norma

Vacuum Bottle

Product Design

Freelance work

nooma is a vacuum bottle that is characterized by its short and thick body. The shape promotes handling with both hands, like when people drink tea or coffee while relaxing and enjoying the aroma.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Created a new category of bottles in the market and received design awards

It was released to the Japanese market in 2011, and received a Good Design Award and a Japan Industrial Designers’ Association Museum Selection. This bottle made a new category of vacuum bottles, which is multipurpose for drinks and soups. It has sold hundreds of thousand bottles in years, and it is still in the market.

Good Design Award

USER OBSERVATIONS

Why do college students prefer to buy bottled drinks, rather than use a reusable bottle?

At a college cafeteria in Japan, the majority of students drink single-use plastic bottle drinks. They buy them every day at a convenience store or a vending machine, even though saving money is an important issue for them. In contrast, reusable bottles, typically vacuum bottles, are popular for office workers. At stores, there are many kinds of bottles from many brands, but all bottles look the same; the styling is heavily focused on functional slim shapes.

PROBLEMS

There are strong mental gaps between real users and manufacturers.

The one strong reason why college students prefer to carry a store-bought drink rather than a reusable bottle is that they have a negative image towards vacuum bottles. In Japan, almost all elementary school students are required to bring a vacuum bottle to school. About 15 years ago, when current college students were children, vacuum bottles were much heavier and bigger than the current one. Also, the bottles’ designs were very childish and unfashionable. From these common negative memories, even though a vacuum bottle has many benefits for young people, it is not so popular for them.

When this project was started, most of the vacuum bottles in the market were silver or metallic colors because manufacturers believed they must show users stainless-steel materials to appeal its specs, even though young users silently denied its old-fashioned style.

USER PERSONA

A user persona was created to build a clearer image of the users. The persona represented the results of the research and user interviews.

YUKO’S NEEDS & GOALS

A drink is for chatting time

A drink is for a time of chatting with friends for her. It is for relaxing and staying healthy.

Products as self-expression

Mobile products are one of the fashion items for her. She checks whether the design matches with her self image.

Desire to save money

She has a part-time job after class to earn extra money, mainly for fashion and going out.

STYLING MATRIX

USER INTERVIEW

What are the requirements of the bottles for you and why?

In the first phase of mock-ups, I made various proportions with forms and fancy paper. Using these mock-ups, I got some feedbacks from college students about size, color, and proportions.

DESIGN CONCEPT

"I love carrying my iPod every day."

From the research and ideations, I realized that the new vacuum bottles should be like a "gadget," such as an MP3 player or a phone, which the target users carry every day.

The package was designed to maximize the appeal of its colors, proportions, and finishes.