Innovative Products at the Seattle Boat Show

This weekend Bob visited Anchor Drink System’s booth at the 2022 Seattle Boat Show. Held at the Lumen Field Event Center, this year’s 75th Anniversary Boat Show featured countless new boats, many other innovative products in the marine industry, and had a great display of vintage boats and water skis. It was great to see Anchor’s line of products doing so well and we look forward to seeing what opportunities come from such a great networking event!  

New Innovative Product – Mackie M.Caster Live

Last week in a live, virtual event held in conjunction with the NAMM tradeshow (National Association of Music Merchants), Mackie announced the launch of the M.Caster Live, a portable audio mixer for streaming and content creation. Alongside the M.Caster Live, they also announced their new innovative product line that features portable lighting and other creator accessories to make creating on the go breeze. Mackie came to Pillar with the idea of creating a portable solution to help bloggers and other content creators improve their audio quality and control. Branching away from their typical client in the pro-audio space, the new device

Inventor fills out product development design brief

How to Write a Product Development Design Brief

A design brief is a document that outlines the functionality and details of a proposed product. It helps to focus in on the goals and objectives of a project and can be used to communicate those key elements to outside product development teams. We’ve included the questions we prefer for our clients to answer and include below.   Core Functionality and Requirements The design brief should outline the general functionality of your product. You’ll want to explain your vision for how the product will work and what the core features and functions are. Depending on where you are at in the development process,

Inventor brings salt and pepper product to market

Bringing a Product to Market – Pepper King

We interviewed Mike, a local business owner in the Seattle area, about his new product endeavor and his experience bringing a product to market. Mike is the owner of Grain of Salt LLC and the brains behind the Pepper King, the last salt and pepper grinder you’ll ever need to buy.   Pillar: Tell us a little bit about your product. A: Pepper King is the world’s greatest electric salt & pepper grinder. It is powerful, robust, simple, and reliable.   Pillar: How did you come up with your product idea? A: I love electric grinders, yet they all suck. I’ve purchased several and they break

Industrial designer holds production sample of the Homax Tex Pro texture system

Innovative Product Engineering – Homax Tex Pro

We are very excited to announce the launch of the Homax Tex Pro Texture System, an innovative wall texture sprayer that utilizes pre-mixed mud cartridges and an air compressor to tackle interior wall texture jobs. This new system is up to 70% faster and 60% lighter than traditional hopper guns and drastically simplifies set up and clean up for the user. This has been a long, complex product engineering challenge that has been tough and exciting and we can’t wait to see how people react to this innovative product idea. We started working with Homax to develop the Tex Pro texture

Sustainability information molded into a new product

Three Common Misconceptions about Sustainability

As the world pushes to be more environmentally friendly, our clients often ask about sustainability, recyclability, and recycled materials during the product development process. Here are three common misconceptions about recycling and a couple ways you can reduce the environmental impact of your product and its packaging.   Plastic Can Be Recycled as Many Times as Possible Plastic can only be recycled about 2-3 times before it starts to degrade and lose its properties. While some recycling is better than none, materials like glass and aluminum can be infinitely recycled and can offer a better End-of-Life for your product.   Everyone Can Recycle The Same

Industrial designer sketches new product idea

Five Things to Consider if You Have a Product Idea

You wake up in the middle of the night with an ingenious new product idea, but how will you determine if it is feasible or worth developing? To help, we’ve broken down five of the main factors to consider if you are thinking about pursuing your idea.    Innovation – Your product needs to be innovative to stand out and will most likely be more successful if it solves a problem for its users. A thorough Google search should be able to tell you if your product idea already exists or if the market you are trying to enter is heavily saturated

Inventor reaches for bottle secured using Anchor Drink System's Magnetic Coaster

Bringing a Product to Market – Anchor

For our next client spotlight, Pillar Design spoke with Andrew, the inventor of Anchor Drink Systems, about his experience bringing a product to market. Located on Bainbridge Island off of Seattle, Andrew is a dentist by trade who decided to take the plunge into product development. Check out the Anchor website to preorder your magnetic drink system or browse our Anchor blog post to learn more!   Pillar: Tell us a little bit about you and your product. Andrew: I’m a regular guy that had an idea. Pillar helped me design and build a magnetic coaster which can hold a custom koozie or

Ignik FireCan safely burns propane during a burn ban

The FireCan – Ignik’s New Product Design

This month at Outdoor Retailer, Ignik previewed the FireCan, a portable, propane powered fire pit that allows people to safely enjoy the warmth of a fire during a burn ban. With forest fires on the rise, Seattle based Ignik is striving to provide alternative options for outdoor enthusiasts that are safer for the environment and also more sustainable. Their new product design is a step in the right direction, adding to their line of refillable propane tanks that are already making strides in reducing waste. Propane powered pits are considered safer due to their controllability, elevated constructions that lift the

Product design firm team members discuss a new product design in Seattle

What to Bring to a Product Design Firm Meeting

Starting a product design journey can be daunting and often single inventors and/or entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.  When first meeting with a product design firm, these are a few things you should have ready to go to help maximize your time and help convey your product idea clearly. Signed NDA An NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) will protect your idea and allow you to freely talk through the details of your product. Make sure to get this signed before you arrive at your consultation so you don’t have to use your time at the meeting to print and sign the papers. Design Brief A