Brian Erickson is Manufacturing Manager and an experienced entrepreneur from Michigan. He has over 20 years of experience in product development. Having a manufacturing background helped Brian to come up with a solution that not only solves the cupcake tin storage problem, but the issues of washing cupcake tins as well. He developed the idea for individual cupcake tins, so that users can use and wash only the tins they need. His idea prevents water from getting everywhere while washing the tin, and then allows the tins to store neatly by stacking them.
The Quirky team felt that it was an innovative solution for the baker who wants to control the number cupcakes they want to make plus, it is great for space saving. It will be easy to market to people and they will readily understand it. There is great potential to what the Quirky design team feels they can do with it, such as making novelty shapes and holiday editions. The major benefits are it will be easy to ship and retails, and thanks to the inventor’s manufacturing background, it will be simple to manufacture and engineer.
Libra Johnson hails from Rockville, Maryland. She is a director at a Non-Profit organization that helps mentor individuals. She hopes this win will inspire the people she mentors to go after what they want in life, because if she can achieve her goal, so can they. Her winning invention idea is a hanger accessory that prevents evening gowns and long dresses from collecting dust, lint, and dirt from the bottom of the closet. Libra found no hanger accessory on the market that solves this problem well and the Quirky staff agreed.
The Quirky team felt that this was a simple solution to a common problem. They will look into ways of integrating this product into common hangers as well as Quirky designed hangers. The product could even help make packing and un-packing evening gowns and long dresses easier when traveling.
