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Disproving an Industrial Design Professor's Rule: Dishwashers Have Gone Invisible, Why Haven't Toasters?

Some objects get to disappear, others don't

By Rain Noe - January 10, 2020

in Homeware | Object Culture

While urging us to design unobtrusive objects, one of my Industrial Design professors used to say "No one wants a toaster. What people want is toast."

It took me years to realize that that wasn't true. If you look one of the more popular toasters on the market…

…you can see that these have enjoyed success because they announce their presence. People are plunking down $160 for a toaster that doubles as a "design accent" and has its brand prominently featured across the side, as if a toast-eater will be proud to read those letters each morning.

On the other hand, a subset of dishwashers have become invisible, at least compared to the one I remember growing up with. The janky dishwasher in my childhood home was noisy and featured its controls on its face, near the handle. But if you look at a high-end modern-day dishwasher like this Siemens model, it's so invisible that its product photography has to show it ajar, otherwise you wouldn't even know there's a dishwasher there:

The other benefit of photographing it ajar is that you can see that the controls are now hidden away, on the inside top edge of the door:

Siemens isn't alone in this approach, of course. Here's a model from competitor Bosch:

Bosch's models are reportedly so quiet that consumers wondered whether they were still running, a problem the engineers were presumably thrilled with. Bosch's designers, with no front-mounted display on which to indicate operating status, responded by adding the "Bosch InfoLight." This is simply a red dot discreetly projected onto the floor, letting you know that the thing is running:

Siemens did them one better with their "TimeLight," which not only lets you know the machine is on, but also how much time is left in the cycle:

So it looks like Professor Hannah was partially right about what consumers want, but he used the wrong object for his example.

Lastly I'll say, I hate toasters. They take up way too much space on the counter for something I'll eat once a day at most, and cleaning them out is a pain. What I want in a toaster of the future is that it's just a special dish that lives in the cabinet. Pull it out, drop two slices of bread on it, and it toasts them in the manner of a wireless charging pad, using some magical process that doesn't burn your fingers. When you're done, it disappears back into the cabinet. That, I'd happily pay $160 for.

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Craighton Berman

4 years ago

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"What I want in a toaster of the future ... that lives in the cabinet. Pull it out, drop two slices of bread on it, and it toasts them "

It's called an oven, Rain. Put bread in it, turn it on broil, take out toast. It's not hard.

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Candy Christian

4 years ago

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Dishwashers don't start fires when you forget they are on. Close the door on a hidden toaster and walk away in the middle of a toasting cycle and it may be the last time. The cost of solving that "problem" (hiding toasters) would be far greater than the cost of just making them look like cool things people want to display.

That reality has nothing at all to do with the rightness or wrongness of the professor's statement. The public's alleged preference for just having toast and not having to see the appliance that makes it doesn't mean necessarily mean 1- that they are willing to go without toast to achieve that aim or 2- that that desire is strong enough in a large enough population for appliance makers to produce the costly means of having both desires met.

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Bradley Johnson

4 years ago

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Perhaps something like this would suit you better?

The Infolight and Timelight are going to drive my pets crazy, but I'm sure you can disable it. Locating the controls at the top edge of the door is pretty standard these days, but that custom cabinetry face is slick!

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Devon Noonan

4 years ago

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If you have a gas stove, what you want is a camp-stove toaster; it sits on top of the burner and makes toast. Doesn't do both sides at once, but folds neatly for storage in your drawer. They'll even do four pieces at once. https://www.coghlans.com/products/camp-stove-toaster-504d

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Mark Hollister

4 years ago

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Good to see I'm not the only one who agrees that some people just want cool looking products instead of invisible stuff. This, much like the entire gospel of minimalism, is too often treated as absolute. As for me personally, there are some products that I prefer minimalist in function and invisible in appearance, and others that I want to stand out and look awesome, with all the bells and whistles I could want. And everyone will have different preferences on which products they prefer for these cases.

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Alex Vitet

4 years ago

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For safety reasons, not possible yet to enclose it per US building code. Or the encasing would have to be built like an oven, then who would want to pay the price of an oven for a dumb ass toaster?

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John Kestner

4 years ago

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I have that kind of Bosch dishwasher. Red dot or no, I'm frequently opening it mid-cycle. Good that it doesn't spray water everywhere.

My SO is adamant about clearing counter space. I don't know why, when we have a sweet digital inline toaster (one long slot) that must be from the 70s, judging by the forest green color. Getting a microwave small enough to fit in a floating cabinet (those undershelf ones are stupidly expensive) once this one dies, putting the toaster and blender away when done. I want to wire outlets into the drawers so they can stay in there, but I suppose the Kitchen of the Future would be to cut slots into the countertop, where a computer can recognize whatever food you shove in it and cook it, or blend it, or both.

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Yoav Chen

4 years ago

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FYI
Siemens and Bosch are the same company and not competitors.

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- Yoav Chen
  
  Yoav Chen
  
  4 years ago
  
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  More correctly - three brands (Siemens, Bosch and Constructa) from a single company.
  
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  - Richard Funnell
    
    Yoav Chen
    
    4 years ago
    
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    Don't forget Gaggenau, Thermador, and about six other brands globally! Huge company, was my first ID job!
    
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Clay Davis

4 years ago

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SMEG is one of those companies where I truly appreciate the design of their products. However, I am reluctant to ever purchase one just because "Smeg" isn't something I want to read every day, or ever, really.

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rich rich

4 years ago

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somebody had toast for breakfast.

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