Dear Friend,
For more than a decade, we at ID-ONE have enjoyed working with and meeting the product design, development and production needs of all of our clients. We are proud to say that our talented designers have produced a number of award-winning and trend setting designs and that ID-ONE has always been on the leading edge of product innovation.
It is therefore with heavy hearts that we write you this letter to inform you that ID-ONE has made the difficult decision to close our doors. We feel the need at this time to make some changes and focus more energy on our family and personal lives.
We would also like to introduce to you the team to whom we have chosen to pass on our files and clients. This team will be standing ready to meet all your future needs for product design and development.
Although ID-ONE as an entity will cease to exist, many of the talented designers and engineers who have made our success possible are still very much available and ready to meet your needs. The design firm Bomania LLC, owned by Tim Uys, whom some of you may recognize as our former Creative Director, has been successfully producing creative and ground breaking design for Fortune 50’s to small businesses and also individual inventors for over two years. His team includes some of the same designers whom have served you well to this point and will therefore be able to provide a smooth transition. We are completely confident that Bomania LLC will be able to meet all of your needs and know that you will find the quality of their service and care to be outstanding and their attention to detail superior.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this change may cause you, but know that you will find Tim and his team of designers will provide a smooth transition and will exceed your expectations in meeting your future product development needs. Tim Uys may be contacted at the following:
EMAIL: tim@designbomania.com
PHONE: 512.669.6089
WEBSITE: www.designbomania.com
We wish you well with your future endeavors.
Kind regards,
Mary J. Brush President ID-ONE Austin
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, April 26, 2010
Right Place, Right Time!
Right Place, Right Time!ID-ONE's News-Letter 1st Quarter 2010
Right Place, Right Time: Is it enough?
Post-it notes have become such a part of our office supplies that it seems like they’ve been forever, but in actuality they’re closer related to the computer in product cycle than the antiquated hole punch or stapler.
Why does ID-ONE care about Post-it notes you ask?
The Post-it note is an amazing story of American enterprise. It encompasses skeptical bosses, last-ditch marketing campaigns, and that old Hollywood crowd-pleaser, “inherently tacky elastomeric copolymer microspheres.”
BUT, that isn’t why we’re here. The Post-it note is also a great example of what companies need to bring a highly successful product to market.
What was needed!
Innovative Company Culture - While an intern at 3M, Post-it inventor Art Fry, “asked the engineers if I could try and develop new products, and they said, ‘Sure.’” “After I graduated, I thought all companies would let you pick up the ball and run with it like that.”
In most companies, innovators have to have their designs approved higher authorities, usually corporate executives; however, authority doesn’t always come with a knowledge of what should go to market, why, and in what form.
What didn’t work!
Product-focused companies frequently allow new product innovation to drive their process and marketing research is limited to ensuring that profitable market segment(s) exist. The rationale is that customers don’t know what options will be available in the future so we should not expect them to tell us what they will buy in the future. However, if Thomas Edison depended on marketing research he would have produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs.
How they found the right product!
Customer focus or market based focus - Survival in today’s market requires producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Products can be commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs. Success finally comes when a consumer pain point is found.
Moveable bookmarks upon which notes could be written!
A simple low-cost, highly adaptable innovation.
Why they still couldn’t sell it!
Re-positioning products can be key. Take for example a coffee maker, a typical Western-style home appliance now being marketed to China. Coffee is regarded as part of Westerners' life but using the same sales approach in China as in the West is unlikely to lead to sales. Chinese people tend to prefer tea to coffee, so marketing the coffee maker as a tea maker, takes full advantage of the immediate connection with Chinese families' daily life.
Despite increasing popularity within the walls of 3M, in test markets Post-its received a lackluster response. Success didn’t come until 3M correctly positioned the Post-it.
Success!
Viral Marketing – An epidemic had hit the hallways and offices of 3M. “I’d give a person a pack of one hundred sheets, and that person would end up introducing the product to twenty other people,” said Fry. “It was a geometric expansion.” Although viral marketing wouldn’t be introduced for another 20 years, almost overnight, co-workers were suddenly hitting up Fry for more samples.
3M decided to mimic this marketing technique in one large test market, “Those things really were like cocaine,” said Steve Collins, who worked the Post-it Notes account for more than a decade “You got them into somebody’s hands, and they couldn’t help but play around with them.”
_________________________
Part of the Post-it note’s appeal was its low cost, and high adaptability. It inspired innovation, was psychologically appealing and user friendly.
_________________________
_________________________
It All Started On A Napkin!
"It was the 1970s, New York was in a crisis. There was high crime, high unemployment, the city was dirty and tourists were not coming. The mayor was worried and decided to launch an ad campaign. By chance, the advertising company was talking with Milton Glaser, a famous graphic artist, who just wrote on a napkin, `I Heart NY', and it became such a powerful symbol.
But what I find as the most beautiful thing of all is that its not limited. People can use it for free all over the world. It's a great example of a symbol that is invented and released out to the world for free,”
Paola Antonelli, senior curator of the MoMA's department of architecture and design
_________________________
To Create a Truly Great Product,
You Need a Truly Great Problem!
_________________________
Post-it Notes (3M) –In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, with the help of Jesse Kops, a fellow scientist, accidentally developed a "low-tack", reusable pressure sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, but without much success. Finally Art Fry 3M launched the product in 1977, but it failed as consumers had not tried the product. A year later 3M issued free samples, and 90 percent of people who tried them said that they would buy the product. By 1980, the product was being sold nationwide in the US; a year later Post-its were launched in Canada and Europe. Now Post-it’s have been around 30 years and are considered an office necessity—pretty good for a product that is so relatively young!
Entrepreneur’s Corner
Art Fry’s father told him, ‘You can have great ideas, but if you can’t sell those ideas, you’re dead in the water,’”
To launch a successful product, entrepreneurs need to be equal parts, visionary, brilliant inventor, persuasive salesman, marketing guru, and engineer… or they need to be able to access these skills and abilities.
ID-ONE Tip: To increase your likelihood of success, we suggest taking advantage of the skills, experience and connections of product development companies like ID-ONE.
Art Fry’s father told him, ‘You can have great ideas, but if you can’t sell those ideas, you’re dead in the water,’”
To launch a successful product, entrepreneurs need to be equal parts, visionary, brilliant inventor, persuasive salesman, marketing guru, and engineer… or they need to be able to access these skills and abilities.
ID-ONE Tip: To increase your likelihood of success, we suggest taking advantage of the skills, experience and connections of product development companies like ID-ONE.
The Java Jacket Coffee Sleeve, that little cardboard cuff that Starbucks puts on your cup, was inspired, Antonelli tells us, when designer Jay Sorensen dropped a cup of coffee in his lap because it was too hot to hold any longer. Necessity, it seems, really is what it's cracked up to be.
“From a marketer’s perspective, Post-it Notes were pretty much the greatest invention since cigarettes. People used them at work, they used them at home, they used them everywhere—and they didn’t give you cancer. And because you could use them in so many different
settings, for so many different kinds of communication, it was hard not to develop some emotional bond with them. The fact that they were also a discernible brand only magnified this dynamic. You would probably never say to yourself, ‘Ah, scratch paper! Thanks for the memories!’ But with Post-it Notes, you just might. Because remember the time you used one to make up with your wife, or show off your genius to your boss, or play a practical joke on a friend?”
Twenty-Five Years of Post-it Notes by Greg Beato
Standing Out in the Crowd
Standing Out in the Crowd
ID-ONE's News-Letter
November 2009
Standing Out: Product Positioning
There are lots of ways to position an existing product to compete in today’s market. You can even create the perception of differentiation, with product positioning.
1. Capture the customer’s imagination.
If your product is virtually identical to other products in the market, try looking at it from a different perspective. Find a new attribute that can get customers excited and focus your positioning around it.
2. Reinvent the “customer experience.” Shake up the competitive landscape by rethinking the customer experience in new terms. Customers’ preferences change over time and as market conditions fluctuate. Take advantage of this.
3. Only target up, not down the totem pole. If you are not first in the market, publicly and to customers, always position your product relative to the market leader. It elevates your product in terms of customer perception. That said, train your sales force (and other internal groups) on features - benefits versus all competitors.
4. Infrastructure (or ecosystem) as a competitive barrier. This is an important and often ignored aspect of product planning and positioning. Many products and services, especially in technology, require related companies and industries to support them in some way. If you get enough support for your product, it can be an extraordinarily effective competitive barrier that you can use in positioning.
5. Market share gains are expensive. There’s simply no way around this. Market share comes at a heavy cost. Your product planning and positioning must reflect that or your P&L will suffer and you’ll end up back at the drawing board. The cost is a function of how entrenched the leaders are and the perceived “switching cost” for customers.
Adapted from Destroy the Competition With Positioning Strategy By Steve Tobak at BNET.com
What is Good Design?
1. It does something useful
Especially if it does something that hasn’t been done before.
2. Fulfilling its function efficiently
Even better in a way that is entertaining, fun.
3. Features and function are important, but so are looks
There’s nothing wrong with eye candy, but people’s view of what looks good is always changing and sometimes even conflicting. Now the definition of beautiful is often multifaceted, challenging or thought provoking.
4. Innovation appeals.
Is new better than old? It appears that new will always be seductive.
5. User interface.
Is it easy to operate? Being able to easily figure out how it works shapes the experience.
6. Environmentally Conscious
Good design must be ethically, socially and environmentally responsible. Sometimes this trumps aesthetically pleasing design.
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
The Information Age
We have come to believe that all we need do is to collect more and more information, and the way forward will be clear. There are times when information alone does create value. More often, it is the thinking applied to the information that creates value.
Research shows that people who go to the cinema are between 15 and 25 years of age. So the studios make films to fit the tastes of this age bracket. Suddenly a different movie appears: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It tops the box office in the US. Why? Because there is a huge audience outside the 15-25 group who do not go to the movies because none of the films interest them.
This is but one example of how information without thinking can be highly dangerous. Yet we persist in putting all our effort into information gathering and virtually no effort into thinking. Thinking is no substitute for information. Only rarely is information a substitute for thinking. The purpose of design is to take all the information and factors and then design value. Value needs to be designed, unless you just want to copy someone else's design.
from Design and judgment: Why we need to change our emphasis from judgment to design By Edward de Bono
Good design is about creating perceived value!
No More Black Boxes!
No, we’re not talking about airplanes!
Wayne Brush, one of the principals here at ID-ONE, once worked at a company that makes testing devices.** He often relates the story of a time when the marketing department took their product to a trade show. Their product was superior in almost every way, save one. While their product worked better and had more features than any of the others in the market place, it didn’t sell well. The reason? It was a black box. The majority of the products at the show, in the professional opinion of the marketing guys, “looked cool.”
I wish I could say that the company got smart and invested in some product design, but they didn’t.
**If you’re reading this newsletter (you know who you are!) - it’s not too late! Heck, we’ll even offer you a discount.
Entrepreneur’s Corner
Myth: I looked everywhere and didn’t see anything like it, so it must not already exist.
Smart patent holders have developed as broad a patent as possible to prevent others from creating a product that is similar to theirs and possibly stealing the market. These variations may never be developed and made into a product, but are nonetheless valid. It is necessary to do a thorough patent search to be assured the product does not already exist. These time-consuming patent searches can be done through a patent attorney (expensive!), a product development firm (less expensive), or the entrepreneur can do the search themselves through somewhere like Google Patents..
Tip: When searching somewhere like Google Patents, be sure to avoid using search terms that describe your concept too specifically. You might be surprised at how well this information is tracked and your IP (intellectual property) could be stolen before you even get a chance to develop it.
ID-ONE's November Wink at Product Development
Snuggie –In late 2008 and early 2009 the "Snuggie" brand of sleeved blankets became a pop culture phenomenon, sometimes described humorously as a "cult". The phenomenon resulted in sales of the Snuggie and its rivals that far exceeded their distributors' expectations: more than 4 million Snuggies and 1 million Slankets as of February, 2009. The phenomenon has even inspired similarly-marketed knock-off products.
ID-ONE's News-Letter
November 2009
Standing Out: Product Positioning
There are lots of ways to position an existing product to compete in today’s market. You can even create the perception of differentiation, with product positioning.
1. Capture the customer’s imagination.
If your product is virtually identical to other products in the market, try looking at it from a different perspective. Find a new attribute that can get customers excited and focus your positioning around it.
2. Reinvent the “customer experience.” Shake up the competitive landscape by rethinking the customer experience in new terms. Customers’ preferences change over time and as market conditions fluctuate. Take advantage of this.
3. Only target up, not down the totem pole. If you are not first in the market, publicly and to customers, always position your product relative to the market leader. It elevates your product in terms of customer perception. That said, train your sales force (and other internal groups) on features - benefits versus all competitors.
4. Infrastructure (or ecosystem) as a competitive barrier. This is an important and often ignored aspect of product planning and positioning. Many products and services, especially in technology, require related companies and industries to support them in some way. If you get enough support for your product, it can be an extraordinarily effective competitive barrier that you can use in positioning.
5. Market share gains are expensive. There’s simply no way around this. Market share comes at a heavy cost. Your product planning and positioning must reflect that or your P&L will suffer and you’ll end up back at the drawing board. The cost is a function of how entrenched the leaders are and the perceived “switching cost” for customers.
Adapted from Destroy the Competition With Positioning Strategy By Steve Tobak at BNET.com
----------------------------------------------------
What is Good Design?
1. It does something useful
Especially if it does something that hasn’t been done before.
2. Fulfilling its function efficiently
Even better in a way that is entertaining, fun.
3. Features and function are important, but so are looks
There’s nothing wrong with eye candy, but people’s view of what looks good is always changing and sometimes even conflicting. Now the definition of beautiful is often multifaceted, challenging or thought provoking.
4. Innovation appeals.
Is new better than old? It appears that new will always be seductive.
5. User interface.
Is it easy to operate? Being able to easily figure out how it works shapes the experience.
6. Environmentally Conscious
Good design must be ethically, socially and environmentally responsible. Sometimes this trumps aesthetically pleasing design.
----------------------------------------------------
In "Good design" these qualities and characteristics that represent and deliver "goodness" would be obvious, consistent and established. The more often designers work this way, the more confidence people will have in the things they design improving honest and useful communications between designer and end user.
----------------------------------------------------
The Information Age
We have come to believe that all we need do is to collect more and more information, and the way forward will be clear. There are times when information alone does create value. More often, it is the thinking applied to the information that creates value.
Research shows that people who go to the cinema are between 15 and 25 years of age. So the studios make films to fit the tastes of this age bracket. Suddenly a different movie appears: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It tops the box office in the US. Why? Because there is a huge audience outside the 15-25 group who do not go to the movies because none of the films interest them.
This is but one example of how information without thinking can be highly dangerous. Yet we persist in putting all our effort into information gathering and virtually no effort into thinking. Thinking is no substitute for information. Only rarely is information a substitute for thinking. The purpose of design is to take all the information and factors and then design value. Value needs to be designed, unless you just want to copy someone else's design.
from Design and judgment: Why we need to change our emphasis from judgment to design By Edward de Bono
----------------------------------------------------
Good design is about creating perceived value!
----------------------------------------------------
No More Black Boxes!
No, we’re not talking about airplanes!
Wayne Brush, one of the principals here at ID-ONE, once worked at a company that makes testing devices.** He often relates the story of a time when the marketing department took their product to a trade show. Their product was superior in almost every way, save one. While their product worked better and had more features than any of the others in the market place, it didn’t sell well. The reason? It was a black box. The majority of the products at the show, in the professional opinion of the marketing guys, “looked cool.”
I wish I could say that the company got smart and invested in some product design, but they didn’t.
**If you’re reading this newsletter (you know who you are!) - it’s not too late! Heck, we’ll even offer you a discount.
Entrepreneur’s Corner
Myth: I looked everywhere and didn’t see anything like it, so it must not already exist.
Smart patent holders have developed as broad a patent as possible to prevent others from creating a product that is similar to theirs and possibly stealing the market. These variations may never be developed and made into a product, but are nonetheless valid. It is necessary to do a thorough patent search to be assured the product does not already exist. These time-consuming patent searches can be done through a patent attorney (expensive!), a product development firm (less expensive), or the entrepreneur can do the search themselves through somewhere like Google Patents..
Tip: When searching somewhere like Google Patents, be sure to avoid using search terms that describe your concept too specifically. You might be surprised at how well this information is tracked and your IP (intellectual property) could be stolen before you even get a chance to develop it.
ID-ONE's November Wink at Product Development
Snuggie –In late 2008 and early 2009 the "Snuggie" brand of sleeved blankets became a pop culture phenomenon, sometimes described humorously as a "cult". The phenomenon resulted in sales of the Snuggie and its rivals that far exceeded their distributors' expectations: more than 4 million Snuggies and 1 million Slankets as of February, 2009. The phenomenon has even inspired similarly-marketed knock-off products.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thriving in a Recession
What consumers are buying!
This global recession has led to significant changes in what consumers are buying. We are seeing far less conspicuous consumption and much more emphasis on socially responsible behavior.
Health and wellness are being emphasized as the answer to a stressful lifestyle.
Slower retail sales growth and changing preferences only add to the urgency to create products that excite and delight consumers.
BlueAvocado gro-pak™, designed by ID-ONE, is a stylish sustainable grocery system that folds up and fits into the pak bag.
Growing during Recessions
1. Grab this Opportunity
While other companies are hunkered down focusing on survival, recessions offer invaluable chances to rethink your business strategies, solidify and deepen relationships with your customers, strengthen talent pools, and stretch into new markets. It takes courage and lots of insight about which areas of your company are positioned to thrive and which departments could benefit from some fat trimming. It’s also essential to keep a steady focus on the long term, since additional spending today may create short-term pain, such as a hit to earnings. But in the long run, if you focus on the right things, it will be worth it.
2. Keep an eye on the Competition
As your competitors slash budgets and retrench, they leave the market wide open. This may be an ideal time to boost spending on marketing to take advantage of lower advertising rates and reduced clutter in the marketplace as other players retreat.
3. Prepare for the Rain
There’s a story that begins with two men praying for rain. Both men are faithful and believe it will rain, but only one actually prepares his fields for it. Focus on research and development, because having new products in the pipeline that will be ready to go when economic growth resumes is a sure-fire way to boost sales. “In a period of economic turbulence, the question is not whether to innovate. The question is how to innovate,” says Andrew Razeghi, a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
4. Prune Wisely
Positive customer experiences must be maintained to the greatest extent possible. It’s the little things that add perceived value and positive first impressions that will determine if a customer comes back. If you do need to cut back, start by looking at behind the scene areas such as manufacturing, management, general and administrative expenses, and product lines that are ancillary to your core business.
5. Transparency builds Loyalty
Whether or not you use this opportunity to recruit new talent, it’s important to let existing employees know that they are valued. Talk openly in meetings about both the opportunities and challenges the company faces, and soliciting the support and advice of the employees. Employees who not only hold onto their jobs in a recession, but feel like they had a hand in bringing the company through hard times, are going to feel an enormous sense of loyalty in the long run.
Innovation is key!
"Innovation requires substantial long-term investments, which are difficult to make when a company is struggling with its very existence. It also requires knowing consumers inside out,"
According to the Financial Times, total R&D expenditures are declining.
R&D staffing at many companies has been either pared back or assigned other tasks that impair these individuals’ ability to pursue truly innovative product development. The increased scrutiny and downsizing of internal R&D budgets is likely a major reason why the innovation imperative has moved beyond the walls of the corporate headquarters.
Externally sourced innovation can not only be less expensive for the company, it can also provide greater financial rewards.
Where the best ideas come from
“Open businesses are increasingly trading ideas with their competitors, customers, and other outsiders, showing a mutual receptivity to new ways of thinking and multiplying innovation and benefits for all participants with unprecedented speed. Companies that know how to encourage the bubbling up of ideas, internally or from an outside community of experts, advisors, or opinionated consumers, will expand their base of imaginative assets.”
– Innovation Nation. John Kao
Successful companies will likely be those with innovation designed by the consumer themselves. Listening to the customers wants and needs creates products that not only captures the consumer’s imagination, provides entertaining brand experiences, or offers solutions to previously unmet needs, but it also leads to the creation of products that the consumers perceive as worthy of their price.
ID-ONE's August wink at Product Development
Rubix cube –Ernő Rubik invented the Cube in the spring of 1974 in his home town of Budapest, Hungary. He wanted a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry and ended up creating the world’s best selling toy. More than 300 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide. At the height of the Rubik’s craze in the mid-1980s, it was estimated that one-fifth of the world’s population had played the Cube.
This global recession has led to significant changes in what consumers are buying. We are seeing far less conspicuous consumption and much more emphasis on socially responsible behavior.
Health and wellness are being emphasized as the answer to a stressful lifestyle.
Slower retail sales growth and changing preferences only add to the urgency to create products that excite and delight consumers.
BlueAvocado gro-pak™, designed by ID-ONE, is a stylish sustainable grocery system that folds up and fits into the pak bag.
Growing during Recessions
1. Grab this Opportunity
While other companies are hunkered down focusing on survival, recessions offer invaluable chances to rethink your business strategies, solidify and deepen relationships with your customers, strengthen talent pools, and stretch into new markets. It takes courage and lots of insight about which areas of your company are positioned to thrive and which departments could benefit from some fat trimming. It’s also essential to keep a steady focus on the long term, since additional spending today may create short-term pain, such as a hit to earnings. But in the long run, if you focus on the right things, it will be worth it.
2. Keep an eye on the Competition
As your competitors slash budgets and retrench, they leave the market wide open. This may be an ideal time to boost spending on marketing to take advantage of lower advertising rates and reduced clutter in the marketplace as other players retreat.
3. Prepare for the Rain
There’s a story that begins with two men praying for rain. Both men are faithful and believe it will rain, but only one actually prepares his fields for it. Focus on research and development, because having new products in the pipeline that will be ready to go when economic growth resumes is a sure-fire way to boost sales. “In a period of economic turbulence, the question is not whether to innovate. The question is how to innovate,” says Andrew Razeghi, a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
4. Prune Wisely
Positive customer experiences must be maintained to the greatest extent possible. It’s the little things that add perceived value and positive first impressions that will determine if a customer comes back. If you do need to cut back, start by looking at behind the scene areas such as manufacturing, management, general and administrative expenses, and product lines that are ancillary to your core business.
5. Transparency builds Loyalty
Whether or not you use this opportunity to recruit new talent, it’s important to let existing employees know that they are valued. Talk openly in meetings about both the opportunities and challenges the company faces, and soliciting the support and advice of the employees. Employees who not only hold onto their jobs in a recession, but feel like they had a hand in bringing the company through hard times, are going to feel an enormous sense of loyalty in the long run.
Innovation is key!
"Innovation requires substantial long-term investments, which are difficult to make when a company is struggling with its very existence. It also requires knowing consumers inside out,"
According to the Financial Times, total R&D expenditures are declining.
R&D staffing at many companies has been either pared back or assigned other tasks that impair these individuals’ ability to pursue truly innovative product development. The increased scrutiny and downsizing of internal R&D budgets is likely a major reason why the innovation imperative has moved beyond the walls of the corporate headquarters.
Externally sourced innovation can not only be less expensive for the company, it can also provide greater financial rewards.
Where the best ideas come from
“Open businesses are increasingly trading ideas with their competitors, customers, and other outsiders, showing a mutual receptivity to new ways of thinking and multiplying innovation and benefits for all participants with unprecedented speed. Companies that know how to encourage the bubbling up of ideas, internally or from an outside community of experts, advisors, or opinionated consumers, will expand their base of imaginative assets.”
– Innovation Nation. John Kao
Successful companies will likely be those with innovation designed by the consumer themselves. Listening to the customers wants and needs creates products that not only captures the consumer’s imagination, provides entertaining brand experiences, or offers solutions to previously unmet needs, but it also leads to the creation of products that the consumers perceive as worthy of their price.
ID-ONE's August wink at Product Development
Rubix cube –Ernő Rubik invented the Cube in the spring of 1974 in his home town of Budapest, Hungary. He wanted a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry and ended up creating the world’s best selling toy. More than 300 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide. At the height of the Rubik’s craze in the mid-1980s, it was estimated that one-fifth of the world’s population had played the Cube.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Becoming an Industrial Designer
From: CAROL D
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 11:45 AM
To: idoneinfo@ID-ONE.net
Subject: Questions from a Mom
Dear Mary,
First, let me say that I am not selling anything and not asking for anything, except a little advice. I just saw a response you wrote in 2008 in response to an eHow article about what it takes to become an Industrial Designer. When my son told me he wanted to major in Industrial Design, I was worried. In spite of the competitiveness
of getting accepted into ____________ State University's Design School, he got in, and the Dean said that he was just the kind of young person that the school wanted: he's very creative, talented, super math skills, and has a wonderful, happy, outgoing personality. I'll add that he's 'kind' and 'cool.'
He has always had A D D (without the hyperactivity). I think the ADD is what accounts for his wonderful creativity and energetic spirit. Anyway, this also means that he is not destined to sit behind a desk all day reading memos for a living.
He has a year left of school now -
Here's my first question: Are there jobs available for new graduates in the ID field?
I know little about it technically. He is so excited about everything he does, like a little kid - - (I get to hear all about whatever project or model I'm funding;-) and I'm afraid that all this enthusiasm may lead to big disappointment when he graduates.
Do you think he should get his Masters (which he wants)before he
gets some work experience?
He has not had any internships. He has spent his summers working at YMCA camps because he loves the underprivileged kids that he works with and claims that they need him because he treats them with respect and its important for them to have that - - some don't get it anywhere else. He finally gave this up and this summer will work at the _________ Design Camp.
I guess when I saw that you are a Mom AND head of your own ID firm, I felt
a Mom cyber-connection and hoped you wouldn't mind my questions. Thanks for 'listening' to me. You've got a cool website, and I loved the video. Congratulations on all of your awards and accomplishments.Did your Mom ever worry about you??? ;-)
Many blessings to you...
Carol D
Hi Carol,
While I am not an industrial designer, I did discuss your questions with our Creative Director (who IS an industrial designer). Our suggestion is to get an internship or a job in the field (or as close to it as he can get), before he goes on to get his Masters. I can’t tell you how many of my friends finished their degrees and got a job in their field, only to discover that they didn’t like the work. Graduating without any experience is going to make it more difficult to get a job as well.
As to whether or not he can get a job right out of school, normally I’d say yes. Many agencies like to hire inexperienced, but creative, staff, because they are cheap to employ and can be trained. A big concern though is the current economy. Right now I could hire any number of very experienced designers for little more than I would pay a junior designer, there’s just not a lot of work out there. Even consultancies like ours are cutting back because our clients are holding off on new product development. Still, we are probably doing better than most because we have the ability to work with a wide variety of clients, and outsourcing is less expensive for those clients still working on new products.
Regarding the ADD, my suggestion is to get a job with a consultancy like ours versus working with a big company. Designing one product all day long gets very tiring (whether it’s golf clubs, computers, or bolts). Even our guys try to break up big projects with other smaller ones.
Working for a consultancy does require many skills though, another reason to get a wide variety of work experience.
Multi-tasking – our guys usually work on 3-4 different projects a day. Attention to detail and some perfectionism is required, but you can’t spend all day focusing on one tiny detail or the firm does not make money.
Time Management – we often bill by the hour, and even if we don’t, our guys still have a set amount of time to work on each part of a project. A typical day for one designer might include: 2 hours of conceptual sketching for Product A, 1.5 hrs of materials research on Product B, 3.5 hours of computer modeling (CAD work) on Product C, 45 minute concept review of all designers sketches of Product A, 1.5 hours of sketch clean up and arrangement of chosen sketches into presentation format for client. And yes, I’m aware that that is more than 8 hours. A consultant frequently works more than 8 hour days, although we here at ID-ONE try to provide comp time and flex time to offset this.
Ability to take criticism- this job necessitates a lot of rejection. Not every idea is chosen for presentation to the client, and in the end, there can be only one concept chosen. Sometimes your idea is the best, but it is given to another designer to flesh out. Often the creative director will challenge you to become faster and more efficient by giving you difficult deadlines and tasks.
Computer skills- typing, spelling, presentation arrangement, the ability to quickly learn new programs – all very important. We have clients who only use Pro-E, or only use Solidworks. We prefer to use Rhino with V-ray, but not every new hire is familiar with these specific programs. A new hire would have to have some experience with CAD programs, and be interested in learning more.
Mechanical Engineering/Manufacturing – we hire mechanical engineers, but it is essential that our designers are able to communicate with those engineers. Also, manufacturing must be kept in mind at all times when designing a product. For example, we would never draw a picture of a flying pig, without knowing exactly how to make it fly. Knowing the strength capabilities of different plastics and whether or not they would need supportive ribs, the limits of curving metals, is silicone too expensive for this project?, would metal or wood work better in this large project?, can a piece the size of a desk be blow molded or does it need to be vacuum molded? (I have no idea actually, but the designers do, and if they don’t, they consult the mechanical engineers).
People skills – the ability to sell yourself and your ideas is essential for someone who wants to move up in a company or eventually do freelance work. The ability to work with both clients and coworkers (especially difficult ones) is a highly marketable skill.
Sounds like you have a son to be proud of! I hate to discourage him from working with the YMCA camps because he’s right, those kids need lots of support. My two teenagers (adopted last year) have special needs and I know that over the years they have gotten a lot from the people that “get them” and paid attention to them. If that is where his heart is though, he will find ways to continue to help even if it’s not at the camps. There are many ways to help under privileged kids that don’t require taking the Summer off. Our Creative Director takes frequent breaks to build houses or do mission work in other countries. My husband and I adopted children from the foster care system. Many of our clients support non-profit agencies with a portion of the proceeds from their products. A local industrial design organization auctions off donated art (created by industrial designers) to benefit a children’s charity. Big Brother programs allow you to work with kids on your own schedule (evenings and weekends). Just to name a few.
"Did your Mom ever worry about you??? ;-)"
LOL! My mom STILL worries about me!
Sounds like you’re a great Mom! Good luck to your son. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Warmest regards,
Mary
Mary J. Brush President ID-ONE Austin
607 W 14th St Austin, TX 78701
T 512.473.0026 F 512.473.0089
www.id-one.net
Check our our new blog! http://www.id-one.blogspot.com/
Our goal is to work intimately with our clients to develop strategic plans that enhance customer experiences, through innovative products and brand reinforcement.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
April Newsletter | It All Started On a Napkin
When was the last time you had a great idea outside the office? 
One evening over dinner, Rollin King drew three dots on a napkin, making a simple triangle. Each dot represented a major airport in Texas, illustrating the business model for what was to become Southwest Airlines. 
The award-winning design for the Audi TT literally started as a Freeman Thomas sketch on a cocktail napkin. He claims that sketching helps him to think, experiment and explain, focusing on the shape and not the details. 
In 1876, one of the greatest inventions of our time was born when a man jotted down a very rough sketch on a napkin. This was the conception of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.Alexander Graham Bell's "Telephone" Courtesy of the Library of Congress
The Most Absorbent Ideas
Costing as little as .018 cents each, napkins are the ideal place to express the next million dollar idea. But why are they so effective? First of all, there's always one around! Most importantly, limited space requires concise and simple visual solutions that communicate more complex concepts. This is often very effective when demonstrating the feasibility of a business or product when meeting with a friend or pitching to a potential investor.Spontaneity also plays a role in the napkin's history for spawning great ideas. When sitting down to a relaxed environment with dinner and drinks, inspiring conversations can lead to innovations. Thinking outside of the box often finds itself within the borders of a simple napkin. Bring Your Napkin to the Table:
Taking Your Product Idea to Market
Our current economic adventure calls for innovative ideas that enhance the lives of others, but these ideas need development to be realized into great products. Ensuring a good return on your investment requires an understanding of the necessary steps to producing a successful product.
ID-ONE has recently published a white paper on the complete product development life cycle from idea to market, offering inside knowledge on the necessary steps, including some that are often overlooked, for product success. To view the complete article, click here.
Quotes to design by:
“The absence of design is a hazardous kind of design. Not to design is to suffer
the costly consequences of design by default.”- From the ten principles of Design Necessity of the 1st Federal Design Assembly, 1973
Got a Great Idea? Consider the 3 Ables
Let's face it, not all ideas are good ones and they can't all be the very best. Will your idea be the next “must have?” With a little forethought anything is possible!
Top money making ideas usually have three things in common. Check your product idea against the following "able" factors:
Let's face it, not all ideas are good ones and they can't all be the very best. Will your idea be the next “must have?” With a little forethought anything is possible!
Top money making ideas usually have three things in common. Check your product idea against the following "able" factors:
Profit-able Is there money to be made?
- Taking into account manufacturing costs and the demand in the market place, is the price of the product enough to cover costs and profit? Treat profit as a fixed cost.
Protect-able Is your idea unique and is it something that you can call your own?
- Securing a claim to your IP (intellectual property) adds more value to your product. Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets protect the function of your product as well as the form and associated artwork.
Scale-able Scalability is your product's potential to economically grow your business model when given additional resources.
- To scale vertically, a product expands the business by growing into additional markets and adding channels of distribution. Scaling horizontally involves the growth of the business model and profits through the development of additional products and services based on the original product.
For a silly video about Napkins that we just thought was funny. Click here.
ID-ONE's "Wink" to Product DesignThe Slinky was "discovered" in 1943 by a naval engineer, Richard James, when a spring fell to the ground while developing a meter to monitor the horsepower on battleships. After two years of perfecting the design, the Slinky was born and has now sold over a quarter billion worldwide.
ID-ONE presents:
Sponsor: The Austin Inventors and Entrepreneur's Association (AIEA) When: April 1, 2009
Recent Events
4/3 - 4/4
Thinking Creatively Design Conference An Out of the Box Event Union, NJ
4/7
Tailgate Tech Happy Hour Austin Technology Council Austin, TX
4/14
Technology for a Smarter PlanetAustin Women in Technology Austin, TX
4/25
SEEing Green ConferenceMoving Beyond the Green Los Angeles, CA
5/6
Texchans CIO Panel ForumTechnology Executives Network Austin, TX
Check back with us for future events on our Facebook page and on our website:
http://www.id-one.com
Industrial Design> Product Development> Graphic Design> Consumer Electronics Electrical Engineering> Mechanical Engineering> Patent Drawings> and more..
Presenting - Understanding Industrial Design Services
Hope we saw you there!!!
ID-ONE presented "Understanding Industrial Design Services"
Sponsored by The Austin Inventors & Entrepreneur's Association (AIEA) on April 1st.
We had a great turn out and ended up answering questions at Cool River until the wee hours of the morning.
We love helping entrepreneurs break into product development and get their inventions to market, and find that providing education on the process to "newbies" to be highly fulfilling.
If you have any questions about whether or not your idea is a good one, what to do next, how to get investors, or how to make it marketable - Please contact our business development director, Mindy League, at (512)473-0026 or idoneinfo@id-one.net and she'll set up a meeting or conference to discuss your needs.
ID-ONE
T 512.473.0026 F 512.473.0089
www.id-one.net
Our goal is to work intimately with our clients to develop strategic plans that enhance customer experiences, through innovative products and brand reinforcement.
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