We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer about their original and creative design work. is an award-winning creative designer, that makes our world a better place with their original works.
("") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work . Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
: We wanted the design to be timeless and elegant; a design that communicates safety and peacefulness while seamlessly fitting in with the surroundings. Being a baby care product, it was important to us that the design appeals to babies as well as adults both of whom come into contact with the product on a regular basis when it’s being used.
: Our focus was to breathe fresh air into this category of products. We felt very strongly that even if the product was high-tech, the design didn’t need to be cold. We wanted our design to be striking, to stand out, and yet be comforting and eye-pleasing.
: We’re delighted to have won this prestigious award, and plan to take full advantage of the award in our marketing and PR.
: We spent quite a bit of time identifying different designs that we liked to help the designers to come up with different options for the concept, but in the end it came together quickly once we saw the beginnings of the design that eventually came to be Star. All in, it took about three months to design the concept and then it was a matter of finalising the mechanical design based on the electronics needs.
: Behind the whole product concept, a “better” baby monitor, is a real mom and dad team, who after identifying a need for a new product, then sought to house it in a design that supported their inspiration. The design work was commissioned to Desigence Oy, Finland with excellent results.
: Our aim has been to manufacture the product ourselves, but as we expand our business onto different products, we are open to different options in different markets. Companies interested in leasing the production rights are encouraged to get in touch to discuss different options.
: This project is rooted in real parents’ drive to create a unique baby monitoring system that enables parents to do more than monitor their child; to also measure, share and stay connected anytime, from anywhere, with any connected device.
: Customers’ aspiration/vision, product positioning on the market, baby product segment, users (mom, dad, baby), competitive products.
: Parents, especially first-time parents whose child is 0-2 years of age.
: We like to think our design is different from others in that it communicates warmth, classical beauty and a sense of calm all at the same time.
: We named our design Star, because to us, Star means something that’s soothing to gaze at, something that piques the interest and feeds the imagination. We also liked the idea of a peaceful night sky, where Star can help a parent and child communicate better while the rest of the world sleeps.
: Team meetings: workshops & design reviews, concepting tools (pencil & paper), 3D cad & rendering tools (e.g. Alias, Bunkspeed, Adobe software products), rapid prototypes, mock-up models.
: The design's 'stomach' actually helps improve the quality of the transmitted audio.
: Internally: usability designer, industrial designer, mechanical designer, graphics designer, project manager. Externally: software people and customer.
: No tech = no product. What was very important to us right from the start was that the product communicates warmth and isn’t cold, even if it can’t exist without technology.
: Yes. Early on, we set out to understand the numbers in the market segment (e.g. number of babies/possible penetration, product price/position on the market, technical capability analysis). Also, to ensure acceptance of the product concept we arranged two focus groups in London and Manchester in the UK and one in Helsinki, Finland early on to get valuable feedback that we could then take into account in the product design as well as marketing.
: There were some challenges relating to the electronics, for example the speaker and the infrared, but in the end we feel that the re-design work resulted in an even more coherent looking design.
: We've always been proud of our design, but it's been the overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve received from the field – other designers, other manufacturers, retailers, parents, grandparents etc. that convinced us that our design has the potential for something really great. We researched the different awards that exist and entered the A’Design Awards because they are so well known and trusted: we wanted to set the bar high. We thought that for an award to be worth having, it would have to be an important internationally recognised award. We’re really honoured to have been awarded Gold with our first entry.
: We’ve become completely convinced that technology really can help in all areas of life, and that today’s modern parents are definitely ready for next generation in baby monitoring. What we’ve learned about the market itself is that there’s major differences in the penetration of these types of devices in different countries: far more parents in the UK buy baby monitors than, for example, in Finland. Also, there are clear country specific preferences for baby monitoring devices, but the overall shift seems to be towards more technically capable devices that can be operated remotely. Relating to remote use, going forward it will be important for us to analyse also other user segments, for example the potentially interesting segment of soldiers.
: All along, we’ve been proud of our design and delighted every time it’s been complimented. With this important recognition it really does seem like the sky's the limit. We couldn’t be more pleased with how the project has turned out, and look forward to making ‘Star’ commercially available later in 2016.
