the vision

After a little more thinking, I've come up with my next list of desired product requirements. These "requirements" are a little more loose, because they are dependent on what I'm capable of accomplishing in five weeks.
-The bowling pins will be shaped like actual bowling pins, rather than taking on shaping cues of a Coca-Cola bottle. Although it may be fun to bowl a bunch of bottles, I would rather come up with a useable product that could, in theory, be used in any bowling alley.
-The pins should be within the weight requirements of a typical bowling pin.
-They will be sturdy enough that they could be used in a real bowling alley. This is not necessarily the case for my own model, just the design itself.
-They would have a transparent shell so that the lights inside can be easily seen from the end of the bowling alley.


I'm thinking that the lights in these Coca-Cola bowling pins will be activated by a button at the base. When the pin is in an upright position, the button is pressed and the lights are on. After a pin has been knocked over, the button will release and the light will go off. It would be really cool if I could get the lights to flash for a few seconds, and THEN go off. Gotta figure out this electrical stuff somehow. I'll use multiple LEDs inside each bowling pin because they'd be able to take a beating from bowling balls!

Here's some of the sketches that I did prior to making this requirement list.

Project Direction Thought Process

My Coca-Cola task light requirements:
must promote socialization, or to be used in a setting with friends.
not flashy or over the top.
looks fun/trendy.
simple shape/design.
for ANY age!

This has been a complicated set of requirements. I can't exactly do a flashlight, booklight, or night light... none of these could promote socialization in the way that Coca-Cola does. Although it sounded fun to do something like a lava lamp or glow sticks, I was concerned that my final concept would look like a little girl's third grade science project or something. Not to mention, there's a lot of stereotypes that go along with lava lamps and glow sticks that don't align well with the Coca-Cola brand. Club lighting seemed like fun, but it's exclusive to the younger crowd. In addition, it didn't go along with one of my core words, "refreshing". Normally, the club scene isn't considered a relaxing time with friends! Relaxing social activities seem to be constrained to hanging out at home or at casual restaurants. Man. I could research technologies and invent something new. Something small, like a keychain, that glows brighter when it's in close proximity to another one of these keychains? That would promote socialization. But what would it BE? I can't do it!! It feels too forced!!

It seemed that the only option was to do some mood lighting– an overhead lamp that would provide a soft glow in a restaurant setting or a game room at home. It would include Coca-Cola aesthetics, and I could have several different versions and styles. You could even build your own!

But still... Coca-Cola is way cooler than that. So, during a late-night-homework-party with my roomie, I started thinking about it differently. Why not use a social activity that already uses light? That way, the aspect of "togetherness" would be a natural piece of the product. Laser Tag!! Sounds like fun. But this has the same problems as club lighting– it's exclusive to younger crowds, and it isn't refreshing.

I love how I came to my brilliant idea. I stated it out loud, sarcastically: "glow bowling....." and had my 'aHA' moment and my eyes nearly popped out of my head: "YES!!!" It's one of those social activities that isn't too tiresome or draining. It's classic. Youngsters and old timers both appreciate it. And of course, it's a good time with friends!

In conclusion, my task is glow bowling, and my task lights are the bowling pins themselves. But rather than have white pins that glow in the blacklights, the pins can actually have lightbulbs inside a transparent exterior shell. Seems like an innovative, Coca-Cola thing to do, right?

So there's my thought process in a nutshell. I'll be honest– I didn't come up with each idea in this exact order, it just made the most sense to present it this way. And it's way more exciting to hear the best idea last!