bios-urn

“The Bios Urn project reintroduces the human being to the natural circle of life.” It is a 100% biodegradable cremation urn that comes with a tree seed and is intended to be buried with the remains of your loved one. And over time, a tree will grow from it.

I really like this idea. It is very cute actually.

The design itself may be problematic thought, from a visual communications perspective. I don’t know how many people would like the idea of being buried inside a takeaway coffee cup and attendant hessian bag!

The paper cup shape does not say anything relevant to death and regrowth, nor does it reflect the solemnity around a funeral. If anything, it says cheap and disposable.

bios-urn

The “toilet man” icon is also inappropriate. It is coldly functional, sterile and impersonal. It can set a gender where there is no need to.

The replacement of the head with the recycle symbol is just that too light-hearted and silly. Yes, we are all made from the infinitely recycled material from stars. But do I really want to think about “recycling” when burying someone close to me?

Without redesigning the product, I would suggest the following as avenues for investigation and potential improvement:

(Hat tip to Martin for this link.)