Monday Vision: Playful Portability
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
We have just completed our first Monday Vision Tour, the purpose of which was to gather visual insight and identify opportunities for designing meaningful change. It was certainly an eye opener.
Our day involved an exploration within New York City around some great design themes that we are playing around with right now, across a variety of categories, some of which we are writing articles on at request from the media.
One theme that captures our imaginations is Playful Portability. We’ve spotted a few interesting changes within this area of design.
Structural design is being used in a playful way within the water category, with the rise of the anti-water bottle. We particularly like two new brands for designing alternatives to the traditional water bottle with more responsible reusable structures that meet modern lifestyle needs.
Karim Rashid’s Bobble bottle, launched earlier this year, is super smart with an integrated filter for fresh, clean, portable water. We’ve discovered it at Bloomingdale’s and The Container Store. It’s made from recycled plastic and is PVC and BPA free. Responsible design can be both affordable and stylish. The prices start at $9.95 for a reusable bottle, and compared to the prices and effect of buying new and discarding each time it’s an all-round smarter choice.
Vapur’s new “anti-bottle” is portable, refillable and collapsible. Unlike other bottles, it can be rolled, folded or flattened when empty so that you can carry it around without taking up space in your bag. It’s also freezable, dishwasher safe and BPA free. We found this in MOMA and hope to see it in other stores soon.
We love that both of these brands are designing meaningful change by considering the environmental impact of traditional structures and creating new playful alternatives.
While roaming around within Ricky’s we were amazed at the breadth of brands hidden away in there. Tili bags was tucked away but grabbed our attention for being chic, reusable, zip & seal bags. This has taken a traditionally very functional unstylish product and transformed it into a fun, portable accessory. We’ll be using them as we pass through JFK next time we travel, perhaps it will put a smile on faces as we pass through security.
These were just a few interesting finds, but we were on the hunt for more. We continue to endorse our point that there is still a growing sea of sameness, across all categories, and big opportunities to design meaningful change. We specifically noted a few categories that need some urgent attention, and some brands that need to take action. With an increase in growth all round, we can see the changes happening in front of us. Do brands want to be leaders or laggers?
We’ll be continuing our exploration, so tune in for more next week.
