Customize It!

As a coffee fanatic, I chose my daily coffee container to remix. For reference, I drink a Kirkland Columbian cold brew each day (picture below).

As much as I love the coffee itself, I greatly dislike the container it comes in. To speak plainly, I think it's ugly. The font, layout, and reflective metal are all very unappealing. Even though it is fully functional, and does what it is intended to do, I believe the entire thing could be improved upon.

Beginning with the can as a structure, I personally feel as though the

can design is completely pointless. I always found the design to be somewhat strange, since I typically associate a pop tab with carbonated beverages; drinks you would open and drink all in one sitting so as to not lose the fizz. This is black coffee, which can be enjoyed over a long period of time. I frequently find myself drinking this coffee while in the car, on a walk, or just on the move in general, so it is very frustrating when I cannot reseal it.

The first design change I would make is to have it be a more traditional bottle shape. This way it is more accessible and more practical since many people drink their morning coffee over a longer period of time. Or if someone wants to drink their coffee while moving from place to place they will be able to do so with much more ease. With convenience in mind, the bottle would have a narrow opening/mouth, to prevent spillage (which is another issue that comes with having a pop tab can). By being able to reseal the beverage, and drink out of a narrower opening, it becomes much easier to travel with your morning coffee.

Aesthetically, when people think of coffee they think of a high-energy, morning drink. I would redesign the bottle to lean into that idea and encourage people to see this drink as the most effective way to get their day started. To do so, I would have a paper/plastic label around the new bottle that is brightly colored (warm, sunrise colors such as red, yellow, orange, blue), with imagery that is typically associated with the morning (a sun, trees, birds chirping, someone humming even). A bright and, admittedly, the obnoxious label will further the idea in people’s minds that this is an excellent morning drink. Even including the caffeine content in large, bold lettering would be beneficial as this coffee contains the same amount of caffeine as 2.4 cups of coffee, but you would not know that from a quick glance at it. By blowing that figure up, it is free advertising to anyone who happens to see the bottle. Furthermore, it is also reinforcing the idea that this drink is the best, most effective morning coffee to get one's day started.

Ultimately, even the horrid design can't stop me from enjoying this beverage each and every morning, but in my dream world, it would be looking quite different!