sip water and soak up summertime vibes with duncan shotton's miniature pool glass

british designer duncan shotton runs a small design studio in bristol with his wife nozomi dedicated to designing happiness into everyday experiences and products. his playful and witty work has seen paper rainbows made from pencil shavings, optical illusion plates that make food look larger than it is, and dirt-abducting UFO soap pumps that add bit of ‘space’ to your kitchen or bathroom.

shotton’s latest creation indulges the summertime lover in all of us, bringing sunshine and balmy july vibes to your life, year around.

the miniature swimming pool drinking glasses, available now on kickstarter, exude subtle hints of playful poolside fun through the carefully executed design details shotton has become best known for. a frosted area around the glass creates a pool ‘wall’, while a gold ladder appears to wrap over it. a blue circle is printed on the bottom, which then gently fades up into the frosted wall as a halftone gradient. as a final detail, a reversed-out depth gauge runs up the edge of the frosted wall. expertly made and decorated in japan, each glass is decorated with six sets of decals before firing in a kiln, which bonds them to the soda-lime glass. the boxes are constructed from premium e-flute cardboard, made locally in bristol, UK.

shotton is a longtime friend of designboom, and has been one of the first participants in designboom’s international marts — the temporary exhibition format that ignited the pop-up phenomenon back in 2005. ‘designboom really encouraged me to do what I’m doing in my adult life and my ‘boom badge’ is still one of my most treasured possessions,’ shotton warmly told us. as designboom celebrates its 20th anniversary (yes, we’ve been online since 1999!) friends like shotton continue to inspire us daily. 

shotton with his ‘boom badge’