Totem is moving into production! Our retailers are confident in the product. Take a look at it in the Upcoming Section and help us determine the price, by playing the Pricing Game.
Congratulations to Seung Jun Jeong and all of the 632 community members that helped influence the product!
Every Wed at noon ET, QDS blows a few product ideas wide open to kick off the design process. You can take part in that. Here’s how:
1. Topics will be posted on Mon before the Wed brainstorm sesh. In your wildest dreams, what would be the perfect way to make that product? What should it do, and what problems should it prevent? It’s a brainstorm, so anything goes.
2. Visit the Quirky Brainstorm Channel at noon ET on Wed. Log in on Ustream and throw ideas at us in the live chat.
3. Can’t join the live brainstorm? Be sure to add your comments here before Wed at noon, and we’ll have them in mind.
Got all that? Great. This week’s topics are:
From their separate lives and different inventive backgrounds all across the country, assemble an unlikely team of an entrepreneur from California, a professor from Missouri, a nanny from Massachusetts and a firefighter from Florida. They are Sonia Covarrubias-Garcia, Matthew Murrie, Barbra Winston, and Justin Turnbo who came together to right that which is wrong with current squeegees and to better the world with their development of the perfect window cleaner. With their powers combined, they are TeamLab.
The Quirky team was intrigued by their concept of an all-in-one window cleaner. The idea incorporates a squeegee that works in all directions with a swiveling head and expanding arm to clean those hard to reach and oddly shaped windows. It can also be filled with cleaning fluid so that the user can spray high places that are not normally reachable, and to avoid the need of carrying around a separate spray bottle. Quirky felt that the idea is interesting and unique to the market with great wow factor potential as long as the tool reduces the overall work flow. We do not want to make just an all-in-one tool with unnecessary functions. This cleaner is a great solution to a common problem and could fit right in with our current cleaning line.
Get into some hardcore pour! Duo is an ergonomic pitcher that makes it painless to pass beverages around the dinner table. The twin spouts can be held like handles. Hand Duo off to a neighbor without losing your grip and risking any spills. A recess in the bottom of the pitcher provides a handhold so you can pour to the last drop.
Philip Murphy knew how frequently pitchers were spilled and broken in the restaurant industry. To fix this once and for all, he dreamed up a container with dual spouts and handles. Enter Quirky’s designers and a community of +109 influencers. Check out Duo in the Upcoming section now!
Features:
-Two spouts/handles large enough to accept ice cubes
-Recessed bottom for pouring
-Hand washable
Materials:
-Clear handmade glass with thick, cut & polished rims
Dimensions:
-11”w x 11”l x 5”d
Volume – 2 liters or 67 fl oz
Price, qty and features subject to change during production process.
Your credit card will not be charged when a commitment is placed.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Cyber Monday brings a new quirky shop, as well as some exciting changes to our pre-sale process.
We’re excited about the upgrades and look forward to your feedback!
In our constant effort to keep quirky’s T&C’s up to date, here’s the changes that end up this morning.
A full redlined document of the changes can be found here (.doc).
1) removal of presale threshold concept - see previous post on new site changes.
2) introduction of direct-response marketing based sales as an additional basis for 10% royalty to users- Quirky plans to start testing direct response marketing (infomercials, etc)- Due to the expense associated with this, we think it is fair to consider sales associated with this among the 10% (retail royalty) vs the 30% (website royalty).
3) an IP auction is no longer mandatory if an idea submitter does not exercise the option to acquire the IP in an accepted product idea that is not chosen for manufacturing within 9 months. instead, quirky continues to retain control over the IP. - Changed in conjunction with requests from users.. Very inventor friendly, you can take the idea back at any time after 9 months, but we will not eliminate it from our site (giving it a chance to be redesigned, licensed, etc)
4) inclusion of the following guidelines users must follow when promoting quirky and quirky products: - added by request of users, helps protect the quirky brand / products- while providing a framework for how you can positively promote your products. We’ll have a more comprisehensive (and less legalese) guide to marketing quirky shortly.
5) if a user acquires influence associated with a product, and purchases that product at quirky.com, the user cannot resell that product for less than the price offered at quirky.com at the time of resale. - this resale condition now depends upon acquisition of influence in any manner instead of purchase of the product during presale, further protecting quirky’s retail channel growth
6) clean up of some typos
Grip it and rip it! Every cheesemonger’s new secret weapon is Grip Grater. And it’s shipping right now.
Inventor and designer Jim Young shared a little Grip Grater backstory with us. Read on for the ‘deets.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m an independent industrial designer living outside Seattle. I’ve been married eighteen years to my high school sweetheart and I have three adventurous boys. I left the nine-to-five world three years ago to start my own design consulting company and work on my own products. Design is my passion, livelihood, and hobby; but family comes first. When I’m not working on projects you’ll catch me volunteering in my community or out biking, hiking, or camping in the great outdoors.
2. When did you join Quirky?
I joined Quirky in March of 2010.
3. How did you find out about us?
I saw PowerCurl in a design magazine and was curious who “Quirky” was as a company. It was the TapeStamp ID Phase that sucked me in permanently.
4. When and how did you think up the idea for this product?
As part of my daily routine I would check into the latest brief at Quirky and spend a few hours ideating. Once I saw “kitchen brief” I knew I wanted to do a new grater. Our box grater gets used a lot, but it’s a pain to clean. So my solution really started with “how can we make a box grater easier to clean?”
5. Had you tried to make this thing on your own already?
I thought about doing this product myself, but ultimately I thought Quirky would do a quicker and better job getting it global exposure and distribution.
6. What do you think of the final product?
I think Gaz and team did a great job. I was lucky enough to see the T1 samples when I visited New York a few months back. Any product with a hand grip interface requires great care. The solution balances comfort, stability, and compactness. The grater blades snap in perfectly and I was thrilled to learn Quirky is offering four grater blades now.
7. In your opinion, what is the most innovative product ever invented?
Wow. I’m going to go with the pencil. That small stick of graphite has brought to life so many other innovations.
8. What inspires you?
The narrative of every product I do is often quite different; with each project I could be inspired by music, something man-made, or something from nature. What ultimately inspires my work is the passion to create something new. The process is a drug to me. I love to learn about new things, explore, fail, solve, and create.
9. What are some of your quirks?
I can’t eat toast unless it’s sliced in a triangle. I hate open cupboards and drawers. I know my wife has more quirks she can offer.
10. What’s your favorite cereal?
My favorite cereal is Cheerios with blueberries. I could chow down on a piece of deli meat anytime. Hard salami is heaven.
11. Any parting words?
Just wanted to thank everyone on Quirky for their support and friendship. I owe a big part of my success in 2011 to the staff and community here. I love you guys and your quirks just make the game much more interesting and fun.
Put some class in your closet and some couture in your armoire. Contour, the versatile hanger, is now shipping.
Inventor Tracie Beer spoke with us about the creation of Contour, why Lucky Charms rule, and why she thinks Ben should wear superhero tights.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a single mother of two amazing children. I live in Long Island, NY and I run my own Interior Design Firm.
2. When did you join Quirky?
I joined Quirky about a year and a half ago and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
3. How did you find out about us?
Actually, a friend told me about it six months prior to me actually submitting my idea. I thought the site was cool but thought I might be able to execute my idea on my own. Boy was I wrong! That’s when I turned to QUIRKY!
4. When and how did you think up the idea for this product?
I came up with the concept for the Contour hanger out of pure frustration. While standing in my closet, I was annoyed how my halter tops and one shoulder shirts were hanging…lifeless, wrinkled, and hard to find!
5. Had you tried to make this thing on your own already?
When I first had the idea, I simply bent a wire hanger into the shape I thought might accommodate my dilemma. After that, I settled on the dimensions that worked, and had a metal worker weld me a sample. He completed my prototype and all my shirts hung beautifully from it! For me, it was confirmation that I was onto something good.
6. What do you think of the final product?
I am still waiting for it to arrive. But from what I’ve seen via emails it looks amazing!
7. In your opinion, what is the most innovative product ever invented?
It’s hard to narrow that answer down to one thing. Inventions like planes, trains, automobiles, and computers are mind-blowing and have changed the world. BUT if I had to choose one thing, I’d have to say the Contour Hanger is the most innovative 
8. What inspires you?
I’d have to say that my two children are my inspiration! Wanting to succeed and live by example is very rewarding to me. They inspire me to achieve and better myself!
9. What are some of your quirks?
Hmm, where should I begin? I’d have to say my biggest quirk is my obsession with being neat, organized, and prompt! I am very uncomfortable when those things are not in line. I also think my dry, sarcastic, and witty humor is pretty quirky at times!
10. What’s your favorite cereal?
I think if I had to choose one cereal to live on for the rest of my life it would be Lucky Charms. Not only because they’re magically delicious™, but they taste so good and remind me of my childhood. As for deli meat (which is such an odd quirky question, btw) I’d have to go with Boar’s Head Oven Gold turkey.
11. Any parting words?
Growing up, I always had an image of what a superhero should look like. Never in a million years did I expect one to look like Ben Kaufman. But I do now! That dude should wear a purple superhero cape with a big Q on his chest! I am so lucky to have the opportunity for Quirky to rescue my invention!
In the rush of the holidays we mistakenly sent out order confirmations for Converge at the $60 price point.
We are pleased that the final retail price for Converge will be $40, and that it will be available at national retailers beginning next week.
To those who confirmed their order at the $60 price point, we will be issuing automatic refunds over the course of the next two weeks.
Hey Quirks! Hope everyone had a festive Thanksgiving. Here are the results of this Wed’s brainstorm (click images to enlarge):
Product 209: Measuring Knife
Product 214: Grippy Tongs
Product 215: Reinvented Matches
5 hours ago
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8 hours ago
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