Inspired by a childhood making houses and boats out of Paddle Pop ice cream sticks, Hardwick and Cesko has created the kids ‘Pop’ Bed.
Designed by David Hardwick, the bed is made of bamboo board and acrylic rope to create a piece of furniture suited to a child’s sensibilities.
“When I started thinking about the design I decided that it should be easily relatable to a child’s understanding of the world, in a sense that it should use a visual language that could be understood by a three year old,” he says. “The Paddle Pop sticks came to mind for their simple and easily recognisable shape that works well together when repeated. I thought the soft curved edges would also work well in a kid’s environment.”
The headboard design is based on the concept of a raft tied together with rope. Customers can choose from a natural coloured or pink rope which suits Hardwick’s daughter Evie just fine because it’s her favourite colour.
Hardwick & Cesko has received a good response to the ‘Pop’ bed, especially for the memories it evokes in adults, who will be pleased to know an adult version of the bed is on the way while kids can look forward to other pieces of furniture in the ‘Pop’ bed style.
Making the piece did have its challenges even though this creation didn’t require Hardwick to eat his way through Paddle Pop ice creams to collect the sticks.
“I’m pretty sure Evie would have helped out with the ice creams but the bamboo board was left-over from a previous project. I only had a certain amount left so the challenge was to come up with a design that could be made out of what was available,” he explains.
Well-known in the design world for the Miss Cesko table, the ‘Pop’ bed is a welcome addition to Hardwick & Cesko’s product portfolio. “The design is representative of my other work so far – it’s functional, well-made and yet has a playful or nostalgic element to it. I like my designs to reach out to the consumer on more than just a purely functional level.”
