PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT INNOVATION
A good idea often starts utterly simple. You notice a common ‘problem’, a gap in the market, something a lot of people have to deal with every single day….and suddenly there it is, your ‘solution’!
But how do you change this idea into a real product that actually works, that can be produced and looks good? Is the solution you thought of really the best possible solution or are there other possibilities? Do you need to protect your idea by means of a patent? What are the actual requirements and can these be verified? All these questions need answers. A product developer knows the answers, or knows how to find the answers. I am a product developer.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Once the idea has settled, you cannot let it go. You want to transform the idea into a product, you want to see if it works or not and it needs to fit the target group. The product needs to blend flawless with your brand identity by use of the right materials, textures, colours and shape. But most important; the product needs to work properly!
Good industrial design is the perfect mix of all of this. A moodboard can help to determine the brand identity aspects, and can be used as a base in the design process. By means of hand sketching, 3D modelling (3D-CAD) and rapid prototype techniques like 3D printing, one or more solutions can quickly answer your most urgent questions; does your idea really solve the problem and what do users think of it?
ENGINEERING AND PRODUCTION
Engineering is about making the design mature and production ready. Through my local and international network I know exactly where to go, to actually get your idea produced in big or small series for a reasonable price that fit the business case you are working on. Together with production and assembly partners we join forces and make the design final.
In practice, most prototypes need adjustment to make it perfect. Sometimes this has to do with aesthetics, sometimes with strength or stiffness of a part, ergonomics or finding the right production technique to make a part. The production technique sometimes determines how the product can look like, and the right production technique is also linked to the required (or allowed!) investments to even start producing. In this stage more than 20 years experience in product development comes in handy.
PACKAGING AND POINT OF SALE
To get your product sold it needs a thoroughly thought of packaging and good point of sale material to display your goods in a store or a trade show.
Good packaging design fits the product and brand like a glove, and communicates ‘buy me’ not only by graphics but also by shape and used materials. But most important, it makes it possible to get your product in a store. So besides all the commercial aspects, the packaging needs to protect your product during transport in the most efficient way, not only in terms of protection, but also from a logistic point of view. Does your product fit a pallet for example? A lot of money can be saved in advance to think of the logistic aspects in a very early stage.
Point of sale material is sometimes required to attract the attention of the consumer once in a store. It helps the retailer display your product in the most effective way while being able to communicate your product even more.