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Introducing the Frank Green water bottle. Christmas 2022 when this product hit the stores with this Ad on Social Media, people couldn't get enough of it and they seemed to be on every girl's Santa wish list. At a price point that was well beyond what most people would consider reasonable to pay for a water bottle they were flying off the shelves and popular colours sold out quickly. Advertised as sustainable and limited edition releases the Frank Green water bottle appeared everywhere. It is available at David Jones, Myer and smaller sustainability focused stores such as Biome.

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Aesthetics

Visually, the shape is reminiscent of the retro flasks with the cup as a lid at smaller scale. Being cylindrical, the simplicity of the design is stylish and looks like it would fit easily in your hand. Colours are a key attribute with Frank Green offering a myriad to choose from. It's also possible to customise the water bottle with your name so personalisation is available. However, there is nothing innovative in appearance, the shape is the common cylinder the colours are lovely but they are all colours we've seen before. The proportions are a little out, they seem extraordinarily long and in the case of the large water bottle the diameter is too large detracting from its overall appearance.

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Concept

The main idea behind this product is sustainability, and to offer a superior performing water bottle produced out of quality materials and beautiful design. The theme of products is clever, to take something as mundane as the water bottle and make it sustainable. Sustainable material substitutions such as plastic straw with metal and the plastic body is replaced with stainless steel also making them fully recyclable. Being dishwasher safe is a big advantage for ease of cleaning too.

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The following text taken from the Frank Green website, "Our ceramic range is made from a ceramic inner layer and stainless steel outer. It is triple-walled and vacuum-insulated! Our original range is made from fully recyclable co-polymer with a stain and odour resistant inner lining and a smart double-walled thermo outer layer. Fully recyclable and dishwasher safe!"(1)

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Context

A series of reusable products designed to reduce plastic use. Frank Green is an Australian based company supplying to the Australian and overseas markets. The company was incepted in 2014, from the idea of reducing plastic that is littering the environment. The reason why frank green designs reusable products stems from the founder being a child and seeing plastic waste in otherwise pristine environments and learning that every piece of plastic from his childhood exists in the environment today.

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This sustainable philosophy and its simple beautiful design has seen the water bottle gain a high level of popularity. When the Ads ran comments such as "I saw this Ad it's so cool. I don't know what the product is but I want one". The water bottles had a high level of appeal by young girls, quite a phenomena to observe having a daughter in this demographic. 

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Fitness For Purpose

They are fit for purpose in terms of meeting the expectation of carrying water and maintaining a cold temperature for an extended period of time and the function as a reusable water bottle. Manufactured models include three sizes 590ml, 739ml and 1005ml and a range of reusable cups, however the water bottles are quite bulky and the largest size is awkward to carry with an over sized diameter. Continuing in the vein of user experience the handle could also be improved by increasing the size, it's a tight fit on the hand. The top of the water bottles are similar to plastic (co-polymer) and prone to cracking if not handled with care. Social commentary of the water bottle's awkward size is entertaining and I absolutely agree with this view, the bar stool is the mock water bottle (as pictured below). While the product has been hugely successful, the proportions can be improved along with the handle. The co-polymer material used in the lids needs to be improved or replaced by another material, it's disappointing the entire water bottle isn't made from metal and ceramic materials.

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