I actually thought this product (a cooler on wheels that has a built-in cocktail blender, speakers and LED lights) was a farce or parody but it’s REAL! - YouTube
Even that name… “Coolest” is cheesy! I just learned that the “creator” is just that: an inventor, so he probably did not consult with designers; both graphic or ID.
Funny how years ago, when I entered ID school, I struggled with the definitions of “inventor” and “industrial designer” (as we both create things), but then as my schooling progressed and my knowledge expanded, it became apparent to me the major differences! This Coolest product is a perfect example of an invention that could benefit from some “good design” principles and some attention to aesthetics. “Less is more” does not apply to this cooler.
I agree about the battery power needed to accommodate all those gadgets (especially that blender!). I initially envisioned this working with a generator (it just has that appearance).
On a final note: I guess, as designers, we can be a bit elitist thinking that everyone has to enjoy good design and that it should apply to all products. Since this Coolest cooler is a gadget and in essence, appeals to a certain market (tailgaters, beach-goers, picnickers) that could care less if it’s aesthetically-pleasing, maybe I should be a bit forgiving?
Mo-i, even if your family falls in love with this concept, you can always save some money and create some hybrid-hack out of an old Igloo, a cheap Oster and stick on a JamBox?
If anything this should be inspiring for professional designers to see. I mean holy hell this guy has raised over $8.5 Million dollars for a cooler… with a blender on it, and Jambox hacked on the side… and blue LEDS on the inside
Can’t find the link now but I read a good break down someone did discussing all the things he did wrong the first time and what he changed this time. I think he launched the last one in winter, which obviously was a bad move since people were not in the summer mood, also the video is significantly improved… the ID is definitely an improvement as well, looks less 2nd year design student project… maybe late 3rd year
I could nit pick the design to death, and I could lambast it for feature creep, but honestly I can’t. Ultimately it makes me happy to see this success as another cool example of the new business models that are emerging that significantly lower the costs of entry for bringing a product to market. This should make all entrepreneurial leaning designers happy to see.
As a professional designer, that is irrelevant. And, as a matter of fact, I have much more respect for a designer to come up with something like this than another Jonny Ive like design.
We (“we” being your typical IDer) are led to believe that Jonny Ive, Dieter Rams, et al are the pinnacle of design. And every one of us can design a rectangle with fillets. But what about the “Coolest” Cooler, or the Snugee, or Crocs, etc? Why do these receive ridicule from “our” community?
As a good capitalist and someone who likes to get paid, I’d rather do the “Coolest” Cooler project over the aluminum, zero draft, filleted corner iphone cooler (and yes, you can picture exactly what that looks like in your head). While the iphone cooler may win the adoration of designers and design critics, my guess is it would be a commercial flop. And bottom line is baby needs a new pair of shoes.
Good points, iab. As one of the owners (not the design director, mind you) of a company I worked at once said “We are not trying to win Red Dot Awards here!!”. Shocked me to my core at the time, but made sense in that he was wanting to sell tons and make money; not be remembered in the design annals of history.
I actually think it’s pretty good…it may not be solving a huge problem, but assuming it works well the way it’s intended to, then it provides value and benefit to people’s lives. Aesthetics I suppose is debatable (I don’t think it’s bad, but I don’t think it’s great either), but personally I’m not a subscriber to this idea of “universal design”; the world (and people) is filled with variety, why not designs?
There seems to be a decent amount of thinking behind many of the features and even the shape (for the tie-down feature). I guess one could argue the whole swiss-army-knife thing with its many features, but that depends on the market and needs being met, sometimes a swiss army knife is needed or more convenient to use.
cjs33139 wrote:I guess there is no accounting for taste (or lack of it).
As a professional designer, that is irrelevant. And, as a matter of fact, I have much more respect for a designer to come up with something like this than another Jonny Ive like design.
We (“we” being your typical IDer) are led to believe that Jonny Ive, Dieter Rams, et al are the pinnacle of design. And every one of us can design a rectangle with fillets. But what about the “Coolest” Cooler, or the Snugee, or Crocs, etc? Why do these receive ridicule from “our” community?
As a good capitalist and someone who likes to get paid, I’d rather do the “Coolest” Cooler project over the aluminum, zero draft, filleted corner iphone cooler (and yes, you can picture exactly what that looks like in your head). While the iphone cooler may win the adoration of designers and design critics, my guess is it would be a commercial flop. And bottom line is baby needs a new pair of shoes.
Exactly this.
Thanks iab, you saved me some time, coming back to this thread half a day later I see you posted my post. Well I would
have done a napkin sketch of the " I - ce cool" cooler, that is even cooler than “Coolest.” But you saved me that time.
Every one here can imagine a life size version of an ice cube, made from transluzent plastic with only a hint of blue light
radiating through. Aluminium chassis, large sturdy wheels, aluminium handle with overly small edge radii. It wouldn’t have
a bass box or a blender, but would hook up to your instagram account etc., ect.
I highly doubt it would suit the targeted market better and would be a more successful design. Not every customer is a Rams or
Behrens disciple or longs to become one.
In my eyes the style of the “coolest” fits its intended purpose well enough. Leaving your uncluttered, well lit studio and actually going to the beach might help connecting to that vibe und loosing some bitterness.
mo-i
Full disclosure: Haven’t been for summer holiday this year, missing Spain badly, so this thing might have had an easy target in me…
I don’t find the design, that offensive actually and I know its something my brother would love to have for his grill outs and beach days.
Personally would have gone a bit powertool inspired. Ryobi, Dewalt. That Lacie hard drive, etc. (kinda looks like they went that way for v2.) Right now it just looks like its trying to be a Gatorade cooler, which isnt a bad thing.
WHo is to say they didn’t consult with an ID firm, you make that assumption because you think in your mind it doesn’t meet your standards…
Raymond Lowey was once asked what is the definition of a sweet curve. his response was the only curve that matters is the profit curve in the upward direction. If his concept is market backed and meets a true need for consumers he his gonna be rich and then all the id people at different company’s will “restyle” it to “look” better. But who is more valuable to a company the person with the vision and idea or the person who can only take the idea and re-purpose it.
Aren’t we missing the point that Ram’s designed Braun products were massively mass market? They were not niche designs that were complicated to manufacture. In fact just the opposite. They were devoid of any particular style so they could be general enough to be used by everyone. They were designed for easy production.
We have seen a manipulation of that into a “style” that is often copied, can be uninventive and is tempting to overcompensate with exotic materials and manufacturing processes that drive cost up and are often inappropriate for their use case.
On the case of the Coolist. I think it is a great product concept. It could look better, but the insight is there. I’m not sure if I want to mix electronics with something that is inherently wet. In use it might be more practical to have a smaller cooler and a backpack., but I get the idea, and clearly lots of other people do as well. We will see if the backing translates into sales and happy users.
Yeah apparently people want a mobile mini bar, which I guess is basically what a cooler kind of was to begin with (aka the ability to bring cold ones with you)?
My only point was that designers, design blogs and other design blogs are accepting of the “design” product and are quick to rip on “non design” product.
Yes, Braun is/was mass market. But it is certainly not the entire market. It is not the only option. And while I may prefer the “Braun” product, it doesn’t mean the “non-Braun” product doesn’t satisfy its user as well.
My other only point is designing to appeal to me is easy. But I am not the entire market and many times, if not most or all, designing for me would be most inappropriate. Being a professional allows me to know that and design for the end user without my influence. You want a kiss of death for a commercial/monetary success, win yourself a design award.
On a side note, that is one of my pet peeves about portfolios of recent graduates. 90% of them are filled with projects either for the 20-something college student or a save-the-third-world-user-from-imminent-death. Either projects where they are the end user or a projects where they likely only had secondary access to end users. Where’s the projects for the 40-something to 50-something? Those portfolios will make me take notice.
What a wonderful discussion this has become! Lots of points of view; which is what I cherish about the forum.
On a side note: If this cooler can make a mean Mojito (on ice, not frozen), I might give it a few more stars. A recessed pestle and mortar built in to the lid?
As a current student I felt like commenting on this because I think it’s good insight. My school actually emphasizes us to not design for “ourselves” and my teachers hate seeing “20 something University student or young professional” as a market. In the case of save-the-world type of designs, that’s only allowed in the final year project and you are required as part of the project to go to the country in question (last year it was Uganda) to really live and speak with locals about their issues.
That being said, I do believe that designing for users (even if that term can be somewhat vague at times) is the right type of focus so clearly, this cooler seems to cater well to its userbase if an overwhelming number are willing to back it up after hearing about it; it’s not like the guy did humongous amounts of marketing so seems like at the very least it’s a marketable idea. I am interested in how waterproof he can make all the components as he did mention that was a feature.
It’s not all black and white. Good design can be profitable, bad design can be profitable. Profitable or high volume are not the only determinants of good design. If that’s your definition of good design, you aren’t a designer.
Toyota sells a ton of Corollas. They are still crap design.
There are tons of iMac looking things out there. Most are crap design.
The cooler isn’t great design. It’s also not horrible and surely a designer worked on it. But I don’t think the Middle America that it’s destined for would know or want “Great Design” if it hit them in the face, falling out of a minivan, on the way to Walmart.
The key insight- focus on the experience- users dont want a cooler box, they want a cooler party. That created a different mindset and product that resonated with a ton of people.
There was design involved- it might not be our particular aesthetic - say a CNC machined forged magnesium G3 filleted box with invisible speaker perfs- but there was a definite leap in design from the first round to the second kickstarter which made a multi-million dollar difference.
COOLEST COOLER: 21st Century Cooler that's Actually Cooler by Ryan Grepper — Kickstarter
