“Yes, we know it looks weird,” says Dan
Black, admiring a sleek, curved water
bottle containing what looks like . . . a giant black rock. But as with most gizmos
from London-based design firm Black +
Blum (whose Hot-Pot BBQ doubles as an
herb garden), there’s more to the Eau
Good bottle than one might expect: That
dark mass is Binchotan charcoal, an über-porous substance much like the one Brita
filters use to absorb nasty particles. “We
want to present it in its natural form,”
says Black. The challenge, then, was to
design the rest of the capsule so well that
people would embrace its avant-garde
centerpiece—and stop buying bottled
water, which generates millions of tons
of plastic waste each year. Here’s how
Black + Blum did it. —Dan Macsai
1
[ 1] Black and partner Martin Blum were
inspired by the ruggedness of a military
canteen, reflected in early prototypes.
“We needed something you’d be proud to
hold,” he says.
[ 2] “There’s a real science to spout size,”
says Black. “Too big, the rim goes past
your nose; too small, it’s tough to drink.”
To determine the perfect diameter
( 3. 8 centimeters), Black’s team spent
weeks drinking from odd-shaped bottles.
Among them: shampoo and bleach.
[ 3] Prototypes—shaped like liter bottles,
not hourglasses—couldn’t support a
squeeze-to-release mechanism for the
charcoal filter (which should be boiled
every few weeks). “We needed the whole
thing to deform,” says Black.
[ 4] In lieu of a screw-top lid (which channeled a sports water bottle), the designers
chose a simple cork with a silicon-coated
underside.
[ 5] The bottle’s name, Eau Good, is “a play
on words, because it’s pronounced
like ‘Oh, good!’;” says Black. “Not many
people get it.” But will they drink from
it—charcoal and all? “We’ll find out,” he
says. ($20, black-blum.com)
SKETCH PAD A BETTER
BOTTLE 5 2 3 4
Oakley knew its latest innovation would hinge on the (ahem) hinge. Its
Radarlock sunglasses—out this month—allow wearers to swap out its
iconic single lenses to best suit their activity, which means it needs a lock
that’s easy to use but hard to trigger accidentally. “I come from automotives, so I’m inspired by those mechanisms,” says Ryan Calilung, an
Oakley R&D engineer. “From day one, we thought of this device as a door.”
To shrink a car door’s system, the team used the frame’s existing hinge pin
and built a lock into the stem; a quick slide of a switch, located near the
wearer’s temple, releases the lens. To test its strength, the Radarlock was
subjected to salt-spray testing, temperature testing, and athlete testing—
perhaps the most crucial, as Radarlock will be worn at this summer’s Olympic Games. “If it meets their needs,” Calilung says, “it will meet the needs of
a guy like me riding down the street on his bike.” ($200, oakley.com) —SS
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