We all have to agree that the standard design of vending machines is boring in all kinds of ways, so when someone decides to breathe new geeky life into one of these, the initiative can only be appreciated.
The Goodie Monster vending machine could not have had a better name since, well, it’s a monster (a friendly one, for that matter, judging by its appearance) and it delivers all sorts of goodies.
The project was brought to life by Mette Hornung Rankin in cooperation with her friend and co-worker Mark Jacobs (not to be confused with Marc Jacobs, the American fashion designer, even though a Goodie Monster created by a fashion designer would have definitely been something to write home about). In fact, it seems it was Mark who came up with the idea in the summer of 2011, and after analyzing all the aspects (thing that took her about 30 seconds), Mette Hornung Rankin agreed to do this. However, it took them a while till the newly designed vending machine materialized. It should also be noted that they did this at their workplace, in the Goldsmith Building, fact that proves that their employers are quite reasonable. We will have to assume that the Goodie Monster was made after the working hours.
Mette and Mark did not stop at redesigning only the vending machine. They also drew some clouds on the walls surrounding the machine, along with some flying pears that head towards the monster, as if they want to be eaten. More than that, these two geeky designers also reimagined the buttons of the vending machines, and as seen in the above picture, their buttons are far more appealing than the originals.
Back to the design of the Goodie Monster, though. Mette recounts on her blog that the materials used for redesigning the vending machines, including a 5 pound box of polyfill and 12 yards of fake fur, were purchased from Fabric Depot, a major retailer of fabric in the US. The fake fur was sewn by Mette herself, and according to her, this particular task was rather tedious.
One thing that has not been changed, but needed to be mentioned is the selection of snacks that the Goodie Monster offers. With 12 snacks to choose from, I am pretty sure that everyone using that particular vending machine had their needs fulfilled. Announcing the arrival of the Goodie Monster was also done in an innovative way. The other people working in the Goldsmith Building received a Kind bar, along with a booklet, as seen below.
After being unveiled, the Goodie Monster became topic of discussion. Thus, he got to be reviewed by local food writers, but was also featured in such publications as Portland Tribune, Portland Pulp, Portland Chinatown’s newspaper and the Mix magazine. On January 27, the Goodie Monster project was accepted on Kickstarter and now I’m wondering if the two friends who made this plan to redesign all the vending machines, across the country. Last, but not least, the Goodie Monster is now featured on Facebook, so the ones who found this project interesting are kindly requested to show this to their friends by Liking the page.
If you liked this post, please check these 23 weird vending machines and this futuristic vending machine.
