Energy Drink Project

1. Energy Drink Project Victoria University International Design ACM2009 Danielle Mulcahy S3627151 Design Presentation k

2. The Current Market All of the above products are well known for both good and bad reasons. Energy drinks like Mother and Monster have unfortunately become synonymous with health problems, heart issues and all manner of medical phenomena. These drinks are not particularly detailed in their design, conversely they are for the most part very simple and are not overly colourful in their approach. Red bull and V would have to be the most colourful, and Mother is eye catching because of the use of red.

3. What Would My Product Be Like?? In order to make a successful product I would want to look at both what makes the current leaders in the energy drink market successful and also what their lesser qualities are. This would entail looking more closely at colour, shape, ingredients, packaging size and materials, ingredients, functionality, recyclability and aesthetics. Regarding ingredients in particular, I would be making note of and dismissing certain ‘natural’ ingredients such as Gingko Biloba due to the undesirable side effects it induces in combination with many medications. Straying away from the current sugary trend encouraging hyperactive behaviour, I would aim to produce a product promoting the immediate yet sustained release of energy of certain natural ingredients such as citrus, pomegranate, spearmint, pineapple, and spirulina. The product will aim to be as much if not more satisfying than other energy drinks on the current market.

4. Initial Sketches

5. 50 Odd Sketches For Energy Drinks

6. 50 Odd Sketches For Energy Drinks

7. International Appeal Appropriating my product to appeal to international audiences means creating a logo and a product that are both simple to recognise and easy to understand. I would want to make a product that has minimal to no impact on the land or our resources and can be easily reproduced in multiple countries. It would be neglectful for the design to not cater to the target audience in a broad context, taking into consideration dietary apprehensions as well as accessibility issues surrounding ‘getting into’ some products for people with mobility issues or loss of limbs. I should mention that the exemplary design I wish to present towards the end of this talk is multi-national and has a following in places such as Russia and Denmark as well as a growing respect from the design community for their inspiring product innovation.

8. Logo and Branding Brainstorm When brainstorming, I opted for the most simple energy related words that came to mind. The more simple, the more easily diversifiable the logo outcome would be. I wanted to find a name with some jolt to it, a name that has energy in its own right.

9. Yomm Refined Sketches This design came about by utilizing unbroken triangles to create a shape capable of containing liquid. This design however was dismissed as it’s jagged nature doesn’t suit the shape of the hand nor would it be practical for shelving or storage.

10. GULP GULPRefined Sketches & Logo Exploration The inspiration for this bottle design came from science lab equipment. I liked the idea of utilizing a test tube or beaker, inspired by The Croft Institute and Happy Lab. The design I was most happy with utilizes the OM logo as the container with specially moulded glass. This however would prove to be too difficult for prototype.

11. OM – Initial Refined Sketches Playing with the notions of form and figure, I extended up on the original design by adding and subtracting curves and by simplifying and abstracting the original design.

12. OM Font and Logo Design I chose this design because it is simple, easy to construct and leaves room for the design of the logo. ‘Om’ is a Buddhist mantra which Is said to be able to elevate life force, and is also strong in its simplicity regarding its appropriation for logo use, being the re are only two letters involved. To the right, 3 and 6 were the most likely candidates for the logo.

13. ..Further Design Elements The design of the bottle is boosted in its appeal by its functionality. The hook element of the design allows for easy carrying ability as well as assisted pouring function with its swivel capability. The grip on the opposite side to the mouth of the bottle is an added extra to ensure drink slippage never occurs again! The ripple effect beneath the bottle rim is inspired by the ergonomic shape of the human hand and will provide a comfortable surface atop recycled materials. The design aims to use recycled and repurposed materials where possible and provide a refreshing alternative to the sterile chrome and dark glassed environment the energy drink market has become.

14. Photoshop: Layers & Textures Transforming the original sketch into a digitized prototype meant jumping into Photoshop and playing around with layers. I utilized different opacities and filters in order to create certain textures that would eventually mimic aluminium, glass, plastic or compressed cardboard finishes. In researching the materials for the project I was able to find plenty of information regarding recyclable and reconstituted materials. The use of aluminium pouches such as the ones utilized in baby food packaging has become more prominent and is a viable material in the scope of this project. Compressed cardboard has been utilized for decades in long life milk storage and more recently in wine packaging. These receptacles can be made two or three dimensionally.

15. Technology and Materials Creating the product from food safe and completely recycled materials, the options are open regarding the execution of the product in compressed cardboard, recycled aluminium pouches, glass or recyclable and BPA-free plastic. There are many factors to be taken into consideration when designing an energy drink such as how the shape of the product will be achieved in different forms, such as injection moulding for plastics, down to what kind of glue and ink is going to be used. For an eco- friendly product, it is advisable to opt for an epoxy resin that doesn’t contain isocyanate or VOC’s . VOC stands for Volotile Organic Compounds which can lead to an array of adverse and long term health effects.

16. Inspirations 360 Paper Bottle Touching Senses Tetrapak Chateau GreenBottle Shiraz Long Flat B Pack Australia

17. Ergonomics and Product Design It was important to me throughout the design process for the energy drink to strongly consider the natural curvature of the hands in order to make a successful product. The moulded clay indentations on the right are quite indicative of the kind of texture I aim to express within the design features of my product.

18. Exploring the realm of colour as an addition to the product meant finding certain colours that would stand out against the design. This is also a way of possibly attributing different flavours to different bottles, or special edition collections. The graphic to the right opens up the possibilities regarding material optimization and the use of different material combinations in order to achieve a successful final product. The colours chosen for these particular designs align with jewel colours and are in contrast to the clear, aluminium or cardboard backing of the product. Cream or black grips are administered into the design as a means of functionality and utilize recycled and repurposed materials such as matting and the rubber from tyres.

19. Refining the Logo and Final Design After finding the right texture to mimic the shape of the bottle I have endeavoured to create, I then redrew the chosen font combinations and superimposed them onto the cardboard OM design. On the right you can see the transition of the stages of the logo design from superimposition to design implementation and finally a more delicate approach utilizing the embossing technique.

20. OM: Refined Design with Logo The six bottles above are the final designs complete with embossed logo, my chosen form of branding the bottle as it requires less ink than would otherwise. These six bottles were presented to a group of friends, aging between 17 and 35, and amongst them, the second and sixth were chosen to be the strongest designs above the rest. The utilization of compressed recycled cardboard encasing an aluminium pouch also ensures that the drink is considerably insulated, thus keeping it fresher for longer.

21. Peer Reviewed! Upon the receival of the opinions of my peers it was down to the last two design choices. I opted for the design on the right as it has a certain flow to it that is not achieved by the design on the left. The general consensus of todays society tends to lean towards a more organic approach to design and I feel that this product complies with that movement.

22. Behold! The finished design for OM Energy Drink. By Danielle Mulcahy

23. Now for the Energy Drinkcomparison

24. Vs Froobee Om

25. Froobee by Waterwerkz Ltd The font used within the logo is bubbly and employs smaller and larger text, which in my personal opinion is a slight bombardment on the senses and could be regarded as being intended for a younger target audience. Since this particular product is dispensed via a vending machine it may be impractical in its implementation of colours for a target audience of late teens and early twenty year olds. This design however I found to be quite inspiring due to reasons other than schematics.. Waterwerkz Ltd, also known as The Green Drinks Company, are the creators of Froobee have invented a tetrapak slimline drink similar to the aluminium pouches used in baby food. I chose this product to compare mine to since the pouch is also a component of my design. The product is also similar to my design in that it has ergonomic features and is easy to hold. This product is very colourful in appearance – perhaps too colourful!

26. Froobee Drink Machines & Dispensaries Waterwerkz Ltd (England) were actually the invetnorsof the Pouchlink Vending Machine. This is a vending machine that mixes and dispenses the drink on the spot. This means that more pouches are able to be contained within the vending machine and ingredients are considerably fresher than if they were mixed at the factory. Each vending machine is able to contain over 2,000 pouches each and dramatically reduces the company’s eco-footprint the company and product emit due to lowered transport costs and the change in where materials are sourced .

27. Froobee / Waterwerkz Ltd The Waterwerkz Ltd Froobee design and its associated Vending Machine are relatively new in their injection into the energy drink market. The product was released late 2010 and has yet to take hold of the Australian market. Froobee was started by England’s Steven Jenkins in 2006 and has also managed to design the product to meet with the new standards of health within England’s schools , making the product ideal for broad spectrum distribution.

28. Conclusion Om Energy drink has the potential to be utilized in a similar manner to Froobee’s on the spot dispensary innovation. Utilizing simple technologies and space saving logistics, the amount of energy saved and stored in this one little bottle is immeasurable and can only lead us to imagine the fluidity with which the design world could usher into our everyday lives . For a refreshing alternative to the sugar-filled overstimulating drinks we’re currently being promoted, try Om Energy Drink and Power On! 

29. Bibliography Picture References: Red Bull: www.redbull.com.au/Mother: http://www.coca-cola.com.au/index.jsp V: http://v-energy.com.au/ Monster: http://www.monsterenergy.com/ Rockstar: http://rockstarenergy.com/ Froobee: http://www.fahad.com/2007/05/froobee-drink-vending-machine-mixed.html http://inventorspot.com/articles/top_5_coolest_vending_machines_2009_27176 http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/drinks_vended_blended_on_deman/ 360 Paper Bottle: http://www.packagingdesignarchive.org/archive/pack_details/373-360-paper-bottle Flat Pack B: www.illknowitwheniseeit.com Touching Senses: www.graphichug.com Chateau GreenBottle: www.trendhunter.com/trends/chateau-greenbottle Waterwerkz Pty/ The Green Drinks Company: http://www.companieslist.co.uk/05088162-the-green-drinks-company-ltd

30. Information References Tripwire Magazine - 35 Packaging and Eco-Friendly Recycling Ideas: for Inspiration: http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2012/06/eco-friendly-packaging-designs.html Eco Adhesives: www.Ecobondadhesives.com/?page_id=116 EPA: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html Australian Aluminium Council Ltd: http://aluminium.org.au/recycling Recycled Compressed Paper: http://inhabitat.com/tag/recycled-compressed-paper/ How Glass is Recycled: http://recycling-guide.org.uk/science-glass.html Gingko Biloba: http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-333-GINKGO.aspx?activeIngredientId=333&activeIngredientName=GINKGO Reiki Power Symbol (Chokurei): http://www.reiki.nu/treatment/symbols/chokurei/chokurei.html

31. Questions?

32. Thank You For Your Time k