Product Design: Mirage Redesign Refine Phase

The Quirky Design Staff needs your help in rethinking Mirage. We recently received a prototype of the product and it looks great. It is exactly how we originally intended it to be, both aesthetically and functionally. However, no matter how many different manufacturers we look at to source the product from we still cannot get the price low enough to profitably sell it at retail. The amount of material going into the product needs to be reduced and the mechanism that expands and contracts the product has to be less complex. For inspiration you can look at Mirage’s original submission and read over the product description:

“Now you see it, now you don’t. Mirage is an expandable wine rack that looks beautiful while holding just the amount of wine you have in stock. Planning a party? Extend the rack to store up to eight bottles, then collapse each section as the bottles get consumed to free up counter space.”

Phase Design Brief:
Let’s work together to come up with an adjustable wine rack:
- It should be able to hold at least 8 bottles of wine in it’s fully expandable state
- It should be easy to store if it is not holding any bottles
- It should be understandable when looking at it on a retail shelf
- Keep in mind the different sizes that wine bottles come in.
- If possible, please make a mock-up prototype of your design.

Some Questions to ask yourself when submitting your concept:
- What users would this be good for?
- How can I accomplish the above goals but reconfigure the design?
- How can I reduce the overall material?