2012-03-21
I'd like to tell you about my first vibrator - that is, the first one I ever designed. It was first introduced on the fall of 2008 at "Venus, Berlin's largest erotic expo. And thanks to my design the Israeli flag was raised alongside other countries' flags at the entrance to the expo for the first time!
One year earlier a woman named Hamutal called the studio, and requested to meet us regarding a routine matter - designing a product. Only she made sure to point out during our phone conversation that the product in question was a sex accessory, making sure we were comfortable with that. "Of course", we immediately replied. "We've developed kids toys before, but never adult ones… mmm… that sounds like fun…". What could be more delightful than designing pleasure accessories?
And so we set the meeting.
Those who keep up with global design news, whether through magazines or blogs, have probably come across sex toys that have been launched as "designer's objects" at recent design expos. These new toys are fun, elegant, diversely and finely shaped items, evocative of anything but phallic organs. They are sold at chic stores, which are entered right from the street!
And indeed, at the time of our first meeting with Hamutal there was a store called "Sisters" across the street from our studio, a corner shop with a light-colored window, delicately hinting at its contents. We had a daily reminder of how joyful, sophisticated and intimate this field has become, rather than the sleazy, underground image it had acquired during our childhood in the 80's. Like that old sex shop, which stood in the dark, smelly Rasco alley in Petah Tiqva. Men (never women, of course) would stroll up and down that alley, a burnt cigarette in their mouth, awaiting the moment they can sneak through the heavy red curtain and into the store...
On our first work meeting, it became clear to us that our new client knew exactly what she wanted; she brought rubber models which she had cast herself according to directions she got at the art store. She had a clear agenda on the product identity and the company branding: this will be a product designed for women, by women, and that was one of her main reasons for coming to us – a studio run by women. Later on Hamutal was joined by Shani, and together they established JOYA.
We were asked to design a refined, user-friendly, double headed vibrator, suited for both individual and shared pleasure, and to develop a unique mechanism that would encompass both engines within a small accessory, forgoing a bulky exterior motor. (Yes, when discussing the product's practicality and technical specifications – terms tend to decline on the "sexy" scale.
We also discussed packaging: the package would have to be both attractive and intriguing for display, and functional for storing the product at home. We all agreed that the stuff that appear on the "old school" box covers take us back to that old dingy-alley-atmosphere. What kind of clientele did the vibrator manufacturers have in mind when they printed heavily engineered blonds or wriggling brunettes on the box covers???
As with every new project, we joyfully set out to do some research on the subject, read some historic and sociological studies, received pounds of catalogues from recent expos and studied all that has been done in the field of vibrators ever since the invention of the first vibrator, back in 1869.
Vibrator design has taken an interesting course. It was first developed as a crude medical prop, used at the physician's clinic to cure female "hysteria". Next came accessories that resembled blow driers, hand drills and other motorized instruments, devoid of any ergonomic or stylistic clues as to their function. The phallic-anatomical era was next in line, and only recently we have started to witness a wave of fun, illusive and elegant accessories, with the German company Fun Factory leading the way by humanizing the products and introducing some well placed humor into the design, similarly to what companies likeAlesi and Koziol did for kitchen and bathroom accessories during the 80's and 90's.
The new vibrators, dildos and other pleasure accessories are now designed as fashionable jewelry or toys. In the last few years top designers such as Tom Dixon and Mark Newson, Michael Young and Matali Crasset have launched their own lines of sex accessories.
Sometimes it's actually hard to tell whether it's a toy for toddlers or for adults. Someone who has also made this connection has put together this cool visual quiz: sex toy or baby toy. Go ahead and test yourselves!
And so, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Out of the different concepts we had suggested, we chose to design the first vibrator in the shape of a tulip. We created a petal which unfolds from the sensuous flower, epitomizing both pleasure and innovation.
We also designed a book-like package, making for a hidden promise when closed. When the book is then opened and its secret revealed – a surprise is discovered. In this project the innocent image of a book concealing a secret makes room for a kinky little wink, for there is nothing more natural than placing a good book on the bedside table, is there?
"Sexy products" are often discussed in the design, marketing and branding world – everyone wants their product to be sexy. I remember tremulous meetings with mineral water, face cream and even tooth paste manufacturers, all of whom demanded a "sexy product".
So there, the story of a sexy product par-excellence. The tulip undoubtedly won the "sexy product of the year" award at our studio that year.
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