Built on the ideals of Kintsugi (or the art of repairing pottery with gold to help cherish your belongings instead of discarding them), Penny is a playful little piggy bank that can break apart and come together. Using a series of magnetically-bonding pieces, the piggy bank comes with an all-white design that reveals its cracked surface rather than concealing it. Add the coins in as you would, and when you want to take them out, simply break open the bank by either striking against it or dropping it to the floor. The piggy bank shatters just like its ceramic counterpart would, but in a predictable set of pieces that can be put back once again. The joy of retrieving the money from inside Penny is only accentuated by the joy of getting to build her back again, piece by piece!
Designer: Dario Narvaez
“After seeing the loss and hardship suffered by millions of people during the pandemic, Penny is a representation of what is lost and broken, can also be recovered in unique and unexpected ways,” says designer Dario Narvaez. Even though the interaction of breaking and reassembling Penny is a fun, engaging activity, it has a broader meaning too. Built on the idea of resilience, Penny is all about how life can be rebuilt even after the effects of a hard fall.
The Penny piggy bank is made of 12 PVC injection-molded parts with neodymium magnetic inserts built in. The matte-finish PVC material used in Penny provides a wide range of benefits relative to its use: high resistance to impact, and the ability to conceal scratches, scuffs, and marks caused by the repetitive breaking of the piggy bank. The unique construction of the piggy bank allows it to be reassembled in thousands of different ways by rearranging or rotating certain pieces. The ears, face, and legs stay constant, while the other parts can be swapped with one another, or rotated in a variety of manners, creating a new instance of Penny every time!
The Penny Piggy Bank is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2022.
