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xenith sponsored studio
My junior year I participated in a sponsored studio with Xenith, a local Detroit sports equpiment brand. We were tasked with designing equipment for their brand for sports new to the Xenith product family.
xenith sponsored studio
My junior year I participated in a sponsored studio with Xenith, a local Detroit sports equpiment brand. We were tasked with designing equipment for their brand for sports new to the Xenith product family.
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Showtime
In 2023, I was asked to take our newest corn popper, the Presto MyMunch, and convert it from a hot air corn popper to an oil popper. Our goal was to retain the features that made the MyMunch such a success: its compact design, small pack size, and charming user experience.
Converting a product from one popping process to another isn’t as simple as swapping the internals. Oil popping uses different components, has different safety requirements, and provides unique challenges, like condensation buildup and hot touchpoints.
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The process began with identifying the ideal scale and dimension for best utilizing the new components. Hot air popping requires a tall narrow shroud to house the motor, fan, and heating element. Oil popping components are not nearly as tall, mainly an element and thermostat. With this knowledge I decided to increase the output quantity from 8 cups to 12, and settled on a height/width ratio that looked attractive and complimentary to the MyMunch.
As we were now dealing with a heating element rather than a circulating fan, hot touchpoints emerged at the side handles. To protect the user, the following modifications were made.
1. The handles were made thicker and hollow.
2. Venting was added along the rim of the hot plate to prevent overheating.
3. An air gap was created to help circulate air and keep the touchpoints cool
4. A protective barrier was added to keep users fingers away from the housing around the coil
Oil is inherently messy, and difficult to contain in the original design. To avoid spillage on the sides of the product, a silicone ring was added around the hot plate. A barrier was added to the lid/bowl to prevent oil from leaving the popping chamber. This caused condensation to build up inside of the product. To avoid soggy popcorn, the barrier was stepped inward like a gear to both prevent oil leakage, but allowing steam to circulate rather than condensate inside.
For styling, the product was given a warm buttery yellow color, attributed to the oil popping process. The product was named “Showtime: Gourmet Popper,” invoking the movie watching pastime so synonymous with popcorn.
Thank you
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