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Interactive Guides to Help Tackle Product Development Barriers

A product design journey can be challenging, barriers are present throughout that can be hard to conquer. Approaching a team of experts can also seem daunting when explaining your ideas and transforming your passions into a product. We understand that these passions are personal and exposing them to a group of people can be one of the hardest hurdles to overcome. Our aim is to build our clients’ confidence up to a point where they feel like they understand key considerations at the start of their journey so that they can navigate their project and desired outcome assuredly. To enable this, we have created four interactive guides covering the topics we believe assemble the backbone of a successful design project.

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INSIDE ITERATE: Creating Innovative Concepts with Rhydian Dobbin

This “INSIDE ITERATE” thought comes from a conversation with Design Engineer Rhydian Dobbin and provides a window into how we develop concept designs and how in order to create outside-the-box concepts you, in fact, have to step away from the product itself.

Concept development can encompass a broad array of activities from market research to early technical validation. Nonetheless, from “where do you start?” at the beginning to “how do you know which direction to take” at the end, this phase can be perceived as a somewhat intangible. This stage of development is often thought of simply as the ideas stage, but as Rhydian explains, there’s a lot that can be considered and learnt within concept development about what is possible within a given design. There are numerous ways in the concept phase to both push the boundaries and explore the feasibility of an idea. This allows you to analyse options for a product and reach smart decisions through a blend of both blue sky thinking and technical consideration.

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Understanding the Circular Economy

Recently, other members of the design team and I have attended a series of online courses offered by TU Delft University in order to expand our knowledge of advanced design philosophies, and help us to deliver relevant and effective products across a wide range of market sectors. I chose to study ‘Circular Economy: An Introduction’. This article explores the meaning behind the circular economy and how we can interpret this principle to deliver integrated product for our Clients. Read more

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5 Questions to Consider When Selecting a Product Design Agency

When you decide to embark on a journey to develop a new product, it is important that you select the right product design agency as it may determine the success of your project. Product design is a broad field with some agencies specialising in specific sectors, such as consumer or medical product design. Whereas others may prefer to specialise in a particular aspect of the design process, such as the front-end where research and creative tools are more value than knowledge of engineering and manufacturing principles. Talking through the following questions with your preferred partner will help you determine whether they are right for you and your project. Read more

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Sustainable Design: How to Create an Environmentally Sound Product

In order to create an environmentally sound product, the principles of sustainable design should be considered throughout the lifetime of any new product development project. This blog articles explores some of the ways we implement sustainable thinking into our designs:
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Bad Packaging Design Shamed by Recycling Association

Pringles tubes and Lucozade Sport bottles are the “villains” of the recycling world, a trade body has said. The Recycling Association named them in a list of products that pose the biggest challenges for reuse. The greater the number of materials used in packaging, the harder it is for recycling machines to separate them. The distinctive Pringles packaging – with its metal base, plastic cap, metal tear-off lid, and foil-lined cardboard sleeve – was said to be a “nightmare”. Lucozade’s bottle is recyclable but it is enclosed in a sleeve made from a different kind of plastic. Read more

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The Importance of Human Centred Design

As humans, we come in to contact with thousands of products throughout our life-time. Some products have a bigger impact on the world than others; good products effectively overcome problems experienced by the user, whilst poorly designed products can hinder the user. So, how do Product Designers ensure that the user gains the maximum benefit from the products they develop? This is achieved by taking a human centred approach and creating a holistic experience for users to engage with.

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So, you didn’t think you were creative?

As a leading product design agency, we work closely with clients to solve their problems. Our clients are often experts within their field but lack the ability to view existing challenges from an alternative perspective. This isn’t because they lack creativity, but simply because we all get stuck in a rut from time to time, with the repetitive nature of everyday work-life keeping a tight hold on us and our ideas. Read more

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Our Top 5 Product Designers

Product design takes a rare set of skills: The balance of artistic insight with pragmatism, and a deft hand which blends form and function seamlessly together while conveying an overarching sense of meaning.

While the 20th century was truly the renaissance of product design, yielding numerous skilled designers, the following five famous product designers are our personal favourites for the way they have consistently embodied all of the aforementioned qualities whilst also displaying a striking capacity for innovation.

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Understanding the Benefits of Good Design

Good design does not just consider the aesthetics of a product, it considers every element of a product from its initial inception and manufacture, throughout its lifetime and right up to the point at which it is disposed or recycled. As Dieter Rams once said “good design is as little design as possible: less, but better; because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity”. The following examples highlight some of the benefits of good design practices. Read more

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