Image by: Dalydose

1) Creativity does not exist in a vacuum.

The thing about creativity is that it cannot exist without a baseline, starting point, trigger or input. In other words you will not be able to come up with a design or a design solution if you do not set the parameters or boundaries first. A good clear brief and/or design strategy is always required to start the ball rolling as it gets everyone excited. Therefore I am a strong believer that nothing beats the freedom that comes from a tight brief. The trick here is to ensure the boundaries are set wide enough so that it gives designers enough space to maneuver.

2) Creativity is free, work is where the value is.

I highly believe that everyone is creative in his or her own way. Given the right conditions and stimuli, great ideas can rise to the surface. Therefore I find ideas are overrated as almost anyone can come up with some – often without much effort. The problem is when you have to convert creativity from an idea into reality. This is the hard part – so hard that it pays to do it well. The genius sketch is an urban myth, the real heroes are the designers in the trenches that realize it and make it happen.

3) Creativity is better shared.

One nice thing about creativity is that an idea can grow into a much more powerful idea if shared. Bouncing ideas around with each other or in your creative community really works. I always look, with sadness at close-minded individuals who refuse to share; or overly competitive design students hiding in their holes. They do not know what they are missing. This goes back to point 2: Ideas are cheap, execution is the key.

4) Creativity can be fostered.

If you want to excel at being creative, you can. All you need is to know how and practice. When you start out in design, getting a designer’s block is a very common thing. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get a design right, or out of your head. A small part of this is confidence, but most is about practice. As you get better in design or when you do it more frequently, creativity seems to flow a lot better. Getting into a mental state of design readiness also keeps you from getting rusty. At the end of the day you need to use it or lose it and a busy designer is never stuck.

5) Creativity is not Design

I find people who look at a product or sometimes a piece of art and say “even I could do it” are pretty naive. My usual response is “why didn’t you?”. That is the thing, while having creativity is a prerequisite, being creative does not equate to being a good designer. There is a certain mix of elements that makes a great designer. Some of these skills include having the right training, story telling, EQ skills, people management, analytical thinking, synthesizing ability, perseverance etc., the list goes on and I am sure you can come up with more. Being creative is a good start, but I have never heard of successful designers that are creative and lazy.

———-

Brian is a multidisciplinary industrial design leader that goes under the pseudonym of “The Design Translator”. He muses about the art of design leadership and the business of strategic industrial design over at his website Design Sojourn. He often laments the lack of good soy mochas and Italian pizzas (with Rocket and shredded Parma ham) in Asia.

When I moved to Silicon Valley and went to work for a number of small startups my first reaction was wondering how these tiny companies had any chance of competing with large companies with resources such as Polaroid. But after working for and as a consultant with dozens of companies large and small, my opinion has changed radically. I now believe an entrepreneur with a small team can often compete successfully against a huge corporation.

Why? In these times where innovation and fast-to-market are paramount, employees in many large companies are still risk-adverse. They value stability, and not rocking the boat. That’s what the companies value and those traits often permeate the company. Those that buck the system are often thought of as troublemakers, not valued for their independence, and wanting to do things in a different way and eventually leave. As a result, there are fewer long time employees at large companies that are highly entrepreneurial.

Of course there are exceptions. I’ve seen a few people in large companies become a strong product champion, put together a team on their own initiative to do what they thought needed to be done without asking for permission – just like working as a small company! Some companies now go out of the way to encourage this, setting up special teams and clear the way for important initiatives. But it’s uncommon.

Large companies tend to be less successful in creating breakthrough products or even products that might compete with their existing ones. The thinking is that would cannibalize their own line, not thinking that it would be worse for a competitor to do it. That happened with Polaroid and almost with Kodak with the invention of digital imaging.

Large companies often develop silos with members vested in the perpetuation of their products or divisions They don’t think of what’s best for the company, they think of what’s best for their silo and their own career. I’ve seen some organizations try to derail others in their company working on a product that competes with theirs. Sometimes they forget who the competition is.

The best type of organization to get a product from concept to the consumer is a small, focused team made up of diverse skills. But most large organizations are organized functionally, making it difficult to move quickly, create a small team, and delegate decision making to it.

Large companies often prefer to not take risks, because failing is embarrassing to them. It creates news, requires a PR effort to counter it, and puts management at risk. The financial market is still focused on quarterly profits and when there’s a stumble at a big company it makes big news.

But in fairness, large companies sometimes need to be more careful and methodical in making decisions. They’re more susceptible to being sued by employees and outsiders, are responsible for the behavior of all of their employees, and are protective of a brand that may have taken decades to build up. That’s why they’ve developed policies and procedures, created HR and legal departments. But when someone wants to take on a risky project to bring a product from concept to market quickly, they need to cut through this bureaucracy. Roadblocks suddenly appear everywhere from those parts of the organization that want to take the more methodical approach.

Small companies, on the other hand, are much more flexible. They can turn on a dime, reorganize, hire, fire and make decisions in hours and not require the escalation required in large ones. Small organizations are more likely to think out of the box. If one thing doesn’t work they’ll try something else. They are not fighting the established ways of doing things that large companies often have institutionalized.

One of the biggest advantages large companies have is access to the sales and distribution channels. That can be huge. But small companies can sometimes tap into these by using the large companies to sell their product. Small companies can also make use of the increasing ability to sell over the Web where they can be nearly as effective as large corporations.
So the bottom line is not to be intimidated by being a lone entrepreneur or a small organization. You may wish you could have the resources of a huge corporation, but be careful what you wish for!

Editorial: Phil Baker

Phil Baker is a product development consultant in Solana Beach, CA. He’s worked for numerous product companies including Polaroid, Apple, and Seiko. He’s an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, holds 30 patents, a technology columnist for the San Diego Transcript and author of “From Concept to Consumer: How to turn ideas into money”. His blog is www.philbakersblog.com and his email is pbaker@gmail.com.

I sort of knew what it took, but I never really knew what it took, until today. According to Chris Guillebeau, the man behind The Art of Nonconformity, if you want to a virtuoso, or just be really good with anything (music, sport, design etc.), you will need to invest approximately 14,600 hours of practice or training to get there.

The time cost of becoming a virtuoso—which I’m defining here simply as a measure of extremely high expertise—is about 10 years of consistent training for at least several hours a day. This is the consensus view from a wide scientific literature on virtuosos from various disciplines.

Roughly, this breaks down to 14,600 hours over the course of a decade (4 hours a day, no weekends or holidays). According to experts who study the experts, If you spend approximately 14,600 hours practicing the cello, learning to be a surgeon, playing chess, or doing any activity that has a progressive learning scale and can be evaluated by other experts, you’ll achieve the status of being a virtuoso.

Yes, there are some disclaimers, and the most important one is that you have to have somewhat of a talent at playing chess or cello to begin with. But most virtuosos are not innate geniuses; they are instead highly disciplined individuals.

Extracted from: The 14,600 Hours to Virtuosity by Chris Guillebeau.

Wow. Now you know why some designers seem to be able to sketch, CAD or even design better than others. They have invested the time and effort to perfect their art.

Why some designers are so good?

I am willing to bet that those car designers who are able to sketch or draw so well, have put in serious time into their profession. Furthermore, I will not be surprised if many of them have been already sketching cars before they even got into design school!

Therefore, if you want to be really good at something, you have to first set a goal and then put in the hours to get there.

When I started out my design career, I was an old school designer living in a transition period between 2D and 3D. I had no 3D skills and no job because all the design firms were only hiring CAD jockeys at that time. Therefore I was determined to learn 3D and be the best CAD jockey there was. I made a decision to be very good at Rhino3D, in an environment dominated by Alias and Pro-Engineer.

So I put in the hours, invested weekends, read the Rhino Manual from cover to cover (I kid you not!), and did all the tutorials. Not only that, I searched out every hint and tip there was on the web, and even participated in the Rhino software Beta feedback team. In no time I was churning out Rhino CAD files dead quick and to a quality that was even manufacturing ready!

Passion and Dedication.

Chris talks about Talent being but one of the elements in the equation. I agree, even with design, Talent is nothing without discipline. However I like to add, particularly with design, Passion and Dedication are another two elements of this equation. I find that the two are linked, if you have a Passion for something, Dedication is not far behind.

There is a clear difference with a designer that lives and breathes design vs. a designer that is “oh-hum” about design. Having Passion is not just about loving design, it is also about the dedication to get knee deep in it, and the will to be designing almost all the time. I can relate to designers like Marc Newson who always seem to be critical of their surroundings and never seem to stop wanting to improve it. I can see also passionate Designers taking part in design competitions, creating their own products, or even solving problems outside of design.

It is Passion that is the fuel that keeps the fires burning and the designers going in the wee hours of the morning.

Being a “Jack of all Trades” is Only the Starting Point.

I like to close this discussion up by addressing a big complain I always here from Industrial Designers. That is we end up being “Jack of all Trades, and Masters of None”. Yes and No. The nature of the industrial design profession requires us to cover a lot of ground at school. However learning does not and should not stop when you graduate. When you do graduate, it is now up to you to focus on areas you are either interested in or perhaps areas you want to improve. For example if you start clocking just a few hours a day in sketching, you will soon have 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month and 480 hours a year etc. You see, you don’t have to put in that 14,600 hours to be a Virtuoso (unless you want to!), but anybody can start being better in something when the time is invested in doing so. Best of Luck!

———-

Brian is a multidisciplinary industrial design leader that goes under the pseudonym of “The Design Translator”. He muses about the art of design leadership and the business of strategic industrial design over at his website Design Sojourn. He often laments the lack of good soy mochas and Italian pizzas (with Rocket and shredded Parma ham) in Asia.

• Do everything yourself

Leverage. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Do what you do best and rely on others to do what they do best. These days you can get access to resources around the world as easily as around the corner.

• Focus on patents

Don’t overly rely on patents. Patents only give you the right to sue, and rarely prevent others from selling a product that’s just like yours. Remember that patents can take a few years to issue, while many products will have come and gone in that time. Even if you have an issued patent, it can take millions to defend it, money better spent on your next product. A small company in the right can be put out of business by a large company with a big legal department.

• Worry about others stealing your invention

Don’t waste time worrying. Just because you tell someone about your idea doesn’t mean they will copy it. After all the idea is only 5% of the work. The best defense against competition is getting your product widely distributed before others can respond. When they come to market with a copy you’ll be far along on your next model.

• Hire one of those invention submission companies and let them do the work

They typically charge you thousands of dollars to present your product to industry. At the worst they’re a scam costing you many thousands of dollars, and at best they rarely can do the job you can do with a little guidance. You’ll usually do a better job because of the passion you have for the product. They’re not in business to sell your product to industry, only to sell their services to you. If you have a great idea you don’t need to pay someone to shop it around.

• Spend your money fine-tuning and perfecting your design

Too many inventors keep trying to perfect their product time after time before gaining market feedback and going out and finding a customer. There’s often a fear of hearing what others think about your baby.  But, an early prototype is often good enough to gain valuable information. So save your money for marketing and selling; that usually costs a lot more than designing and engineering. While it might be painful, test your inventions early. Talk to the retailers who would be selling your product. Ask them how well it would sell. Ask them how much it should cost. Ask the tough questions even though you might not like the answers.

• If you build it they will come

Just because you have what you think is a great invention or spectacular design, it’s tough to get interest from others. Inventing the product is just the beginning and a small part of the overall effort. Expect and budget for a lot more activities after the product is developed.

• Price your product as low as possible

Many inventors don’t understand the impact that the channels of distributions have in determining the product’s price. There are often 3 or 4 levels between what you pay to make the product and what the customer is asked to pay.  Existing business models establish the channels and margins, so don’t expect you can change them because your product is so special. Just remember the retail price is often 3 to 5 times your cost. So an item costing $20 could retail for $100. A corollary is your product needs to provide value and be competitive based on the actual selling price, not based on your cost.

• Don’t speak with large companies to take on your productl they’ll steal your ideas

Rarely can a tiny company with a single product match their influence with distributors and retailers. Few large companies will sign NDAs so don’t expect it. Proceed cautiously, but do proceed. They often are your best opportunity for success.

• Once your product gets into the big chains your success is assured

Getting your product into large retailers rarely guarantees success.  They’ll return your product if it doesn’t sell, they’ll pay late, and they may require you to spend thousands of dollars to help them sell it. And don’t think these stores will want to carry the products that are best for their customers; they’ll carry the product that makes them the most money.

• Believe your own hype

It’s easy to get excited by your own product and become immersed in the great publicity and reviews. But that’s a mistake. Think like your competitors and don’t become complacent.

Just like in our Design world it is all about our award winning designs, the big budget projects, and the ones that the client and consumers love. However we never talk about our setbacks, the projects we hate, the ones that failed the engineering tests, and the ones that got away. We never like to talk about this so-called “Dark Side of Design”.

I like to share with you a number of real life scenarios that shows how the world of design can be a pure hellhole. I like to talk about how money seems to overcome morality and sensibility. Facing the “Dark Side of Design” head on is neither easy or fun.

1. You will have to design something you hate

Designing something you hate is something you never really consider when you get out of school. It just does not register. You love design and you love your work so it is not conceivable that you would have to design something you hate. It will happen, so be prepared and bask in the frustration.

2. You will have to work with someone you hate

You will get assigned to that snot nosed designer that can’t design for nuts but can kiss ass like there is no tomorrow. When it happens at work you suddenly realize why your boss is not paying you his salary in addition to yours. Worst he may be your manager.

Not only that, but you might have to work with a client or business partner that treats you like that piece of dirt under his/her shoe. That person may be unreasonable, belittle you, and hate everything you give him. Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is swallow your pride and turn the other cheek.

3. You will have to make a decision between giving consumers what they want or what they need

The majority of design work, sad to say, is all about feeding consumerism. The reality is that your designs are often not necessary, nor what people need. In school they teach you to study your consumer, identify their needs, and design for them. However do you really think that person needs another chair, laptop or mobile phone? I’m sure you can do a great job, but will it be right? What about sustainability? When does that happen or does it ever happen at all? You will suddenly realize there are forces at play that are beyond your control, and you will have to decide if this is the right career path for you.

4. You will not be able to distinguish between night and day

You will work hard. Sure, you thought you worked hard in school to graduate at the top of the class, but you will never work so hard in your life when you are a designer in the trenches. So hard that you cannot tell the difference between night and day. You will do it because you have to. You will do it because you care. Needless to say, you will hate it.

5. You will never have clear brief

In the real world everyone knows what a brief is, but nobody really knows what a brief is. You will have to face the fact that there is no such thing as a clear brief. It is also never the straightforward design process you learned in school. You will hop back and forth through changes so many times you will think you are a trick pony. What is worst, the schedule will not move because of someone elses “briefing” mistake.

6. You will be made responsible for a design that has failed

It is too easy. Product does not sell? Blame the designer. Product cannot be engineered? Blame the designer. Suddenly you will be in everyone’s “cross hairs” and be blamed for everything. Remember though designers make suggestions. The people who pay for the designs are the ones who own the designs, thus responsible for the outcome. This leads me to my next point.

7. You will never own your designs anymore

What was a great solo effort in school, will now becomes everyone’s baby. You will pour your heart and soul into a design to only get it taken from you and passed off to someone else. Your design idea would be lost, modified, “raped” and even killed. Not only that, there will be projects that will have so many people working on it, that nobody owns or wants to own it.

8. You will hate design

One morning you will drag your tired body through multiple all-nighters to present your work to an unappreciative client, and you will tell yourself something along those lines of “I hate design”.

————

They always say it is “darkest before the dawn” and in design it is.

Many designers quit before reaching this point, I almost did. Some of the popular excuses are likely to be “it’s too hard” or “not enough money for this BS” or even “no one appreciates the effort I put in”. My advice to you is to hang on because it does get better.

Strangely enough this turning point happens around the 5 – 7 year mark, depending on the amount of project hours a designer has clocked. Somehow after that, things just fall into place. It can happen like how it did for me, you wake up one morning and it just “clicked” as you reached that “tipping point”. You now know how to handle that abusive client, your 3D models just work with the engineers, and best of all, your designs start to kick ass and win awards. Trust me, I’ve seen it over and over again, not only with me but with other designers, the 5 year mark seems to be that magical number when your time in the trenches finally pay off.

I like to end this little post on another uplifting note. I cannot understand why people do not talk about their failures. They make great and interesting stories, especially if you can articulate what you learned and how you grew from it. In my humble opinion, this is far more important than always looking to sell your winners. Think about this when you next update your portfolio?

———-

Brian is a multidisciplinary industrial design leader that goes under the pseudonym of “The Design Translator”. He muses about the art of design leadership and the business of strategic industrial design over at his website Design Sojourn. He often laments the lack of good soy mochas and Italian pizzas (with Rocket and shredded Parma ham) in Asia.

But first let me share a little about myself. I first got out of design school; it was at the height of the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997. There were hardly any industrial design jobs available. I was retrenched from my first furniture design job after 3 months, and it took me another 4 months before I found a design related job. It was not easy. However I remained focused throughout and kept learning every step of the way. If you are interested, I compiled some of my lessons in this post on my blog, but I think it is the right time to expand and update these tips as, today’s economic situation is not only about getting a job, it is also about keeping it.

1) Be Flexible
In a time of recession, you need to be flexible. Not only should you do your best to chase down any design related job you can find, you should also be ready to be the one to do the “dirty” work. The tough jobs that no one else wants to do. In this time of crisis, employers look for people who are willing to do what it takes to deliver.

2) Can you sell Ice to an Eskimo?
The ability to sell yourself in interviews and all documents related to you is vital in winning in today’s job market. It is not only about getting your information out to people; it is about positioning yourself in the best possible light. Leverage on your achievements and strengths, but in a Design world filled with egos, soft sell goes a lot further than hard sell.

3) Know Thyself
Before you can sell yourself you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. Time for some navel gazing and be very self-critical. Play up your strengths and look to improve your weaknesses.

4) Where You want to go Today?
Have a strong vision of where you want to go or what you want to achieve as a designer. It’s important to employers as it shows vision, passion and ambition. A strong personal vision also helps you make the right decisions when you need to deliberate on job opportunities.

5) Continue to Improve
You can always look to do a task better or improve a skill. Striving to do things better, is an important mindset to have.

6) Lifelong Learning
Not only look to improve, but aim to learn new things. One new thing a week is a good start. Industrial Design is a huge profession with many facets of which you only learn the basics in school. Once you are out of school, take it upon yourself to lean more by being proactive.

7) Take Risks
A young designer, fresh out of school CAN and should take risks in their career. Of course you need to be prudent if you have to put food on the table. However it is not the time to pick the “safe” job, but the time to pick the job that gives you the best exposure.

8 ) Personal Branding
No, it is not the personal logo or monogram that makes most people cringe. It is about an image you want to present, a public “face” that represent the principles you stand for. A well written blog is a very powerful tool for Personal Branding.

9) Passion
I have to say that employers HATE designers with little or no passion for their work. Nobody can be more excited about your design work or career but you. Passion is also about doing what it takes to get things done. Employers like that. This should also be demonstrated when you talk about your portfolio.

10) Build Relationship and Communication Skills
When I got out of school, it was in the time when 3D CAD started becoming big and every employer wanted a 3D designer. Unfortunately my hand rendered portfolio could never compete, but it did not matter, my eagerness to learn 3D CAD, and my ability to communicate that design was innate and not reliant on a 3D tool was what won the day.

11) Be Serious with Your Job
Young designers are just that, young. They focus on a quality life more than quality work. Some just don’t take their work seriously. Good Design is serious business, this means quality work delivered on time and on budget.

12) Work Like a Slave
To get good in design fast, you need to clock the hours to acquire the skills. Work hard, when you are young, but also work smart. In interviews, show that you are willing to put in what it takes to get things done. Quality projects with short lead times are worth its weight in gold in portfolios.

13) Always Shine with Good Work
Always, I say ALWAYS focus on good quality work. When in doubt, awesome designs will always make anyone’s day.

14) HOMEWORK!
Be diligent, before you go for an interview, do your homework. No employer likes people who know nothing about the company or the work they do.

15) Network
Online AND offline. Enough said, don’t you think?

16) Polish your Portfolio, Again and Again
Portfolios are a historical document of you and your work. Make sure it is updated and presented in the best possible light. When I first started out, I updated or re-designed my portfolio every 3 to 6 months. Your Portfolio should become a living document that reflects your goals and vision. If you went back to a company for a repeat interview they would have new things to see and a good idea how you are developing as a designer.

17) Get Real Projects Fast
Student work is great to start your portfolio out with; however do aim to phase it out of your portfolio as quickly as you can with real design work. Real world projects give you the creditability you need. If you are stuck in a job that has very little design work worthy of your portfolio, try to get some extra freelance or temporary work to shore up your portfolio.

18) Deck out your CV with Results not Skills
In your CV you would probably have indicated that you are a “team player”, or “great at creating 3D models” etc. Well, so can millions of other designers. Make sure instead that in every past or present job listing in your CV you describe your contribution to the bottom line. So instead you should write that you “worked in global team that spanned 5 countries” or “you were responsible for the 3D database generation for this award winning product.”

19) Widen your Interests
The most effective designers can draw inspiration from their have very varied interests, that are often no design related. Share some of that during an interview or with your colleagues, it makes you a much more interesting person.

20) Be a Problem Solver
Last but not least, nobody likes a “Whiner”, and I can vouch that most employers don’t. You supposed to be a creative, so be creative and figure how to make the best of your limited budget or your reduction in man power. In a recession there is no shortage of work, just the resources to do it.

———-

Well, there we go! I hope these 20 tips will get you up and going as a designer, or perhaps even solidify your position as one. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment or additional questions you may have or need feedback for.

Brian is a multidisciplinary industrial design leader that goes under the pseudonym of “The Design Translator”. He muses about the art of design leadership and the business of strategic industrial design over at his website Design Sojourn. He often laments the lack of good soy mochas and Italian pizzas (with Rocket and shredded Parma ham) in Asia.

Contributer: Zippy Flounder

ALPHA TRAILER

In the process of walking around the InterBike, trade show I happened upon a booth selling bicycle trailers. These trailers are used for hauling children or cargo, I was surprised at how primitive they were and the high price they were getting. These current units were bent alloy tube and tent fabric giving lightweight but no structure and an appearance of a tent on wheels. I talked to a few people and learned that they were selling a lot of them and the market was growing so I decided that this might be a good market to look into.

I borrowed an existing unit from a local dealer, did an analysis of it as well as some testing, and came up with some key features that I felt would provide some real benefits. The use of suspension was a hot button in bicycling then as now and I knew from racing sports cars that an unsuspended vehicle was not only uncomfortable for the passenger but also less stable. I did a simple test with the borrowed unit loading it to the weight of one child and running over a 2×4 to simulate a pothole or rock in the roadway. The result was even more impressive than expected; the trailer wheel jumped up a full 6 inches off the ground and if the pothole were hit during, a turn would cause the trailer and child to flip over. I knew that a 2 inch deep pot hole was not that uncommon even in the city and given that the trailer wheels were outside of the path the bicycle the rider may not even notice one coming up and avoid it.

I decided to develop a simple adjustable suspension system for the bicycle trailer with safety and comfort as the key consumer benefits. After looking at and experimenting with a number of systems I decided on a simple trailing arm axle with three elastrometric bands on an arm for the suspension medium and adjustment. This suspension system drove the rest of the product design with its vacuumed formed hull giving better seating and safety as well as fully enclosed wheels. The prototype was built and the initial testing proceeded to validate the safety and comfort aspects. In testing not only would the trailer stay stable and not tip even when encountering a 6 inch deep pot hole but the ride was so comfortable that younger children tended to fall asleep while being towed, something that did not happen in the other trailers.

In trial use, other features that could be added made themselves apparent.  One of the purported uses of the bike trailers was to go some place with the children and then do something else, like go to the store or park. It was obvious that with my design the inclusion of a caster font wheel would in effect make the trailer a stroller when uncoupled from the bike. This gave far more utility and prevented the bike trailer from being stolen when the riders were away. This added feature required engineering of a new type of universal bicycle attachment that facilitated easy decoupling. This was accomplished in due course with out violating any existing patents and tested. The test group really liked the new features and benefits as well as the automotive look of the product that exuded higher value. The perception was it was safer for the child and much more user friendly for the parents.

After considering, approaching the existing trailer companies and factoring in the new design utilized very different production methods I decided to sell the license to the product to a startup company for a royalty and license fee with the agreement that I would bring the product to market for them. This proceeded well even though I had misgivings as to their ability to garner sufficient capital to execute the project properly.

The production design began with some modifications to the original design to allow for easy vacuum forming of the product and higher usability of the top. The new top had not only a windscreen but also a bug screen that could be quickly attached as well as a transparent rain cover. This high visibility not only kept the children happy but also gave piece of mind to the parent who could look back and see their child. Production development was almost complete when we decided that we could offer as an option a “jogger” package. This package consisted of a plug in push bar and a plug in 16” front wheel with hand brake supplanting the small castor wheel. The product was now complete and production prototypes were built and readied for the InterBike trade show. The production unit had these features and benefits.

FEATURES

• Monocoque body with full roll cage
• Adjustable suspension with 4” travel
• Dual 3 point safety harness
• Wheel fairing
• Stroller wheel
• 3-axis hitch
• Font load seating
• Panoramic windows
• Rain fly bug screen
• Jogger conversion
• Easy storage

BENEFITS

• Better support, forward facing children
• Comfort and safety
• 1 or 2 children high security
• Spokes away from children reduces spray
• Convents to stroller with one pin
• Trailer stays level even if bike falls
• Easy access to children
• Children are happy and you can see them
• All weather adaptable
• Higher utility no tools needed
• 3 pins and wheels and top fit into body for easy storage or transport

The Alfa trailer was judged to be one of the top 10 most innovative products of the 1993 InterBike trade show and we had many dealers signing up, later the Alfa was also the only bike trailer to be approved for use on public roads in Germany.

Production problems ensued compounded by the inexperience of the startup company and their under capitalization. The problems were compounded when the licensing company in violation of its contract with me did not proceed with patent protection allowing competitors to replicate key features into their own products. The net effect was the company folded but many of the key features pioneered by the Alfa are on bicycle trailers to this day, the stroller ability, hard shell body, panoramic view, and suspension and jogger conversion.

The following pictures show the evolution of the Alfa from foam core mock up through the final production units as delivered worldwide.

The 2ners were a direct outgrowth of my involvement in the bicycle industry and addressed the issue of people riding with ear buds or headphones. There were numerous consumer requests for something that would allow the rider to experience their music that was safe and comfortable. In the case of cycling, this was a serious drawback in that you were isolated from the environment and could not hear approaching autos or safety vehicles. The other problem was that all of the existing units used wires to a remote player/radio making for a problem when removing a helmet or during spirited activity. The few existing headphone type radios were far too bulky for use in active sports even though many did in running and jogging, but their size and mass made them uncomfortable for use as well as isolating.  The reason was that music is compelling and even with a bad form factor its better than nothing.

The 2ners development as an intergraded headphone type radio does hinge on the question of power requirements and therefore the battery size. Providing enough power to give good volume and sound quality over a reasonable amount of time between battery charges, or replacements, is the key issue. Other systems use AA or AAA batteries and full coverage head phones to achieve the goal but that was obviously not acceptable for this application.  They were far larger than desired. The state of microelectronics and speakers however did show that it might be possible. In addition, the solution turned out by utilizing all the available energy, both mechanical as well as electronic, I could keep the size down.

The 2ner used a couple of innovative methods to provide excellent sound quality with minimal energy requirements.  These ultimately lead to the ability to package the system small enough for active sports. The product and was a total ground up design entailing electronics, acoustics, packaging, biomechanics and aesthetics.

The primary method was utilizing the body of the unit and its circuit board to make a tuned cavity to enhance bass response with bone conductance to enhance bass. The additional bass response was achieved by turning the speaker around so the voice coil enclosure rested on the persons cheek allowed for a much smaller speaker size being used, lowering the amplifier size and limiting the systems power consumption.

The other key element was the use of directed speaker ports that aimed the high frequency parts of the sound into a zone of the ear.  This naturally funneled those frequencies into the inner ear. The shape of the unit provided a windshield effect reducing the effect of wind noise.  It also fitted well with bicycle helmets. The elimination of extraneous features, such as a display for station and time, was integral to keeping the unit’s size compact.

After 8 months of development, what resulted was a very sleek unit that utilized magazine re-chargeable type battery packs, digital scan tuning and digital volume. The form was fully ½ the size of the other headphone radios and was smaller than many headphones.

The full feature FM 88-108 MHz with PLL tuning allowed for its use with available small FM transmitters providing a wireless link from a Discman or MP3 player so the user could listen to their own music not just broadcast radio.

I had planned on an evolution of the product with a built in MP3 flash memory chip contained in the right hand side battery box. This would have given us a lead on many of the majors for ultra small MP3 players and eliminated the need for the transmitter. This follow on product was to be in place after 9 months of sales of the first unit and followed normal product evolutionary product pathways.

The original business model was to sell or license the technology to an operating firm and after doing show and tell to the likes of Nike, Schwinn, and Vetta. In general, selling new products to existing companies revolved around the ability to show consumer acceptance and was the core of the sales resistance from the large firms. We did not expose the product to the large consumer products companies as we were disruptive technology and access to the C level management had always been a challenge.

I have had some experience with consumer direct response sales via TV (infomercial companies) and knew that they sometimes were willing to do joint ventures on products where they would assist in the startup production of a new item. They would also handle the marketing of the product and fulfillment of the product.  We decided to pursue this matter and over the course of five meetings, a very lucrative contract was entered into with the infomercial giant Guthy-Renker for joint venture and exclusive distribution.

The contact negotiations took months and were a minefield of details concerning minimum annual royalty payments, territories, internet sales, price, cost, and delivery.

During this time, I contacted two manufacturing companies in Hong Kong for the production of the product and worked with their engineers to bring it into a mass producible state. This requited the creation of all packaging, instruction manuals, graphics and logo for the product.

During the normal startup process time of eight months, some key decisions at Guthy-Renker were made and they had decided to stick exclusively with consumable products. This change presented me with two options– I could force them into court to “cure” us as per the contract or proceed to market myself and leave the relationship intact.

I then decided that sales via online web site and viral marketing would work. I generated a website for the marketing and sales of the product, and it was selling quite well until the majority partner in the project decided that he would prefer to transfer the technology to a major company.

In 2004 (three years after the 2ner introduction), Oakley introduced a sunglass system with a built in MP3 player approximating the size of the 2ner but at a much higher price point.

Koss audio and Panasonic both produced a line of headphones using aimed tuned ports to enhance audio experience as was pioneered in the 2ner. Patents were filed and granted on the core technologies and were granted but infringers have not been dealt with do to issues of cost versus reward.

Contributor: Zippy Flounder

Editor Tran has invited me to write a column from time to time about design and at first I thought, hey no problem. Well just like when you go from idea to reality the hard work sets in and you realize what you think is a piece of cake will take some serious work. In choosing this first column, I decided finally after a few drinks that (given the times) a discussion of some of the lessons I have learned over the past 30+ years as a product designer would be in order. I started out when it was real bad, early 70’s (first oil embargo, double digit prime interest rate and stagflation) so what’s on the horizon is somewhat familiar.

Ok lessons from the trenches, the musing of a top master sergeant of design and construction (top kicks are the guys/gal’s that are the real backbone of an army even a general (smart ones) will listen to them when they want the truth without all the bullshit).

First lesson

We should be Santa clauses. Ok what that means is what we should strive to do is facilitate our clients wishes into reality. The client may be your boss, some dude with a few bucks or a whole boatload of people but in the end, we must be empathetic to design for THEM not us. Hell, it is easy as pie to design for ourselves or even other designers. Designing for yourself or your peers is a lot of fun because it is like karaoke – makes you feel great but it is not real. Therefore, the mark of a pro is the ability to design for a market and have them find value in it, exchange their sweat (money) for its ownership. If we are not doing that, it is just mental masturbation or art, not product design.

Design for others is not easy, but rewarding, as a way of illustrating it, here is a little story about one of my first projects. Back in the day geodesic domes were a hot thing, very cool, and to a young guy like me appealing because well, they were not square. The project I got as a hand off from an architect friend (I think he just wanted me to quit bothering him) was to come up with an interior structural layout and design for a 30 foot 5/8ths geo dome for a young couple. I was young and back then work was hard to score so ANYTHING that would pay I jumped on, besides I had a VISION I knew I would knock their socks off.

I set to work, did not ever talk to the clients, did not want to pollute my vision you see. I jammed and jammed sketches working to cram a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining room into this space with out screwing up its feel. I succeed at last, and went ahead and did a scale model (we did lots of models back then, as only NASA, IBM and gov had computers) was jazzed to show it to the client. I called my architect friend to set up the meet, and he wanted to see it first, so off I went waiting to bask in the glow of his awe of my great design.

The meet started off well enough, words like “innovative” and “interesting” and even a “cool!” were uttered, but then the shoe hit the floor, my friend said,

“Zippy, did you read the brief, talk to the clients on the phone or more importantly go and meet them at their current home?”

I said (feeling that something bad was about to happen) “no, I wanted this to be a fresh solution with a clear vision”. There was a silence, and then he said,

“If you had, you would have known that they have 2 small children and a dog, they have quite traditional furniture, and are only looking at the dome as an energy efficient structure not as a design statement”. He went on to say, “Zippy, you have designed for yourself and in that you did a great job as it would be very cool, almost perfect for a 20ish single guy but for that client it has so many problems that its beyond salvage.

Don’t toss the design go find a 20 -30 year old guy with enough money to build it (very very rare in that day) or hold on to it for yourself later.”  The crusher was this, “Zippy, I will pay you your fee, you did what we contracted you to do but I cannot show it to our client as it totally ignores their wants, needs, and concerns”. My friend then said this “we designers provide a service, we have training, skills, talent and knowledge that most do not have. That service is to be able to in effect be their Santa clause, bringing their wishes to reality”. That has stuck with me all these years, it’s true, oh and by the way I still have that model of the dome….should build it some day I guess.

Learn your tools and everything around you

Ok you may be the snitz when it comes to womping up a nifty design on the ‘puter but how does it fit into the overall business, if you don’t know, than you don’t know enough. Your job as a real designer is to see and blend all aspects of bringing that product to market. Sounds like a big challenge – it is; takes a lifetime (you never stop learning) so try to learn by talking to everybody in the chain about what their concerns are. I mean everybody from the account, production folk, to the shipping clerk. To be a real designer you have to do the Leonardo thing, know the process from sperm to baby to collage, the whole deal.

Why should we bother you may ask, pretty simple the more we know how it all fits together the more likely we are going to be able to provide real value to our customers, and sometimes it’s a simple thing. I have many stories that would make this clear, but here is a simple one. On one project we were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out how to make a bike computer water proof, looked at all sorts of solutions but the battery door was just letting the H20 no matter what we did.

I was trying to figure out the solution at the local pub and over a beer, one of the tooling guys sat down on the stool next to me. I knew this guy a little from being out on the floor and borrowing the use of a milling machine from time to time. He asked me what I was drawing and so more about being polite than anything else I told him. He mulled it over for a bit and said, “Ok zippy, buy me a beer and I will tell you how to solve your problem.”  I said, “Solve or not, the next beer is on me, so tell me what’s your idea”. He had asked some questions such as how much power it pulled, what type of batteries etc I had planned, questions you would not expect from a “tooling” guy.

He fired up a smoke (lots of us smoked back then) and said while snapping closed a Zippo lighter with odd logo on it “well zippy you’re thinking about the problem all wrong. You will not ever get a o ring to seal that little battery door for more than a few times and when it fails the product will too pissing off the customer. What you want to do is get rid of the battery door completely, so why not just use a little NiCad battery and an induction coil to recharge it. That way your customer never has to buy some weird ass battery, the unit cannot ever leak and will be easier to tool and produce.  I told him I would look into it, and did, the numbers made the product better, and even a bit cheaper, not to mention the customers thought it was cool that it was rechargeable. Remember the tooling guys Zippo with a funny logo on it, well the logo was of a little cartoon skunk, the logo of the famous Lockheed skunk works (P80, U2, SR-71. F-117a) and they did not sell them in the gift shop…

Be humble and empathetic

Pretty simple, you may think “oh I am a designer” and look down on some guy in grease stained coveralls out in the tooling floor, but the hard truth is, with out him your just putting ink on a piece of paper so LEAR HIS MIND. The more you know the more you can do. If that guy says “well that’s going to cause us to revamp the bosses and the ejector pins” don’t just flip him/ her off but realize the changes they’re talking about goes to total project cost that may kill your product if you don’t listen.  As in the above story, you never know where somebody is from, what they know, or whom they know until you listen to them, do not talk, and just listen.

The 10 principles of good design by Dieter Rams

Formulated in the sixties true then, true now so grab a cutting torch and burn these into your office wall.

• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design helps us to understand a product.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is durable.
• Good design is consequent to the last detail.
• Good design is concerned with the environment.
• Good design is as little design as possible.

Design is risky

You may say “frack it with this corp. BS, I am going indi” and hey I did it myself 30 years ago so let me give you a few heads up if you go that way.

live below your means. It is simple, your income at best will be fluid so remember you can build what most people desire, so instead of buying, build.

The client is right (ish) the only the very rich can say FU to a paying client, but also do not just take any asswipe on. If you think the client is a bad apple or you have no feeling for the project, then turn them down and eat Ramen.

You are not going to get rich, sorry that is the truth, but you will have a rich life doing interesting things meeting cool people so it is a trade off.

Never give up, in some respects this profession picks us, not the other way around so just remember not everybody can be front and center on the big stage. Lots of us are just “session musicians” grinding it out, making beauty.

Cheers from your old top kick Zippy Flounder.

Contributer: Zippy Flounder