Tag Archives: bottle design

Absolut Vodka goes green with a test-run for recyclable paper-based bottles

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We’re seeing a lot of brands and products experiment with their packaging. To become more eco-friendly and sustainable, a lot of product designers have been using materials that can be recycled and can also make it more convenient for their users. We’re all still trying to adjust to paper straws (even though a lot of people find it irritating), so are we ready to have paper bottles for our drinks?

Designer: Absolut

Absolut Vodka will become the “first global spirits brand” that will be selling their products in single-mould paper-based bottles. While plastic and glass bottles are already recyclable, having a “fully bio-based bottle” will be something that will further reduce their CO2 emissions and will also make their liquor lighter in terms of weight and packaging. Their three-month test in British supermarket chain Tesco will hopefully be successful enough that they will make it available elsewhere.

The single-mould paper bottles will be available for their 500ml-sized drinks. These are made from 57% paper and to make it sturdy, it has an integrated barrier made from recyclable plastic. They will also be using 40% ABV of the Absolut Vodka as compared to the 5% from their initial pilot run for the Absolut Mixt ready-to-drink. Users can recycle the bottles as paper waste or if it’s sturdy enough, they may even re-use the bottles for some other purpose.

The goal for this test run is to see how the paper-based bottles will transport to the stores where they will be available. They also want to see how people will perceive having a paper bottle, as there are still some very strong opinions about the aforementioned paper straws. Design-wise, the bottles are still carrying the “apothecary-inspired design” with the usual logos and labels. They also believe that these bottles will not replace the glass ones that are already iconic but it can complement them eventually.

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Fuwa Fuwa collection re-imagines plastic bottles as organic forms

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Bottles are something that we somehow take for granted. We’re more interested in consuming what’s inside of it of course and at times, we just callously throw them away, especially the plastic ones. Over the years we’ve learned to be more conscious about our consumption as plastic is one of the worst offenders against this planet. There are still a lot of plastic bottles out there but we’re finding ways to reuse them after they’ve already been used.

Designer: Yusuké Y. Offhause

This Franco-Japanese artist has come up with a series of organic pieces using plastic bottles called “Fuwa Fuwa”. But instead of using the transparent plastic we’re used to, he actually combined it with heterogenous material that looks like oxidized iron or something that you see at archeological digs or underwater remains. The idea is to reactivate objects apart from their original purpose and to highlight the idea of imperfection.

The plastic bottles we see have a typically rigid structure so he played around with this by replacing part of the bottle with glass and ceramic. So it still retains the original shape but the removed or missing parts are highlighted with these other elements. What you get is something that looks both futuristic and archaic in one go with its crystallization using glass or transparent resin. These organic pieces can then be used as sake bottles, fragrance diffusers, or just as decorations.

Some of us still dream of having a plastic bottle-free world but that’s still far from happening even as we’ve made some progress. So the next best thing would be to recycle these as they will not reach end of life anytime soon and projects like this can be a good alternative to just throwing them away.

The post Fuwa Fuwa collection re-imagines plastic bottles as organic forms first appeared on Yanko Design.

This travel tea flask comes with a built-in infuser to give you the best brew without messy tea bags!

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Inspired and derived from Chinese tea culture, Chá is a travel tea flask that brings the ritual of brewing tea at home back into making tea on the go.

Making your first cup of tea in the morning feels like a ritual. Like clockwork, the water boils, the flavor of tea leaves seep into your cup, and the tea is ready to be enjoyed while you curl up next to a window and read. Having tea on the go is a little different. When we make tea in stainless steel, thermal bottles, we can’t see how strong we’re making it and our tea-making rituals are always cut short. Chá is a travel tea flask that ties the ritual back into making tea on the go, born from a collaboration between Chinese EV maker Nio and UAL’s Central Saint Martins.

Chá is a travel tea bottle that can switch between a tea infuser and a regular thermal water bottle. Topped with a transparent lid, Chá allows each user to witness the seeping process while brewing tea to ensure their desired tea strength is achieved. With a handy rubber strap, users can even brew their tea with the bottle strapped to their backpack. The brewing process of Chá is just like filling a water bottle, but the lid of Chá features a compartment where users can place tea bags near a built-in infuser and transparent section that reveals the strength of each brew.

The built-in infuser opens with a turn of the bottle’s lid, then the user can turn Chá upside down and watch as their water darkens with tea. If users want to only drink water, then the infuser can be just as easily closed and Chá can be filled with fresh water to be used as a regular water bottle. Ergonomic and inviting by design, Chá combines style with the traditional ritual of tea making.

Explaining the brewing process, the designers behind Chá describe, “Twisting the two halves of the opaque lid against one another to form an ‘O’ or a horizontal ‘S’, opens or closes the infuser respectively. An open infuser allows the contents of its flask to infuse with each other. Enabling the infuser and flipping the flask upside down exposes the water to the tea leaves for infusion while the user can monitor for their desired thickness of the tea through the transparent lid.”

Designers: ual x Nio

By twisting the lid’s two halves, users activate the infuser. 

Silicone elements provide some grip for Chá’s bottle.

A handy strap allows users to hold Chá in a variety of ways, like strapping it to a backpack. 

Following several ideations, the final form of Chá envisions a subdued, yet bright blush pink stainless steel bottle with silicone elements and a transparent upper lid.  

Bring and make tea on the go with Chá.

Coca-Cola’s newest drinks come packaged in the company’s historic 1894 bottle

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They say the soft-drink brand’s success didn’t begin until their adoption of the famous hourglass bottle and the iconic red and white cursive logo, but this bottle right here represent’s Coca-Cola’s humble beginnings. In a way, this is a long-overdue throwback that spans over a century of good times with the cola-based carbonated beverage. Its latest release? a series of cocktail mixers packaged in Coca-Cola’s first ever bottle design, a combination of the past and the future, in one glorious bottle!

Referred to as the Hutchinson bottle (designed way back in 1894), the straight-sided bottle with a bulbous neck is now being reissued as the packaging for Coca-Cola’s series of mixers. The bottle design possesses an aesthetic that complements its bar-friendly category, making it the perfect choice. Available in four distinct flavor profiles, Woody, Spicy, Herbal, and Smoky, and designed to be used with dark spirits like whisky and dark rum, the bottles come with a white label and a taped cap, quite a deviation from the soft-drink’s otherwise red-heavy design, but more of a hat-tip to the drink’s association with mixology. We can’t wait to see more of these bottles (and probably taste the mixers too)… you know, for strictly design-appreciation purposes!

Designer: Coca-Cola