Mobile Tea Plunger/Mug

The target market for my experience enrichment tool is a middle aged professional, possibly male or female. Whilst being fairly wealthy, their daily lives would be a balance of family and work responsibilities, and therefore they do not have much spare time. They would desire to lead a healthy life style and exercise may be a large part of their recreational time. They would be design conscious when purchasing items and would more often that not, choose quality over a cheaper price. They would most likely be well travelled, either due to work commitments or holidays, and the experiences of these travels would be ones they would like to relive. My belief is that by drinking foreign teas, they would in a way be able to achieve this.

The decision to design a tea mug/plunger tool, is based on there being a need for and easier way to consume loose-leaf teas, specifically green teas, on the go, whilst still maintaining the ease and functionality of a travel mug. Whilst black tea is quite acceptable to have from a teabag, green teas in teabags are often of poor quality and are therefore not as convenient to consume when time is short. Such a tool would ideally enable the user to prepare and consume high quality, loose-leaf teas, in the same time that it would take for conventional teabags.

Because this tool is intended for use with Asian teas, its styling would need to reflect this in order to separate it from conventional travel mugs and tea plungers. The current design language of travel mugs is based upon functionality and uses materials such as rubber, plastic and steel to create a product that says it can be taken anywhere without the risk of breakage. Such mugs are also only practical for use with teabags, or tea brewed in a pot. For my product, I wanted to create a theme of relaxation and stillness, things that are commonly associated with tea drinking and resting, but also make sure that it was practical and could be used on the go. Such a product would be appealing to those who have visited Asia and have taken part in the traditional tea ceremony, and wish to relive it whilst at home or work.

Based on research, I found that a wooden finish would be most appropriate for this styling. This could be used to reflect the traditional Japanese woodcraft of magewappa, which has been used to make domestic vessels for hundreds of years. Items made in such a way are often the work of a master craftsman, and are therefore considered a high quality product to own. To add some semantics to the design, the top of the cup is cut at an angle, part in indicate which side to drink from, part of represent a stork of bamboo that has been chopped off with a blade. The grain of the timber runs vertical up the sides, drawing the eye to the top where a circular piece of plastic adds a visual cue to the use of where to drink from. Along the top, the grain of the timber as oriented horizontally, somewhat representing calming ripples that could be found on a pond. The materials used in this product include, Japanese cedar laminate for a traditional look, Borosilicate Glass due to its low heat expansion characteristics, Polypropylene because of its heat resistance, as well as EVA, Stainless steel and rubber for internal mechanical components.