What does the sound of music in a kitchen look like?

March 29th, 2012

Organisers of the Electrolux Design Lab competition have asked people to submit pictures about sound.

It may not be as obscure of an idea as the sound of a tree crashing down in an empty forest, but Electrolux hopes it will get contestants thinking outside the square.

It’s all part of this year’s Design Lab competition, which is calling for appliance designs based around a sensory experience.

The touch and feel of appliances is an obvious choice when considering a sensory experience but the smell or sound is a subject less explored and one that Electrolux would like contestants to delve into.

“When we talk to designers, one thing that keeps popping up as a main source of inspiration for them is music,” said Electrolux.

“And music is dependent on the sense of hearing. So we would really love it if you could share a creative and inspiring picture with us illustrating the sense of hearing.”

Collected on the company’s Pinterest board, the images vary from the appliance-related to dogs with big, floppy ears.

You are what you eat and listen to, by Douglas Sanchez

The musical kettle by Oscar Salguero

The sound of an egg frying by Alexandre de Bastiani

Do you recognise that sound? Tsssshh aaahhh! by Den Orlenok

Hello Puppy, by Laura Dogsmom

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.