Philip Morris International: Architype II
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Introduction
Phillip Morris Intl is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world: producing many of the world’s best-selling cigarette brands, including the most popular brand Marlboro, sold around the world over 160 markets.
With 9 months of live site testing, customer and consumer insight as well as ever changing tobacco legislation, Phillip Morris sought to develop Architype I from a prototype into an industry leading vending machine...
Solution
Research revealed that from one side Architype I appeared simply as a showcase for the Marlboro brand and not a vending machine. Additionally, changes in banking regulations required that the customer must be offered a receipt. To comply with all of these factors K6 redesigned the entire front door to relate to the new design criteria. Extruded aluminium profiles offer a strong and robust structure that can be finished and coloured in numerous combinations, alongside a central panel that provides a highly reflective gloss appearance. The Interface area was moved to the front to clearly indicate the machines purpose; this created a number of problems with mounting onto the convex surface of the extrusions, Quality of fit and attention to detail was achieved through extensive use of 3D prototyping and CAD. A discrete 2mm slot was introduced for receipt printing and the symmetry of the design was preserved through the careful selection of components sourced to fit with the look and feel of Architype II. Scaling the original design effectively doubled the capacity and increased vend channels allowing more products to be stocked. Showcase lighting was seen as too hard so a softer frosted lighting became the machine standard, creating a more intriguing and fitting technique Repair & Maintenance was simplified with discrete modular elements whilst a re-designed vend chute guaranteed pack delivery. A unique design of a capacitive touch switch adds a final elegance giving visual feedback when a product is chosen.
Locations
- The Club (Piccadilly)
- Supperclub (Kensington)
