Function and Form

One of the most exciting things to witness in the world of design is the re-imagination of an everyday object. Take the humble chair. Brad Dunning’s curation of The Modern Chair exhibition made us contemplate how a creative rethinking of the ordinary can yield extraordinary results.

Consider the water bottle. Thanks in part to an eco-consciousness about reducing plastic waste, clever consumer marketing, and the VSCO girl phenomenon, the stainless-steel water bottle is having a moment. Nearly as ubiquitous as smart phones, carried by adults and teens alike, they’ve become something of a status accessory, often customized with stickers. The design differences between them are minute, and largely a matter of branding.

When we stumbled upon the All-Day Adventure Flask, it jumped out as a brilliant rethinking of a now-commoditized object. We discovered it on Kickstarter, an indie project pitched by Hibear, a small company out of Reno, Nevada.

Billed as “the Swiss Army knife of water bottles,” the Adventure Flask transforms from a water bottle to a pour-over coffee maker to a tea infuser to a cocktail shaker or wine decanter. A removable thermal core pops in the freezer and screws into the cocktail shaker to chill wine without watering it down with ice. A rubber sleeve protects the bottom and can be removed for use as a cup.

We love the attention to detail, with design elements that pull double duty. The top of the bottle unscrews and inverts to form the pour-over mechanism; when it’s removed, the bottom of the bottle is easy to reach and clean. The flat-topped cap rests solidly upside down, and it holds exactly one ounce of liquid—handy when you’re mixing cocktails. A mesh screen inside the cocktail strainer catches coffee grounds and tea leaves; it also aerates decanted wine and catches the little sulfites that float around in a bottle of red. The thermal core can be used as a muddler.

Finally, it’s just a lovely design, from the shape to the matte finish to the hidden artwork—designed by a different indie artist on each bottle—that’s exposed when you pull off the rubber sleeve/cup.

If we hadn’t spent a month or two testing this product (hard work, we know), it would be at the top of our Christmas list. Do you have any favorite products that marry form and function in exciting ways? Tell us! We’d love to hear.