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John Tray
Beginning
The brief was pretty simple. Design something that improves the experience of drinking Tribute Ale.
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St Austell Brewery offered £1000 to the winning design and the chance to have the design put into production.
Use
The Social Catalyst for Pubs
The John Tray is a beer tray made from 100% Cornish ash in Cornwall.
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To improve stability of carrying drinks it is made to lock the custom tribute glasses in place, the deep slots and low centre of gravity also reduce spillage of other glasses.
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Once at the table, the tray can be used to hold phones so as to remove the distraction from social interaction.
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The tray also acts as 2 simple pub games with a target and miniature football field.
Cornwall
Research from the end of England
The first approach to the brief I explored was to immerse myself in Cornish culture. St Austell Brewery is an institution of historical significance.
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The brewery's success was, in my eyes, originally due to it's monopoly on the logistical networks of Cornwall. Since it's humble beginning in 1851 the brewery now exports internationally and produces enough beer to mean 1 is consumed every minute of every day.
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I also read around the subject of Cornwall and found a list of every phrase in the English lexicon to begin with Cornish.
Here I found "Cornishing" meaning to share an item of food or drink from the same vessel.
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It was this sharing nature which sparked my interest in shared experiences.
Materials
Brand Language
I knew from the first tour of the brewery, materials would play a huge part in the project as their connotations can completely change the context of a situation.
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The clincher for me was ensuring the entire product could be manufactured in Cornwall.
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I reached out to manufacturers and suppliers across the South West for tin, glass, ceramics and steel only to find almost all manufacturing and sourcing takes place outside of the UK.
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Cornish Ash is the only material still sourced from Cornwall that can be manufactured within Cornwall.
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The colour contrasts caused by the lengthy grow time is reminiscent of furniture which utilises oak with mahogany. I knew Ash had to be used.
Designs
Encouraging Engagement
Social decline played a large part in the design.
Pubs have always played a large role in the social life of 18+ year old's, however as a result of what LSN calls 'Gen Viz' many people now live predominantly through their devices.
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The design Challenge therefore was to make people engage with each other, and then associate this experience with Tribute Ale.
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Another aspect which had a bearing on the outcome is the legality of alcohol advertisement. This helped me to whittle out designs at an early stage by evaluating their viability.
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