SO, how on earth do you follow the success story that was the Queen's Commonwealth Baton - the wood, granite and titanium icon that crossed continents and was held aloft by countless thousands of hands?
In the case of its creators, Glasgow design consultancy 4c, the answer is simple and slightly surprising: a spoon. But a spoon with serious potential for people with Parkinson's, or who have what is known as "essential tremor".
4c has launched a Kickstarter.com fundraising appeal which hopes to top at least £33,000 by October 2. As of yesterday, the total stood at just under £4,000. The money will fund an aluminium tool that would allow the S'up spoon to be produced using injection moulding.
The spoon started with Grant Douglas, who has a degree in computer science. He has cerebral palsy, which affects his movement and co-ordination, and which makes it nearly impossible for him to use a traditional spoon.
In conversation with Mark Penver, a graduate designer at 4c, the idea arose for a spoon that would allow Grant to eat soup, or cereal, with confidence.
Mark worked on various prototypes of the spoon, which is designed to reduce spillage caused by vigorous movement. Its deep cavity means that spilled food can be eliminated.
Last Christmas Grant received a foam-handled prototype. He loved it. And 4c began to realise that it might have wider potential.
Robin Smith, director at 4c, tells me the Kickstarter appeal "has allowed us to reach out to an amazing American audience we would normally never had any contact with.
"This isn't a big commercial exercise. But we need the support and generosity provided by 'people power' to make this happen. We want to give people an assisted-living product that will make a difference."
The spoon looks like a streamlined smoking-pipe. "All the design cues are there to make a better user experience," adds Mark.
The spoon has transformed what Grant can eat. "It has taken out the frustration, of picking up a spoon and then finding it falling all over the place when I don't get it to my mouth," he says on the Kickstarter video. "So now I can eat soup, cereal, peas, corn, whatever. And it's great - I don't spill anything."
Quite a change from the baton, then. But an interesting idea that deserves to take off.
If you want to contribute, go to http://sup-spoon.com
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