From a second round of interviewing, I found that people wished their spices were better organized without costing too much or taking up too much space. I investigated the spice rack market, and by comparing the most popular racks available I identified a gap in the market for a portable spice rack that could fit a variety of spice bottle sizes.

For five minutes undisturbed, I jotted down whatever ideas I could to solve for a space-saving spice rack. By the end I had a list of concepts ranging from spice bottles that hung from the ceiling, to a rack that pops up from the kitchen top. It was evident from these ideas that space-saving spice rack needed to make use of negative space in the kitchen.

I thus had three major design requirements to guide me further: the solution should utilize negative space, be movable around the kitchen, and fit a variety of spice bottle sizes. With these in mind, I grabbed a pen and paper and drew anything that came to mind. With scores of sketches in front of me, I picked and grabbed ones that satisfied certain requirements.

Majority of the concepts involved an overhanging spice rack. In order to be portable, it had to have flat-standing functionality. And in order to fit different sized spice bottles, it had a to have a secure enclosure. I thus pinpointed my design features to satisfy my design requirements.

MOCK-UP

Initially I mocked up a low-fidelity structure to convey the idea of the spice rack. Using aluminum wire and foam core, I constructed the basic model and used plastic pill bottles to represent spice bottles. I presented this idea to users and got feedback on the design’s usability and intuitiveness. I continued to iterate similar fidelity models till users showed a willingness to purchase such a product.

RENDER

I then worked on the final pitch design. I modeled the structure of the spice rack on Solidworks using basic measurements from my mock-ups. To ensure easy slip-on/slip-off from a kitchen shelf, the spice rack has two flat arms that can slide smoothly. To prevent spice bottles from falling out, the base has four high walls, as well a front beam to protect the bottles when hanging. The 3D model dictated the specifications for making the physical prototype next.

CONSTRUCT

Finally, I worked on a physical manifestation of the spice rack. Through a rigorous process of sand blasting, drilling, screwing, and spot-welding, I developed a working model from flat aluminum. For the final touches, I spray-painted the model with a matte-aluminum finish and placed a rubber mat on the base to hold the spice bottles in place.

Hang from a shelf

Rest flat on a kitchen top

Fit various sized spice bottles

The BEVL is all aluminum, manufactured by bending, stamping, and riveting.

Price estimate: $15-20