Cafe no. 8

Project

Cafe no. 8 is not just your average coffee mug. Handcrafted in a limited run of 10, Cafe no. 8 is perfect for the coffee enthusiast who wants all their favorite coffee drinks in the comfort of their own home.

"Ditch Your Barista"

MAKE 10

"The Make 10 project was created by School of Industrial Design Instructor Steve Chininis, as a Senior Studio warm-up project. His goal was to develop a design exercise that encouraged entrepreneurship on a micro scale. He also wanted to teach students what happens to their ideas after the design phase, so that they could make smarter decisions about how to accurately design for manufacturing from the start.

 'I figured that if they were the ones manufacturing, and marketing, and selling, that they would learn a lot about how those important things effect design,' explained Chininis." 

Design Process 

While there were not price, size, or market restrictions for the product that was to be developed for the MAKE 10 marketplace, several restraints were very clear based on the market itself. Looking at past sales reports and projects, projects that were easy enough to carry around, fell somewhere between $5-$25, and fell into the "gift" market had the best chance of selling out. The typical audience for people who attended these markets were also students and some family members. These factors went into choosing a coffee related product.

The Design 

Drinks included on the mug are the Cappuccino, Breve, Caffee Latte, Mocha, Americano, Flat White, Affogatto, and Black Eye. Each mug is 100% Food Safe and made from engraved glass, a walnut base & handle, and a stainless steel frame. Each mug was sold with my personal favorite coffee, an Organic Ethiopian Yergacheffe roast and with instructions and information about each of the listed drinks above. This was all packaged in a laser engraved bag with the product name and logo.

Fabrication

Several different manufacturing processes were used to create Cafe no. 8. Initially, each glass was laser etched using a rotary attachment to a laser engraver. Several rounds of testing went into finding the ideal settings to allow for the most readable etching and clearest design.

Next, the stainless-steel metal of the handles was polished and then water jetted. Post process finishing went into bending the steel into the appropriate form.  

Finally, each of the walnut bases and handles was programmed and CNC routed out to fit the steel handles. These were then finished to enhance the grain of the walnut and to protect it from water damage.

Make 10 Market Place

Café no. 8 was one of the first products to sell out (doing so within 30 minutes of the market opening). Each mug was sold for $25. The photo gallery includes beauty shots of the product as well as fabrication photos and photos from the Make 10 Marketplace.