Zükr Toy Vac and Trash Can
 
Toy cleanup and its avoidance might not qualify as world-class conundrums, but they are universal, and possibly even solvable, nuisances. Hayes Urban, a designer with Urban Edge in Austin, Texas, believes that children can be inspired to pick up their own toys if the de-cluttering equipment becomes part of the game. Urban has proposed two products to make work into play. The Zükr Toy Vac is a "toy chest with integrated vacuum," and the Zükr Trash Can includes a dustpan and brush mounted on a little container. How does play work? To vacuum a floor covered with Legos, a child pulls the flexible elephant trunk (hose) from the Toy Vac's bulbous body, squeezes the end cap to trigger the suction, and watches the blocks travel along the see-through hose and past the polycarbonate lid. The hose retracts into the body to become a distinctive snout. After art projects and snacks, a child can use the anthropomorphic trash can to sweep up. He or she pulls its nose (handle) to reveal a dustpan, and lifts the Mohawk hairdo (bristles) to find a brush. Globus, who praised the whimsy of this overdue solution, stopped laughing to say, "Anyone who's been a parent will crack up over this."
 
Excerpt taken from of I.D. Magazine 52nd Annual Design Review, pg 214.
 
See "I.D. Magazine."
 
Concepts, Honorable Mention, Moderated by Barbara Flanagan, July/August, 2006 (pg 214).