GINA and her special Dot
While our coffee lovin' community is already brewing thousands of great coffees every day, experts also agree we hit the spot with GINA. So they gave her the Red Dot Award for product design. The story of GINA is long and complex and we wanted to shed some light on how this amazing coffee brewer came to life.
To be honest, the coffee world hasn’t seen much innovation in the last few decades. But lately, there are specialty coffee oriented brands that are taking the coffee brewing experience to a new level. GOAT STORY, a young start-up “kickstarted” a coffee device that earned them the “Oscar for industrial design”
When you strike up a conversation about coffee with GOAT STORY’s founder and CEO Anže Miklavec, an award of this caliber seems like a natural progression for the young team. But behind the scenes, there’s a whole lot of work involved: “The idea itself is only the first step. Bringing it to life is a true challenge. It’s a long journey and a bumpy ride, but well worth the effort!”
From problem to solution
Inspiration for GINA came from a real everyday problem. When the GOAT STORY team was traveling to show off their first coffee product, GOAT Mug, they would bring a coffee maker to brew coffee and fill the mug. But they kept forgetting to pack a scale that is an essential tool for measuring the ground coffee. “So when we decided to create our coffee brewer, an integrated scale was number one on the list of features,” explained Miklavec. The in-house design subsequently evolved into a complete coffee brewer that kicked the manual brewing experience up a notch. The result is a smart manual brewer that is capable of making pour-over, immersion, and cold drip coffee with an integrated precision scale that connects to a dedicated app via Bluetooth. The app works as a guide to brewing, a tool for creating brewing profiles and a link to an ever-growing community of specialty coffee lovers worldwide.
It’s about the experience
It was love at first sight for many coffee and design lovers when GINA hit the market and we can not blame them with her harmonious curves and elegant appearance. “But there’s more to it,” as Luka Pirnat, head of product design at GOAT STORY explains: “We are all driven by beauty and every product should evoke aesthetical feelings. But design is not just pretty looks. Ever since I got involved in specialty coffee, I was looking for better user experience in coffee brewing. A well-designed product will draw you in with its looks and convince with its functionality. GINA embodies all that and I am pleased that the Red Dot jury recognized it as well.”
In search of the perfect cup
Design aside, GOAT STORY’s Anže Miklavec sees GINA as a contribution to building a specialty coffee community: “I am excited that we managed to pull off a complex in-house design project that was supported by crowdfunding and widely accepted by the specialty coffee community. The Red Dot Award is the cherry on the top in this amazing story.”
But Miklavec is not stopping there: “With thousands of coffees brewed on a GINA daily, we now want to connect this vibrant community with the specialty coffee world and help create a specialty coffee ecosystem that connects everyone in the chain, starting with coffee lovers and micro-roasters. And of course, we’ll keep on pushing towards developing coffee gear that improves the coffee experience as a whole. Because in the end, there’s just one thing that matters - that perfect cup of coffee.”
A short story of GINA
In 2016, while already completely immersed in specialty coffee exploration, a coffee dripper was born at GOAT STORY. G-Drip, a limited edition handcrafted piece with a nostalgic steampunk appeal and contemporary aesthetic, was sold out in a matter of hours. Today, a few dozen coffee lovers are proud owners of one of the most exclusive coffee brewers out there.
G-Drip was nice, but our vision was bringing coffee brewing to a new level. Cold drip always had a special appeal, but we hated the clumsy and exclusive cold drip towers. But surely that can be done differently, right? Right!
We started with a precision valve to control the flow of the cold drip. And learned that this valve can do so much more! “The idea of pivoting to a hybrid coffee brewer came to life when we introduced the precision valve to our design. That little knob on GINA makes it possible to combine three brewing methods and endless possibilities to customize your coffee brewing,” said Luka Pirnat, head of product design at GOAT STORY.
But we still weren't happy with the user experience when brewing coffee. To brew the best cup of coffee one needs a scale, a timer, and your brewer to name the most important. So we set off on a mission to create a seamless coffee brewing experience. When we introduced a precision scale in the housing and a custom-developed app that kicks the brewing experience to a whole new level, GINA was born. A true Smart Coffee Instrument.
The designer's take
“We are all driven by beauty and it defines us as human beings. I do believe that every product should evoke aesthetical feelings, but the design is also about enhancing the user experience. A well-designed product will draw you in with its looks and convince with its functionality. GINA embodies all that and I am extremely happy that the Red Dot jury recognized it as well.”
The Red Dot Product Design Award is a boost for our motivation to innovate and design even more awesome coffee gear for coffee enthusiasts out there. So get ready, because we have some awesome new coffee tools getting ready for you!