11 of the best designs for coffee-lovers
There are few designers who haven't relied on a caffeine fix to get them through a long night before a major deadline. So in honour of the under-celebrated International Coffee Day we've collected together 11 of the best coffee-related designs from the pages of Dezeen.
Royal College of Art graduate Po-Chih Lai designed a milk frother attachment that slots between the base and top of a stove-top coffee percolator.
The aluminium attachment traps the steam produced in the brewing process. A valve on one side of the pot releases the pressurised steam into a jug of milk, making use of the residual steam from the brewing process and eliminating the need for a separate milk-frothing machine. Find out more about this project »
Swedish bike-accessory brand Bookman designed a coffee cup holder that clips onto the handlebars of a bicycle to facilitate drinking on the move.
The holder consists of two rings and a spring that hold a coffee cup securely in place. The two rings are of different widths to accommodate the wider brim of a takeaway coffee cup and narrower base. The holder is reversible, making it possible to hold a small or large cup. Find out more about this project »
Espresso Solo by Shmuel Linski
For lovers of all things concrete, there's this concept for an espresso machine by Shenkar College of Engineering and Design student Shmuel Linski. Called Espresso Solo, the product features metal working parts and a concrete case.
"The contrast between the roughness, massiveness and hardness of the concrete and the fine metal parts, which are dealing with the coffee preparation process, was very challenging," said Linski. Find out more about this project »
Nespresso Battery by Mischer’Traxler
Viennese studio Mischer'Traxler used coffee to generate electricity for an installation for Nepresso Austria during Vienna Design Week in 2010.
The duo combined 700 discarded aluminium Nespresso coffee pods and their grounds with salt water and strips of copper to produce batteries. The Nespresso Batteries were used to power clocks in a window display for the Austrian store.
"Invisible Energy becomes visual via ticking sweep hands and thus shows the importance of collecting and recycling the valuable material aluminium," said the designers. Find out more about this project »
Piamo by Gemodo Coffee and Lunar Europe
German inventors Christoph and Hendrik Meyl, founders of Gemodo Coffee and design studio Lunar Europe, produced Piamo – a coffee cup that allows users to create a microwave espresso in 30 seconds.
Piamo is a stacking cup consisting of a water chamber, filter inlay and filter cap designed to be used in the microwave to produce a steamed coffee. Find out more about this project »
Good Morning moka pot and Tuamotu hob by Anderssen & Voll
Norwegian studio Andersson & Voll created this bright yellow coffee pot to be paired with a two ring hob made from a solid slab of marble.
"Water and ground coffee beans rise from the basic solid of the cylinder and transform into coffee in the more carefully shaped top part," designer Espen Voll explained to Dezeen. "The materiality is refined in a similar way, going from crude aluminum to enamel and polished wood." Find out more about this project »
Imperial Drip by Proper Coffee
The antithesis of the 30 second microwave espresso, Imperial Drip can take up to four hours to brew a pot of coffee.
This slow-drip coffee machine, designed by founder of US brand Proper Coffee Bill Abbe, draws on the Japanese tradition of cold-brewed coffee which sees water filter through coffee grounds at a rate of 40-45 drops per minute. The machine is formed of laser-cut steel frame that supports two glass brewing receptacles.
"The slow drip process creates a unique characteristic with flavour and bean extortion that can't be accomplished with a normal hot coffee maker or espresso shot. After trying cold drip coffee for the first time, the user will enjoy the wait every time after," said Abbe. Find out more about this project »
Slim Cup, by Israeli designer Sharona Merlin, takes the typical cup and saucer and squashes it to form a cup with a very slim profile.
Merlin produced the cup as part of a ceramic workshop in her third year as an industrial design student at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.
"The title of the course was "Combination of tradition and technology" and my interpretation for this title was the way things get slimmer as technology moves forward," said the designer. Find out more about this project »
Japanese studio Nendo redesigned the branding for a coffee-flavoured beer produced in a collaboration between Sekinoichi brewery and coffee business Anchor Coffee in northern Japan.
Nendo designed a sticker depicting a golden outline of a coffee bean. The stickers were hand applied to the brand's existing bottles to create uniquely patterned bottles while retaining the brand identity.
In 2010, Northern Japan had been hit by an earthquake and tsunami, the special edition beer formed part of a fundraising effort for disaster relief. Find out more about this project »
Fashion designer Paul Smith was asked to reinvent a coffee pot originally designed by architect Arne Jacobson for the Danish brand Stelton in 1967, to mark the 50th anniversary of the company.
Smith replaced the black, angular handles of the coffee pot with a range of brightly coloured and pastel toned plastic handles in keeping with the traditional shape.
“To tell the truth I was unsure whether I should take on the task of re-working such a beautiful, timeless set of designs. However, once I realised that I would just give a new lease of life through colour, I felt more comfortable,” said Smith. Find out more about this project »
A Cup of Coffee by Ryohei Yoshiyuki
Japanese designer Ryohei Yoshiyuki designed an ashtray moulded from coffee grounds intended to mask the smell of cigarette smoke.
Yoshiyuki wrote an ode to coffee-drinking to accompany his project:
"A man
A break
A cup of coffee
A cigarette
even that little time might be the best moment in your day." Find out more about this project »