The Barisieur is a premium alarm clock that does not jolt you out of your sleep, but instead, eases you into your morning with the soothing sounds of bubbling water along with the smell of the freshly brewed coffee or loose-leaf tea. It is the product of a young creative mind driven by the entrepreneurial spirit and the new phenomenon of global crowdfunding.
Joshua Renouf is a young London-based product designer with a passion for innovation and playful designs that encourage interaction and induce a cherished relationship between the product and the user. This design philosophy necessitates the use of premium materials that are made to last and age gracefully.
The Barisieur is inspired by a combination of the modern ritual of filter coffee with the visual aesthetics of a vinyl record player. Form follows function with all aspects of this design. The scientific borosilicate glassware sits on a beautiful walnut or rubber-wood timber tray. The tray effortlessly lifts off the mid-century-styled black or white base to aid transportation of accessories. The mix of Scandinavian and timeless design makes the Barisieur feel at home whether it is placed in the kitchen, living room or bedroom.
The Barisieur’s simple base houses the underlying technology. An induction coil is used to boil the water efficiently and safely in the vessel above. It has a milk vessel centralised in the base that’s cooled at 3 °C thanks to an integrated peltier cooler, which detects if milk is present with the help of an infrared sensor. A retro digital display tells the time and is also used to set the alarm. The brightness of the display, managed by an integrated diode, dims in low lit environments. There is a sealed drawer to store coffee or tea powder, and whose stainless-steel lid also holds a stainless-steel spoon.
At the set time, the water in the beaker begins to boil, lifts through the tube and drops into the funnel positioned above the cup. What comes out at the bottom of the funnel is a hot, aromatic, freshly brewed coffee.
Joshua was able to take the Barisieur from a design concept and into production thanks to the mentoring he received at Virgin Start-up, including a few tips from Richard Branson himself, followed by a successful crowdfunding campaign at Kickstarter and Indiegogo by which he was able to raise US $ 700,000. The Barisieur is scheduled to go into production before Christmas and supply to the likes of Ace Hotel, Saatchi & Saatchi, Jacobs Coffee and the 2,000 lucky backers from across the globe in 2018.
