This project was a simple brief of only "Heat", I decided to attempt to address the issue of hot beverages going cold over time and then losing the enjoyment gained from a warm drink. I designed a heated, hook handled spoon that would allow the user to keep the head in their drink while it then warmed the drink, allowing the user to enjoy the warmth of their drink for longer.
Ideation began with many different ways of supplying the heat to a mug, with exposed heating elements, sealed heated containers, and multi-functional designs. To find out more about potential users I decided to send surveys around professional office spaces and other places with early starting hours that often have high caffeine intake throughout the day, asking questions about what they prefer, how often they have hot drinks, what they do when they find their drink has gone cold, what caused them to let their drink go cold. This gave me a very interesting and directing base of research, with many people getting coffee beforehand in their own containers, which eliminated a number of my designs and realising the potential health hazards of a simple exposed heating element. The spoon design allowed the product to not only be multi-functional but also be a familiar shape and tool to users.
To get the heating element within the head of the spoon without it touching the metal, I found a way of making cutlery which uses vacuum plating, which leaves a small gap in between the two pieces and fills it with either an inert gas or nothing creating a vacuum within the head. This would allow me to pass the wiring through the handle and to the connection at the back.
Using a magnetic cable attachment for the power would allow the user to have a regular, albeit beautifully finished spoon outside of using it as a heater improving its multi-functionality.