Hall of Fame | Carry Awards IX

Our Ninth Annual Carry Awards welcomes the best bang-for-your-buck hauler the world has ever seen into the Hall of Fame…

IKEA FRAKTA

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more ubiquitous piece of carry on the planet, owned and loved by millions. And yet, it might just be the most ‘humble’ Hall of Famer to ever make the cut.

Because, let’s be honest, the IKEA FRAKTA Bag is a simple bit of kit, sold for $1 inside the walls of the world’s largest flat-pack furniture retailer. But it’s this simplicity and universality that are some of the reasons why it’s such an icon.

Originally designed by siblings Marianne and Knut Hagberg for IKEA’s Japanese store, their design goal was simple: create a solution that would be inexpensive, carry 50kgs and help customers transport their goods home from stores using public transport (Japan’s transport of choice).

They came up with FRAKTA, a version of the blue bag with a zip that could be carried as a backpack. Then, further developing the design, Ingvar Kamprad came home from Asia with a new material – a material used to store rice. It was light, strong, and perfectly priced.

Thus the icon was born, made from synthetic material polypropylene and put on aisles in large tote or box shapes with two carrying options.

They rustled when you shook them and packed flat wafer-thin, they could get dirty and rinsed off with a gardening hose in a flash, and carry anything from groceries to wet surf gear and anything in between. A simple solution for everyone, making toting your stuff easy.

And because of the above, it might just be one of the finest examples of one of our favorite design pillars: ‘Fitness for Purpose’.

You see, great design doesn’t have to have all of the bells and whistles or that premium price tag swinging from its corner. Iconic design can excel in its simplicity, nailing its core task for its core user with supreme ease and efficiency. And the IKEA FRAKTA has done that for decades, remaining unchanged.

Then, of course, factor in the global adoration of the FRAKTA. It’s a design that has captured the imaginations of so many, sprouting fan pages, DIY maker creations and fun plays on the iconic tarp and blue and yellow webbing – even inspiring the highest of high-fashion.

So this year, we’re saluting a humble piece of Carry. Something done so damn well, accessible to everyone, known to many, and loved by all.

The Big Blue Bag!