Jia Wei’s 55℃ cup: The perfect combination of art and commerce

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Jia Wei, the founder of the LKK design company, is the first Chinese designer to win three international awards – the Red Dot Design Award, iF Product Design Award and IDEA Award.

But he is not famous for these awards. Instead, he is known for his latest work – 55℃ Cup. A cup that can turn 100℃ hot water to 55℃ after shaking it 10 times.

Some said 55℃ Cup is the perfect combination of art and commerce, which once sold over five billion yuan a year.

However, the design of this cup originated from a heart-wrenching story.

Jia Wei still remembered that day when his daughter asked for a cup of water, so he went to the kitchen and poured a cup of freshly boiled water and put it in the middle of the table to cool down.

Designer Jia Wei /Photo via bake.com

The two-year-old can’t wait and jumped up to get the water, which was poured and burned into half of her face and chest. At that moment, Jia felt sorry and sad that after designing so many products for many years, he hasn’t come up with anything that could have prevented that from happening.

He then decided to design a cup for children all over the world to not let them experience the same pain as her daughter did.

After three years of unremitting efforts, Jia Wei finally found the material that can make the liquid instantly cool down. He made a cup of this material and named it "55℃ Cup,” the perfect temperature for drinking water.

Jia believes a good design must be based on the customers’ real needs. “In fact, a good design has three values. The first is the design itself. This design is particularly novel and especially original. Another value of design is its commercial value. The third value of design is its social value. This design is making the world more beautiful, isn’t it?” Jia said.