glossy as I was intending but it was vibrant and stood out which I’m happy about.

 

Final Product & Comparing it to Goals

I’m proud of how my project ended up, my initial goal was to create a fruit bowl with fluidity, an organic look, bright colors, and I wanted it to be decorative. I wanted its aesthetic to be have similar shapes and vibe to a retro, Memphis design, with blobject influences keeping an organic feel with flowing curves and spirals. I’d like to say I got close to my intended aesthetic, although my final product definitely steers away from the bolbject aesthetic, my fruit bowl is much more 2D than I would’ve hoped, which is primarily due to the materials I used. cardboard is a hard thing to make into blob like shapes, my initial idea of gluing pieces identical pieces together and sanding them down to create 3D shapes did not succeed because the layers cardboard were not as shapeable and I couldn’t get it into the bowl form I hoped for. So I took a different approach which I’m still happy with, although the bowl is somewhat flimsy and not super structurally sound, it is decorative and it definitely has some flare to it with the vibrant green I used. I feel I reached my artistic goals with this project, although my final piece is a blend of multiple aesthetics, I definitely achieved my goal of making a unique, organic, flowing decorative bowl. I knew it would be a challenging process going in, and it still ended up looking a lot like my initial inspiration and the shapes I sketched out can be seen in the final design which I’m proud of. Its more fragile than I would of hoped, but despite the functionality, this whimsical funky bowl fits into the aesthetics I was hoping for, I wish I could’ve refined my final design to fit into one specific aesthetic, as it kind of clashes with a few aesthetics, although the clash of patterns and color is apart of the Memphis Design, Its a part of Psychedelic Modern, and so the clash of aesthetics adds to the overall aesthetic itself.

 

Reflection

I faced a few challenges with my project, mainly with the materials I used, If I were to do things differently, I would have chosen materials that when constructed was more structurally sound and proved more functional. Wood  would’ve been a better choice for the 3D blobject aesthetic I was going for, and a material like plastic may have helped me achieve a more glossy, less rugged overall finish. Paper mache definitely helped me shape the cardboard into the bowl shape I wanted, but it also made the finish have more bumps and ridges than I’d hoped for, so in the future I would spend more time making sure the paper mache was cleaner, or I would use a different kind of finish like a sealant of some kind or maybe even a silicone mold I could use to create a more 3D form.

My design ended up looking a lot like a fruit bowl made of coral, which I do like, it is using organic, natural, flowing shapes, but it is not fitting into my intended aesthetic like I would’ve hoped, so maybe doing more research to find an aesthetic that my design fits into completely would have made me feel better about the final product and its intended aesthetic. Despite the challenges I still think my bowl turned out better than I thought it would, and I’m happy with the decorative, unique form my bowl has taken, especially with the bright, glossy green, the color really brought it all together. I want to use my bowl in a functional way, to hold fruit and have it be a nice centerpiece for my kitchen but I think it’s unfortunately to fragile to use in the functional way I want.

I thought this process  very enjoyable, I appreciated the freedom we had with this project, as well as challenge of making it out recycled material, I hope my skills continue to grow in the future and I can make something with more of the original intention and aesthetic I was going for, but I think given the guidelines of the project I did the best I could and I’m glad my project turned out the way it did.