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"Enigmas of everyday design" answered

By Rain Noe - July 9, 2007

in Object Culture

Here's a photo essay entitled "Solving the enigmas of everyday design," which asks a dozen questions like:

- Why are CD cases smaller than DVD boxes if the discs are the same size? - Why is milk sold in cartons and soda in cans? - Why do men's and women's clothing have buttons on different sides? - Why do some cars have the fuel fill cap on the left, others on the right?

The questions are taken from economist Robert H. Frank's book The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas. Any product designer should know at least half of these but if you don't, the answers are provided, so you can have your Cliff Clavin moment at the bar.

via internationalheraldtribune

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joe

17 years ago

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dvds are meant to fit the format of video boxes for rental stores, soda is pressurized, the clothing is a from servant dressing and general historic inertia, and cars often have the gas on the less convenient side because many european and asian cities still have roadside shoulder gas stations which are very narrow and are attendant operated.
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Des

17 years ago

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An easy was to see this design principle in action is to put carbonated drinks into a square still water bottle and shake it, it will become round.
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alexander Kwapis

17 years ago

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Arn't buttons on women on the oppisite side because way back when they had servents dress them and we just never changed? Soda is probably in a can because it needs to be pressurized while it is cheaper for a wax paper carton for milk. CDs used to be in very large boxes. Do you remember???? Why they are they way they are now...Not sure. Maybe as people transitioned from video tape to DVDs they felt that they should be of similar size. Maybe to look better on the same shelves.
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Ken J

17 years ago

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It seems that the book has some good research, but there are examples that are fabricated. As was brought up on Design Observer, the author explains that milk cartons are square because they are easier to store (true), but soda cans are round because they are easier to hold (false). Soda containers are pressurized, milk is not. That is why they are shaped the way they are.
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