Contents 1
Story of my mug
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Manythings about mugs
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Ahhhh Coffee
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Paper cup Vs Personal mug
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Hey! that is my Mug
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Brief for Experimentation
10
Ideas and Concepts
12
Testing 1
13
The Ritual
14
The Making
16
Final Concept
Story of my mug
From an exhibition my dad bought two mugs for us. In a few days, his broke mine didn’t. Then came series of fights everyday while mom was making boost for us. Its a chocolate drink. Tired of this, mom had bought 4 new tupperware mugs that day. They were so colourful and we were excited. My brother was older and smarter. He claimed “Green is my mug.” Little did I thought about choosing the colours. “ Purple is mine”, I quickly reacted. He then silently takes the maroon and what was left was yellow. I wasn’t a fan of yellow. But as I got older I started liking it. After clearly establishing our ownership of the mugs any interchanging was strictly prohibited. Next day when we woke up and walked into the kitchen for breakfast saw my mom breaking the pact as she gently poured warm milk into maroon and green mugs. House went two ways that day. Nothing did my mom about the rules of the mugs. We explained it to her. Since then its always been yellow in the morning and purple in the evening for me. These mugs have stayed with me for a very long time, and each time there was a differnt story that the mug became a part of. Now after I have moved out, of course with the mug, it always reminds me of home. After a long tiring day, a cup of milk from my mug fuels me for the next day. It will always be my favoutite mug.
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Many things about mugs Plastic mugs are harmful When plastic is heated it releases BPA (Bisphenol A) which is an endocrine disruptor and thus has an adverse effect on our reproductive system. Definite proof of cancer has not been found yet. Also plastic bottles/cups should not be reused and water left in the car for over a day should not be consumed. http://naradanews.com/2016/07/drinking-from-plastic-cups-bottles-can-cause-cancer/
But they are reusable and doesnt break They come in wide variety of colours and shapes The fact that they are safe, convenient and practical to use. They are also on the guard of any injury that may harm from using breakable items. http://EzineArticles.com/6644024
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Tea cups https://www.teaguardian.com/tea-hows/tea-cup/
It was somethings new for me as I never thought that cup could actually make the liquid taste different. I have experienced with plastic mugs but never really noticed about the other cups. The size, material, material thickness, erogonomics of the cup, all can change the experience of having a cup of tea.
Size “ I advise an effective capacity of 150 ml (or 5 oz) or smaller (note), which is your conventional teacup size. If you like taller ones for better aroma enjoyment, choose even smaller ones, say 100 ml, and a thinner material. “ - Leo Kwan
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Material Thickness “ Thicker ones appear to last longer and keep heat longer, but do not feel well in use, particularly how they fit the lips. Thinner ones may break easier but feels good at the lips; tea flows better at the thinner rim as well. Tea texture keeps better in thinner porcelain that is bowl shape. “ - Leo Kwan
Ergonomics “ The classic cup has a little curve on the rim so your lower lip fits against it and the fluid can easily flow. It also has a wider top for efficient cooling needed to maintain the infusion texture. Slant sides are good too if the slant is angled enough. Straight sides and those that curve in are more difficult to drink from. They hold the aroma better, but lose the texture. The thistle shape, or its derivatives, with a larger belly, narrow neck and lip curving out, is a good compromise for tall cups with the classic design advantages. “ - Leo Kwan
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Ahhhh Coffee Freezing cold outside and just holding the warm cup around by my hands. How good that feels, the nector of gods ? That feels so good right now.
However, even though encircling your coffee mug in your hands makes sense, that’s not the right way to hold a coffee cup. https://www.bustle.com/articles/191046-youre-holding-your-coffee-cup-allwrong-according-to-this-etiquette-expert
According to etiquette expert Myka Meier, when you drink your cup of joe you’re supposed to loop your index finger through the handle, keeping your thumb on top of the handle. Your other three fingers should be tucked into the bottom of your hand. 5
For tea, she says, “You never loop your index finger into the handle. Instead, your index finger should meet your thumb through the handle as if you were pinching, and your middle finger should support by being placed under the handle. Think ‘pinch and support!’”
Paper cup Vs Personal mug
Many coffee shops have tried to promote reusable mugs by offering a 10-cent discount to customers who bring their own cups to the café. Chances are, if a place sells coffee, it will give you a discount for remembering your tumbler. But few caffeine addicts are taking advantage. Consumers hate being fined but rarely go out of their way to save a few cents 6
Several other obstacles stand in the way of a reusable-mug renaissance: carrying around a tumbler is inconvenient; unique travel-mug sizes can give baristas trouble; and, interestingly, the paper coffee cup has also become a status symbol, a signal of wealth and a busy schedule, and consumers are loathe to give that up.
Hey! that is my Mug Nearly 60% of people said they had an emotional attachment to a favorite mug in a survey by the Heinz company. About 40% said their special mug was irreplaceable, and about one-third said they would be devastated if it broke. Many of us cherish our favorite mug and feel ultra-possessive about it. It could be many different reasons. First, it gives you a sense of ownership. We all like to own things that mug get its spot quite easily. Stacked deep behind cupboard doors, forgotten on kitchen tables, brown sediment pooled on the bottom, perched on office desks, stuffed into car seat dividers: They follow us through life. They reveal who we are. And in time it becomes a part of lives.
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It remainds us of the time. “Everyday I used to drink a cup of coffee with my dad after work” and that’s more than a good enough reason to make it my favourite mug. It still reminds me of the days we were together. Toni Coleman, LCSW, CMC, a psychotherapist and relationship coach in McLean, Virginia, says she’s particularly attached to a sturdy, brown mug she has owned for years. “I acquired it one incredible summer I spent living at the beach when I was 22,” she says. “When I look at or drink from my mug, it evokes feelings associated with that summer. There’s just something about it that feels good and feels safe, even if it’s on an unconscious level...It provides continuity with the past and reminds me of who I used to be.” Mugs also earn our affection because of the hot beverages they contain. Research shows that just wrapping your hands around a warm mug can conjure up warm feelings toward others. Pair that with the enticing flavors and aromas of coffee, tea, or cocoa, and you’ve got a richly rewarding experience. In addition, many hot drinks have chemical properties that keep us reaching for our mugs, day in and day out.
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https://www.psychologytoday.com/ blog/minding-thebody/201602/6-reasonswere-emotionally-attached-our-favorite-mugs
Coffee mugs mark stages in life. College students eat out of mugs and drink wine out of mugs and make mugs into ashtrays. The ceramic walls keep their poverty hidden like glasses never could. We graduate. We grow up and move on. Our mugs may not. “To hold onto stigmatized objects that convey personal connections in spite of disdain from others probably conveys a stronger and more connected sense of self than someone who has a clean industrial look to their homes, whose cars lack personal bumper stickers, and who fail to wear the ugly tie given by their child.” “Our possessions are extensions of the self, he says, both in this life and beyond. They change with us while we’re alive, and serve as reminders of our quirkiness when we’re gone. Stay weird, mugs. Then so shall we.” - Russell Belk, professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business in Canada Everytime when my mom gave me tea or coffee, she would always ask me to be careful because it is hot. Now when I live alone, I hear her voice telling me “I told you so” everytime I burn my tongue. There is something satisfying about using a familiar and well-loved object rather than something impersonal. A mug, we use it everyday, it becomes a prop or sometimes the main character in our daily life. Our mugs have different stories to tell, and it is these stories that make who we are.
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Brief for Experimentation In short, people and situation make our mugs become a favourite mug. To make a favourite, that has stories to tell. A mug that talks about us, who we are and what we are. A mug that connects one to times from the past or reminds of a bond with someone that only grows stronger.
Ideas and Concepts 1. Family DIY kit 2. Protector for Mug (it never breakes) 3. A ritual that one does which in itself becomes a part of the memory 4. Has finger impression of someone special 5. Mug that morphs with temperature I decided to go with making a ritual that becomes a memory. By choosing this I felt i could bring in the some of the other ideas to be a part of it. As I was looking at different family traditions I came across this.... Plate-breaking ritual for turning eighteen—In some cultures, “breaking the plate” is done to symbolize the break in the dependency relationship of child to parents. Mom and dad are no longer the meal ticket and from this point on, “Everything we do for you is because we love you, not because we have to.”
http://www.mykidsadventures.com/new-family-traditions/
After further research I also found out thar in Europe porceline is broken during weddings as a sign of good luck. Somehow I was very excited about breaking it. Who doesn’t like to break things? And why are we worried about our mugs breaking? What if its already broken? Would we take extra care then? All these questions became more and more intersting and what happens next took me by surprise.
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There is should a way to put the broken mug back together, I thought. There are so many methods that comes when you search for it. Methods such as Kintsugi - is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise really was amazing. The piece after Kintsugi is even more beautiful. It has a stronger story to tell. There were other methods like using epoxy and sticking it back together. Though it is edible epoxy, when I asked my friends around they said they would’nt use it. Even Kintsugi is done using chemicals and is not adviced for drinking from it. In my search for organic ways to fix it I found a way to fix broken ceramics with milk. MILK. Yes, I read it many times to conirm it. One of my classmates told me that milk will work perfect because of it nature to break down into lactoes that has plastic like structure. She was also curious to see if it works and wa kind enough to give me some of her old coffee cups. We then found a video where a gut tires it and it failed for him and he ended up having curdly milk which stinked his whole house. The milk we get in supermarket is very dilute and processed was the only explanation we could think of. But I still wanted to try.I thought about it and felt maybe condensed milk would work better. I checked a bit on google and also found that someone had already tried it earlier. Next thing to do was to do it myself and see.
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Testing 1
1. Broke the mug
2. Tied an elastic to hold the piece in place and dipped it in warm condensed milk
3. Removed the condensed milk after 2 hours and kept it for drying for 2 days
4. Removed the elastic and ckecked if it fixed.
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I was really surprised that the experiment worked. The cup was fixed and did not leak. 5. Washed the mug
The Ritual Experimenting by self gives a lot of satisfaction. With the posiive energry I came up with a ritual. This mug will be sold as a pair. It will be glazed with two colours, one on the inside and and a different color on the outside. One cup will be the opposite of the other in terms of glazing. Both the mugs are cracked ( I would like to call it pre-cracked) on the side opposite to the handle, before firing it. It isnt visible to anyone. The two users of the mugs initially cheers with or without liquid, but no hot liquids. The idea is that since the mugs are precracked, it would crack at the same joint. Since they are precracked similarly, one should be able to mix the pieces and still be able to attach it.
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The Making
1. First time using clay so wanted to make a simple mug by rolling it
2. Rolled body of the mug
3. Two mugs made. But I dint want to pre-crack them as they were different and I was enjoying.
4. Two mugs made
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5. Crese for pre-crack
6.Pre-cracked mugs
7. Pre-crack sealed with slurry on the outterside.
The mugs need to be fired and tested. Due to lack of time I was unable to complete it. 15
Final Concept
Cheers!
Buy / gift it
Cheers!
Cheers!
Cheers hard enough to break the mug. For some messy fun, add cold liduids.
Cheers until both the mugs are broken
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1. Place the broken pieces together
2. Secure it with elastic
3. Add warm condensed milk to a container
4. Place the mug with elastic in the container
5. Carefuly remove the milk from the container after two hours
6. Let the mug dry for two days. Wash and use
Cheers!