Little Chonk
Industrial Design
Launched 2024
I was briefed by a Brooklyn, NYC based brand to design an innovative new bottle to serve the luxury pet market. The lineup uses nostalgic colourways which are based on familiar 90's toys.
The Lil'Gulp is a fully considered product that has been very well received by the market at a retail price of $35USD. Through a process of iterative development with 7x prototypes, the design overcomes leaking, hygiene and functional issues that cause competitor products to fail. The project raised $142,000 in 40 days on Kickstarter, before fully launching to market in Autumn 2024.
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Opportunity
Existing pet bottles are typically low value and poorly executed, with poor functionality and lacking in thoughtful design and aesthetic appeal. A major issue was leaking bottles and a short usable life. I was commissioned to eliminate a list of pain points. A high priority of the brief was the need for a pleasing user experience and a fun product personality.
Solution
The result is a lasting, carefully considered lifestyle product with best in class functionality and quality. I worked closely with the brand and the chosen suppliers to create a product with high attention to detail, beautiful finishes and an excellent user experience for both humans and pets.
Project Role
End-to-end industrial design.
Notes
Concept ideation through to DFM.
Designed in SolidWorks.
Mass manufactured responsibly in China from '24.
WIRED - Best dog water bottle (Wired.com)
Research, initial exploration and strategy on Miro.
Iterative development
Prototype 1 of 7 (left) > T0 Sample (centre) > Textured 'Golden Sample' (right).
The brand's Peach logo de-bossed inside the lid as a hidden 'easter egg'.