HOST Bar Tools + Drinkware
Function forward products for wine, spirits and beer
Overview:
Brand story is focused on marketable functionality - expanding a typical product to include feature additions from adjacent product types to add value to the product in the mind of the customer
Key design challenge was to integrate this extra functionality in a clean and elegant way while avoiding the chaotic gadgetry that can easily take over in this kind of approach
These added features were a crucial sales tool as marketing bullet points on packaging in dense big box environments and on product pages for ecommerce platforms like Amazon.com
Role:
Industrial Design
Manufacturing Vendor Collaboration
Design for Manufacturing in food contact polymers, stainless steel and silicone
Insights:
HOST was my introduction to housewares design - learning by doing, absorbing information about food contact materials and their design parameters
Visited a diverse array of overseas vendors many times throughout the development of these products and built a mental model of design options based on real vendor capabilities I was exposed to on these trips
4 in 1 Cocktail Shaker
Designed to incorporate the core bar tools needed for making craft cocktails in a single product.
Liquid measuring
Strainer for ice + larger ingredients
Juicer for fresh citrus
Bottle opener for carbonated tonic or seltzer.
Silicone Stopper + Pour Spout
Wine Opener + Foil Cutter + Bottle Opener
Freezer Gel Drinkware
These freezer beverage cups were a unique problem - designing a double walled plastic vessel with a glycol gel between the walls that would freeze in a home freezer and keep a beverage cool in use. Getting the cup to be a reasonable size to hold while including enough volume for gel, gel expansion and the beverage itself was an ergonomic and visual design challenge
