Apple’s former chief design officer Sir Jony Ive has redesigned Comic Relief’s famous Red Nose, seeking to make it more sustainable than its predecessor.
The new Red Nose is made entirely from plant-based materials and is designed to fit a variety of nose shapes. It starts out as a small, flat crescent, folding out into a honeycomb paper sphere. The Red Nose also arrives in a case, where it can be stored when flat.
Comic Relief described the change as “the most dramatic makeover since its debut in 1988”. Over the past three decades, the Red Nose has gone from being piece of plastic, to a tomato, a sponge,and woodland themed creatures.
Ive says: “This new and seemingly simple Red Nose has been a fabulously complex little object to design and make, and has involved our entire team. We hope it brings a little moment of joy to everyone who wears one”.
The new design is now available to buy on Amazon, the new home of the Red Nose. Comic Relief co-founders Richard Curtis and Sir Lenny Henry have teamed up with Diane Morgan on a new film to reveal the new look and feel of the Red Nose.
Comedian Sindhu Vee says the new Red Nose is “very delicate and very beautifully made” and stresses that “while the design has changed, the purpose hasn’t”. She adds: “With every Red Nose bought, supporters will be helping people through the toughest times of their lives.”
Red Nose Day will return this year on Friday 17 March.
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3 responses to “Sir Jony Ive designs plant-based Red Nose for Comic Relief”
This has big lumps of plastic in it! I don’t understand why he wouldn’t have designed it with stiff card for the structural/mating parts. Baffling that you wouldn’t design it to suit a single recycling stream. Also…. Is the case moulded fiber/paper pulp or is that plastic too? Surely not.
This is a very clever and subtle design. A lot of people will look at this and see an over-engineered product but if you have any knowledge of how design works you can tell Ive (and I will assume his team) has sat down and taken this project quite seriously.
For example a long-standing problem with old red noses, aside from their lack of recyclability is the fact that they don’t fit in your pocket and they are uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. They have solved this by having the concertina folding design allowing the nose to collapse and thus be pocketable. Its a clever solution to a simple problem.
Why is there so much plastic on this red nose? It comes in a plastic box and has plastic fittings, which aren’t suitable for children under 7. Love the paper idea.