Sprout hits the shops!

In the shops!

The good news is that the first batch of Sprout are being sold at a real life shop in the heart of Shoreditch. The place is called Type East and is located on Sclater street off Bricklane. More importantly, it is quite close to the newly opened 'Cereal Killers' breakfast bar which has split the opinions of hip-stirs all over London. By working with Type East, the product can be tested on strangers and the shop staff, Rich and Robin. Asking price is £20.




 

Packaging

 
Packaging

Two companies in China produced the packaging (sleeve and soil packet) and laser cut parts (wooden and plastic pot pieces). There were quality issues with the logo and the glued sleeved. Other work included buying the soil and seeds from a local shop near Columbia Road and weighing out the stuff into bags and small envelopes. The seed packets were labelled by Aindri showing a selection of Water cress and Marigold.

Sticker instructions v2

Instruction labels

Instructions shown on the right were printed on white stickers and stuck to the packet. Stamps made from a lino screen print kit were made up to label the different sections. This was difficult! 


Website

Work has started on the website using a template from Squarespace.com and will support a Kickstarter campaign. The photos below were taken inside and then edited in Photoshop with a blue filter to cancel out the yellow light from the lamp. Help also provided by 'O'. Taking good photos is difficult!

It's Sprouting! Updates on the Sprout development project.

I have been working with Andy on a new planter pot product called Sprout, a flat pack planter which will come in a neat DVD-sized packet with seeds, soil, sowing instructions and a wooden pot that is assembled by the user. Kind of like the IKEA of the planter world. It has been in development for the last couple of months (as a break from the job search...) and is slowly but surely bearing fruit. 

The London Hack Space - my new home?

I used the laser cutter at the London Hack Space, probably the coolest space around with numerous tools, gadgets and stuff, all for £15 per month membership, open 24/7 and a good atmosphere.

Soil comes in a packet

Some changes need to be made to this prototype including changing the sprue arrangements, cutting some more windows in the packaging, adding instructions, removing twine from the soil packet and adding an inlay to prevent the wood from warping. We will print the instructions inside the soil packet to save on paper. I wanted to use a plastic packet for the soil so that it could be seen from the side but as I wanted to avoid using plastic and minimise packaging, I decided to go for a thin card packet.

Working on a Kickstarter too and business plan (Andy's expertise!) and are on track at keeping the sale cost at around £10 each.

Bidoooo - update

In the last post I was chatting about Bidoooo and soon I will be releasing it to the wild in order to check whether it will actually satisfy a need. Oisin sent this great article for inspiration; 'How To Validate Your Business Idea By Testing A Hypothesis!' I thought I would start now with you, so please check out the landing page and let me know what you think: Bidoooo app

Cheers,
Bryan
hello@suiledesign.com
uk.linkedin.com/in/bryanoregan/

P.S. Know of any product development jobs in London for a MSc in engineering design?! Let me know!

Some work needing some work

This is the first thing I have written since coming to London. The change of pace from Copenhagen has been difficult to adapt too. Every time I step outside the door, it's some new adventure. As I look for jobs, I have been trying to work on some projects.

Ceramic cutter arm on top

Bottle cutter

There is an abundance of material which is sitting around and could be used to create anything e.g. aluminium cans, newspaper, bottles, fag butts (?)...I thought I would start with wine and beer bottles. With a little help from Instructables, I built version 1.0 of the Bottle Cracker because right now the glass keeps cracking. From Youtube I found that to break the glass, you pour boiling water on the crack, followed by cold water (keep doing it until the crack propagates). So far the results have not been great but I think I need to secure the cutter section more and fix the wheels.

Laser wooden pots

TopPot

Currently working with Andy on a plant pot for kids which comes flat packed with all the 'ingredients' (soil, seeds) and instructions. The idea is to get the kids involved to the point where they connect with the pot (not physically). Hoping to make a prototype soon.

Chair and table/foot rest

Furniture

So I had an interesting experience with a furniture company here in Shoreditch. Sadly, I parted ways as the job description was not what I expected. But I really like furniture and it was a cool company. The idea of modular furniture that packs away neatly (especially when you have a small living space) gives me great pleasure and joy.

This app...OHHHH this app!

Android development

I am no programmer but over the last few weeks I have been dabbling in some code using the online training platform codecademy.com. Tried the Python course and now I am working on HTML/CSS in order to redesign the City Music Tours website. I am very excited about working on apps and as I have a shitty Samsung, I thought I would try Android OS by following the Android Developer training instructions. This has proved to be a headache and at this point I have re-installed the ADT (Android Developer Tools) around 4 times. The funny thing is, the app worked fine the first time round. Hopefully with the help of a very intelligent programmer, I can get this Bidoooo app working.

Tiling

Red lines on white tile

After walking past a gallery in Mayfair and seeing some abstract art, I decided to have a go at it. I found some tiles in the house and did some abstract stuff. As my friend pointed out, most of that abstract stuff seems to sell according to size of the piece. This piece is 7m x 7m...any takers?

A puzzling process?

There are many issues to consider when trying to establish a method for solving open source problems. This is a new organisation, so there will be teething problems as we all try to create an effective solving process.   

Different work cultures, time differences, communication tools and member schedules need to be considered and are just as important as finding problems that interest and motivate responses from the group. At the first meeting we discussed what parameters should be considered in the selection of open source problems:

1. Subject - how should a problem be selected so that it would be interesting and engaging for members of the group with different backgrounds, skills and interests? To begin with, a selection of problems from Innocentive and NineSigma will be made at the discretion of the moderators and presented to the group.
2. Time - how much time should be dedicated to a problem? Submission deadlines are provided by the open innovation websites and group members will be notified.
3. Responsibility - who should have what responsibilities?
4. Communication - how should the solution be processed and presented?

The OIC solving process^BETA

OIC solving process

As a starting point we have developed a solving process with the following steps:

1. Present - a selection of problems is presented to the group
2. Group vote - users like or dislike the problem on LinkedIn group.
3. Brainstorm - share ideas, networking suggestions (who do you know who might help?) and ask questions! 
4. Delegate tasks - who does what and when for the next phase?
5. Homework - problem investigate and solution space created
6. Feedback/knowledge share - insights and potential solutions presented to the group
7. Define solution - Solution defined and tweaked
8. Submit proposal to website.

Coming up in the next post: a selection of open source problems for us to chew over.

Two hundred heads are better than one!

Introducing the Open Innovation Collective

There are hundreds of problems posted online by companies, governments and institutions which involve engineering, design, IT, chemical and other technical issues. Various websites exist including Nine Sigma and Innocentive which publish problems and seek solvers. By releasing the problem to the wild, the company has a bigger pool of potential solutions to choose from and can protect any IP through signed non-disclosure agreements. This type of open innovation is attractive to recent graduates because it allows us to use our skills, gain experience, potentially win rewards and make ourselves known to engineering companies. The company finds a solution and we have the opportunity to solve real world problems, promote ourselves in a competitive marketplace and attract the attention of potential employers. 

The Open Innovation Collective was founded in late 2013 by three fellow graduates from DTU, Bryan O'Regan, Marianne Skovborg Krog and Troels Theilby. The OIC has the following aims:

1. Develop an open innovation network of problem solving engineers and designers with members from all over Europe including Ireland, Denmark, Poland and France. Why not join the LinkedIn group and follow our updates? 
2. Select open source problems, present these to the network, develop solutions and solve challenges. If you are an expert in some area, why not pitch in and help solve a problem?  

Initially, communications will take place on the LinkedIn group page and Google Docs. In the next post, we will go through the problem selection process and hopefully, with some feedback from the group, define an effective solving technique.