Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Why Product Design is Important

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

It’s been a while since the last series of Dragons Den and although there are the small scale online versions it was refreshing to see them back on Sports Relief last week. While many people dislike them, they do at times reveal both the huge reserve of ideas in the country, but at the same time the need for effective product design.

Among the hopefuls in last week’s special was Michael Killian, the inventor of a sideways bicycle. It was a magnificent machine in its own right, but he hadn’t put much thought into its application. It was a fun idea to be sure, but would it work in the market place? He had no idea, but to be fair he didn’t seem to care.

When asked what his plans were he replied: “I’m going to make bikes and sell them” – brilliant in its simplicity, but not what the Dragons wanted to hear. To the ire of his celebrity backer, Patrick Kielty, they sent him packing.

Ducati Product Design Accidently Released By Hayden

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Every year at the start of January the Ferrari Formula 1 and the Ducati MotoGP teams hold their annual product design launch parties deep within the hills of Madonna di Campiglio in Northern Italy. Unfortunately for Ducati, former World Champion Nicky Hayden made a slight blunder in the lead up to the event which has left the American more than a little embarrassed.

The event is seen as the perfect opportunity for the manufacturers to unveil their new weapon of choice for the season ahead, with a whole host of sports and news journalists from around the world attending to get the first shots of the new machinery. Unfortunately for Ducati in 2010 Nicky Hayden inadvertently jumped the gun and gave the world’s press a sneak peak at the product design advances made with the new machine a few days prior to the launch by posting images on his personal website.

The Incredible Bendable Origami Lamp

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Of all the unique product designs that have come about in our modern lifetime this one stands out for its quirky style and simple structure. This is the work of a German design student, Alice Gruhle, who, having been inspired by the world of Origami and Lego has created a lamp that can adapt into different sculptural shapes. It is bendable and fits together just like a Lego!

Grule entered a competition at Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach and to her surprise she won, with her Polymorph design concept using diamond shaped modules that are linked together and allows for it to fold at the joins. Jörg Müller, part of Protomold, gave some helpful advice on manufacturing the product with the US, Germany, Japan and other European countries. Grule used the concept for her end of term show, using modules linked together that were made from milled polypropylene sheets.