Central Saint Martins graduate Robert Cooper has created chocolate and wafer snacks that can be built into Airfix-style models, which are on display at the New Designers Part 2 exhibition that opened yesterday (+ slideshow).
Designed for a project led by confectionary company Cadbury's, Cooper's Chocolate Airfix packs include chocolate filled shapes that are cracked from a wafer sheet – similar to model aeroplane kits.
The pieces, which come in four different packs, can be stuck together to create a plane, a car, a horse or a dinosaur.
The brief set to Central Saint Martins students was to come up with an innovative chocolate product, based on the fact that consumer expectations are increasing, reflecting the increase in chocolate prices.
Cooper's design uses hollow-wafer technology – a wafer shell, made in two halves and formed over a mould. The resulting shapes are stamped out of the sheets and the two halves are brought together and filled with chocolate, which glues them in place.
Cooper said he was driven by the under-utilisation of this technology within the confectionary industry.
"The result is a product that uses hollow-wafer technology to its full potential, and creates a mess-free moment of Cadbury's escapism that crosses generations, cultures and languages," he said.
In addition to constructing a model, the consumer can also use the packaging to create 3D images on a smart phone or tablet with augmented reality.
"The 3D image brings the packaging to life, creating the effect of a real dinosaur standing on the packaging, enriching the chocolate experience for a generation of children who are more used to HD video games than to the painted illustrations on a Airfix box that captured the imagination of previous generations," Cooper told Dezeen.
The packaging is made from thermoformed polystyrene with a foil lid, much like a yoghurt pot, except it is resealable so some can be saved for later.
Cooper designed Chocolate Airfix while studying on the BA Product Design course at the Central Saint Martins arts institution in London. It is currently on show at London's Business Design Centre for the second part of the New Designers graduate exhibition, which continues until 5 July.
