Transportable espresso makers have develop into more and more subtle over the previous decade, however one downside has remained surprisingly persistent. Most journey French presses proceed extracting espresso lengthy after brewing ought to have ended, leaving the ultimate sip noticeably harsher than the primary. For a product designed round comfort, it’s an oddly unresolved compromise.
That missed flaw turned the start line for LOOM, a conveyable French press designed by industrial designer Kyung-seo Yoo, which not too long ago acquired the Platinum Award within the Cookware, Bakeware & Kitchen Instruments class on the 2026 Houzee Awards, offered by Structure Assortment Journal beneath the ADC Awards program.
Relatively than treating portability as the first problem, Yoo reconsidered one thing extra elementary: what really occurs inside a French press as soon as brewing is full.
The issue with each journey French press
Most moveable French presses share a flaw that reveals up sip by sip: as soon as the plunger is down, the grounds keep in direct contact with the brewed espresso for the remainder of the drink. That ongoing contact retains extracting bitter compounds, so the final mouthful tastes noticeably worse than the primary — and cleanup means disassembling the entire vessel over a sink.
LOOM addresses each issues with a two-stage filtration and isolation system. A micro-filtration layer strains grounds out through the preliminary brew, the way in which an ordinary press does. However as soon as brewing is completed, rotating the vessel’s prime deal with engages a second, silicone-sealed isolation layer that bodily partitions off any remaining sediment from the ingesting chamber — stopping over-extraction as a substitute of simply slowing it down.
The physique is insulated stainless-steel, constructed to outlive each day transport and maintain temperature via a commute or a path. A removable backside compartment handles each ends of the brewing cycle — loading grounds in, and clearing spent grounds out — with out pulling the entire unit aside. The end result merges the operate of a French press with the type of a journey tumbler: brew, carry, and drink from a single object, designed for commuters, vacationers, and anybody who desires recent espresso someplace aside from a kitchen counter.
A observe constructed on fixing issues along with your arms
Though LOOM presents itself as a comparatively restrained client product, a lot of its innovation is hid throughout the inner mechanism moderately than expressed via its look.
That method aligns carefully with Yoo’s design observe.
At present a Inventive Designer at J World Sports activities Inc., Yoo leads product improvement throughout backpacks and luggage, overseeing initiatives from person analysis and idea improvement via manufacturing coordination and manufacturing. She earned her BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island Faculty of Design, concentrating in Computation, Know-how, and Tradition whereas additionally finding out Design Engineering at Brown College—a background that emphasizes engineering efficiency as a lot as visible type.
Relatively than treating mechanical complexity as one thing to showcase, LOOM hides it nearly fully. The person experiences the answer via a easy rotational gesture, whereas the engineering stays largely invisible.
Recognition past LOOM
The Houzee Awards win provides to a run of recognition Yoo has acquired in 2025 and 2026. She was named a Platinum Winner on the 2026 Worldwide Structure & Design Awards within the Product Design – AI-Powered class for Solis Lamp, and a Gold Winner on the 2026 NY Product Design Awards within the pet provides bowls class. She was additionally named a runner-up on the 2025–2026 A’ Design Award within the Pet Care, Toys, Provides and Merchandise for Animals class, and chosen as a Fall 2025 winner by Design Dispatch’s Future Ahead Designs function, which spotlights rising designers.
An method grounded in use, not simply type
Throughout her initiatives, Yoo works from the identical place to begin: establish the place a product really fails individuals in each day use, then remedy that failure via type and mechanism moderately than floor styling. LOOM is a direct instance — the win wasn’t for the way the item appears to be like, however for a filtration and isolation system that adjustments how the product performs over the course of a standard use cycle, from brewing to cleanup.
That very same problem-first method runs via her broader physique of labor, which spans client electronics, furnishings, residence items, sporting items, and luggage and backpacks. She describes her course of as constructed on strategic problem-solving and shut commentary of how individuals really use the issues they personal, aimed toward merchandise which might be practical, visually distinctive, sturdy, and practical to supply.
