Hasta La Ideas

In response to Monday’s post on forthcoming plastic pint glasses for pubs in the UK–and the attendant outcry by bar patrons–we received a report from Sydney-based industrial designer Andrew Simpson, who has experience with this particular problem. Simpson’s company, Vert Design, was commissioned by Fosters to design a plastic pint glass for use on a a rooftop bar, and he shared with us some of the findings from his process:

Most pub-goers are presently happy with the pre-existing pint glass and see plastic as a lesser value product; most plastic glasses in Australia are made from acrylics. When we looked into the perception of value we found the acrylics failed in 4 ways.

1 – They are lighter then glass and feel like a disposable product,
2 – they flex when squeezed,
3 – they do not chill or transmit the chill of the beer to the hand and lip of the drinker,
4 – they scratch easily and soon become opaque.

We found that all of these problems could be solved through material selection…

Hit the jump to read Simpson’s solutions, which go refreshingly in-depth and into the design minutiae.

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