ELEVEN's Ben Beck captivates design fans at lecture

[Andrea Fineman]

Design Museum Boston's series of lectures by the exhibitors in Creative Capital: Designed in Boston continued Tuesday with ELEVEN's Ben Beck. Beck regaled listeners with the details behind the design of ELEVEN's line of barware for OXO. The 11-piece set is made up of a number of tools including corkscrews, stoppers, bottle openers, and an ice bucket, each of which posed its own design challenge to Beck and his colleagues. By studying the way both bartenders and average consumers use bartending tools, the designers at ELEVEN developed ergonomic and practical fixes, such as a measuring gradient inside the cap of the cocktail shaker, and a rubber finger-hold on the back of the strainer. The whole suite of products is on view at City Hall in the Creative Capital exhibit, on view through October 31. Stay tuned for information about upcoming lectures and other events!