Case Studies

Here at Design My Idea we pride ourselves in our reputation for quality of work and repeat clientele. Every month we want to bring you one of our success stories: some product, idea or service that we were able to add key-value to.

Hexi-Deck Case Study

By Salem November 2007

Last month you saw our success with Plane Clean Air and its full line of marketing materials. Now we take a slightly different approach, and show you our product design skills with a fairly complicated structural item. Meet the Hexi-deck.

Introduction:

Phil Musgrave worked for years in the manufacturing industry, for a long healthy career. Now, newly retired, Phil “having spare time and extra money to invest in a project, both are very necessary when inventing,” has started a very noble cause of leaving a legacy to his three children and their kids by founding Legacy Product Design LLC. Only one of many planned items, Hexi-deck and the future royalties will go towards building a financial foundation for Phil’s family’s future.

Starting up:

At Design My Idea, we have roughly a 50% ratio in client projects we receive. Half of the time our clients are “pure startup” inventors; minimal existing graphics, an idea for the design which needs refining (structure, mechanics etc.) and a full aesthetic setup with logo’s, branding and more. The other 50% of clients have fully designed (many times prototyped or already being manufactured), have sales contracts and the like, but need something refined like new packaging, a new or redesigned-website for eRetailing, a flash demonstration of their inventions and more.

Phil’s project was somewhat in the middle. A pure startup in the sense of having minimal graphics, only having very detailed 2d drawings, still needed mechanical design to ensure the structural integrity of the product but had all the functions and the usability already in mind. Receiving Phil’s 2D sketches, Design My Idea took full advantage of our head designers Mechanical Engineering background. We had to ensure the structural integrity of Hexi-deck, monitor having adequate storage space and always keeping in mind the multi-functionality of Hexi-deck. To do so Design My Idea did three different 2D concepts to nail down the primary shell, color and structure design, whereupon agreeing with Phil on a single design. We then built the Hexi-deck in 3D and put the design specifications into CAD renderings and files. This allows Phil to be able to have his product “production ready” sending CAD designs to various manufacturing departments.

Selling the Idea:

Phil worked for much of his career with a very large manufacturer and distributor which has contracts through some of the largest Big-box retailers and Do-it-yourself stores. We cannot discuss actual names of companies due to current negotiations (but be primed to see Hexi-deck in stores soon). However, just having an “in” with a company can many times not be enough. In fact, summarized from speaking with Phil, most manufacturers won’t even “touch” an idea that wasn’t formulated by the in-house research department of national or multi-national company. Packaging, logo and concepts for how to sell the product were definitely needed to fully maximize the “foot in the door” Phil had with this opportunity.

Design My Idea subsequently built the logo and branding designs for Hexi-deck, as well as its multiple models and many functional applications. This gave Phil and his invention the professionalism and necessary aesthetics for landing potentially large manufacturing and distribution contracts.

Sales Sheets, which are twin-sided full sheet flyer-type advertising mediums for manufacturers, were also created for the manufacturers to be able to examine after the initial meetings. The Sales Sheet’s [hyperlink] front side acts like a magazine ad; solely to grab the eye and simply explain what, why and how a product will succeed. The back has pricing, contact information and manufacturing spec’s.

Having contacts, in a tough industry to break into, is definitely a key factor in the success and the future success of Phil’s products. However, having the correct, professional and demographically-targeted marketing materials for you product is just as crucial in getting your idea off the ground.