blog - Pillar Product Design

In blog

A Past Project We Still Love: Celebration Stadium’s Birthday Grandstand

Over the years, we’ve had the chance to work on a wide range of products, and some stand out because they turn a familiar experience into something memorable. One of those projects was the Birthday Grandstand for Celebration Stadium, a modular candle holder created to make milestone birthday celebrations feel more dramatic, organized, and photo-worthy. Instead of placing dozens of candles directly into the cake, the Grandstand creates a dedicated display for birthday candles around the cake. The result is a cleaner presentation, less mess, and a more memorable moment for the guest of honor. We always enjoy projects like this that combine

March 31, 2026

In blog

Do the Hard Work Upfront

By Conor Murnane

One of the biggest mistakes we see with new product ideas is that founders come to us with a solution already fully formed in their minds. While well-intentioned, this can set the project up for failure. We can design the best widget in the world, but if it does not solve the problem (or the problem is not worth solving), it doesn’t matter. This can cause otherwise positive engagements to end on a sour note. The client loves the product that was designed and prototyped, but it flops in the market, or it doesn’t truly solve the problem, and they’re left

March 16, 2026

In blog

Pillar Product Design Past Projects with Rhino Camera Gear

By Bob Carrasca

Pillar Product Design spent a number of years working with Rhino Camera Gear on a number of unique and innovative products. This one was one of the products that we spent co-developing with Kyle at Rhino Camera Gear that we were super proud of. The amount of engineering, ergonomics and design refinement for this complex assembly of custom engineered components was energy and efforts well spent. When this product was rolled out to market it was a game changer.

July 13, 2022

In blog

Employee Spotlight – Chris, Mechanical Engineer

By Bob Carrasca

In our first employee spotlight, we asked Chris, a mechanical engineer at Pillar, about his experience working at Pillar and how he likes to spend his time outside of the office. Continue on to hear what he had to say. Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Chris: I am a long-term resident of the Pacific Northwest, growing up in Oregon before moving to Seattle to attend college. I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Washington. Q: Why did you decide to become a Mechanical Engineer? Chris: I’ve always been interested in building things since I was

February 17, 2022