http://www.joeyroth.com

I use stories as the initial sketches for my industrial design. I think about characters, scenes, and conversations, then design an object that will feed this narrative. I'm fascinated by the meanings that designed objects convey and by ritual behavior.

I used to be a student of creative writing, and loved it because it allowed me to construct entire worlds for my characters. I now tell stories through product design, and still strive to make each product an immersive world.

Sorapot is a modern teapot designed to brew heat-sensitive green and white teas. The stainless steel arch acts as a large heatsink that quickly dissipates the water's heat as the tea steeps, preventing the bitterness that comes from oversteeping in too-hot water. The tea is poured at a comfortably warm drinking temperature after a few minutes of steeping.

The arch's natural flexibility allows it to act as a clamp that creates a watertight seal at either end of the central glass tube. This clamping action is controlled by the ball strung on the wire that runs under the tube. When the ball is in the upper position it sits in a circular cut in the arch and holds the wire tight, clamping the arch around the tube. When the ball moves down its distance to the front of the arch is decreased just enough to release the tension on the wire, allowing the tube to be removed for cleaning.

Totemo is a silent computer case that uses heat pipes and large aluminum fins to passively dissipate computer heat to the surrounding air.

Totemo was awarded a Red Dot in 2005.

The transformative process of making fresh espresso informs the Moka Pot’s design. The glass funnel, framed between the two cast-iron cubes, shows hot water entering the cluster of ground beans and emerging as espresso on the other side.

To use: fill the bottom cube with water, put finely ground coffee in the glass funnel, then close the top cube so that its gasket seals against the rim of the funnel. Swing the bamboo handle until it locks with the nub on the side of the top cube. Place the Moka on an over range or an induction cooker and the water will boil, forcing itself through the beans and into the top cube. Pour the espresso by holding the bamboo handle and using one of the cube’s corners as a spout.