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Tue, Dec 28 2010

CES Product Development Update #2
By jordan at 6:56 pm

We’re making great progress on Product 81, the speakers we will be debuting at CES.

Upon posting the original CMF options, we read through the comments and found that they were very in favor of a neutral color palette. The reasoning was clear: we needed a product that worked in any context. For this reason we picked the Black/Grey “Business Time” option.

One thing we couldn’t help but notice in the comments was that, even though it worked in many scenarios, black and grey was just too boring. It seemed like a lot of the votes were there because either it was the “lowest common denominator” option, or it was the most common speaker color to choose from. While there was significant support for the color options, a lot of the comments showed that people only voted for them because it was their personal favorite, but they were worried about it performing well with mass consumers. We agreed. For these reasons we took the “Business Time” option further, and explored the range of the neutral palette.

The color scheme we’re moving forward with will be anodized black metal on the outside, with white gloss on the inside, and black silicone borders and buttons. The base will also feature the same materials: black anodized metal on the bottom, white high gloss on the tray, and black silicone details.

We were so drawn to the white because of the way it amplifies the curvature of the inside, and while on the stand it ties to the two together well. We also felt that the contrast is loud enough to help us stand out in the sea of products at CES. And as a product that is supposed to be forward thinking, we thought the white gloss referenced a futuristic feel that the mass market could relate to (Star Wars stormtroopers, the elusive white iPhone, EVE from Wall-E). The black anodized metal speaks to it being a tech and music product, and as it wraps around the speaker or base, it pulls your attention with it.

We’ve now sent this material spec out to our model maker and are on track to have the Quirky speaker, soon to be named by you, debut at CES.
- Tags:
- CES,
- p81,
- product development cycle,
- speakers
Wed, Nov 24 2010

Production Report: Digits
By jordan at 6:00 pm

What we’ve been doing the last few weeks…

Once we found out Digits would be going to production, we took a second look at the product, for usability and manufacturability.

With the original design, our manufacturing partners were not confident that a safety pin the size of Digits would be strong or usable. For this reason we started to investigate changing the method of attachment. We still wanted it to pierce through the glove, so it would not fall off, so we revised the design to be more like a push pin. The final concept that the factory approved will be a push pin style pin that you push through the glove with your finger. The sharp point gets pushed to the outside where it snaps into the front part of the digit.

The other piece of the puzzle that has shifted is the materials involved. When Digits went into presale, the part that contacted the touchscreen was made of conductive thread. All of the touchscreen gloves out there used this material, and we made some prototypes in the shop with the threads and they really worked, so we were excited about it. Once we went into manufacturing, the factory had a new material they suggested to us: conductive silicone. The silicone was even better since water rolls right off it, which we thought might be helpful in the snow. To make sure the silicone worked as well as the threads, we got a sample from the factory, left it in the freezer for half the day and then tested it on our touchscreens. We found it to be just as good, if not better.

After we confirmed the new materials, our partners abroad sent us the details on how the factory would proceed. The metal parts would be made on a lathe, which is a machine that catches the material on its ends and spins it on its axis while you carve away. This is perfect for a part that is small and round, and perfect for us because we wouldn’t have to pay for new tooling, just the labor of creating the part. The factory would then take the metal part for the outside piece and overmold the conductive silicone onto it.

What we’ll be doing over the next several weeks…

While Nikki (our amazing Ops specialist) was in China last week, she got to see the first factory prototypes of Digits. (image below: only part of the surface was covered with the conductive silicone, so we could see the material behind)

She sent us this email on November 15:

Hey All,

So I tried the Digits this a.m. and I’m really impressed. This product, when it’s correct, will be awesome.

It’s not bulky at all and the function works. In fact, it’s so not bulky, that I could still text using my Blackberry keypad.

They are fully aware of all the changes that need to be made to these. We’ll see the T1 by Nov 24.

The T1‘s will have corrections already made from the protoypes Nikki tried, so hopefully there will not be much more to correct (or nothing at all!). Because of the holiday, we should be seeing T1 samples early next week.
- Tags:
- digits,
- manufacturing,
- p37,
- production report
Fri, Nov 12 2010

Production Report #3: Sling Back
By jordan at 7:39 pm

What we’ve been up to…

The focus for the past several weeks has been finalizing two versions of the Sling Back, so that it can retract multiple types of computer cords. Sling Back Small will be able to swoop up 0.125″ diameter cords (the size of standard iPod cables), while 0.1735″ diameter cords (like camera or printer USB cables) will be better off in Sling Back Medium.

Earlier this month, the engineers we’re working with built prototypes using parts we printed from our 3D printer, so that they could figure out the exact spring to use in the retracting mechanism. All the plastic part tooling has commenced, and the spring (the last piece of the puzzle) was finalized on November 7.

We also made sure that our new logo will be featured on the top of the product. Goodbye, awkward encircled-q from the last post!

Coming up next…

T1′s are expected to arrive on November 21st. Since Nikki will be flying back to China this week, we’ll be able to relay our feedback much quicker, and therefore expedite the process. We’re hoping there won’t be too much to revise.
- Tags:
- manufacturing,
- p1,
- production report,
- sling back
Wed, Nov 10 2010

Production Report #2: Switch
By jordan at 7:27 pm

Great news, everyone: Switch‘s tools are being tooled.

Now that we’ve finalized the toughest part of this project, it’s on to the carrying case.

What we’ve been up to:

We didn’t want to spare any expense when it came to the quality of Switch’s metal attachments, so our goal for the box was to create something that could package the whole set, while maintaining as low a price point as possible.

In our original renders, we had a hinged box with a sliding lock, meaning we’d have to tool at least 3 new parts for the box. Our new design is all one piece, with a living hinge. The lid has clasps on the front part that lock onto the bottom part. The bottom part is molded with a spot to hold each part of the Switch set.

One of the design challenges is creating the perfect layout to maximize space. We printed out several iterations on Bertha before finding a super efficient layout (pictured below). Now we’re working on sourcing a good plastics factory to produce it.

What will happen in the next month:

We’re expecting to see T1 samples of all the tools on November 30th. Our engineering squad has made sure the box is optimized for production, so as soon as we find the right plastics factory we’ll be ready to rock it into production.
- Tags:
- manufacturing,
- p35,
- products,
- switch
Mon, Nov 8 2010

Leveler Logo Inspiration
By jordan at 2:35 pm

As we’re working through the design of the Leveler, here are some images that are inspiring us. Hopefully they’ll inspire you while you come up with some great logo designs.

The Home Hero:

The Home Hero takes a very ordinary, utilitarian-designed fire extinguisher, and turns it into a beauty. It’s still just as (if not more) functional than a standard fire extinguisher, but by starting with the base of the normal fire extinguisher form and using subtle curved surfaces and outlines, it becomes an object of beauty. The Home Hero is also a great example of using color pops (red) in two key areas, while balancing the glossy white with matte grey.

OO Projector:

This one ends up on a lot of our image boards. From the top it’s a very iconic circle, from the front it’s got that iconic eye popping out at you. When you merge two profiles, often some weirdness ensues, but not with this projector. The curve created by the intersection of the two profiles keeps your eye moving around the whole object, and the surfaces that connect them shift smoothly.

Harmon Kardon Receiver:

We’re drawing a lot of inspiration from this one. It’s got clean lines all around, and uses really basic forms. What makes it great is the proportions and material uses. We’re especially loving how the knob is a tight circle with very crisp edges.

Get to it!
- Tags:
- design,
- leveler,
- logo inspiration,
- p62
Mon, Oct 18 2010

Production Report #2: Sling Back
By jordan at 5:35 pm

What we’ve been up to the last 3 weeks…

Since we last checked in 3 weeks ago, we’ve been working diligently to make sure that all parts of the Sling Back work well together, our main variable being the spring. Our co-workers at Q-Asia were able to get a spring from our factory that we slipped into one of our prototypes. We received it and tested it tw0 weeks ago, but we could tell right away that our initial spec’s were just too weak. While we could get Sling Back to wind up, it wasn’t pulling the cords in with the ease that we wanted out of the final product.

Since then we’ve been experimenting in the shop, ripping apart cord retractors on the market and cannibalizing their parts and spring so we could place a larger spring into our Bertha printouts. While using these prototypes we realized that when the user is winding Sling Back up, he/she has no way of knowing when to stop. This led to a lot of broken Bertha printouts, and it also led to us working on a feedback mechanism. In the new iteration of the spring mechanism, once the spring is wound to its end, it pops around a quarter of the way, so you can clearly feel that you’ve wound to the end.

Other noteworthy happenings include ditching the Large version of Sling Back (pictured in the last blog post), and experimenting with an X-tra Small size for headphone wires. While we’re only moving forward with the Small and Medium versions for now, we see the Large and X-tra Small versions as potential line extensions for the future. We also began working on new renderings to present to interested retail partners.

What we expect to happen in the next 3 weeks…

While we were unable to use the initial spring Q-Asia sent us, they have been busy working with the factory and our engineers to resolve that issue. On Tuesday, sourcing extraordinaire Nikki Laffel will be traveling over to China with our Bertha print outs of the new mechanism and housing. She’ll be working very closely with our team and the factory to make sure we get the right mechanics for the spring. Our hope is that the spring issue is resolved by the end of the week, and we can kick off tooling right away.

Keep a look out on the site as we also plan to launch updated renderings for the Sling Back later this week. Here’s a sneak peek:
- Tags:
- manufacturing,
- p1,
- production report,
- products,
- sling back,
- spring
Thu, Oct 14 2010

Production Report: Switch
By jordan at 2:21 pm

What’s happened over the last 3 weeks (and then some!)

It took us a while to find some good factories for Switch. When we first began our search over the summer, we fell in love with one manufacturer. The work they had done in the past impressed us, and we began moving forward working with them. Unfortunately, the longer we stayed with them, the more difficult they became… and the more they tried to put off our project. We had to move on.

There are a lot of generic pocket knife manufacturers out there, but after a long search, our staff in China found two factories that do quality work for us to choose from. When we requested quotes on pricing and timeline from both, they came back far too high for us to keep Switch priced under $80. Over the past three weeks, we’ve been editing and revising to drive the unit price down.

The first change we had to make was dropping the USB memory stick as one of the tools. The price for that one tool was about 25% of the entire unit cost. It was a tough choice to make, but after we asked Switch ideator Jim Robinson, and he gave us his approval, we did what had to be done.

Another change we’ve made is simplifying the box. The original intent was to have a blow-molded box with a sliding lock. Last week we revised it to one injection molded piece that will use a living hinge along its spine and on its clasps. This change takes three parts down to one, and uses a simpler (and cheaper) production method.

Now the two factories are requoting based on those changes as well as a few slight material changes. Where some pieces are expensive to machine out of metal, they are much cheaper to inject with a rigid plastic (like glass-filled nylon, or polyester). Obviously we would never sacrifice the functionality of Switch, or its beauty with these changes, so don’t worry. We should have the quotes back any day, and we’ll be picking a factory next week.

What we expect over the next 3 weeks

We’ve sent the Switch prototype over to China, and next week when we choose a factory, the Q-Asia sourcing and engineering teams will bring it to the factory to discuss it with them. Both factories originally wanted to prototype Switch before kicking off production to see if it actually worked, but since we already have a prototype that works, they’ll be able to skip that process. We know that Switch production has been a long process (too long) but next week we’ll be finalizing a purchase order with a factory, and since we’ve already got the working prototype finished, we’re hoping to kick off production within the next two weeks.

Switch is available in the Quirky store for $79.
- Tags:
- p35,
- production report,
- products,
- quirky asia,
- switch
Tue, Oct 12 2010

Production Report: Broom Groomer
By jordan at 11:47 am

What we’ve been up to over the past 3 weeks:

Over the last few months we’ve been working to engineer and “productionize” the Broom Groomer. Since it’s “just” a dustpan (but really so much more!) it’s been a fairly smooth ride. We analyzed the handle to make sure it wouldn’t break easily when stepped on (you may remember when Jo-Money stepped on the handle of our first Bertha print-out and snapped it). We have also changed the “teeth” part so it’s easier to manufacture. Instead of co-molding it to the dustpan, or gluing it, the teeth will have plugs on the back that pull through to the back of the dustpan.

On October 6, we received our T1 sample back from our supplier, and it looked pretty good! Aside from a mix-up on the size of the teeth, there weren’t any glaring flaws (as T1’s can often have). A minor problem was that the Broom Groomer didn’t hang straight down, but the factory has assured us that will change for T2 and mass production. Also, the soft rubbery hang-hole easily pops out of the handle, so we are ditching the rubber so that the plastic will extend to the hang hole, and instead add a different surface finish. This way, we won’t have a brightly colored rubber piece falling off every time a retailer hangs this product on their shelves.

What we expect in the next 3 weeks:

After receiving the T1 sample on October 6, we moved quickly to send our revisions back to Q-Asia that very evening so they could relay the changes to the factory. We also sent them details on coloring and surface finishes. We should be receiving T2 samples the week of October 18. We expect that these samples will include the longer teeth, and will no longer have the extra rubbery piece in the hang hole. Hopefully the new samples will be shot in the right colors and have the spec’d out surface finishes.

We can’t wait to see them and show them to you.

Broom Groomer is available for $12 in the Quirky store.
- Tags:
- broom groomer,
- manufacturing,
- p36,
- products,
- quirky asia,
- t1
Mon, Oct 11 2010

Shower Station Logo Inspiration
By jordan at 11:13 am

To start your week off right, Quirky is showering you with logo inspiration for ShowerStation. Check these out and then show us whatcha got!

Some of the focal points driving the design process have been maximizing modularity by maximizing function and minimizing part types. We see this product as a puzzle that we provide the pieces for but the consumer creates their own solution.

1. On the aesthetic front we love the clean geometry and playful color/material pops of the Grohe Rainshower Shower head.

2. The AKG Headphones do a great job at using the lines of the wireforms to make your eye see a volume that isnt there.

3. The Plumen lightbulbs are a playful and artistic take on new technology.
- Tags:
- inspiration,
- logo design,
- p58,
- showerstation
Tue, Oct 5 2010

Production Report: Pivot Power
By jordan at 6:34 pm

It’s time for a production report on Pivot Power, our highly-anticipated flexible, adjustable electrical power strip. Power up; this is a long one.

What we’ve been up to:

We raced to get all the electrical and mechanical engineering done in order to begin the UL approval process, and on September 9 we sent off the functioning prototypes that we built along with all of the necessary electrical specifications.

Through our contact at UL, we were promised an expedited preliminary investigation (preliminary investigation happens before you start tooling in a factory, full investigation comes once you have an off the tool product). However, we soon learned that UL was unable to hit their expected finish date of September 15. Here’s what they told us:

We need to address the construction of the RPT with additional staff members throughout our various offices and come to a consensus on the requirements. Since this type of construction is not directly addressed by the standard (UL1363) we need to consider additional requirements for evaluation and testing. Due to this, we will not be able to complete this preliminary investigation project until we have discussed further internally.

Essentially: Pivot Power is so innovative that UL has never seen anything like it. When it came across their plate, it blew their minds, and now they need to get more opinions, discuss further, and continue to have their minds blown.

Note in the image of the fully assembled: There are actually six outlets on Pivot Power even though the proto only has five. Also, we’ve added an extra segment for the on/off switch and the circuit board to be housed in.

While it’s nice that our products have this effect, we’re admittedly getting crushed on our hopeful timeline. To help combat that, we’ve spoken with our contact at UL and we’ve gotten a little more insight into the finer details of what is holding them up. It mostly has to do with the combination of wiring and metal contacts and how they are connected. Our engineers have been extremely quick to respond and make the necessary revisions based on this initial feedback.

What we expect going forward:

On September 27, UL pushed back their preliminary timeline again. We’ll continue to wait on UL’s preliminary approval, which they estimate should arrive on or before October 13, and make revisions if necessary as soon as we hear anything. Since pushing the deadline back twice has brought us from an expedited timeline to a normal timeline, we think it is reasonable to believe they will come through and deliver by the 13th.

Meanwhile, our partners in China will continue to work with our factory to figure out a way of keeping costs down. Since the design is so innovative and complicated, assembly fees are quite high right now. Next week, after they return from their National Day holidays, our engineers in China will begin working to simplify the internal structure so the assembly is easier and therefore less costly.

If all goes according to plan, we’ll get the UL preliminary approval by October 13, and in the next two or three weeks will have cut costs in assembly fees and will be able to begin tooling.
- Tags:
- p44,
- pivot power,
- production report,
- products