Hanako Kawasaki
Industrial Design
Make cooking and eating at home a more enjoyable and relaxing experience for everyone.
Final year project
The fusion of Past and Present Technology
Overview
Fermentation and dehydration are both known preservation methods and food waste is a worldwide and long term issue that not only designers but is something everyone has been tackling to solve. My project tackles the issue of food waste and unhealthy eating habits by combining these two technologies to help build healthier snacking habits at home.
About the Brand
SAKU is a Japanese Kitchen Appliance brand that values the balance between usability and aesthetics. Our goal is to make cooking and eating at home a more enjoyable and relaxing experience for everyone.
The attitude of being mindful of what you eat every day is a wonderful way of showing love to yourself. But the balance between our busy lifestyle and cooking can be a difficult challenge - we want to offer a product that eases these difficulties, and gives everyone the opportunity to be more thoughtful of what they eat every day.
Rapid Eco Dehydrator
Food is what we consume every day and is an essential part of our life that helps build our healthy bodies. This Rapid Eco Dehydrator delivers essential nutrients to our body in a form of dehydrated fermented food. It dehydrates fermented vegetables and fruits at the best quality by preserving their nutrition and delivers a new approach to incorporating dehydrated food into your diet.
Refractance Window Drying Technology
The dehydrator uses circulating water at atmospheric pressure to carry heat to the product to be dried. Thermal energy carried by the circulating water transmits sensible heat through the film to the food material over the film by conduction and radiation.
This technology requires 7 times less drying time and retains the carotene and colour of the food due to the low ascorbic acid loss associated with the rapid moisture loss from the product resulting in high vapour saturation above the product. The saturated vapour limits product oxygen interaction and helps to maintain the quality of the product.
Probiotics Generator
Not all bacterias are bad for your health. Probiotics are bacterias that help keep your body healthy and working. This Probiotics Generator offers a clever and unique way of increasing the number of probiotics in your everyday diet. As much as we value the final outcome of the product, I believe that it is as important to enjoy the process of cooking and the experience of wanting to cook more and this design deliver the experience of not only being able to create a healthy meal but motivates you to want to stay in the kitchen more to cook.
Color Variations
There are 3 different colour variations for users to pick and choose the one that fits the aesthetics of their kitchen the most. While having 3 different distinct colors from each other they all hold the same colour theme of the brand and gives the feeling of comfort and sustainability.
The Design
A kitchen appliance that can be used as an element to decorate your dining table. The design was inspired by the traditional Japanese pattern “Asanoha”, which resembles the features of a hemp leaf. This pattern has traditionally been used on children's kimonos in the hope they would grow up with a strong and healthy bodies.
Hanako Kawasaki
Final year project
The fusion of Past and Present Technology
Work Experience
My work experience with Aete Co., Ltd between 2020– 2021 in Tokyo, Japan was invaluable in giving me an insight into working in a small fast-paced environment. I worked at this design company for 1 year and gained professional experience in CAD, 3D printing, graphic design, and oral presentations. I also participated in the organization of exhibitions and pop-up stores to promote new product lines.
During my 6 months of work experience at Altenergy Co., Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, I worked together with the UX team in a Solar Panel company to re-design the company landing page, as well as stimulate the energy efficiency of solar energy, and translate Japanese documents into English. During the internship, I was able to realize the importance of sustainable energy usage and how designers can make an impact.
I worked as a freelancer at a marketing company, Sugata Research to conduct interviews with participants on a product line being developed to be launched in 2023. We interviewed 200 participants in total about the new design features of the product using high fidelity prototypes as well as user interactions.