Model Builders Inc Blog

Iterative prototypes and models are often key to a successful product

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Thu, May 01, 2014 @ 01:30 PM

Why do so many products fail in the marketplace? Maybe it is because the developer of the idea didn't do an adequate job of creating a series of prototypes and reviewing them with potential users.

1) The initial idea can be expressed as simply as on a napkin sketch to convey an initial product idea. At first an idea is normally just that with no physical prototype. The Smithsonian has a wonderful exhibit called "Doodles, Drafts and Designs"  that shows examples of this earliest stage of a new idea for a product (see http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/doodles/ ).

Below is a sketch of a ashtray idea for the Scenicruiser bus by Raymond Loewy Associates.

ashtray sketch

 2) A simple prototype model can be an early representation of the final product. It could be as simple as taping or gluing a few pieces of material together. The potential users then have the chance to get a general picture of the product idea that is in development with requirements that are not entirely known and give their reactions to it. Our rule of thumb here is that less than 25% percent of the population can visualize things well in three dimensions unless it is built first in three dimensions.

3) Product development is a iterative process that can begin without a full specification of the final product. You can use a series of models to evolve the idea. To get started just part of the product can be developed and then reviewed by users to identify further requirements. Then repeating this process can continue until the final product appears to be ready for the marketplace. Learning occurs both with the development and with the use of these product prototypes in iterations. Use a series of models to evolve the idea.

4) In the words of David Kelley, the founder of industrial design firm IDEO, design is now a team sport. Model makers at IDEO are more frequently getting involved much earlier in the development of new products to help create the idea before it is physically made. The industrial designer doesn't dictate the design or necessarily be in charge of it.  Instead a team of people with diverse backgrounds (human interaction, user interface, product design, engineering, manufacturing, model making and more) works together to collaboratively and iteratively build on each others ideas. Make sure you have a model maker on your team because your product ideas are far less likely to be a success if you don't.

5) MIT Professor Eric von Hippel, the author of the books "Democratizing Innovation"  and "The Sources of Innovation", observed that users are often the ones who develop a product when they have a need for a new or better product and a place where they would use it. They are ahead of others in a important market.

The Sources of Innovation resized 600

"von Hippel also proposed and tested some implications of replacing a manufacturer-as-innovator assumption with a view of the innovation process as predictably distributed across users, manufacturers, and suppliers. Innovation, he argues, will take place where there is greatest economic benefit to the innovator." Here is a video on lead users studies that 3M did to find lead users to work with to create some of their new products. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNKrX1QxN6U&list=PLD4C0E9AEDF085119 .

6) It is hard to fail if you show prototypes to those who would use the final product and get their feedback. Potential users get the opportunity to test the functionality of the prototype and give feedback to help improve the product.

For additional information you may want to review our blogs including this one "How successful product development was done with a model shop's help" at http://modelbuilders.net/blog/bid/192523/How-successful-product-development-was-done-with-a-model-shop-s-help .

Model Builders, Inc. is known for helping industrial designers, manufacturers, institutions and individuals go from idea to reality. Take the next step by contacting us at Model Builders, Inc., 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

 


Tags: product model, engineering model, prototype, industrial designer, model builders, model maker, prototypes, model makers, prototype models, industrial design, product development, product models, model builder, industrial scale model, industrial designers, prototype model

Where can you find out about 3D printing of prototypes and models?

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Sat, Mar 29, 2014 @ 10:56 PM

We often have potential clients who are interested in having a prototype or model made with a 3D Printer. However they don't know if 3D printing is the way to build their project better, faster, stronger and at a lower cost. Our experience is that 3D printing can alternatively be not as good, slower, less durable and at a higher cost. It depends on a lot of factors. You need to learn more about 3D printing and it helps to discuss your project with a professional model maker.

Two of the best websites to learn all about 3D printing are www.additive3d.com and www.prototypetoday.com . Those two comprehensive websites give you lots of information on the whole field of 3D printing.

2014 Printing the Future book resized 600

You can also order a informative book "Printing the Future" by Ed Grenda from his website at http://www.additive3d.com/pub_bks.htm .

To get a perspective on 3D printing you should think about it as three categories - 3D printing of prototypes and models, 3D printing of manufactured products and 3D printing for personal fabrication. That is also the order in which those three categories developed.

3D Printing of prototypes and models and 3D Printing of manufactured products

The two largest manufacturers of professional 3D printers are 3Dsystems at www.3dsystems.com and STRATASYS at www.stratasys.com . They make 3D Printers for all three categories of 3D printing. In January, 2014 at the CES show in Las Vegas 3Dsystems had a number of new product announcements and those products are featured on this 54 minute youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnmzn1rl8A . It will give you some idea of the range of 3D printing products in the marketplace. NOTE that both 3Dsystems and Stratasys  recently purchased companies that make 3D printers for personal fabrication and more recently created new 3D printers for personal fabrication.

The RAPID show organized by SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) is the main conference and tradeshow for companies and institutions to see the vendors of the larger professional 3D printers used for large 3D prints and in metal as well as plastic.

Since the middle 1980's when 3D printing started 3D printers were very expensive so companies and institutions that could afford it bought 3D printers and the CAD (computer-aided design) software so their model shop or an independent professional model shop with the right software and 3D printer could make their prototypes and models. About 7 years ago the least expensive professional 3D printer was about $15,000.00.

3D Printers for personal fabrication

3D Printers for personal fabrication sell mostly fom $400.00 to $5,000.00. There are now over 100 different 3D printers for personal fabrication available. By January, 2009 the first two 3D personal fabricator machines were being sold as kits for about $800.00 each. To get a review of many of these 3D printers for  personal fabrication that are now available see http://www.additive3d.com/3dpr_cht.htm . Also order from MAKE magazine their latest annual review of 3D printers at http://makezine.com/volume/guide-to-3d-printing-2014 which compares 23 of the more popular low end 3D Printers.

Formlabs Form 1 3D Printer

3D Printer for personal fabrication - Form 1 hi resolution 3D printer

However if you buy a 3D Printer you still have to purchase and learn how to use the CAD  software to create the files for the product that you want to 3D print. Alternatively you could use CAD drawings that are available on www.thingiverse.com or similar websites and you can print them. However most people want to create something unique.

There are also companies that can do your 3D printing for you.  One very successful company is Shapeways at www.shapeways.com  .  Shapeways has 3D printers for smaller personal fabrication and also have larger professional machines that can print in plastic or metal. You can even set up your own store on Shapeways to sell what you have made.  They will accept orders for you, produce your printed product, ship it and collect the payment for you.  The Shapeways byline is "Make, Buy and Sell Custom Products with 3D Printing. One store example hosted by Shapeways is www.bathsheba.com  .

Another alternative is to go to a store like the 3D Printer Experience in Chicago at www.the3dprinterexperience.com or a shop like TechShop (a expanding nationwide chain) that sells education classes and charges you to use (or have them use) one of their 3D printers or other machines. To find these places go to the Maker Map at www.themakermap.com , check off the filter box for retail, museums, etc. and zoom in on the red location dot. As you zoom in the name and address, etc. will appear on a pop up.

Then click on what you want to find like Retail and then zoom in on the red dot in the location you prefer and the name, address, etc. will pop up.

Getting the best possible prototype or model

Large corporations often have their own industrial design department and model shop. They can study how users might use a new product and create prototypes to test the idea with potential users. Alternatively they may hire an independent industrial design firm like IDEO which also has a model shop. If you have a large budget then hiring an industrial design firm might be a good option for you.

However the top down process of creating a new product is now competing with the bottoms up process since individuals and smaller companies or institutions now have computers and tools such as person fabricators as well as funding mechanisms like Kickstarter available to help them to create new products at an affordable price.

Hiring a professional model shop to work with you on your prototypes and models should add a new dimension to the discussions and increase the odds of creating a successful product. Working with a professional model shop is often a affordable option. Their expertise will greatly improve the final product. Which is the best way to make your product better, faster, stronger and at a lower cost? 3D printing may or may not be the right answer for how to make your prototype or model.

Model Builders, Inc. is known for helping industrial designers, manufacturers and individuals  go from idea to reality. Take the next step by contacting us at Model Builders, Inc., 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

Tags: industrial scale models, product model, prototype, industrial designer, model builders, model maker, prototypes, model makers, prototype models, industrial design, product development, product models, model builder, industrial scale model, industrial designers, 3D printing, prototype model, 3D printers

How successful product development was done with a model shop's help.

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Sat, Jan 11, 2014 @ 11:32 PM

Frequently a company or individual needs more expertise than they have  when working on the development of a new product especially in the creation of physical prototypes. The design, material selection, tool expertise and more may require the knowledge and skills of expert model makers to increase the odds of product success.

Let's take a look at how the Aluminum Extrusions, Inc. in Charlotte, Michigan got help from Model Builders, Inc. that was crucial to the development of their new wall hung Executive or Conference size board product sold by OMNI Products, Inc. That Visual Idea Center product, last known as the OMNIVIC II, sold well for over 30 years.

 OMNIVIC II Executive Conference Board Closed

Aluminum Extrusions, Inc. was looking to sell more aluminum extrusions and thought that developing a new conference board product that used aluminum extrusions in its construction might be a good idea to expand one of their office furniture conference board product lines from just heavy wood construction with piano hinges to a much lighter product that was primarily aluminum construction.

Using in house personnel Aluminum Extrusions, Inc. developed the product as far as they could. Then their industrial designer, Bob Vogele, found and worked with Bill Chaffee of Model Builders, Inc. to further develop the Visual Idea Center product idea.

Conference board OMNI VIC II


Bob and Bill came up with the final design and Model Builders, Inc. fabricated the prototype for the aluminum framed VIC product which only weighed about 100 lbs. whereas the current all wood framed Visual Idea Center weighed over 150 lbs. The new aluminum framed model could also have a laminate material in a variety of finishes applied to the front of the two light weight core doors as shown in the first picture above. Furthermore Model Builders, Inc. was responsible for sourcing and inspecting the materials for the first 100 units.

One of the amazing features of these boards is that Bob Vogele and Bill Chaffee developed a continuous patented hinge by changing the shape of the two vertical extrusions where the door panel meets the wall mounted panel. Then a custom single gray plastic extrusion could connects the front panel to the wall panel .This gave the conference board a very clean modern look and eliminated the need for the piano hinge which made assembly faster since the hinge screws weren't needed. Furthermore the door panel connection to the wall mounted panel easily passed the weight stress test.

Visual Idea Center hinge

DSC07312 resized 600Patented hinge with two aluminum extrusions and a plastic extrusion in the middle.

Other functions and design details were incorporated that also made the VIC II as widely popular as it was.

Conference board features

Hiring a model shop to work with you on product development should add a new dimension to the discussions and increase the odds of creating a successful product. Don't bring a model shop in for an appearance model at the end. Get the model shop involved with the product development at the start. Their expertise will greatly improve the final product.

Model Builders, Inc. is known for helping industrial designers, manufacturers and others go from idea to reality. Take the next step by contacting us at Model Builders, Inc., 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

Tags: product model, engineering model, prototype, training aids, industrial designer, prototype models, training aid, industrial design, product development, prototype model

7 things a model maker learned at the 2013 IDSA Conference

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Fri, Sep 06, 2013 @ 01:06 PM

The 2013 Industrial Designer Society of America (IDSA) International Conference was in Chicago during August and there was a lot to learn - here are 7 takeaways. 

(1) Persistence can be an inventor's friend, greatly improving the end product along the way. Dean Kamen described his 10-plus years trying to get his Slingshot water purifier to people around the world who don't have safe water. The hope is to eliminate millions of deaths from water borne diseases.

One major obstacle was worldwide distribution, which Kamen recently solved working with Coke whose international distribution system is one of the best in the world.

Another major obstacle was the economics of Kamen's water purifier and power source. His recent thinking is a 8' X 8' X 20' box could ship more services along with the Slingshot to improve the cost benefit ratio. So the plan now is that one shipment includes an energy source, the Slingshot water purifier, a satellite based communications system and refrigeration for medicines. This would be available to a whole village in a remote location. Looks to me like Dean Kamen may solve more than one major world problem as a by-product of trying to solve one. The implementation of this idea could improve health, education, and communication for billions of people.

(2) Expect a proliferation of entrepreneurship.   Prototypes are easier to make with 3D printing, money for product development and production is easier to raise, and products are easier to sell due to the internet and 3d printing. Here is one example that was on display.

Non spillable coffee cup

A young girl, Lilly Born, developed the Kangaroo Cup with the help of her father so that her grandfather who had Parkinson's disease wouldn't knock over his coffee or soup cup.  Prototype 1 was a rough handmade prototype. Prototype 2 was a 3D printed prototype (shown on the left in the above picture).  Then Lilly and her father both went to a ceramic factory in China to get a quote on the final Kangaroo Cup that they are now selling (the cup on the right in the picture). On Thursday Zach Kaplan of Inventables included a video on this project (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzNz25Kc5FQ ) in his presentation titled "Designers as Manufacturers: The Third Industrial Revolution."

(3) Expect to see more artistic-entrepreneurial products, too - ones that you often have a hard time getting funded - especially those that need anywhere from only a few thousand dollars up to 1 million or more. MINIMAL (MNML) and Kickstarter are enabling entrepreuneurs to develop and market their new product ideas as well as fund them.

Book pages light

This product is a book with pages that light up when the book is opened. The book can be laid flat on a table for the maximum amount of light or set down with the lit pages vertical and the book cover open or closed to permit the amount of light desired. Actually this is light that works like a book.

For a more complete look at the many Kickstarter projects displayed at the August 22nd exhibit at MNML in Chicago during the IDSA Conference see this page  http://www.mnml.com/21277/1756315/our-work/kickstarter-all-stars-presented-by-mnml .

(4) The "unconference" concept was a full day at the conference because IDSA members are excited about connecting with each other on topics  that they are passionate about.  This is the first time the IDSA tried this idea at their International Conference. On Friday  groups of 20-40 people had discussions during a 45 minute session on one topic that they signed up for. Anyone could propose a topic in advance and if interested could lead that discussion. Eight sessions ran concurrently in the 45 minute periods for most of Friday and  participants could wander from one session to another to discover something of interest. No projectors.  Just topical discussions - basically whatever you want. Some examples are "How is the 'Maker Revolution' going to affect ID?", "Origami and how it helps design" and "Creating an ID culture within an alien corporate climate".

(5) An "unconference" option on Friday was a three hour session called "Blitz" to brainstorm tangible ideas that can have a meaningful social impact. Social activist John Bieldenberg hosted this "Blitz" to help designers create concepts for new products and services that help to prevent bullying.  As a result suicides, especially of children under 14, and school-shooting incidents can be reduced. The session partnered with the Hero in the Hallway organization that has helped Chicago schools with their "Spirit Desk" system reduce suicides and prevent bullying.

(6) The 3D printed car contest was launched and crashed. It was a big hit. As in the real world industrial designers had a chance to test their concepts against tough competition and in this case have fun too. Furthermore the entrants had to use 3D printed models. The three prize categories were for best flight, best crash (there was a slow motion camera directed at the crash site) and best looks. The winner in each category was awarded a 3D printer. Inventables, Models Plus and Options and Computer Aided Technology sponsored the printed car contest.

1376713593_01

Above is one of the top ten car contest entries (out of over 100 entries) called "Balloona" designed by Ms. Reut Kovetz of Fahrenheit Design. Below is a picture after the ramp launch of the crash. The clear connectors are barely visible and so thin they break easily on impact and send the balls rolling in multiple directions.

The wheels and the optional ball bearing were installed at the conference. The entries were 3D printed at the conference on one of two 3D printers. Pictures reprinted with the permission of Fahrenheit Design in Austin, Texas. 

1376713599_06

Intrigued? Check out these videos:

Here's a link to the blog post:
Video of the race:
Here are all the cars (10 were selected for the launch):

Coincidently one of the conference speakers, industrial designer Byron Block, on Thursday revealed the biggest safety blunders in vehicle design. Byron has fought for and influenced the adoption of safer designs that are feasible - in rollovers with weak roofs, truck underside decapitation tragedies and unsafe fuel tanks that led to fire deaths.

(7) The conference was an incredible chance to meet designers of all stripes and be exposed to all sorts of new ideas and products. Below is one example - the SPUN swivel chair that won't fall over as seen at the Steng Design Party at Orangeskin on Friday night. The SPUN chair just keeps rotating around whenever you move.

Justin Eddings in the SPUN chair

Here Justin Eddings, an Interaction & Industrial Designer as well as the Product User Experience Designer at Sprint, travels in circles at Orangeskin. There were six networking events just on Thursday night and four more on Friday including a boat tour sponsored by Designcraft! 

If you wanted to find out where the world of industrial design is headed the 2013 IDSA International Conference was the place to learn from companies like Inventables, MNML, Kickstarter, etc. Like the personal computer before it the personal fabricator is taking industrial design, prototyping and production into an extremely fast growing part of the economy. Now individuals can actually find the funding and tools to prototype and produce new products and services that are custom made to the client or produced in small quantities economically. 

If you wanted to see examples of people who are making a huge difference in solving social problems Dean Kamen's presentation on providing clean water and more around the world got a standing ovation.  At John Bielenberg's hosting of the unconference "Blitz" brainstorming you could participate in trying to come up with concepts for new products and services that might turn schools around and even reduce suicides and shootings. Industrial designers are continuing to expand their work into solving big social problems.  

So why does a model maker go to an industrial design conference? We are two sides of the same coin and success depends on close collaboration. Many good ideas die in the development stage because implementation requires special skills and tools. Converting an idea to reality is often difficult - the skills and tools of both the industrial designer and the model maker are often crucial to the creation of a successful product. It is important to the success of the model maker and the industrial designer to learn from each other.

Model Builders, Inc. is known for helping others go from idea to reality. Take the next step by contacting us at Model Builders, Inc., 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

 

 

 

 

Tags: product model, engineering model, prototype, industrial designer, model builders, model maker, prototypes, model makers, prototype models, industrial design, product development, product models, model builder, industrial designers, prototype model

Industrial designers - 3rd of 5 books on the greatest product designs

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Sat, Mar 23, 2013 @ 05:09 PM

"Icons of Design The 20th Century" is the third book review of great product designs.  Industrial designers created many of the product designs in this book. There are 83 products selected and presented by 23 authors - only 5 of the authors are American and most of the rest are European. In the book's FOREWORD industrial designer and art historian Reyer Kras makes interesting comparisons between the Christian icon and the industrial icon.

Industrial Designer Kras also compares the shift within the past 10 years from the mechanical revolution to a new peak in a electronics revolution in the past 10 years. The way mechanical appliances operate has disappeared for many functions - "Certain functions...have dematerialized, vanished into the caverns of the chip, the hard drive and the digital network". His conclusion "This shift in technology has also impacted how industrial designers envision and shape electronically controlled products."

If the need to design the product - the image- disappears, will that be the end of this profession? Or will the designer be able to create an intangible context? In the future this is destined to pose one of the greatest challenges to the designer." In some ways this parallel's Jay Doblin's concern 30 or more years prior about the impact "that the combination of intellectronics and automation" would have. Maybe it is no coincidence that the Internet was the product selected for 1990 and the last product selected (for the year 2000) in "Icons of Design The 20th Century" is Virtual Reality.

Icons of Design resized 600

The Savoy vase 1937 - Alvar Aalto - his most important contribution to 20th Century glass design and an early example of organic design.

First published in 2000 and again in 2004 this book has each object shown in color photographs with illustrations of its use. With most of the products there is a timeline description and small photograph of the designer along with a full page description of the history and significance of each product.

The format is quite similar to that of industrial designer Jay Doblin's 1970 book "One Hundred Great Product Designs". Both books are also in chronological order with the year they came out shown next to the product name. There are two pages on each product and one of the pages is a large picture (most are in color).

US Tunnel Mailbox 1915 resized 600

U.S. "Tunnel" Mailbox 1915

Designed by postal engineer Roy Joroleman to resolve a conflict between fiercely independent farmers and government regulators. This mandated galvanized sheet metal design is simple and functional.  The red flag lets the carrier know when to pick up mail. Formerly a variety of discarded containers served as mail boxes on rural routes. 

Motorola Microtac 1989

                                             Motorola MicroTAC 1989

The MicroTAC folding mechanism revolutionized the shape of cell phones

Some of the other great product icons in this book are:

Aircraft: Douglas DC-3 Dakota 1935 and Lockheed Super Constellation 1951.

Appliances: AEG Electric Kettle 1909 and Philips-Alessi Line (five kitchen appliances) 1996

Automobiles: Ford Model T 1908-1927, Bugatti 1926, Mercedes Silver Arrow 1934, Cord 810 1936, Fiat 500 Topolino 1936, Volkswagen Beetle 1938, Citroen 2CV, Chevrolet Corvette 1953 and Morris Mini 1959.

Cameras: Leica Camera 1913-1925, Kodak Baby Brownie 1934 and Minox Camera 1938.

China: Teaset 1934.

Home Entertainment: Braun Phonosuper SK4 1956, Sony Portable TV 80 301 in 1959, Brionvega Radio TS-502 in 1964, B&O Beogram 4000 in 1972, Sony Walkman 1979, Philips Compact Disc 1980, Tamagotchi (interactive computerized toy) 1996.

Typewriters: Underwood Typewriter No. 5 1900, IBM Selectric Typewriter 1961 and Olivetti Valentine Typewriter 1969.

Apple Macintosh 1984 resized 600

Apple Macintosh 1984

A variety of other great products also were developed in the 20th Century -  Raleigh Safety Bicycle 1905, Coca Cola Bottle 1915, Rolex Oyster Watch 1926, Zippo Lighter 1933, Parker 51 Fountain Pen 1941,Vespa Motor Scooter 1946, Tupperware 1946, Rolodex Rotary Card File 1952, Harley Davidson "Easy Rider" 1969, In-Line Skates 1980 and other interesting choices in this book.  Overall "Icons of Design The 20th Century" is a nice update - with color pictures, about 30 more years of great products to our two earlier book reviews and with more of a European point of view.

In-line Skates 1980

 In-Line Skates 1980

The 4th and 5th books we review on the greatest product designs have a very different format. The 4th book has nine categories of products. The fifth book goes more extensively (about 5 pages each) into the development of each of about 35 products.

Do you have a favorite book on industrial design prototypes, products or designers? Please let us know by posting a comment. If you have any questions or would like to discuss prototypes or other projects contact us at Model Builders, Inc. 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

 

Tags: product model, prototype, industrial designer, model builders, model maker, prototypes, model makers, prototype models, industrial design, product development, product models, model builder, industrial designers, prototype model

Industrial designers - 5 books on the greatest product designs

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Mon, Mar 11, 2013 @ 08:31 PM

"One Hundred Great Product Designs" by industrial designer Jay Doblin is the 1st of our 5 book reviews. Published in 1970 this book is a classic and sets the format for several similar books published later - products are in a chronological order, there is one large picture per product and there is a concise history of each product.

Doblin - One Hundred Great Products

The Industrial Age resulted in thousands of products based on whatever the machinery could make efficiently. Industrial designers starting in the 20th Century managed to create a much smaller number of very carefully designed mass produced products. Henry Drefyus, Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Gettes and other well known industrial designers were able to design the look of the future - often with streamlining and styling. In this book Jay Doblin takes us on a chronological journey of 100 great product designs from the 1742 Franklin Stove to 1965 Bell Trimline Telephone.

Jay Doblin went to Pratt Institute and was an executive designer with Raymond Loewy Associates from 1942 to 1955. For the next 14 years he was the director of the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. This book is the result of 10 years of research by the faculty at IIT in an effort "to find out which product designs were considered "great", and why". Only mass produced items designed, manufactured and distributed for sale were considered.

Some of the 100 Great Product Designs are:

Aircraft: Douglas DC-3 Airliner 1934, #51 Beechcraft Bonanza 1947, Sikorski S-58 Helicopter 1949 and #96 Learjet 1963.

Appliances: #19 Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner 1918, #35 Coldspot Refrigerator 1937, #42 Chemex Coffee Maker 1941, #49 Thermador Built-in Oven 1946, #73 General Electric Wall-hung Refrigerator and Kitchen Center 1954, #81 Frigidaire Fold-back Surface Cooking Burners, 1955, #82 NuTone Built-in Mixer 1955, #84 Braun KM3 Kitchen Machine 1957, #86 Frigidaire Sheer Look Major Appliances 1957 and #89 Tappen 400 Range 1958.

Toastmaster toaster 1938

Automobiles: #13 Rolls-Royce 1907, #14 Fort Model T 1908, #30 La Salle 1935, #32 Cord 810 1936, #36  Volkswagen 1937, #38 Lincoln Continental 1939, #43 Willy's Jeep 1941, #45 Cisitalia 1946, #54 Studebaker 1947, #55 MG Model TC 1948, #57 Porsche 3561952, #70 Studebaker 1953, #77 Citroen DS-19 1955 and #97 Ford Mustang 1964.

Cameras: #8 Kodak Brownie Camera 1900, #20 Leica Camera 1925, #32 Bolex H-16 Motion-Picture Camera 1936, #53 Hasselblad 500C and #57 Polaroid Land Camera 1948. 

China: #23 Arzberg China 1931, #33 American Modern Dinnerware 1937 and #44 Castleton Museum White Dinnerware 1946.

Typewriters: #29 Hermes Portable 1935, #63 Olivetti Lettera 1950 and #93 IBM Selectric 1961.

Hough Payloader

Industrial designer Jon W. Hauser from engineering firm Barnes & Reinecke updated the design and appearance of the Hough Payloader to reflect its superior performance. This proved that "integrated design and engineering could increase sales and pride of ownership in heavy-duty equipment."

Model Builders, Inc. was fortunate to work starting in 1950 with many notable industrial designers such as Jon W. Hauser, Raymond Loewy, Richard Latham and Dave Chapman.  One model we built was a 1/4 scale Hough Payloader that duplicated all the hydraulic actions of the front end loader by using minature cylinders and a new reversible pump unit.  The Hough Payloader model was a hit with potential customers at tradeshows and was written up in detail on two pages in the December 1956 issue of Applied Hydraulics magazine. Another project was creating two full size prototype seats and the custom ashtray prototypes for Raymond Loewy's Scenicruiser bus. The Greyhound logo and Scenicruiser bus are excellent examples of Loewy's styling and streamlining designs.

Greyhound Scenicruiser resized 600

Doblin thought most of the current design then was "commercial and vulgar" but "the future had possiblities for excellence". He saw that the combination of what he called intellectronics and automation was producing abundant supplies with less labor and that cities were becoming centers of information handling, not manufacturing. Doblin included #87 the IBM RAMAC Computer 1957 with its disc storage in this book. He thought the computer would help man control increasingly complex systems and "result in a brighter, more rational world where cooperation replaces competition." Power would be based on knowledge and that would make education more important for everyone.

"One Hundred Great Product Designs" is a classic book that captures the impact that industrial designers made on mass produced products. The list first appeared on pages 135-141 of the April 1959 issue of Fortune magazine http://www.fulltable.com/vts/f/fortune/design/a.htm  along with a interesting explanation of how the list was selected. What makes this book exceptional is the carefully written explanation of the design significance of each product.

Do you have a favorite book on industrial design prototypes, products or designers? Please let us know by posting a comment. If you have any questions or would like to discuss prototypes or other projects contact us at Model Builders, Inc. 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

 

 

Tags: construction equipment models, product model, prototype, industrial designer, model builders, model maker, prototypes, prototype models, industrial design, product development, product models, model builder, industrial scale model, industrial designers, prototype model

Why do industrial designers use a model maker?

Posted by Hal Chaffee on Mon, Mar 04, 2013 @ 10:39 PM

Industrial designers hire a model shop or use an in-house model shop to build physical prototypes of new products and other ideas. Knowledge of prototyping, materials and manufacturing techniques enable the model maker to refine an idea from two dimensions into a physical model that turns that idea into a product.

Here are 8 reasons why industrial designers use model shops:

1) Reality. As stated on page 132 in the 1947 book "Design for Business" by J. Gordon Lippincott

  "Before any design goes into mass production, a full scale model should be made and, if at all feasible, an operating model.  The costs of tooling, merchandising and advertising are so great that any economies gained by skipping the model-making step are more than offset by the greater risk of producing an article that lacks consumer acceptance through failures in styling or function.

Renderings are particularly misleading and should serve only the function of stimulating new, fresh, creative thinking.  In other words renderings are only the expressions of the idea stage.  As soon as a proposed form for a new product has been selected, models should be produced - in full scale wherever possible or practical. Half and quarter-scale models are completely misleading because most people do not have the ability to appreciate changes in scale.  A molding on a quarter-scale model of a refrigerator may look perfectly satisfactory, but when the same design is enlarged to full scale, the molding will be completely out of proportion  - usually too large."

Raymond Loewy ashtray

Raymond Loewy stainless steel ashtray prototype for the 1954 Greyhound Scenicruiser bus

2) Capability. The industrial designer usually needs a model maker that has a shop with a variety of capabilities including machining, rapid prototyping, woodworking and finishing work such as sanding and painting. The space, machinery and model making talent needed to produce the industrial designer's prototypes and appearance models are simply too expensive to do at the industrial designer's location unless there is a constant volume of work to do.

The larger industrial design firms like IDEO and large companies like Steelcase tend to have an in-house model shop to create prototypes and appearance models. However for peak loads of work, special expertise or equipment, and a short run of parts they may use an independent model shop.

3) Expertise in materials. Professional model makers know from practical experience what materials may best meet the demands of the designer's intentions and the conditions a product will face. 

RAYOVAC ROUGHNECK flashlight

RAYOVAC ROUGHNECK flashlight - adjusts from Spot to Flood

4) Speed. Initial prototypes may be quicker if made in thin acrylic or styrene with vacuum forming.  Rapid prototyping is also used to create quick prototypes once the computer CAD work is done.  Machining plastic or metal is often the best way to create the final model since there usually can be much finer detail, more durable material and less finishing work. 

5) Product development. The initial design is tested with potential customers to see how well the product design works. Sometimes the product when held doesn't feel balanced. Many prototypes may have to be built and tested sequentially with changes before the product is ready to sell in the marketplace. Design is a collaborative process and model makers help the industrial designer perfect his craft.

prototype welding handle

Bernard welding handle final prototype

6) Appearance. A passion to do finishing work, the right grit of sandpaper, the right primer, the right shade of paint, a gloss, semi-gloss or flat finish often determine the success of a new product. The texture and finish must be the same as the final product. We hired one model maker because he could produce a flawless high gloss black finish on a wood base 10" high X 48" X 96". Sometimes industrial designers specify a specific model maker because of his or her superior finishing work.

7) Testing. Sometimes a design looks good on paper but doesn't work right when a prototype is built. The best model makers have the mechanical and electrial skills to help solve those problems.

8) Imagination. You never know when someone else's imagination, expertise, experience or knowledge may improve a product design. Model makers at in-house shop usually have a great knowledge of a particular product's history and techniques that were used to make that type of product.

Independent model shops often have a broad range of experience and may bring in new ideas from their diverse experiences.  At our independent model shop we sometimes find ourselves delving into a dusty two volume set of books titled "Ingenious Mechanisms For Designers and Inventors" that was first published in 1930 with chapter titles like "Intermittent Motion" to create special mechanical motions for a new product. Mechanisms in this book have already passed two important tests - (1) these are designs of mechanisms that will function properly and (2) they are simplified designs which normally are less costly to manufacture and more durable. This is just one example of the resources and experiences that model makers have. Last week we found a new nanotechnology based consumer product that removes and then prevents fingerprints on stainless steel.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss prototypes or other projects contact us at Model Builders, Inc. 773-586-6500 or info@modelbuilders.net .

 

 

 

 

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