Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata by Thinkthing Studio Ltd. is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Dihlahiswa tse Tsitsitseng, Diprojeke le Botala Competition Category.
TšepeSehlahiswa se Tsitsitseng· 2021
Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata
Client: Thinkthing Studio Ltd
Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award Winner in Sehlahiswa se Tsitsitseng Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #111794The Design
About Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata
Ztraw ke tharollo e menyeloang mme e boholo ba pokoto e rarollang mathata a maholo a tobaneng le diphaepo tsa ho nwa tse sebelisoang hape; ho jara habonolo le bohloeki. Bula feela ho hlwekisa karolong ka nngwe le ka nngwe ebe o e menya hape ho e jara le wena kae kae. E na le motswako wa dithepa tse thibelang likokoana-hloko tse kopantsweng PP le TPE ho netefatsa hore phaepo ya hao e bolokehile hammoho le mokotlana o hlwetswehang. Ke sehlahiswa sa pele ka ho fetisisa se khabisang se babalang tikoloho ka theko e theoselehang se lumellanang le sebopego sa motho mme se kopanya sebopeho se tiileng sa khutlonne le qetello ya molomo e potoloha.
The Recognition
About the Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award
Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang e fuoang meralo e metle e finyellang litlhoko tsa porofeshenale le tsa indasteri tse lebelletsoeng ho lintho tse hlahisitsoeng tse entsoeng hantle. Bahapi ba Tšepe ba bontša bokhoni bo boholo, bokhethehi bo phahameng, kutloisiso ea litsebi le bokhoni ba boqapi ba baqapi ba bona. Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata e lebelletsoe ho ba ntho e hlahisitsoeng e hlomphuoang haholo, e ratoang le e ratehang, e sebetsang le e nang le mehopolo e mecha. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award o kenyelletsa mekhoa e metle ka ho fetesisa ea indasteri mme o na le litšobotsi tsa theknoloji tse nang le bokhoni tse amanang le tsebo le talenta. Ka lebaka la botlalo ba eona, Ztraw Phaepo ya ho Nwa e ka Sebelisoang Hangata e tšoanelehela tlhompho mme e entsoe ho fana ka ntlafatso ea bophelo e thusang ho etsa hore lefatše le be sebaka se molemo.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Ztraw is a foldable and pocket-size solution that solves the biggest issues faced by reusable straws; portability and hygiene. Just open it up to clean every corner and fold it back up to carry it with you anywhere with the stylish pouch in ten colours. It has antibacterial compound mixed PP & TPE material to make sure your straw is safe along with a washable pouch, it can prevent the growth of bacteria unlike any straw in the market. It is the first-ever stylish eco-friendly product at an affordable price that fits human ergonomics and blends a sturdy triangular shape into a circular mouth opening.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Product Dimension: 190mm x 37mm x 3.8mm Product Weight: 15g Product Material: Antibacterial Polypropylene & Antibacterial Thermoplastic elastomer
Product Package: 80mm x 200mm x 10mm - Tags
- Reusable, Straw, Foldable, Fashion, Minimal, Travel, Compact, Sustainable
- Production Technology
- Ztraw is manufactured with injection molding; after the polypropylene component is solidified, it is then placed in another mold to inject thermoplastic elastomers for the soft joint of Ztraw. We have to make sure the placement is precise or it will affect the vacuum suction experience of the product. For the pouch, we have laminated two types of materials together, PU and PEVA to make the internal wall of the pouch waterproof and not affect the appearance of the pouch. However, the PEVA makes it hard to attach the magnet and we have to figure out a way to secure it. So we found a special glue and a vacuum-formed plastic case to secure the magnet. Making sure the case has enough surface area and looks good on the pouch.
- Design Challenge
- Since the shape and folding methods of Ztraw is very hard to achieve without using actual production methods. In order to finetune ZTRAW's design throughout our journey, we have to build a new injection molding mold for each correction, which is a very expensive but accurate development process. Therefore, we have joined Kickstarter, hoping to gain more support to our journey in discovering the most convenient reusable straw in the world. Since Ztraw is a foldable straw that can be unfolded flat, it is very hard to create an airtight structure to have a similar user experience as a normal straw. We have tested so many prototypes with less than 1mm difference to achieve that and it requires high precision during production to minimize any percentage error.
- Research
- We have done research online on existing problems with reusable straw and we have tested out quite a few different designs from the market. The most common problem with existing design is that they are hard to clean and will trap molds on the internal walls. So we looked at existing reusable straw that can be popped open and found out that in order to counteract the possibility of air leakage with an open structure, they are mostly bigger in size with hard material to create a stronger structure or uses soft rubbery materials to conceal the opening but making the straw less sturdy. We also found out that a lot of people think green products lack style. In the age where aesthetics is everything, green products do not stand out like other products at first sight. Therefore, we found a market gap for Ztraw where there are no sturdy but compact straw that can be opened up for easy cleaning. It's hard for people to take the first step and begin a sustainable lifestyle because it looks hard to approach and it lacks user experience. So we have created Ztraw with these in mind.
- Inspiration
- At least 37 countries are planning to restrict the use of single-use straw, which leads to the popularity of reusable straw. However, reports have shown problems with reusable straws from hurting people physically to trapping mold and causing sickness. This results in a market gap where people need straw but they are worried about the quality of the straw they were given. We wanted to change the belief that it is hard to maintain a green lifestyle by making our product simple and user-friendly.
- Project Duration
- The idea came to us in 2018 January and we have officially launched it on Kickstarter on 2020 March. The production begins in June in our chinese factory and then sent to Hong Kong to be assembled by St. James' Settlement sheltered workshop. The product starts sending out to buyer in 2020 July.
- Operation Flow
- Ztraw comes in a flat pack packaging to minimize the the carbon footprint during transportation and limit unnecessary use of extra materials. To use Ztraw, first you fold up Ztraw according to the vertical line along the body. Then you can fold it up into a triangular shape so that the first and last sections overlap to secure the flat surface into a drinkable straw. To carry it around, simply unfold the straw to wipe with towel/tissue and fold it in half and put Ztraw in the pouch provided.
- Patents
- GB1903150.9,GB1914067.2
- Team Members
- Li Sung Shan Jason,
Wong Mung Sha Monsha,
Lam Nga Wing Justina,
Luk Yu Hei Ashley
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