Philips Living Color: the look of glass, realised in PET
Philips wanted to retain the look of glass while reducing weight and fragility. PEZY investigated a thick-walled PET solution and produced prototypes within a month to tangibly validate the concept.
Introductie
A material choice that changes the product
Philips sought an alternative to glass while preserving the desired appearance. PEZY explored how thick-walled PET could make that ambition technically feasible.
Kernresultaten
Prototypes within a month
The first models made the technical feasibility tangible.
Thick-walled PET
A plastic solution with the intended glass-like appearance.
Process for high volumes
The concept was developed from a route towards mass production.
01 · De uitdaging
Re-executing a product conceived in glass
Philips wanted to retain the appearance of a glass product while addressing fragility, weight and cost.
Could plastic deliver the desired premium appearance? The issue lay in the combination of material properties, wall thickness and finish.
02 · De rol van PEZY
Material and production process as a design tool
PEZY developed a PET solution with wall thickness aligned to the original glass concept.
PET offered opportunities for a lightweight, impact-resistant product. The challenge was to apply an existing production process to a thick-walled design with high visual demands.
PEZY
Material and process development for a thick-walled PET housing.
03 · De aanpak en het inzicht
Making the principle tangible within a month
We applied an existing production process in a new way and produced the first prototypes within a month.
This allowed the team to assess whether the desired shape and appearance were technically feasible. The material research therefore quickly produced a physical outcome that guided further development.
04 · De oplossing
A thick-walled plastic implementation
The solution uses PET to approximate the appearance of glass.
The material choice reduces the product’s vulnerability and weight. At the same time the design was developed from a production process suitable for large volumes.
05 · Het resultaat
A substantiated route to mass production
The prototypes demonstrated the feasibility of the principle.
This resulted in a route to a lightweight, impact-resistant product suitable for mass production and less vulnerable during transport. The value lay in connecting a visual ambition to an appropriate material and production process.
Your product question
Which material makes your design possible?
We investigate material and production process together and make the critical choices tangible with prototypes.
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More work
Other products we contributed to
Philips OneUp: mopping without a bucket
PEZY worked on the mechanical design of the Philips OneUp: an electric mop that separates clean and dirty water within a compact product.
Skinly: skin measurements in a compact connected device
PEZY guided Skinly from early innovation to production, providing mechanical development, partner coordination and supply-chain support.
Dorel Quinny Yezz: a compact folding frame made of plastic
PEZY developed a light, compact folding frame for the Quinny Yezz with Dorel by aligning material choice, construction and gas injection.