Through my research, I pinpointed the market leaders in this category and analyzed why they are leading by looking at things like CMF, brand language, and trends. I then used the insights gained to identify the kind of people that are buying these products and what their needs are. I used these findings to set goals for what a successful water bottle would look like. Those being: Ice needs to be able to fit into the top of it, it should fit into a backpack, and it should have an integrated handle to aid with grip.
Inspired by what I saw in my market research, I wanted my water bottle to reflect the ideals that my users carry. This means using durable, insulating, and environmentally friendly materials like stainless steel. I also noticed a lot of matte powder-coat finishes that I want to incorporate.
Here I am exploring a wide range of concepts. I experimented with various body shapes, integrated handles, and lid openings to give myself a direction to focus on. I was particularly excited about the idea of a bottle with "stackable" components. This allows the user to essentially buy three bottles for the price of one.
Color Palettes
Since users who buy these products are environmentally conscious, I created three color palette directions that draw direct inspiration from nature. For each purchase of a given colorway, a portion of the profits would go towards conservation efforts related to the given environment the palette was inspired by.
Physical Prototype
The goal of this prototype was to ensure that the bottle was properly sized for multiple different hands. I handed it to my classmates to test the bottle's thickness and integrated handle size on various hand sizes. This is the 24oz configuration.
The final bottle has a stainless steel vacuum insulated body with silicone grips on the lid for easy unscrewing. Its modular design allows the user to choose between three different liquid volumes. The handle can be grabbed from virtually any angle with any number of fingers for a comfortable grip.
