Creating A New Category In the Hydration Industry
Every now and then I work on a project that makes me think "wow, maybe design can change the world." Every year in the US 24 billion 'single use' plastic water bottles pollute our landfills, rivers, lakes and oceans. FloWater sells and rents their proprietary premium water bottle refill station, but more importantly it's a brand who's sol purpose is to end bottled water entirely. While working with RKS my job was to lead creating visual identify for this spunky two man start up that can rival that of big bottled bottled water brands.
A System As Informative As It Is Aspirationa
In designing the mark I wanted to create a logo that look as relevant at an outdoor skate board competition as it does in a four star hotel lobby. Also as important as the logo was working with the RKS industrial design team to create a set of icons that communicates the incredibly purity of water the machine produces.
Telling the Right Story at the Right Time
FloWater is a complex story, and the best way of telling complex stories, especially ones that facilitate sales, is not to tell them at all.
When designing the graphic applications on the six foot tall unit with the RKS industrial design team we knew creating quick first, second and third reads was essential. We decided the first read from a distance should just be the beautifully designed form of the unit and a refreshing blue backlit texture. The second should tease the audience with the unit's purpose, "better than bottled water, without the bottle." The third read should spell out the unit's value and functionality "7x Purified & Chilled Water Refill Station."
A pilot program of this design yielded literally hundreds pre-oreders as well as interest from consumers, partner businesses, and investors alike.
