Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Chinese Manufacturing Growth Benefits Product Design

Monday, October 26th, 2009

The decision to carry out manufacturing in China is one that many UK based companies are taking. Recent news that Chinese manufacturing as grown over the last six months demonstrates the extent to which the world takes advantage of China’s comprehensive factory options.

makersCompanies in the UK know that in many areas, the quality of China’s output has increased dramatically over recent years. With this in mind, manufacturing facilities in China can take on the whole spectrum of manufacturing, from the simplest household items to high technology items such as digital cameras and flat screen TVs.

Along with quality, China’s manufacturing facilities offer a level of price competitiveness that few other nations can match. The combination of quality and cost effectiveness has made China a great place to do business, and a place where entrepreneurs from the UK and indeed around the world see great opportunities in the country in terms of developing products that meet strong demand. In the past, the cost of manufacturing certain items in the UK or a western nation might have been prohibitive.

Philippe Starck Causes Product Design Stir on BBC 2

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Philippe Starck remains one of the most famous proponents of forward thinking product design in the world, and in the new BBC 2 programme Design For Life he offers 12 British designers the chance to work with him. A 6 month placement is up for grabs in his new design school in Paris.
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Starck claims Britain’s product design industry needs an injection of vigour in this series, which is sure to inspire others to enter the industry – not to mention give one of these lucky designers a huge career boost. Arguably though, it has little to do with luck. These designers are called upon to squeeze out even more creative juices than Starck’s famous lemon squeezer did back in the day.

True, it’s another reality TV show, but it gives a fascinating insight into the design process – so familiar to many of our clients. It demonstrates the importance of fresh thinking and going beyond the obvious ideas, so that something genuinely unique, exciting – and above all functional is created.

Iceblading on Dragons Den!

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Karen O’Neil and Karen Coombes of KCO Iceblading Ltd. skated their way to success in the Dragons’ Den. The Karen’s appeared on tonight’s episode of the popular TV series, and after a perfect demonstration of the “Dry Ice Blades” from their skaters Poppy, Leslie and Corrina, they pitched their idea to the Dragons.

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Applied Product Design is proud to have worked with the Karen’s on the design and development of their “Dry Ice Blade”. Lawrence Crossman from Applied spent many hours making tiny adjustments to the design at our site in Ongar, whilst Karen Coombes then  tested all the variants out, until the perfect setup had been achieved. At the time of the Dragons’ Den recording the skaters were using prototypes to demonstrate the capabilities of the Dry Ice Blade to the Dragons.

New ESPRIMO Tablet PC Wins iF Product Development Award

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Fujitsu was recently awarded the coveted iF (International Forum) Product Design Award for its ESPRIMO series of mobile computers. One of the products in this series is the ESPRIMO MA notebook, designed specifically for the health sector.Fujitsu Product Development

Fujitsu’s substantial investment in product design appears to have paid off for the company, as the health sector tablet PC in particular has met some challenging design brief criteria.

The notebook had to fit in with the way hospitals and medical facilities hold hygiene as a top priority – that is, making it easily cleanable and not likely to harbour germs.

The result is a striking, cutting edge looking piece of technology that meets the d

urability standards required by the health profession. The touch-screen basis of the product and the simple fact that it does not need to be opened like a traditional laptop, makes it a very easy to use piece of product design.

Alberto Villareal Wins Prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

The coveted Red Dot Design Concept award for 2009 has been awarded to Mexican born designer Alberto Villareal. It was presented by Germany’s Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, which has been giving prestigious awards to product design trendsetters since 1955.

Delighted Villareal has received a great deal of exposure since winning the Red Dot prize. One of his major design achievements is the MX-LIBRIS taxi vehicle. Designed specifically for Latin American cities, this unique looking taxi is a zero pollution invention, using fuel cells for its energy source. As it does not utilise traditional, polluting combustion engine technologies, there is considerably more space within the body – ideal for those travelling with baggage or in groups of up to four.