During the autumn semester of 2022, I was a part of an Intermediate Industrial Design course, informally known as Winter Market. Winter Market covers the practical application of industrial design for the consumer marketplace with a hands-on studio format where we focused on sustainable design, ethnographic design research, and consumer houseware goods. In the first half of the semester, our 16-person cohort was split into teams of 2 where we worked on the research that we would "give" to a designated team. During the second half, we were handed over the research from another team, and we were to use it to produce houseware goods that would address an actionable insight. These houseware goods were sold at the Fifth Annual Design Winter Market on Wednesday, December 7th, 2022.
My team, Team E consisting of myself and my partner Katie Bush, was handed research from Team F, Chuck Backus and Danny Kraft, on sports and the experience of watching. Their actionable insight that we utilized is "How might design enhance the experience between the game and people that aren't watching in person?"
From there we spent a few weeks developing concepts, and on November 2nd we presented our two favorite concepts to a panel of judges. Here is our presentation:
Bring the game home!
I worked side by side with my teammate, Katie Bush.
We studied the sports focused research of Team F, Chuck and Danny.
We decided to come up with concepts based on the actionable insight “How might design enhance the experience between the game and the people that aren’t watching in person?”
Our objectives were to create a houseware good that addresses sustainability, connects to the research insight, and costs $100 or less to produce 10 or more.
The concepts that we came up with are a game time pillow and a game time Koozie.
Here is our timeline...
Starting Oct 7th, we began with a big brainstorm where we came up with 40+ ideas, then we expanded on 27...
Narrowed it to 13, and from 13 to 7...
From 7 to 3, and then we furthered developed the two concepts.
In using the ocean as a metaphor for objects as read in Johnathan Chapman’s book, Meaningful Stuff Design That Lasts, one can understand that there is the epipelagic zone…the most shallow and turbulent layer, where many basic products lie. However, there is also the hadal level…the deepest layer; its rarity and quietness represent meaning and experience that only few objects have. Therefore, our goal with these concepts was to create something deeply meaningful in the hadal level so the buyer will want to use it forever.
Our first concept is the game time pillow.
In looking at our market research analysis of other pillows on the market, some are personalized and more authentic but none of the ones we found sit at that deeper hadal level. Many sit in the range of $20-$60, so we had a great opportunity to create something sustainable and meaningful within this hadal and price range!
We started by exploring form and the different shapes that pillows can take and the differing functions they can have. We even experimented with a pillow that can change form. We decided that the pill/cylindrical shaped pillow had the most opportunity.
In addressing sustainability, we wanted to talk about the significance of the materials we decided to use. We were able to gain access to piles of Rawling’s sample apparel and balls. We were also able to gain some used Columbus crew apparel from a Columbus crew player himself. In addition, and more special, we were able to gain our recyclable stuffing from InReturn. InReturn is a non-profit organization focused on enriching the lives of individuals who have suffered from a neurological injury, disease or disorder by promoting independent living and personal success through job and life skill training. They work hand and hand with Resource One, a sustainability company that presents comprehensive, proactive waste management programs to reduce material, and maximize reuse.
We started the making process by establishing a standardized template for each pillow. We then cut apart the apparel and balls to match the template.
We then sewed together the pieces and completed special stitches to match the sport of the pillow.
Here is our prototype. Notice the tag, stuffing, and zipper...
The inside of the pillow will be filled with that recycled stuffing made of cellulose and polyethylene-terephthalate taken from companies that would have otherwise thrown it away and the material is grinded up to make it softer and consistent.
Here is our persuasive visual which points out some key features of the pillow…it features a long zipper to easily remove the stuffing case and wash for extended freshness, it highlights its unique cylindrical shape and length, and it points out the material it is made of, real jersey and football skin.
Next, we made some persuasive variations to show the judges that we can expand the topic to baseball and soccer materials which we had already experimented with. This is so that an extended range of sports fans can get their hands on our product.
Here is our user scenario which shows everything that we wanted the pillow to provide for the user.
This connects to our research because bringing game materials into the home in the form of a useful pillow elevates the game watching experience and helps make one feel like they are more connected to the sport.
Our branding would consist of a biodegradable paper sleeve on the outside of the pillow which would feature our logo, the winter market logo, and the story of our product. The pillow would also have a tag made of sports ball material with our logo and the winter market logo.
Our idea for the buying experience was that customers will get to take part in the making process at the winter market stand. They can heat stamp significant words into their tags or iron on Cricut cut words/numbers before purchasing.
Our budget…
At that point we wanted to sell 12 of those pillows for $40 each.
Next, we presented our second concept, the Gametime Koozie and all the important details that come with it...
In connecting to our research, this product would allow you to watch the game at home while keeping the game at your fingertips.
We asked our professional design judges how they wanted to bring the game home, and they chose the Gametime Pillow!
From here we spent more time fleshing out our product and making improvements, furthering our plan for "mass" production, and expanding on its use. This meant adding a stuffing case so that the cover could be removed and washed, and so that the stuffing could be removed to turn the cover into a bag. We added a strap that would cover the zipper for aesthetic, and to allow users to carry the cover as a bag. In addition, we decided to sell two versions of our pillow, a Baseball version and a Football version.
After making these adjustments, we decided to sell 10 of the pillows for $50 each.
When customers would approach our stand at Winter Market they could choose from a variety of pillows, with the same standardized sizing and features, but different color and material finishes. We hung the pillows on racks by their straps and attached chipboard tags to their straps. One side of the tag had a QR code noting "Scan Me" that leads customers to the Gametime Pillow website, which dives into the Pillows, detail, use, care, and advertisement!
The other side featured our logo, the Winter Market logo, and the $50 price tag.
Finally, we had a table stand that called out our customization workshop inside Hayes Hall. Customers could walk in with their pillow and get their names or any phrase they wanted Cricut cut (with vinyl) and ironed on to the strap of the pillow!
Our Winter Market Stand
Winter Market Items
Winter Market Items
Winter Market Set Up
Please click on this link to see the website that the QR-code takes customers to so they can see the details, use, and care of the product!
Here are images of the product and its features, along with our advertisement and details from the buying experience!
Reflection:
We were able to sell out of our Gametime Pillow during our Winter Market sale and raise a great deal of money for the Industrial Designer's Society of America (IDSA) OSU Chapter, which I currently lead as President.
Overall, throughout this project, I learned a great deal about interpreting research, completing market research, concept creation, prototyping, standardization, and mass production. I enjoyed getting to turn an insight into a product that will be in people's homes and enhance their game time experience. I look forward to strengthening this process and the skills I have learned!