Dezeen Magazine

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

French creative publisher Goodmoods has released a collection of soft matte ceramics that mimic the shape of single-use plastic bottles.

The Consigne vessels come in four shapes, with each available in three of six powdery colours, including bengal red, mimosa yellow, meringue white and fir green.

This results in 12 variations that can be used as vases, carafes or purely as decorative objects.

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

Each of the bottles emulates the typical shape of a commercial plastic bottle, but is made from long-lasting stoneware ceramic.

For this reason, Goodmoods founder Julia Rouzaud describes the collection as diametrically opposed to its mass-produced counterpart.

"We wanted to work with completely natural components," she told Dezeen. "Stoneware ceramic is a timeless and durable material and our bottles are non-porous, cadmium- and lead-free and do not chip."

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

Together with the artisans of Jars Ceramistes – a pottery company that has been based in Provence since 1857 – Rouzaud's team developed hand-made plaster moulds for each shape.

"Everything was tested and re-tested to fine tune the balance of the shape, the curvature of the neck, and the saturation of the colours, which were especially developed," she said. "From there, the production takes 10 steps and 21 different hands."

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

The clay mixture – which also includes a type of soft white clay called kaolin and feldspar minerals – is slip cast in these moulds.

Once the two halves are assembled together, the seams are removed to create a perfectly smooth shape that can then be enamelled.

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

"Enamels provide earthy colours with their powdery matte finish, while remaining intense with their saturated pigments," Rouzaud explained.

"We wanted to have an unlimited playground of colour combinations, like colour therapy for your everyday life."

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

Through borrowing the visual language of single-use plastic bottles but subverting what they represent, Rouzaud hopes to deliver a tongue-in-cheek critique of our throwaway culture.

"Like a satire of our plastic use, the idea was to nod to these ubiquitous, disposable forms in our everyday life while creating a timeless object," she said.

"We don't want to preach to anyone, but to respond in our own offbeat, colourful way to the subject."

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

Goodmoods is primarily a digital trend-forecasting publication and creative agency, but has recently branched out into product design with its Goodmoods Éditions series.

Consigne is the second collection released as part of the project, which sees the publication debut a different limited-edition product range every month.

Goodmoods' handmade sandstone bottles are a "satire of our plastic use"

A slew of recent projects have seen designers respond to the problem of plastic waste in different ways.

Dorian Renard used the virgin material to create luxury furniture that is designed to be kept for a long time, while Enis Akiev developed a method for recycling post-consumer waste plastic into tiles.

Others experimented with replacing it altogether, as in studio PriestmanGoode's airplane meal trays made from ground coffee beans.