Rekindle
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Rekindle //
Holiday waste, reimagined as a candlestick base
Bring warmth and beauty to your table space for the holiday season with this heirloom accent piece, sure to brighten the season and spark conversations.
I. Initial ideation
Rekindle’s evolution covered a lot of ground before it hit market. Our team was tasked with designing a holiday anchored project that was made from at least 50% reclaimed material and reproduced 12 times.
We explored numerous concept archetypes, attempting to find ways to celebrate the reclaimed material while keeping its from grounded in traditional holiday settings.
II. Material DEvelopment
At the core or Rekindle’s identity is the utilization of reclaimed materials. We began by sourcing PLA from 3D printing waste around our studio. This fell short of our original goal to soak conversations about excessive waste during the holiday season, so we turned to HDPE instead.
The housings that hold Christmas tree lights are most commonly made from HDPE. Every year incredible amounts of these lights are thrown away. As a material, reclaimed HDPE proved to be more reliable and predictable to work with, making it an ideal choice.
III.Prototyping
Our team took a lot of care to make sure we got Rekindle’s form right. The main challenge was balancing our new material’s visual appearance with a form that could easily compliment the user’s home. The result was a shape that held it’s roots closer to traditional candlestick bases, but still exemplified the reclaimed material central to its identity.
IV. Production
Rekindle’s production process was relatively simple, but still required strong attention to detail. We began by melting down our reclaimed plastic mixture in a five dollar thrifted panini press. From there we mixed it multiple times to achieve a marbling effect, and pressed it into shape using a 3D printed/ CNC cut mold. From there a concrete cast base was glued to the newly formed plastic drip tray, and the product was ready for market. We produced 24 units in three weeks, all of which sold in a 48 hour period at the Boulder Firefly Market.
