Sun, February 6, 2005
Upside Down is the new Right Side Up—10:18 AM
In my opinion, anything that comes in a squeeze bottle should come in a bottle that is designed to rest on its top – wherein "top" denotes "the side where the stuff comes out of." If you're designing a bottle, and you don't design it to stand on that end, you're just deluding yourself. Eventually, it's going to get to the point where there's only a little left; and people are going to want to use gravity to get at that little bit. I mean, hell, even the Heinz people have gotten on board with this – why is it that half the shampoo industry still hasn't embraced this technology?
If you're not going to go all the way (tapering the top, flipping the label – admitting that upside down is the only way it should be stored), at least square off the top so that people have the option either way. How hard is that to do? There's just no excuse for selling anything more viscous than – say, milk – in a container that's not designed to give access to those last few gooey drops.
The other thing that really drives me up the wall is the squeeze bottle which is too narrow to be effectively squozen. I've got this bath soap bottle right now that's a very low-profile oval in shape (i.e., if you're looking down from the top), which means you've only got maybe a half-inch of squeezing room before the middle has been flattened. What's that about? Who is that for?
(You'll notice I said "bath soap" – I was this close to typing "body gel" but I changed it out of fear that the Straight Police would take away my membership and then I'd no longer be able to ogle 19-year-old girls on Sorority Row during the last minutes of my commute to work; that's the only thing that keeps me going in the morning!)
So, here's what I'm thinking. We pioneer a set of empty squeeze bottles that are designed the right way. They've got a nice flat base with an easy-open cap that seals tight, and at the top they have a heavy-duty Ziploc-style closure so that you can fill them up easily but still lock them tight. (Maybe you even fasten a snap over it after you zip it up.) Then we sell these at Target or wherever with a little kit that includes a funnel and a stand – so when you bring home your useless, antique right side up shampoo, you uncap it, place it on the stand, and let it run through the funnel into the good bottle overnight. Then you throw away that useless piece of junk, snap up your squeeze bottle and you're good to go.
Who's with me? We're talking millions here!
Anonymous Coward — Mon, 2/7/05 8:07am
First, don't throw away the useless bottle, recycle it. Second, quit giving away all your genius for free... and yes, i'm on board :)
Bee Boy — Mon, 2/7/05 8:53am
I don't care if you recycle it, melt it down into a charm bracelet, or plant a sunflower in it and use the oil from its seeds to power your new alternative-fuel vehicle. All I'm saying is, it's entirely fucking useless for storing shampoo.
"Allegra" — Sun, 3/20/05 3:06pm
You'll be seeing this thing on shelves, for sure.... assuming get into (let alone make it through) design school...
"steven" — Tue, 6/28/05 1:18pm
ok, no need to be so sarcastic Bee Boy! although i do agree with Bee Boy.
Bee Boy — Tue, 6/28/05 2:33pm
That's it; that's going on the official onebee t-shirt.
"steven" — Wed, 7/6/05 11:02am
Lol @ Bee Boy!
"Juan" — Wed, 5/20/09 2:54am
I thought this would be my ticket to be a millionare,,, too bad.
This is the way to go.
Is we can have a strap for bottle and a suction cup on them to stick the bottles to the walls of the bathroom or showers,,, hu hu hu ?