1-2-PAINT: the epitome of good design

The Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) have just been announced for 2005 and they’re well worth a look as any recipient, be it a Gold, silver or Brnze award, is among the best and most striking projects in the world of international design. One that really caught our eye in the 2005 awards was 1-2-Paint - a paint bucket with an innovative lid that serves as a paint tray. One of the jurors commented: “In my opinion, 1-2 Paint represents what design is all about. Some products become commodities until a creative design idea adds new qualities to one of them. Then, the whole market is redefined. Paint containers will never be the same after this project.”

The annual IDEA competition grants prizes in a number of categories such as consumer products, medical and scientific products, industrial products, furniture and packaging. All entries have been judged on five criteria: innovation, aesthetics, user benefits, environmental responsibility and economic success. 1-2-Paint impressed the jury on all points.

While painting, the lid is firmly secured at an angle with the bucket thus creating a paint tray, after use the lid can be easily closed off so that the paint does not dry out and can be reused over and over again. This means pouring into separate paint trays and cleaning are no longer needed and less paint is wasted. This product has the added advantage of saving ‘operational’ costs for the consumer.

The is an expert in the field of design and development of durable consumer products, 3D packaging design and professional products.

Developing 1-2-Paint project was a special project at the Dutch-based design office of FLEX. In most cases FLEX works directly for national and international clients, but the idea for 1-2-Paint originated in the company’s INNOVATIONLAB. It was refined in close cooperation with AKZO NOBEL COATINGS, was granted a patent and is now available on the Dutch, Belgian, Spanish and British markets.

The innovative product offers terrific opportunities for paint brands in a market where it is hard for consumers to tell the difference between the available paint brands. Or as juror Chris Conley (IDSA, Principal, Gravity Tank) mentioned: “What is remarkable about the 1-2 Paint System is that it addresses both a person's typical frustration with managing paint during use, as well as the environmental impact and economic waste produced by disposable paint trays. There are thousands of everyday problems like this that would benefit from the thoughtfulness exhibited by the designers of this packaging innovation. Bravo!”