Controlled Breaking

Breaking a classic piggy bank often leaves the uneven, broken pieces scattered around. We reversed that statement and looked into the concept of controlled breaking.

We were intrigued about controlling how a piggy bank would break via designing points of breakage. Could this actually be done?

While ideating, we decided to concurrently make prototypes to test the limits of controlled breaking. As piggy banks are mostly made out of brittle materials, we decided to work with ceramics as a starting point.

Scoring to Break

We used a boxwood clay tool to score the insides of the dried slip, marking them as lines of breakage. Scorings of varying depths and number of lines were experimented.

But they didn’t work out well. The broken pieces were still random and uneven, as most did not break along the scoring lines. This was probably because we scored manually, which made it difficult to control the pressure exerted and ensure that the lines were of consistent depth.

In addition, ceramic is too brittle - there would inevitably be bits of small broken pieces. Hence, we turned to a more appropriate method, while keeping the energy of wanting to create a clean, surprising break.

Joined to Break

3D Printing seemed to fit our requirements in terms of consistency and controllability. However, PLA is a tough material that did not break despite designing a deep scoring.

Hence, instead of scoring lines, we explored joinery designs.

Cylindrical joints of 1.2mm diameter worked the best in holding the sphere together. We also digitally ‘scored’ the exterior so that the actual parting lines would be less obvious.

The shape of the form before and after breaking naturally reminded us of fruits. With that line of thought, we crafted the narrative of our piggy bank and chose the colours that would best reflect this narrative.

vitamin b

A seemingly unsuspecting sphere, the piggy bank splits into equal sized pieces when broken, revealing a second colour that instantly discloses its identity.

The process of saving money is likened to the process of planting a fruit. The piggy bank “grows” as coins are collected, then “ripens” when it is full. Finally, one can reap the harvest after a long and arduous process of saving up.

A Penny For My Thoughts

Using 3D printing really opened our eyes to the possibilities of controlled breaking. With a change in material and technique, the simple act of breaking a piggy bank is rewarded with extra surprise and joy. It would be fun to do a series of fruits - an avocado would have a seed inside which could be a smaller piggy bank?