HEMA is a popular department store in the Netherlands and sells all kinds of products ranging from household items to clothing and food. Whenever you enter a Dutch household you can be certain you'll find at least one, if not many, items from HEMA - typically recognised by their fun, optimistic and 'typical Dutch' design. Every year, HEMA hosts the HEMA design contest for a select topic and invites design students and young talent to send in their design ideas. In 2021, the competition topic was celebrating and the design challenge was to design a solution that makes celebrating together future-proof.
My design answer to this was the Koekslinger (Dutch for cookie garland) - an edible cookie garland that can be decorated, looks fun at any party and can be eaten at the end of it. The Koekslinger got shortlisted by HEMA and I got invited to present it to the design contest jury at the HEMA headquarters in Amsterdam.
Role
Student in product design studio at TU Delft for the 2021 HEMA design contest | Individual work
Client
HEMA
Tasks
Ideation | Concept development | Design sketches and visualisation | Prototyping | 3D design | Animation and presentation design
Achievements
Finalist at the 2021 HEMA design contest
Story about the Koekslinger in Ahrend van Dam's children's book 'De man in de klok'
Ideation and Concept Direction
After analysing HEMA's current product range, it was clear that their designs are fun and 'typical HEMA' but many of them are not sustainable. Particularly in their party range, lots of products are designed for one-time-use and made from plastic.
This inspired me to create designs where the product or packaging could be repurposed. I jokingly asked, "What if you could eat your decoration once it's no longer needed?"—leading to the idea of cookie decorations that guests can just eat at the end of the party.
Prototyping
To test the koekslinger idea I've spent a lot of time trying different recipes that would be suitable for a hanging garland. I've designed and 3D printed cookie cutters in different shapes and sizes and had lots of fun playing with different frostings and decorations for the final garlands.
Koekslinger Set for HEMA
To present the concept to HEMA I translated the cookie garland idea into three products that can be bought individually or as a set: a cookie cutter, a baking mix and pouches with sugar glaze.
I've designed the packaging for each product so that they fit within the HEMA brand and can be combined with other HEMA kitchen and baking products.
I've designed the packaging for each product so that they fit within the HEMA brand and can be combined with other HEMA kitchen and baking products.
Presenting the Koekslinger in front of the design contest jury at the HEMA headquarters in Amsterdam