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It’s something that people use daily, but rarely does anyone think about where their water bottles were designed. Well, if you have bought a new Asics water bottle recently, chances are it was designed right here in Canberra. Work on the new Asics water bottle began 12 months ago, with Formswell designers Daniel Armstrong and Rene Linssen beginning the project by simply sketching out three concepts for the sports company, of which one design was chosen to refine. They knew the bottle needed to come in both a 600ml and an 800ml size, it needed to be made out of recyclable plastic and that it needed to fit in a bottle carrier. Other than that, it was up to them to design something that would appeal to Asics. “Every single day is us explaining what the hell happens next with a design because companies want to know how much they’re spending and what happens or how they go about things,” Armstrong says. Linssen says: “A lot of the time they don’t know what they want, they just want you to come up with some stuff. “With this one, I know in particular we looked at a lot of patterns on shoes and patterns that are kind of trending or working and then we try and take those and bring it into the bottle world. “Bottles can be quite basic and we wanted to add a bit of design and texture because that’s something we haven’t really seen in bottles.” READ MORE: The design is the latest in a long line that Canberra company Formswell is responsible for. For almost 20 years, Formswell has been designing everything from water bottles and bike racks to cooking appliances and utensils. You name it, they’ve probably designed it. It’s also their job to design the elements in these products that you may not have even realised needed to be designed. In some instances, you’re not even aware that these design elements even exist. “There’s a little detail on the bottom of the water bottle for example where we’ve got to put a little ramp on it,” Armstrong says. “It means that when the bottle slides into a machine, the machine catches it in the right spot every single time and prints on it if we want to print something on it. “These little details they don’t magically appear. Your toothbrush, for example, someone has sat there for probably six months and got it right.” Asics isn’t the only large company that Formswell has worked for. They’ve done work with Puma, Breville, celebrity chef Curtis Stone – for his range of cookware and appliances – and Cuisinart. “We prefer to work with bigger clients that know what they want. They get it, and their marketing teams come up with this whole strategy, and you’re just there to provide the design bit,” Armstrong says. “But then we’ve also got the backyard guy in Canberra who comes to us with an idea. Probably 30 per cent of our stuff is just Canberra local people with ideas. And then there’s a big chunk that is the ACT government. “We’re working on the light rail at the moment – we do all their 3D stuff – their fly-throughs and stuff like that. It’s all design.”
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It’s something that people use daily, but rarely does anyone think about where their water bottles were designed.
Well, if you have bought a new Asics water bottle recently, chances are it was designed right here in Canberra.
Work on the new Asics water bottle began 12 months ago, with Formswell designers Daniel Armstrong and Rene Linssen beginning the project by simply sketching out three concepts for the sports company, of which one design was chosen to refine.
They knew the bottle needed to come in both a 600ml and an 800ml size, it needed to be made out of recyclable plastic and that it needed to fit in a bottle carrier. Other than that, it was up to them to design something that would appeal to Asics.
“Every single day is us explaining what the hell happens next with a design because companies want to know how much they’re spending and what happens or how they go about things,” Armstrong says.
Linssen says: “A lot of the time they don’t know what they want, they just want you to come up with some stuff.
“With this one, I know in particular we looked at a lot of patterns on shoes and patterns that are kind of trending or working and then we try and take those and bring it into the bottle world.
“Bottles can be quite basic and we wanted to add a bit of design and texture because that’s something we haven’t really seen in bottles.”
The design is the latest in a long line that Canberra company Formswell is responsible for.
For almost 20 years, Formswell has been designing everything from water bottles and bike racks to cooking appliances and utensils. You name it, they’ve probably designed it.
It’s also their job to design the elements in these products that you may not have even realised needed to be designed. In some instances, you’re not even aware that these design elements even exist.
“There’s a little detail on the bottom of the water bottle for example where we’ve got to put a little ramp on it,” Armstrong says.
“It means that when the bottle slides into a machine, the machine catches it in the right spot every single time and prints on it if we want to print something on it.
“These little details they don’t magically appear. Your toothbrush, for example, someone has sat there for probably six months and got it right.”
Asics isn’t the only large company that Formswell has worked for. They’ve done work with Puma, Breville, celebrity chef Curtis Stone – for his range of cookware and appliances – and Cuisinart.
“We prefer to work with bigger clients that know what they want. They get it, and their marketing teams come up with this whole strategy, and you’re just there to provide the design bit,” Armstrong says.
“But then we’ve also got the backyard guy in Canberra who comes to us with an idea. Probably 30 per cent of our stuff is just Canberra local people with ideas. And then there’s a big chunk that is the ACT government.
“We’re working on the light rail at the moment – we do all their 3D stuff – their fly-throughs and stuff like that. It’s all design.”
