Philippe Starck’s Juicy Salif lemon squeezer: Genius design or just a cool fruit squeezer?
Philippe Starck thought up his design for the Juicy Salif in a way that most of us budding young designers can relate to. A burst of inspiration from an unsuspecting everyday activity. Whilst enjoying a meal of calamari and noticing his lack of lemon wedge to accompany his plate, he started to doodle a lemon squeezer inspired by the form of a squid. Commissioned by the Italian design house Alessi, he submitted a food-soiled pizza mat with his first sketch of the lemon squeezer. And so the Juicy Salif was born.
The juicer itself and its usability as an everyday kitchen utensil are quite controversial. However, Starck himself says “It’s not meant to squeeze lemons, it is meant to start conversations”. And conversations it started.
The lemon squeezer can be bought from this website below for £49.95. Most reviews describe it as a “beautiful decoration piece”. And this brings the question. Can it be more than just a beautiful decoration?
We will start with the usability of the product. This piece of design follows form over function. At first glance, however, one would think that the design of the juicer head is clever, the shape combined with the ridges would make the liquid trickle down into a glass below with ease. Both ends of the juicer head could also be used to get the most out of the fruit you juice.
In reality, its usability is limited due to its design and is more of an aesthetically pleasing object. It does, however, come with an instruction manual to get optimum juicing abilities.
The instructions explain simply how to use the juicer. However, it does not perform. I will break down the problems with the usability of the juicer in sections.
Stability- The three spoke-like legs on the juicer have rubber feet at the bottom to avoid movement of the juicer whilst using it, and the distance between the legs further supports this. This does not offer much stability whilst in use due to the structure of the juicer. It is top heavy, taller than your average juicer and the thin stiletto like legs do not offer much support for this. The legs would need to be wider spread and thicker, but this would take away from its aesthetic appearance that Starck intended. Although the instructions insist on using two hands whilst juicing.
Pips and Flesh- The juicer has no catchment area for seeds, pips, and flesh and so the user will have to fish out the seeds from the glass by hand, which is less than ideal. The instructions mention nothing of this, and so it is clear that this was not taken into consideration whilst it was designed. The typical fruit juicer has a flat bowl-like shape at the bottom to catch the juice, seeds and all, that can then be tipped to receive the liquid.
Cleaning- The juicer tip, sharp in the way it is designed, is a serious hazard whilst cleaning and could cause injury. However, I believe some common sense can overcome this ‘issue’.
Messy- There are complaints that the juicer is messy, and will end up with more juice on your counter than in the glass. I would say this is dependant on the fruit you choose to juice.
Below you can find product review channel and their review on the Juicy Salif, the primary source where I used to find the issues with the Juicy Salif. It includes a video of the juicer being used as intended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSk4nC2hjgM
To conclude this section. The Juicy Salif as an everyday fruit juicer is not functional. Its design is not genius in terms of usability. And at this point, it is clear that if you are after a juicer that actually juices your fruit, go with a conventional cheap juicer. It will work far better.
We will now look into Philippe Starck’s real intentions for this interesting lemon squeezer and its worldwide success. He says it was meant to start conversations. The Juicy Salif is iconic in its own rights, iconic due to the history of its design, and the much-debated usability and worth. It is a successful product, only by its market performance. People are still buying this product to this day, not as a usable kitchen utensil, but as a piece of design.
There is a cult following behind the Juicy Salif, and this is explained by an article written by Laura Gonzales called ‘Juicy Salif as a cultish totem’. Gonzales believes that one could say the success of a poorly performing product is down to clever marketing techniques and promotions. I disagree with this slightly, although it may have played a part in its success. However, photos that were taken as part of the marketing show people holding the Juicy Salif in a very playful and creative way, and never held by the middle and main part of the squeezer. To hold it in the middle would make it look like a malicious weapon. This style of marketing makes us see the item as an item of pleasure and joy, something to enjoy rather than use. I believe that its unusual design, designed more like a futuristic sculpture is the success of the product also. It is visually a nice piece of design and intriguing if you don't already know what it is, and thus starts conversations, just as Starck intended. As Gonzales explains, it is not like any other lemon squeezer and has even been displayed in a contemporary art gallery. A link to the article used for this analysis will be linked below.
http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/657/1/Salif-CUP.pdf
The Juicy Salif by Philippe Starck is a desirable decorative piece of kitchen design and performs poorly as a lemon squeezer. People continue to purchase this product to enjoy its design, history, and stories behind it. It is iconic due to the controversial opinions on its usability but is designed for those who appreciate design over squeezing fruits. The Juicy Salif would be the perfect housewarming gift for a designer, and will definitely be a conversation starter at a party or a makeshift self-defense weapon. To conclude, is the Juicy Salif genius design? Innovative design no, but cultural and contemporary design yes. It is a visually interesting piece. If you want a lemon squeezer that actually juices your lemons, this is not the squeezer for you.
