T_Flip
The unconventional tea ware T_Flip is a new kind of tea ware that helps anybody to make and explore loose leaf tea in a simple and playful way. Inspired by the concept of the tea ceremony, T_Flip makes brewing a performance, literally flip it around to make a delicious tea. Most people drink fast-food style tea bags, even while knowing the many drawbacks in health and flavor. One reason is the convenience of tea bags as well as the unfamiliarity with loose leaf tea. T_Flip wants to change that; it is easy to use and makes brewing tea an experience not just a task. All the skills required to make your perfect cup of tea will increase with every use. Economical Brew more times with the same leaves Compact 9.3cm wide and 17 cm high Light Only ~500g for a whole set Innovative Ecological bamboo fiber Behind T_Flip is Shateso, a Hangzhou based start-up founded by a Swiss Art Director, developing a range of contemporary tea ware that are rethinking the concepts and aesthetics of tea wares all over the world. Rinse Cleans and opens the tea leaves Simple One flip and its done Design Unique forms and shapes Experience Transparency to observe the process More at shateso.com How to T_Flip Put drinking cup on top Flip it 180 upside down Pull out infuser All rights reserved 2018 2
Uniqueness The most important aspect of T-Flip is the ability for everybody to easily make loose leaf tea, but there are other unique design features as well. Waking/Rinsing the tea is a central role in tea making, by cleaning the leaves of dust and small particles. This allows the leaves to unfold and open up the pores for the perfect flavor. Integrating this step in the design with the Rinse cup educates you on how to make the best use of your leaves. No other western tea ware design in the world has this unique feature. Unconventional Design It all started with the discovery of the Aroma cup, which gave T_Flip its unique attribute the flipping around of the tool. T_Flip s design creates a minimal neutral look to take away the stigma of another culture, being afraid of doing it wrong or it s complicated to brew loose tea. These are big factors that make people chose the fast food version of tea, tea bags. Swiss Design made in China After defining the functionality and concept of T_Flip, the formal language and style originated from Camille Blin, head of Industrial design at ECAL and Anthony Guex. During further design process Jean-Philippe Bonzon, a former ECAL Student that works and lives in Shanghai adapted and refined certain design parts of the object. For the final stage of testing and prototyping, Mexican Industrial designer Luis Martinez was contributing knowledge and finalized the design for the working and fit for production object. Ecological Material Bamboo fiber is made from the starchy pulp of bamboo plants, mixed with corn flour and resin. The cultivation of bamboo is eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable because it needs less water and pesticides as well as its ability to grow quickly and easily. Bamboo fiber objects are extremely durable, resistant to moisture and heat, can be put in the dishwasher and will decompose naturally when discarded. Culturally Neutral T-Flip is an object that creates common ground to explore and rediscover loose leaf tea no matter the cultural background. In a time where globalization is seen as a negative force, T-Flip embraces it, creating for everybody a new way of enjoying a product already known and loved globally. All rights reserved 2018 3
Tea Bag Regular black tea Loose Leaf JinXiang black tea Adaptation of the Latin alphabet in LIFE you CAn HIdE, BUt in ARt ItS IMPossiBlE. Xu BInG Fast Food Tea Your purchased tea bag is often the dust and broken pieces coming from tea leaves. Since the leaves are broken and sometimes just dust, the low quality results in bitter steep since the aroma was released in the initial breaking of the leaves. On top of that, most bagged tea has been so heavily processed that there s little left for the original tea experience. Loose leaf tea, on the other hand, is the purest form and often much less processed from the picking to the selling stage. Because of this, it not only retains its amazing aroma and flavor but also all the famous health benefits. A Bridge of Cultures The conceptual inspiration comes from Xu Bing s work Square Word Calligraphy. The idea behind the project was to give western people access to Chinese calligraphy, without having the basic knowledge of the language. He developed a new style of characters that are based on the western alphabet. This system allowed non-chinese people to experience the drawing of Chinese calligraphy. Also T_Flip has the ability of being a bridge, but instead of calligraphy it gives access to Chinese tea culture. It s an educational tool as much as a neutral design object, removing cultural differences and boundries. All rights reserved 2018 4
Bamboo Matt (still in development) Provides a ceremonial surface and protects tabletops. Natural Bamboo Filter (still in development) Easy to insert, easy to remove. Stops tea leaves from passing into the drinking cup. Bamboo Fiber Glass Infuser Simple design. Double-glass construction to protect the hand from heat. Borosilicate Glass Drinking Cup Designed to cradle the infuser. Double-glass construction to keep the tea warm. Borosilicate Glass Rinse Cup For collecting the water used to rinse the tea. Bamboo Fiber Case (still in development) Protects the T-Flip during storage and transport. Various Materials All rights reserved 2018 5
Shateso Shateso was founded by Didier Quarroz a former student from Swiss design school ECAL. In 2012 he came to China to work on branding related projects with focus on internationalization and localization. Seeing the potential of inter-culture mixing, he created concepts that combine different worlds and cultures. After successfully creating a Baijiu (typical Chinese liquor) and campari cocktail he developed the idea and concept of T_Flip. Shateso is based in Hangzhou, the unofficial capital of tea in China. The name originates from 3 different ways to pronounce tea in China. Cha (Sha) from Mandarin, tê (te) from Min Chinese and zo / dzo (so) from Wu Chinese. The icon is formed by two plus crosses symbolizing the combining of cultures, essential to Shateso. The icon makes also reference to the upper radical in the Chinese character for tea 茶. Contributors Didier Quarroz / Hangzhou / Concept /didierquarroz.ch Camille Blin / Lausanne / Industrial Design /camilleblin.ch Anthony Guex / Lausanne / Industrial Design /antonyguex.ch Jean-Philippe Bonzon / Shanghai / Industrial Design /jpbd.ch Luis Martinez / Hangzhou /Industrial Design / behance.net/luismtz Ka XiaoXi / Shanghai / Photographer / kaxiaoxi.com Jade Li / Shanghai / Marketing China / jadelee0912@foxmail.com Lucas Rondez / Hangzhou / Investment / nihub.com Contacts Press & Public relations / didierq@shateso.com Sales informations / didierq@shateso.com General informations / info@shateso.com www.shateso.com Instagram / @shateso_tea WeChat / shateso YouTube / shateso_tea Linkedin / linkedin.com/company/shateso/ All rights reserved 2018 6