Charcoal can be messy stuff... luckily for us dynamic design duo, Mike and Maaike, have tackled this process with their new Baja BBQ Firepack for Design Annex/Lazzari. The design of the packaging as a recycled, functional aspect of the process is just genius.

"The Baja BBQ Firepack is charcoal packaging that lights instantly and burns away in the grille, making the barbeque experience simple, clean and chemical free. Made from 100% recycled biodegradable paper pulp, the package contains 2 lbs of natural lump charcoal and features an integrated chimney that creates perfect hot coals in 15-20 minutes without the aid of chemicals or lighter fluid. Available at gourmet supermarkets. Manufactured by Lazzari/ Design Annex - patent pending" See the process in pics on the next page...

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Tags: bbq - green - packaging - recycled

NOTConcept 001: The Ultimate Grill - [Research] [1: Idea Sketching] [2: Concept Dev] [3: 3D Renders]

Can you believe we're already at the final installment of the first NOTConcept, a NOTCOT and HERO Design Lab collaboration? So, you've seen the research, the sketching/brainstorming, the concept development, and here is our final piece of NOTConcept 001 - the Ultimate Grill! Here are the 3D renders of the product, and some photomontages of the product in context. Lots to see after the jump ~ in particular, i love the details of how you can swap in different logos/symbols/anything really in the grill plate itself to mark the food differently (whether that is NOTCOT, or "medium rare" and "well done", or a little veggies only symbol)... also its versatile enough to be hanging, or with a floor stand... anyhow see below and the details are outlined!

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Tags: bbq - concepts - cooking - grill - HERO-Design-Lab - ideas - kitchen - NOTConcept

NOTConcept 001: The Ultimate Grill - [Research] [1: Idea Sketching] [2: Concept Dev] [3: 3D Renders]

So, last week, in collaboration with HERO Design Lab, NOTCOT kicked off NOTConcept 001 with the brainstorming + sketches of what the future grill might look and function like. With input from readers and friends, we're excited to show you Part 2, more detailed sketches focusing on a specific concept that has evolved from idea B1 (the hanging grill/pod idea) and C-series (the "smart fire jacks" idea). The result is this new series of concepts around modular heating elements for cooking, and the various housing they can adapt to... see all the ideas below!

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Tags: bbq - concepts - cooking - grill - HERO-Design-Lab - ideas - kitchen - NOTConcept

NOTConcept 001: The Ultimate Grill - [Research] [1: Idea Sketching] [2: Concept Dev] [3: 3D Renders]

NOTConcept: The Ultimate Grill Part 1. Well, we showed you some of our research on the many grills and induction implementations out there, and now for Part 1, we have 20 ideas to bounce off of you! Yes, those above are only three of 20 sketches that you can see fully after the jump. And those 20, are our favorites of even MORE that didn't even make it off the sketchbook pages and into photoshop! Keep in mind these are the crazy first round of brainstorming types of sketches we start with, before we start to narrow things down based on tighter constraints... and we're looking to have fun conceptually, so, don't worry about trying to actually build any of these - tomorrow?

For a quick recap ~ NOTConcept is a new experimental collaboration between NOTCOT and HERO Design Lab, where we will run through ideas from research and extremely rough sketches to glossy renders in under 2 weeks per project... and document/share it all along the way. Reason? We love designing, and with so much inspiration daily, why not play with fun projects and exercise our design minds/skills outside of our usual client work?

SO ~ curious what we came up with? Take a look below, and help us decide what direction to take when we flesh out one of these ideas in the next post...

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Tags: bbq - concepts - cooking - grill - HERO-Design-Lab - ideas - kitchen - NOTConcept

NOTConcept 001: The Ultimate Grill - [Research] [1: Idea Sketching] [2: Concept Dev] [3: 3D Renders]
Introducing the first NOTConcept! This is the intro of a new NOTCOT Experiment where NOTCOT has teamed up with industrial design duo, Leo Corrales and Jenny Lemieux, of HERO Design Lab, to put some of the constant design/trend/inspiration curating across NOTCOT to good use... by flexing our design minds and skills and to bring readers further into the design process with us, we will be presenting 4 NOTConcepts in three parts each...

Each NOTConcept will start with a brief and some visual research (starting with a search across NOTCOT.com and NOTCOT.org, and making our way through the internet and real world) - for this premier project we look to design the ultimate portable grill/BBQ utilizing newer/future technologies.
1. The first post will show you various concept sketches, doodles, and ideas (which we'd love to have you weigh in on which direction interests you).
2. The second post will take one of the previous ideas and further research and flush out the concept.
3. The third post will consist of 3D renders of that concept.
(and all three steps will happen in under 2 weeks!)

Basically we wanted to find a fun way to put our skills together, and have some fun, like in our grad school days, and have an opportunity (or excuse?) to work on projects with minimal constraints - basically playing with those inspiring crazy ideas our clients never go for! So... to kick things off, want to see every interesting grill, bbq, induction piece i put together to inspire this first project? (GIANT collage after the jump!)

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Tags: bbq - HERO-Design-Lab - kitchen - NOTConcept - research