Bottling: tried and true?

Water bottle design has largely remained unchanged in its history of production. We are familiar with tall cylindrical masses of plastic or metal. This design is tried and true and is a standout example when form is not experimented because it is simple and practical.

Talking to a visiting Industrial Designer from the Netherlands, I came to know about a bottle named Dopper. This bottle has a midsection separation which allows easier access for brush cleaning, but also reveals a chalice cup into which to pour.

Diving deeper in research, there are a variety of funky bottle designs out there but by far one of the most interesting is the memobottle. memobottle relies on the flat pack design of A5, A6, and A7 sized papers. This rectangular bottle is meant to fit easily in a backpack (such as in the laptop sleeve) or even in your pocket.

Both bottle companies share the goal of helping to eliminate the ever growing plastic waste from today's landfills and oceans. The Dopper bottle has even earned Cradle to Cradle Certification, which signifies responsible material considerations for a reusable life after use.

This raises the larger question in design of "If it isn't broke, don't fix it". I interpret this as a problem to consider where bottles are placed (both during their life and after use) more than changing the design for the sake of aesthetics.