◊CONTRAST◊

A design that shows great contrast is the Glenmorangie Pride 1981 single malt whiskey decanter and coffer. The glass decanter was designed by French glassware designer Laurence Brabant and the wooden coffer was designed by Dutch designer Wouter Schueblin. The contrast is seen in the materials chosen for the set, starting with the smooth glass set against the grainy wooden box. The clear glass shows the light tone of the whiskey inside, while the solid wooden box's dark sides reveal nothing until it is opened. The glossy metallic clasp matches the neck and cap of the bottle, but is offset by the rough texture of the suede liner inside the coffer. Even though there is a similar hue between the components of the set, their tones are are contrasting enough to push each subtle difference to it's own level. Even with all of these opposing and contrasting elements, there is a balance to each aspect of this product. Each component's contrast to another works as a complement for it at the same time.

As for a product that has a poor use of contrast, I am looking to a product that I personally have an issue with. I am a bicycle mechanic by profession and I use a set of hand tools on a regular basis, so I chose to buy Chraftsman tools because they have a lifetime warranty. I really enjoy most of the features of their tools, but one type of tool that I have a problem with are the screwdrivers because I can not tell them apart easy enough. While working on a bike, I often have tools scattered on a work bench and I need to be able to grab the correct tool from the pile without too much effort. This is a problem with the flat head and phillis screw drivers because they both feel the same in my hand, and the only way to tell at a quick glance is with the red stripe that is painted on the outside of the flat ones. There should be more contrast in the shape of the handles, possibly changing one from a round shape to a rounded rectangle on one of the styles, or making the sizes drastically different enough that it would be easy to tell the difference. With just a small tweak to the contrast between the different types of screwdrivers, I believe these could be much more successful products.