Tag Archives: drinkware

This coffee maker let’s you master the pour-over technique and is a portable brewing kit!

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Anyone who loves coffee will know that making coffee brings you the same amount of joy that drinking coffee does. I am a coffee connoisseur (or a coffee addict as per my sister) and I have all sorts of equipment from an espresso machine to a french press so that I can choose the kind of brew I want to enjoy. One of them is a pour-over, it is a classic and trusted method which I love especially because this brewing process really heavily immerses you in the aroma as you slowly add the water – it is best for mornings because it will truly wake you up. That is exactly why I fell in love with the Eli Pour Over the second I saw it, it gave the set up a much-needed design upgrade!

Most of the pour-over coffee makers in the market focus on functionality rather than usability making it hard for beginners to make a perfect cup without knowing the techniques. That is where Eli comes in – it is a transformable, compact, and automatic pour-over coffee maker designed to make the brewing process easier and the taste more consistent. It is a brewing kit that divides the process into three phases – material preparation, brewing setup, and final brewing. Boil water and keep the grounds ready, then slide and lift the structure, followed by rotating it to lock the base – now you are ready to brew.

It has a smooth and stable rotating axis structure that elevates its minimal aesthetics. It also features an automatic rotating water nozzle so each ground can be evenly coated with water which results in the consistent quality/taste every time – this is usually done by hand with traditional machines and is a technique called blooming that baristas master to control the flow and pace that gives you the perfect pour-over. Eli’s body uses recyclable plastic for injection molding and stainless steel. It also has an electromagnetic heating pad to boil water making it truly portable.

The design also minimizes the tools and utensils needed traditionally to save space and make the brewing more intuitive. “Based on the pain points, I thought of a new approach that focuses not only on the brewing experience but also on usability. Eli combines the classic pour-over coffee brewing techniques with the latest technology,” says Fan who successfully completed the challenge of creating a portable pour-over coffee maker that allows users to enjoy the coffee-making process and perfect taste coffee anytime, anywhere.

Eli Functional Pour-Over Coffee Maker by Chenchen Fan is Winner in Home Appliances Design Category, 2020 – 2021.

Desinger: Chenchen Fan

Stay cool this summer in an eco-friendly way with these inspirational product designs: Part 2

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It’ll be summertime soon, and excitement is already coursing through my veins. Time for Pina Coladas and ice lollies by the beach! As fun and frolicky summer can be, we should make an effort to spend it in the most eco-friendly manner we can, especially during these times. Though our summer plans may be limited this year, owing to the pandemic, we can still always make use of cool and eco-conscious product designs to have a memorable summer. This collection of summer-friendly products will take care of your summer needs, as well as the environment. Sun’s out!

With summer comes an increase in usage of air conditioners and we know they are not exceptionally healthy for the planet. To help maintain the electricity usage, designers Aileen Ooi and E Ian Siew created an attachment to the common standing fan everyone has stashed away at their homes to make the room cooler. The attachment, named KYL is a humidity filter that funnels airflow output to cool a closed room. KYL would be able to lower temperatures by 1.5degrees Celsius and also make the room arider (a boon in humid places like Singapore, India, and more). Utilizing Bernoulli’s principle to create a cooling effect, KYL comes with a removable filter made up of tiny pieces of silica gel which absorbs moisture from the air. This lowers the humidity in the room and we can reuse the silica gel by washing it then leaving it out in the sun to dry, minimizing the usage of electricity. And removing this filter is easy as it comes affixed with velcro.

The Z-Triton Electric Houseboat was created as a vehicle that could serve as an alternative to the traditional camper. It is comfortable enough to house two adults for a weekend getaway and the choice of land or water is up to the travelers. The amphibious nature of the modern camper fits into the flexible lifestyle we lead today, especially since air travel is not on the cards anytime soon it is opening up a lot of avenues for local trips in less popular/offbeat locations. The durable houseboat measures 3.6 meters in length, 1.2 meters in width, and 1.55 meters in height. It’s perfect for your summer travels!

The Rattan Fan’s form has been inspired by some classic rattan pieces like the iconic chair, woven baskets, beach bags, and lightweight cabinets that you find on islands. It is airy, it technically has to be, but it visually adds a ‘lightness’ to the room it is in. Rattan is a natural sustainable material that is versatile (talk about being used from furniture to fashion) and sturdy. It also adds a touch of luxury while remaining subtle and unobtrusive to the existing interior design. Unlike coolers, the wireless rattan fan is not an eyesore and provides the flexibility to sit anywhere because the power of the breeze is in your hands now.

Meet the Fufu. What it lacks in name catchiness, it makes up for with function. Designed to work as a tabletop air conditioner as well as a mini-fridge, Fufu is your ultimate weapon against a hot and sweaty summer day. With the proportions of a backpack, Fufu sits anywhere in your room, cooling your space as well as preserving your food and drinks. It uses two semiconductor cooling systems that run simultaneously, balancing energy efficiency and cooling efficiency together.

A clever system of terracotta tiles with water channels woven between them is proving to be a natural, cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption for cooling down subway stations during the summer. Designed by Intsui Design, the Terracotta Valley Wind hopes to drastically reduce energy consumption in the summer by relying on terracotta’s naturally occurring evaporative cooling ability. The material is inherently inexpensive and easy to source, while Intsui Design’s clever tiling design is both eye-catching and functional, earning it a deserved Finalist spot at the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. The way the Terracotta Valley Wind cools spaces is simple and frankly ingenious. Water is fed through channels running through the inside of the tiles. The porous tiles absorb the water, which then evaporates through the outer surface, cooling the tile and the air around it. To circulate this cooled air, the Terracotta Valley Wind ingeniously uses the subway train’s movement as free energy!

Designed primarily with the idea of facilitating responsible sailing backed by clean, renewable energy, the Sunreef 80 Eco yacht has just received the go-ahead to be a real sail for the affluent. The all-electric vessel is designed and will now be produced in-house by Sunreef Yachts to be a custom catamaran that navigates long distances in total silence. According to the builders, the Sunreef 80 Eco will have no range limitations since it will be powered by renewable energy, produced on the go, both above and below the waterline. It is an 80-foot long eco-cruiser that’s likely to feature Sunreef Yachts’ proprietary solar skin comprising the world’s lightest solar cells.

Ditching bulkiness for compactness and swapping chemicals for electric current, Sang Kun Park designed FOLD, a foldable electric mosquito net inspired by the traditional Korean fan. A lot of us are going camping or spending more time outdoors these days, and when the bugs come out hunting, we need to be prepared. Sang Kun Park designed FOLD with Designer Dot so that when nature calls out our names, no amount of mosquitoes can get in the way of enjoying it. FOLD’s compact size is its primary appeal, fitting into even the most tightly packed knapsacks. Resembling the traditional Korean fan’s shape and folding apparatus, FOLD is a handheld, portable alternative to the heavy mosquito lamp that measures only two times the size of an average-sized smartphone when folded.

 This is the world’s only cycle that comes with an inflatable paddle board for you easily transition between land and water. A collaboration between Red Shark Bikes and Hammacher Schlemmer, this inflatable stand-up paddleboard is perfect for a beach or a lake day. This dream combination of biking and paddleboarding doesn’t require manual rowing, you just have to use the included pedals to move forward. It was designed to include a built-in bicycle gearing system that provides propulsion. Unlike traditional paddleboards, this one can accommodate the rider as well as two additional people – I bet Rose from Titanic could learn a lesson on maximizing the available space from this. Crafted from high-density polyethylene, this paddleboard uses a double layer of PVC which makes it durable.

Insulated sleeve to keep your beverages chilled - Hydro Flask Cooler Cup

Insulated sleeve to keep your beverages chilled - Hydro Flask Cooler Cup

The Hydro Flask Cooler Cup greatly expands that window of time. Designed to keep your chilled beverages frosty (or even keep hot drinks hot), the Hydro Flask Cooler Cup is a versatile little holder for your bottle/can that allows the drinks within them to maintain their temperature for longer. A silicone sleeve allows you to snugly and securely fit your drink can or bottle into the Cooler Cup, letting your drink stay refreshingly cool for longer. The Hydro Flask Cooler Cup comes made from recycled stainless steel, and with a proprietary construction that insulates liquids, you put inside it. In fact, aside from using it as a holder for your bottle or can, you can directly use the Cooler Cup as a tumbler/glass by directly pouring drinks into it!

This compact houseboat gives the residents an opportunity to spend time closely in the natural environment and even move their location if they feel like it. The floating cabin has been designed to blend into the existing landscape so the residents get a chance to experience the surroundings on an intimate level. Bene drew inspiration from traditional cabin fishing boats for the form while optimizing the small space to include a small kitchen, dining table, and sleeping area. For a nautical aesthetic, circular windows were added and the interior features warm timber finishes. The essence of the structure will remind you of the organically shaped waterside huts, dinghies, and boats.

The evaCHILL provides each user with their own personal microclimate without the release of Carbon Dioxide! How? It uses the principle of water evaporation to create moist, fresh, and, most importantly, cool air! This isn’t Evapolar’s first endeavor into personal cooling however, it is undeniably the most refined. evaCHILL is compact enough to be mobile, intuitive enough to be easily controlled, and stylish enough to look right at home within your workspace!

For more such exciting summer-friendly product designs, check out Part 1 of this post!

Sustainable Product Designs to ensure you travel and holiday in eco-friendly style!

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Everyone is veering towards sustainability! Living sustainably, consciously, and considerately has become imperative now. And traveling shouldn’t be an exception! We all love jet-setting off on holidays, and it’s now our moral duty towards the environment to vacation as sustainably as possible. From staying at hotels and resorts that support eco-tourism to using travel products that are sustainable, there are many minor steps we can take that will contribute to a major change. In this spirit of green traveling, we’ve curated a collection of product designs that promise to make your next trip as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible! These are products that are not only conscious of the environment but also capable of catering to your needs as efficiently as possible. These unique designs could completely transform how we travel and vacation. Enjoy!

PriestmanGoode’s sustainable inflight meal service has completely transformed the conventional meal tray we are so used to receiving on a flight. “We’ve used a wide range of materials for our design concepts,” says Rowan. And they’ve kept their word. Each element is either partially edible, reusable, soluble, or biodegradable. They’ve ditched plastic meal trays for partially edible ones made from coffee grains and husks mixed with a lignin binder. The miscellaneous food containers that fit into the tray have been made from wheat bran. Banana leaf or algae have been combined with rice husk to create lids for side dishes like salad. Whereas a wafer has been used as a dessert lid, hence the materials symbolically reflect the food. Instead of having several pieces of single-use cutlery, the handy ‘spork’- a combination of a fork and spoon- made from coconut wood has been adopted. The usual plastic containers for milk or sauces have been abandoned in exchange for edible pods created from soluble seaweed.

A team of designers created RHITA – a suitcase that is super easy to assemble and disassemble which makes it easier to repair or recycle. “Every year hundred thousand of discarded luggage caused by damaged wheels, handles, shells or shells that are deformed or damaged by collision, hard to be repaired or disassemble for recycling, bringing great impact to the environment. Hence, design for assembly and disassembly allows the suitcase easy to repair or recycle, reduced parts by simplifying the structure and minimized material used, downsize shipping volume to decrease carbon footprint boosting sustainability,” says the design team. RHITA’s simplified structure reduces the number of parts used in production by 70% when compared to traditional suitcases. Even the space needed for transportation has been reduced by 33%. It features an innovative hinge system and a unique installation method – no glue or rivet for fixation, no sewing of the inner lining, maximizing the space inside as well as a quick fasten and loosen wheel mechanism.

The Green Box is an innovative solution that aligns hotel stays with your sustainable lifestyle choices! It is an amenity kit designed to help hotels to transition to a circular economy and avoid the waste generated by tens-of-millions of amenity kits are thrown away by hotel chains – we use them once but they last forever on our planet. Green box is made from compostable plastic which will let hotels industrially compost and organically recycle the items in a controlled environment. The design goes beyond providing functional value and also aims to educate guests about the material and its impact to encourage better choices even after the vacation ends. Each box comes with a disposable bin for the room to familiarize guests with the new kind of waste stream. The guests will sort materials as compostable and non-compostable by simply following the color grading – green for compostable and white for general waste.

PANGEA’s Bamboo Adventure Towel 2.0 is carbon-negative – they pull more carbon out of the atmosphere than they put in, leaving the earth in a better condition than it was before. Unlike most travel towels which come made from plastic microfibers, the Bamboo Adventure Towel 2.0 has absolutely no plastic used in its construction. As its name suggests, it comes crafted from 100% bamboo fibers, dyed with natural dyes, and woven into a waffle pattern for effective absorption and exfoliation. Designed for the outdoors, the towels are up to thrice as absorbent as your average microfiber towel and are naturally hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial. In fact, the towels even come with reinforced slits on the corners, so you can suspend them and use them as makeshift sunshades, or even wear them as cloaks or ponchos.

It’s no secret that washing your derriere with water is more efficient, hygienic, and sustainable as compared to toilet paper. After all, you don’t wipe your dishes clean with a tissue after eating in them, so why use tissues on your behind? I’ll admit, it’s a culture-shock changing how you clean your behind, but given that the US alone uses more than 6 billion rolls of toilet paper annually, it’s an ecological crisis we can’t ignore. Besides, ironically enough, toilet paper takes tons of water to produce. Using a battery-powered motor and an internal water tank that you can top off before you head to the loo, Sonny generates a micro-shower to help you clean up after your business, effectively, hygienically, and sustainably. With an easy-to-use interface, Sonny comes with normal and high-spray settings that shoot water for anywhere between 25-40 seconds (depending on the spray intensity), enough to clean your behind. Besides, much like a bidet, Sonny can even be used on your nether regions too, to keep things hygienic and fresh.

This gives a completely new meaning to the word ‘papercut’! Say hello to the Paper Razor, a sustainable alternative to the disposable plastic razor. The Paper Razor, as its name suggests, comes with an all-paper body and sports a metal blade-head on top. Designed to be flat-packed, the single-use razor comes completely unfolded and can easily be put together in a matter of seconds by merely folding in the sides and the top to create a rigid, ergonomic razor with a grippy handle. Its origami-inspired design gives it as much strength and maneuverability as a plastic razor, while minimizing the use of plastic by as much as 98%. The result? A razor that can be easily flat-packed and shipped, used, and then disposed of… safely, of course. It’s perfect to carry around and use on your work or leisure trips!

Designed to be a reusable travel cutlery set with a difference, the Cliffset doesn’t just focus on portability, it focuses on maintenance too, by being perhaps the only cutlery set I’ve seen that comes with its own cleaning tool to clean up after you’re done eating! Everything fits in a portable pouch that’s small enough to fit in your pocket or slip into a backpack, and is designed to be carried everywhere you go and be cleaned and reused over and over again, giving you the comfort of knowing that you’re using your OWN cutlery (as opposed to using cutlery in restaurants) made from reusable materials, which you don’t need me to tell you is a much better option compared to the use-and-throw plastic cutlery that pollutes our planet and oceans.

These cork headphones are another great addition to that list and show us that gadgets can also go green – you would be surprised to know how much plastic goes in making a simple pair of headphones. Weighing only 64 grams  (0.14 lbs) these headphones are super light! Cork is a versatile material that is being explored to design sustainable products. It is non-allergic, resilient, sound insulating, moisture-proof, and soft to touch. If you are an everyday headphone user, you know that there is a lot of wear and tear that happens and instead of repairing, we usually just upgrade which increases our plastic consumption. Cork headphones are easy to repair and dismiss thanks to an assembly based on the compressibility of the material. There is no glue, no upholstery, no screws involved – just cork, simple electric parts, steel, and foam. These are perfect for listening to your favorite tunes on those long travel journeys!

The ClickStraw addresses the inherent flaws of the straws before it. Plastic straws are an environmental hazard, paper straws become soggy, bamboo straws end up developing molds, and metal straws are difficult to clean. Made from high quality and sustainable TPE, the ClickStraw is designed to be used multiple times, and moreover, is easy to maintain. Its hollow, tubular structure can be opened out completely, allowing you to rinse the inner surface of the straw, giving it a deep clean. The ClickStraw’s innovation lies in a ziplock-bag-style snapping fixture and a live-hinge that run along the length of the tube. To clean the straw, slide your thumb in and it opens up. Once you’re done, click it shut like a zip-lock bag and you’ve got yourself a spanking clean straw that doesn’t degrade, get dirty, or worse, corrode like your metal straws. You can now carry your own reusable and sustainable straw whenever you travel, instead of using those pesky single-use plastic straws!

There’s a certain, undeniable convenience to the plastic bottle. It’s easy to just take off the shelf, drink from, and then throw away once you’re done. You don’t need to worry about carrying a bulky bottle along with you that occupies the same amount of space, even when empty. The convenience of plastic is addictive, but it comes at a price. There’s a garbage island the size of Texas floating around in the pacific sea, COVERED with plastic bottles we used and threw away without batting an eyelid. Plastic bottles are preferred because they’re more convenient than carrying your own bulky empty bottles around with you, but the Origami Bottle may have a solution to that convenient problem. Designed to be reusable, but more importantly, be collapsible, the Origami Bottle folds down to 20% of its original size when not in use. Small enough to easily fit into any bag without occupying much space, the Origami Bottle neatly folds down to a nice, portable puck that’s easy and convenient to carry around. When you need to fill it up, the bottle opens up to a full size of 25oz (750ml).

This ergonomic paper cup was designed to reduce plastic waste generated by to-go coffees!

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Most of us have abandoned plastic straws but the next big culprit of our to-go coffees are the plastic lids! About 8.25 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year and these take a million years to decompose causing significant damage to the oceans and marine life. Not-so-fun fact: New York City alone generates enough plastic lid waste to cover the entire earth THREE times. To solve this issue and keep coffee from spilling on your clothes, Unocup designed an ergonomic paper cup that folds into itself to create a spill-proof lid!

Just fold over each flap and insert the tab to close the “lid”. To open, it is a simple press of a button that will gently open the flap instead of trying to carefully pop off the lid – praying for you if you attempt that with long nails. This cup has a unique shape that fits into your palm, the uniform structure creates a strong and consistent body that will not cave under pressure, unlike traditional paper cups. The drinking curved spout is specifically designed to fit your lips naturally as opposed to the otherwise flat plastic lids. You can also fold flaps backward and drink from the rim just like a normal drinking glass. The first prototype was developed in 2015 and it has been refined 800 times since then to create the perfect final version that is as strong as your coffee. Unocup has been optimized for mass-production using existing cup-making machinery which will yield significant cost and energy savings in manufacturing, storage, and transportation while not requiring new machinery or investment.

One of the co-founders and designers of Unocup, Tom Chan, was just a sophomore when he came up with the original concept – a single unit with an origami-like lid that you fold into place to seal liquid inside, eliminating the need for single-use plastic lids. After countless coffee-shop interviews and more than hundreds of prototypes later, he and long-time friend Kaanur Papo founded Unocup, in 2019. It is a 100% plastic-free, compostable beverage cup that replaces the traditional lid with paper folds that seal the drink tightly. “When people think of sustainable solutions they think of certain compromises that have to be made. What’s really exciting about this is that it’s a sustainable and practical solution at the same time,” says Papo. It helps coffee drinkers want a cup that they feel will contribute to waste reduction, while still keeping the convenience factor. Unocup has recently won Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Award in the Packaging Category!

Designer: Tom Chan and Kaanur Papo

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This fully automated bionic coffee maker is just like a robot straight from The Jetsons!

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If you sometimes feel like a robot before your first cup of coffee, you’re in good company. Without even fully opening my eyes, I get my first cup of coffee going for the morning, and while it brews I get myself ready. On good days, I turn my stove off on time, and on other days, I gulp down a burnt cup of coffee. Coffee is a necessary part of the day for a lot of us and having that perfect cup in the morning might be all we need to get our day off on the right foot. To save us from those ‘other days,’ Beijing’s Orion Star Technology Co. Ltd. recently designed a robotic coffeemaking system, the Zhi Ka Master that was shortlisted at 2021’s iF Design Awards.

Zhi Ka Master is a coffee-making system that employs the use of twin-arm robotics to perform traditional coffee and tea brewing for hand-poured, automated cups of coffee. The entire system comprises a twin-arm, six-axis robot and accompanying work table. Twin-arm robotic systems are typically chosen for their efficient and automated execution of more involved assembly operations. Through bi-manual manipulation, twin-arm robots can perform complicated tasks in a human-like manner. The incorporation of twin-arm robotics for Zhi Ka Master and a bionic profile design equips the robot with enough know-how to stimulate masterful coffee or tea-making methods with the push of a button. A pre-sized and programmed worktable is used to keep all the machines and tools necessary to make any drink on a typical coffee menu.

You’re like me if your coffee order comes with some conditions: an extra shot of espresso please and not too much ice. Rest assured, Zhi Ka Master knows how to receive special input for specific coffee orders that veer from the menu. Through integrated software, Zhi Ka Master can make coffee and tea drinks for specific tastes all without human intervention. So maybe, don’t push that button.

Designer: Orion Star Technology Co. Ltd.

Zhi Ka Master is a six-axis, twin-arm robot coffeemaker.

Integrated software adjusts the robot’s mechanical grip to fit whatever item it grasps.

Through a built-in RGB camera, the robot performs duties and responds to feedback in real-time to ensure safe operation.

Equipped with an emergency stop button, Zhi Ka Master prioritizes safety even before coffee.

Zhi Ka Master occupies a total of only three square meters.

This pastel electric tea kettle features water controls and temperature regulators to reduce energy wastage!

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80% of the traditional electric kettle’s environmental impact occurs when in use. In just the EU alone, an estimated 117-200 million kettles are in use. Jacob Alm Andersson and Alexandra Fransson found that the excess energy that comes from the overuse of electric kettles in one day is enough to power all the streetlamps in England for an entire night. That’s a lot of energy. In designing an electric kettle that discourages users from overusing it and in return wasting less energy, Andersson and Fransson created The Blue Project, featuring an electric tea kettle that provides users with feedback to help promote sustainable use.

To keep users from overfilling their kettles, The Blue Project’s electric kettle features a water controller that forces its user to settle on a predetermined measure of water before filling the kettle up with water. In addition to the water controller, Andersson’s and Fransson’s tea kettle comes equipped with a temperature regulator that increases in resistance as the kettle’s user increases its temperature, providing a tangible source of feedback to show the increase in resources needed for higher temperatures.

Reminiscent of the tea kettle’s whistle, The Blue Project’s tea kettle comes attached to a device that physically shakes to signal when the kettle is being overworked, making it difficult for the user to ignore. Finally, along the bottom of the tea kettle’s base structure, a date reveals when resources for the kettle’s manufacturing have been compensated, an indication that marks the sustainability of any given product.

The Blue Project features an electric kettle that addresses three main concerns in regard to the excessive use of electric appliances: how we interact with controllers, the hidden nature of renewable resources, and the short lifespan of most products. Noticing that people could benefit from some constructive feedback and a sense of agency to change their habits that negatively affect the environment, visual regulators and controllers fill out The Blue Project kettle to help users use less energy when handling electric appliances like a tea kettle.

Designers: Jacob Alm Andersson and Alexandra Fransson

Most appliances are overused due to habitual and mindless user-product interaction.

By marking products with lifecycle indicators, brands might feel prompted to make more sustainable products.

The Blue Project’s tea kettle works in a similar fashion to the conventional electric tea kettle, with additional water controllers and regulators.

The more water measured before use requires a taller overall product, which works to discourage users from overfilling it.

The tea kettle’s default measure is one cup.

As the temperature is increased for heating, the temperature regulator nob increases in resistance.

Like the whistle of a stovetop tea kettle, The Blue Project’s tea kettle features an attached device that indicates overuse.

A date marking reveals when the resources used in manufacturing the tea kettle have been replenished.

This foldable dog water bottle creates a comfortable water bowl for your dog, anytime, anywhere!

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A dog’s gotta drink. We each have our own reusable water bottle that we can take with us on the go– your dog needs one too. For those long hikes that end up being way hotter than expected or the car rides spent stuck in traffic, dogs need their own means of quenching their thirst. With a foldable design, the Redminut dog water bottle, designed by Marco Chen & Archer Guan, is a portable travel accessory for dogs and their owners that ensures your doggo won’t ever go thirsty.

Redminut relies on a hinged folding mechanism that allows the dog water bottle to easily close for storage and expand for use. Once the dog bottle’s lid is fully expanded to 180°, water is released with the push of the bottle’s only button. Since Redminut’s folding mechanism is so easy to use and carry on-the-go, it’s the ideal travel companion for outdoor activities like afternoons spent at the dog park or long walks around you and your pup’s favorite lake. Redminut can also be fully extended and put into use with one hand, so you can always hold the leash in the other.

In constructing Redminut, the designers were sure to source building materials that were safe for dogs, so the water trough was built from ABS plastic and the product’s body was built from PC plastic. The water trough itself is also long and wide enough for even the biggest, thirstiest tongues, and the full capacity of Redminut measures at 14 oz. Redminut is leakproof as well, so when it’s time to store the bottle, users can rest assured their belongings won’t turn out to be soaked next pit stop.

Designers: Marco Chen & Archer Guan

Simply unfold Redminut and with the press of a button, pour water into its trough for your dog.

When closed, redminut can easily fit into handbags or backpockets.

Redminut comes in either optic white or lavender.

Using a hinged folding mechanism, Redminut expands 180 degrees.

The water trough of redminut is long and wide to accommodate bigger dogs.

The iconic Bugatti Type 35-inspired luxury coffee maker gives a vintage boost to your morning caffeine!

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The Bugatti Type 35 was developed with master engineer and racing driver Jean Chassagne, who then also drove it in the car’s first Grand Prix back in 1924. The races to follow determined the Bugatti Type 35 as the most successful of the Bugatti racing models, earning countless winning titles during its peak years. Inspired by the powerhouse marque, Sajdin Osmancevic designed a luxury coffeemaker in the style of the Bugatti Type 35, with a finished look fit for the post-race winner’s circle.

In order to get the coffee machine going, users simply flip open the golden emblem at the top of the arch-shaped, gridded radiator, to insert their preferred coffee capsule and wait for hot coffee to pour from the Bugatti logo. Moving to the coffee machine’s bulbous backside, reminiscent of the Bugatti Type 35’s spherical and triangular rear wing, users will find the coffee machine’s rear switch dial, a scaled replica of Type 35’s petrol tank where either a single or double shot of espresso can be chosen for brewing. Then along the side of Osmancevic’s coffee machine, steam vents that mimic the Type 35’s side hood are fashionably placed along with unique number decals, echoing back to the model’s heyday.

Operating similarly to that of Nespresso coffee machines, Osmancevic’s Bugatti-inspired coffee machine uses ground coffee-filled capsules to brew coffee. Perhaps, most well-known for its iconic arch-shaped radiator, the Bugatti Type 35 was the founding cornerstone for Bugatti’s current trademark look. By incorporating the radiator grills, along with Bugatti’s shades of steel and powder blue and walnut brown leather accents, Osmancevic created a coffee machine that easily distinguishes itself as a luxe appliance ready for the racetrack. Coffee and Bugatti sport a long and rich history, filled with full-bodied flavor, smooth finishes, and steaming hot appeal– a winning match.

Designer: Sajdin Osmancevic

Through different ideations, Osmancevic conceptualized his coffee maker design to look just like the Bugatti Type 35.

From its gridded radiator to its gleaning Bugatti emblem, Osmancevic’s coffee maker felt inspired by Bugatti’s design language in making of his coffee maker design.

Similar to the function of a Nespresso coffee maker, Osmancevic’s uses capsule pods to brew single or double espresso shots.

Echoing back to Bugatti’s racing prime, Osmancevic was sure to include finer details like the side hood vents and flashy decals.

Coming in steel blue, powder blue, and dark chocolate brown, Osmancevic looked to Bugatti’s famous color scheme to coat his coffee makers in glossy paint.

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest plastic polluter, is testing out the viability of paper bottles

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It seems like the title of the world’s largest plastic polluter (for 4 years in a row) is finally beginning to get on the nerves of the executives at Coca-Cola. After making a statement only last year that they don’t intend on breaking free from plastic, the company’s slowly begun re-evaluating its supply chain and choice of materials.

Thanks to a partnership with Danish company Paboco (Paper Bottle Company), Coca-Cola has now unveiled its first ‘paper bottle’. Available for a limited online trial in Hungary, Coca-Cola is planning a run of 2,000 bottles of the plant-based beverage AdeZ. It’s barely anything to begin with, but it is a start… and it gives Paboco, the company behind the bottle’s design, a much-needed boost.

Paboco’s paper bottle comes with an inner bio-polymer lining to provide a waterproof barrier (so that the paper doesn’t get soggy). The outer layer is made from a Nordic wood-pulp-based paper, and provides the perfect substrate for printing on, eliminating the need for a label. The bottle itself can be molded quite like plastic bottles are, paving the way for the use of forms, textures, and patterns to help the product stand-out… and the necks of the bottle can be threaded too, allowing for the use of a paper cap (with the option of the crimped metal caps too). While the bottle is biodegradable, Coca-Cola hopes to develop a design and supply chain that allows bottles to be recycled just like paper. “Our vision is to create a paper bottle that can be recycled like any other type of paper, and this prototype is the first step on the way to achieving this,” said Stijn Franssen, EMEA R&D Packaging Innovation Manager at Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola’s limited run should be met with a bit of skepticism (after all, 2000 bottles isn’t enough, is it?) but the challenges faced by the company are understandable. Bottles can easily get crushed or damaged when transported in large volumes, a complication that exponentially increases with CO2-filled pressurized beverage containers. AdeZ, however, seems to be the perfect candidate for this trial run, given that it’s a thick, dairy-free smoothie that contains seeds, fruit juices, and vitamins. If successful, Coca-Cola may look to gradually expand on this approach, helping it achieve the company’s “World Without Waste” sustainable packaging goal of substantially reducing its waste footprint and developing solutions for easily recycling its bottles and cans, and shifting to using only 100% recyclable packaging materials by the year 2030.

Designers: Paboco & Coca-Cola

Images via Coca Cola and Paboco

Samsung’s design language inspired this kitchen appliance to make everything from soups to smoothies!

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Modular kitchen tools go with small living spaces like bread and butter. Efficiency studios or dormitories are known for their tight corners and compact kitchen space, leaving little room for bulky cookware or jumbo-sized machinery – the more modular a tool, the better when it comes to tiny living. Opting for modular cookware takes up less storage space and the single-engine nature of most modular tools requires less energy for operation, supplying users with plenty of mechanical options without needlessly wasting storeroom or energy. Recognizing the inherent frugality behind the modular design, Berk Can Yıldız imagined what Samsung’s collection of trusted kitchen tools might look like if they were combined into a singular modular household product.

Samsung Barr, Berk Can Yıldız’ modular take on Samsung’s kitchen tools, is a single-engine, modular device used for any type of cooking that might require blending, grinding, or heating. The Samsung Barr functions as either a kettle or soup maker with integrated heating elements and also as a blender, grinder, or juicer for use without added heating elements. The product’s large, front-facing button functions as the unit’s control panel. The touchscreen dial’s usability is akin to a round thermostat’s – its circular formation allows users to adjust aspects of cooking, like levels of temperature and the duration of timers, simply by dragging haptic sensors one way or the other around the screen’s perimeter. Compatible with the Samsung Health app from Google Play, Barr also connects to its app that provides new recipes and health information. Samsung Barr’s inner mechanism only consists of a motor, fan, and vents allowing plenty of airflow, giving Barr a simple construction and compact body, adding to the product’s overall ease-of-use.

Today, many young people are seeking more modest means for living situations – sustainable alternatives like passive house construction or single-living spaces like efficiency studios are chosen over more grandiose options. However, our individual ideas of comfort shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of modesty – our generation’s obsession with minimalism lies in simplicity, comfort, and aesthetics, but perhaps not frugality. The choice to live smaller or sustainably, however, will inevitably lead to choosing economical, more efficient alternatives like modular cookware. Designs like Berk Can Yıldız’ reveal how these multi-functional and more sustainable alternatives can save space, energy, and money for not only the people who use them but also for those who produce them.

Designer: Berk Can Yıldız