Cooler Ball collaborated with Afterconcept to enhance their cooler prototype into a design which is production ready. Our work focused on manufacturing optimization through rotational molding and enabling scalable production. Our team improved the cooler's ergonomics with a spherical roll-form and integrated grip system, making it effortless to move across sand, grass, and poolside surfaces. This product is a reminder that every project is an opportunity for us to create meaningful solutions for you.
Brand Name
Consumer Product
2025
Giftaye is a cutting-edge product design company that enhances the gifting experience with smart technology. They offer versatile products, including a unique monopod-tripod system with automated features, alongside a range of thoughtfully designed gifts. Their standout mobile app redefines how users discover and present gifts, making celebrations more personal and effortless. By merging engineering with digital solutions, Giftaye helps people celebrate life's moments with adaptable products.
Product Engineering
Product Visualisation
Cooler Ball was designed by keeping outdoor lifestyle in mind, making it portable, easy to store and utilize. Our primary leading design decisions were the spherical form and the grip that would allow users to move it around with ease, whether at a picnic, campsite, or beach.
Our team ensured that the product was refined for profitable manufacturing, focusing on robust materials and easier assembly for the user. Our approach to improve the performance of the cooler ball allowed for a sustainable, cost-efficient cooler that successfully showcased its sleek aesthetic and durability.
The product was carefully crafted with an emphasis on tough materials and simple assembly since our goal was for an optimised manufacturability.This method ensured to create a cooler that was both long-lasting and reasonable, both in form and price while retaining its elegant appearance and dependable functionality.
Cooler Ball is more than a container for cool beverages, and promises to transform your outdoor moments. Afterconcept replaced the hefty, cluttered generic coolers already existing in the market with something more clever: a streamlined sphere that is both useful and sustainable.
The spherical design is visually appealing, and designed to be extremely practical. You can slip it into small storage spaces, keep it in your car, or roll it across all types of surfaces. The cooler's structure turns it from an inconvenience into something you'll want to carry. Cooler Ball keeps your drinks wonderfully frozen while keeping things easy and enjoyable, whether you're celebrating, camping, or throwing a backyard party
The way Afterconcept turned a basic cooler into a product with genuine personality was what most pleased us about working with them. Customers now view it as an essential part of their outdoor experience rather than just a useful item because of the unique design in our market. That kind of creativity is precisely what makes Afterconcept unique.
Creative Director, Manta
Every little detail was engineered for maximum cooling efficiency. We have balanced insulation thickness with airflow channels to optimize ice retention while maintaining cooler accessibility and light weight. The spherical product body wasn’t just aesthetic; it was functional, enabling the roll-first movement that informs the product's portability.
The design was upgraded using detailed CAD modeling, ensuring that all elements within the product worked together harmoniously. From perimeter grip geometry to gasketed closures and low-point drain, each element was digitally refined for optimal ergonomics and functionality before moving into production.
Rotational molding was chosen to create Cooler Ball’s seamless, impact-resistant outer shell. The part geometry was optimized for uniform wall thickness, controlled shrinkage, and stress-free cooling—ensuring each half of the sphere molds cleanly and locks together with high dimensional accuracy. The split components, shown here, illustrate how simplified part lines, integrated mounting features, and mold-ready surfaces reduce post-processing and improve production efficiency. The result is a lightweight yet robust structure built for long-term outdoor use.
A continuous rubber gasket was engineered to create a watertight interface between the lid and the spherical body. Its precise groove geometry and uniform compression ensure a reliable seal that blocks leaks, protects the insulation cavity, and maintains cooling efficiency. This waterproofing system enhances durability outdoors—whether the cooler is rolled, tilted, or exposed to moisture during use.
A guided belt-and-roller mechanism was engineered to ensure controlled, low-friction rotation of the spherical cooler. Multiple rollers distribute load evenly around the ring, reducing wear and preventing wobble during movement. This system stabilizes the internal components while enabling smooth, consistent rolling—improving user handling, durability, and long-term mechanical reliability.
The integrated tobar links with a rigid outer support frame, creating a unified structure that improves load distribution and overall stability. Its curved, reinforced design absorbs torsional forces during rolling and transport, preventing deformation and keeping the internal mechanism aligned. This integration enhances durability, maintains structural accuracy, and ensures smooth rotational performance.
The pop-pin mechanism provides a quick and secure way to fasten the outer frame around the spherical cooler, ensuring stability during use. Designed for simple, one-handed operation, the pin locks into place with a firm, tactile snap that prevents accidental release while the cooler is being rolled, lifted, or transported. Its push-to-lock geometry is engineered for consistent alignment, allowing users to attach or detach the frame with minimal effort.
Built with durability in mind, the pop-pin assembly withstands repeated cycles without losing its locking strength. Its intuitive design enhances the overall user experience by offering dependable engagement and smooth disengagement whenever needed. This system keeps the cooler firmly supported, ensuring safe mobility.
The Cooler Ball’s structure was progressively simplified to reduce manufacturing cost and assembly complexity without compromising performance. V1 featured a tubular metal frame with multiple welded joints and fasteners, resulting in higher material cost and longer assembly time. In V2, the design shifted to a semi-integrated ring system that removed several welded parts, reduced hardware count, and improved manufacturability. By V3, the frame evolved into a fully integrated molded belt system with simplified brackets and minimal fasteners, delivering the most cost-efficient, durable, and production-ready configuration. This evolution highlights how strategic design simplification can significantly cut costs while improving reliability and user experience.
The culmination of research, prototyping, and CAD detailing led to key DFM. These ensured the manufacturing process supported streamlined builds, minimized parts count, and reduced assembly time, all without compromising product quality or user experience.
Each dimension of the Cooler Ball is carefully engineered to balance stability, usability, and manufacturability. The spherical geometry maximizes internal volume while keeping the footprint compact, making it easy to carry and maneuver. Precise radii and bracket spacing ensure proper alignment of the rolling mechanism and consistent structural performance, resulting in a design that is both efficient to produce and intuitive to use.
We developed a prototype to verify the roll mechanism, comfort of grip, and thermal performance in real-world conditions. This allowed the continual phase of testing to refine interface details and confirm that the design delivered both user experience and cooling efficiency.
Our visualization work brought the Cooler Ball concept to life through comprehensive 3D modeling and photorealistic renders. The visualizations informed the product's unique form, material finish, and user experience, making sure that the design vision was clear before investing in manufacturing.
The rolling spherical shape and perimeter grip cut carrying effort and transition time, making movement across sand, grass, and pool decks smoother and faster for group outings.
A distinctive structure and neat CMF left a strong visual identity in retail and social settings, luring higher recognition than generic boxy coolers.
Rotomold-ready construction with reinforced interfaces and modular hardware minimalized breakage issues while gasketed closures and a low-point drain made cleaning easier for longer active use.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.
The world’s first IoT solution to real time monitoring of indoor pollution.