Pillar Product Design / 2010
November 29, 2010 In blog

Developing New Bicycle Components

Pillar Product Design has a long history working on road bike and mountain bike components. The team has worked with amazing bike companies like Girvin, Noleen and K2 Bikes. We are currently are working on a new design for components used on commuter and travel bikes for a local outfit. It is exciting to be back working and developing bike components. If we are riding or designing bikes components, It truly is a passion for the Pillar team. Some of the main challenges we face with the current project in the product development cycle an ability to create a system that works with standard established

Zipbuds tangle Free Earbuds by Pillar Product Design
November 9, 2010 In blog

World Release of Zipbuds Tangle Free Audio Earbuds System

Pillar Product Design worked directly with DGA to develop the Zipbuds product. We started with an idea and a napkin sketch idea and took it from there. We spent almost 4  to 6 months developing this idea and another 6 months product testing and working out the production bugs. This amount of sweat equity and effort is worth it once you see the final finished product. We are excited to see how this new product will be received by the audio market. DGA has done an excellent job on viral marketing in the high-end audio markets. They have excellent distribution and have spent wisely in the over-all development of

November 8, 2010 In blog

Proof of concept to rapid prototypes

The proof is in the pudding. At Pillar Product Design we stand out from many other product design studios for the the fact that we back what we design and submit to our clients. With over 85% of our clients that are looking for product design, prototype and production assistance services we are often faced with the challenges of proving the concept and making physical units functional, cost effective and manufacturable. We pride our selves for our ability to address and take responsibility for the manufacturability, materials, production cost constraints up front early in the product development process, before our clients make the big spend

October 23, 2010 In blog

JP Enterprises

Seattle based new development business JP Enterprises has asked Pillar Product Design to develop a unique ergonomically friendly and practical blue tooth system that will offer the end user a compact, comfortable light weight sleek and stylish alternative. Blue Tooth Technology is growing at rapid pace in the communication industry.  Processing chips are becoming smaller and more efficient with power usage. The un-comfortable, heavy , poor sound quality will soon be a thing of the past. The Pillar Product team is focused and working diligently to re-invent this amazing interface in wireless communication. We are excited that JP enterprises has asked us to work on this venture.

October 23, 2010 In blog

Photon Manufacturing Home of Laser Fantasy

Pillar Product Design has been working with Bothell based Electronics guru Alex Hay who owns Photon Manufacturing. His modest shop and lab is one of the premier high-end laser builders in North America. Pillar Product Design has had the amazing opportunity to work with Alex on the Lotus Revolution project with required his expertise in chip programming design and construction. His amazing team truly brought to the table the necessary expertise to miniaturize the chip design and optimize the functionality and performance of the product. Together with compact efficient electronics and world class design and ID we have an amazing prototype and future product. www.photonmanufacturing.com

October 5, 2010 In blog

Chuggington trains project back from the rapid prototype house

The complex 3D models that Pillar Product Design recently created for a local client just came back from the rapid prototype house. The client was very excited at the results and attention to detail as well as the results of Pillar’s 3D CAD and advanced surfacing work. These samples will now go to Disney Licensing for review and final buy-off. We built these complex models straight from the Disney / Pixar Style guide. The client requested the scale and we built the project from this information.Fun stuff for sure.

October 5, 2010 In blog

Lotus Revolution concept, design, prototypes to production

Pillar Product Design has been working with Lotus Revolution on a new high-end discreet product that is a thing of both beauty and complexity. We are in the early stages of producing the first off prototypes to qualify the design. The goal is to get buy-off on the product then we can look at producing a pilot production run for marketing and sales samples. The amount of engineering resources and prep has been incredible so we can insure a smooth transition into production. Thus far we have had an amazing and talented team working on this project. From world class industrial design and concept development to 3D CAD engineering and

October 5, 2010 In blog

Commutapult

This is the most brilliant and hilarious presentation that I have seen in a while. Lots of wonderful industrial design and illustration works by Mark Selander. I had the opportunity to hang out with mark at Flying Fish for dinner one night and he is an amazing and creative individual. His concept art, design and illustration work is super detailed and very engaging. So who’s on board for the commutapult? This look way more fun than boring a tunnel thru downtown. www.commutapult.org www.machineandhumans.com

September 22, 2010 In blog

Found a bug with Solid Works 2010

For 90% of my product design, I use Solid Works 2010 at Pillar Product Design. It is an amazing software 3D CAD package that I have been using for nearly 10+ years. They radically changed the layout about every 5 years to keep things interesting. I recently needed to scale a 3D assembly and output an .stl file for a prototype for a client. Solid Works would not allow me to do this with-out going thru a long and confusing process. If it was not for the quality assistance of the Hawkridge technical help, I would have been spinning my wheels for sometime. I guess the annual maintenance fee

September 22, 2010 In blog

Gearing up for the ski season

Since we basically had one of the most weakest summers that I can remember, I have decided to move on to the snowboard and ski season. I just ordered my season pass last week and now I am looking into purchasing a new avalanche beacon. As you may or may not know there are a lot of options out there. I have decided to go with the BCA tracker DTS beacon and transceiver. I am replacing my baby blue 1990’s Ortovox transceiver that only worked on 3 channels.  The BCA is a well known fairly high quality brand. It is interesting that you

September 16, 2010 In blog

Top Ten Reason for Product Release Failure

Pillar Product Design recently attended the local PDMA (product development management association) seminar on Mercer Island, WA earlier this week. It was presented by 2 very talented individuals who have a large and extensive back ground in developing products for fortune 100 corporations like IBM, Boeing, Motorola. An interesting statistic that I pulled from the meeting was that in the US alone corporations spend over 260 billion in developing new products. On average a large size corporation will have roughly 3000 unique ideas on an annual basis. Of that 3000 ideas 100 will be explored. Of that 100 ideas explored

September 16, 2010 In blog

Pillar Product Design business spot light with West Seattle Junction Association

Pillar Product Design recently was interviewed by the West Seattle Junction Association and will be on their very popular web site for the next 4 weeks. This is a wonderful opportunity for locall Junction based Wests Seattle businesses to let the greater Seattle area know about their business, who they are and the services they provide. Having the Pillar Design studio in downtown West Seattle has really been an amazing opportunity. There is a wonderful sense of community on our little island across the bridge. Down town West Seattle has it’s own pace and energy. I often think of it as much slower

Practical Product Development Practices by Pillar Product Design in Seattle
September 7, 2010 In blog

Practical Product Development Practices

At our Seattle, WA. based design studio Pillar Product Design we use practical sensible product development practices when working with our clients. The rule of thumb has always been if your client does not need don’t do or offer it. Sometimes your client is not sure what they need, so it is very important to sit down with he, she or them and open up detailed dialog on how they plan to market and distribute their new idea. Based off of what they need will give you a perfect action plan on what they need. It is that simple. Of course if your client is

3 Key Steps to Product Development with a Licensed Product
August 24, 2010 In blog

3 key steps to product development with a licensed product

I personally worked directly on developing new products with some of the toughest license’s in the business. I guess you could call it a sort of badge of courage. I have worked with Star Wars, Lucas Film and Licensing, Pixar, D&D, Magic, Cranium, Hasbro and Disney. These licensed properties tend to be very complex and rich with details. The world building involved in many of these brands have with stood the test of time. resistance to fads and fashion. In long running properties such as Star Wars you can see how society trends, technology and evolution has changed the look and the feel of the product. A licensed is an amazing person who has to have

August 17, 2010 In blog

7 Steps to product development with lean design

This chart is an excellent tool that defines the circularity of the six sigma process. This information can be applied to any phase of the product development process. Pillar Product Design often uses these sets of principles when developing new products for our clients. Following these steps up front will improve and optimize both time, product cost and resources allocation when developing complex multi-phase projects.  Step 1:  Define the product.Step 2:  Establish product line optimization team.Step 3:  Determine your target cost.Step 4:  Translate requirements into specifications.Step 5:  Design at a system level.Step 6:  Design at a detailed Level.Step 7:  (3) P Product preparation process.

August 13, 2010 In blog

Product Development for the Chuggington toy train project

Pillar Product Design is working with a local creative group to develop components for a new assets for the Chuggington train line. The Chuggington brand is owned by Disney and has really amazing success with the 4 to 8 year old age grades. The Disney portfolio for the Chuggington line is extensive: TV shows, Magazines, DVD sets, books, toys and iphone games. Pillar is very excited to team up with this creative group on such a popular and amazing brand of products. The Pillar team services for this project includes: 3D CAD design,  world class product development, industrial design, prototyping and project management services.   http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rc2s-learning-curver-brands-launches-chuggingtontm-toy-line-in-international-markets-81469177.html