Fake ice lollies show extent of water pollution in Taiwan

By Rhiannon McGregor 14 : 06 : 2017 Design : Food : Packaging

Taiwan – The series visualises the problem in a bid to make it easier for the wider public to digest.

Designed by students at the National Taiwan University of the Arts, the fake ice lollies have been sourced from 100 polluted bodies of water, such as rivers and lakes, around Taiwan. Hung I-chen, Guo Yi-hui and Cheng Yu-ti created each of the samples by first freezing the water in a mould and then casting it in polyester resin to preserve it.

Pieces of plastic, bottle caps and food wrappers are visible in the lollies, which range in colour from fairly clear, to murky green and black. The students designed colourful wrappers for each of the 100 ‘treats’, adding to the illusion of authenticity and creating a playful dynamic that better engages the audience. The packaging has been designed to represent each of the areas that the water was taken from.

The Big Picture

With pollution an increasing problem for communities across the globe, brands and designers are looking for new ways to bring the issue to the forefront of consumers’ collective consciousness. For more, see our Pollution Market report
As the issue of water pollution is often more hidden from everyday life than that of air pollution, creatives are looking for innovative ways to visualise these water toxins. For more, see our Briefing on THE UNSEEN.