Posts tagged with ‘prototype’

Quirky is awesome!

I recently discovered Quirky, this which is basically crowsourcing for your product ideas. You submit an idea (which will cost you $99, so it keeps out the riff-raff), and every week through voting etc. they choose a winner to make its way into production. Not only is this awesome because I get lots of ideas for things to make, it’s also great because I get the opportunity to express my opinion about things that are wrong with products before they even make it to market.

Each product gathers “influencers” through its dev cycle, and these influencers are compensated based on their contributions. Funny enough, I found the site and was thinking of submitting that tea cup concept I came up with ages ago. Only to discover moments after I signed up, that the same idea was just enterting the production phase. Not that I’m annoyed, whatever, it was a marginally good idea. I needed a new idea to make feel better about losing out on that one though, so I came up with one. I’m doing research now, but plan on submitting it shortly (and then I’ll share!).

Bakery Nouveau came to the table with a complaint. Their customers would leave with a cake in a standard cake box (you know, those plain square ones). But because the box was so awkward to carry, they’d inevitably tuck it under an arm to open doors and carry purses… Then when they’d get home, some of them were astounded to find their cake had slid, crashing into the side of the box and losing its beauty. Shock!Though originally tasked to just throw a sticker on a standard box, after some consideration, I decided I could solve this problem. So I was inspired to design the prototype shown here. There are 2 primary design features that make it superior to existing box designs 1. The handle. You can carry it and still have one free hand. 2. It folds completely flat, so when you get the cake home, you don’t have any issue getting to the treats inside. (Added bonus, they stack flat!)These boxes were designed in several aspect ratios, including one with the proportions of a lunch box that is capable of holding either a sandwich and chips, or 2 pastries. And yes, they are sturdy! I walked around downtown Seattle with a 12” cake and no problem at all. The jury is still out on production, because the client is only looking at a small run, production costs are higher than they were looking to spend. One possibility I’ve been considering is creating a series with “generic” graphics and selling the boxes on their own. But it depends on whether or not there is interest.

Bakery Nouveau came to the table with a complaint. Their customers would leave with a cake in a standard cake box (you know, those plain square ones). But because the box was so awkward to carry, they’d inevitably tuck it under an arm to open doors and carry purses… Then when they’d get home, some of them were astounded to find their cake had slid, crashing into the side of the box and losing its beauty. Shock!

Though originally tasked to just throw a sticker on a standard box, after some consideration, I decided I could solve this problem. So I was inspired to design the prototype shown here. There are 2 primary design features that make it superior to existing box designs 1. The handle. You can carry it and still have one free hand. 2. It folds completely flat, so when you get the cake home, you don’t have any issue getting to the treats inside. (Added bonus, they stack flat!)

These boxes were designed in several aspect ratios, including one with the proportions of a lunch box that is capable of holding either a sandwich and chips, or 2 pastries. And yes, they are sturdy! I walked around downtown Seattle with a 12” cake and no problem at all.

The jury is still out on production, because the client is only looking at a small run, production costs are higher than they were looking to spend. One possibility I’ve been considering is creating a series with “generic” graphics and selling the boxes on their own. But it depends on whether or not there is interest.

Sometimes I find tea more annoying than calming. The string of a tea bag gets in the way. Sure, you can tie it around the handle, but later you’re forced to untie it before putting it in the dishwasher. Frustrating. The tCup allows you to easily slide the string off the handle after use, and the slot keeps the string from hitting your lips. (Quick and dirty mockups via Sketchup)