At ROBRADY, we love to foster an atmosphere of learning into our studio and encourage the growth of creativity and innovation within our community. In early August, ROBRADY participated in a job shadowing program with the STEM program at Booker High School. Samuel Hicks, a math teacher participating in the program, spent a week working with the ROBRADY team learning about our creative process. He shadowed our Mechanical Design, Industrial Design, CNC, and Rapid Prototyping teams to learn how each discipline adds to the creative process. Mr. Hicks is hoping to take what he learned at our studio back to his classroom and help his students implement workplace skills into their school projects. Below is a letter from Samuel Hicks about his experience at ROBRADY:

Dear Mr. Brady,

I was impressed with the world-class performance of your company. Etched in my mind are the flawless presentations and detailed explanations of basic company operations. The employees were very accommodating and genuinely hospitable. It was rewarding to meet well informed professionals who took time to skillfully share their craft with a public school instructor.

Thank you for your time and willingness to host me as a teacher extern. I observed a variety of skills and job competencies that many of the students in my STEM Math class can easily attain. This intriguing experience with ROBRADY will enable me to relate other relevant real-world examples to help students understand the connection between the classroom and the workplace skills necessary for success.  The current industry knowledge I obtained last week and the project-based learning model we are implementing will assist students as they prepare to make a smooth transition to college and future careers.

The impact of what you do was evident in the eyes of students I saw touring your facility. What an inspiration! I appreciate the role ROBRADY is playing to insure bright futures for both students of Booker High School and the citizens here in the local Sarasota community. We anticipate positive interaction with your representative who will sit on our advisory committee. The committee will speak to project teams, offer advice for projects, serve as judges, and coordinate plant field trips. As the school year approaches expect to hear from us.

Sincerely

Samuel Hicks
STEM Math Teacher
Booker High School

Historically inventors have had limited options to develop an idea into an invention.  They either have to purchase the necessary equipment and materials and possess the technical know-how to build their invention, or they have to hire an individual or company to do the work for them. These options will take time, energy and resources that they may not have.

GWIZ in Sarasota is now revolutionizing the innovation process. They have launched a global, state-of-the-art personal fabrication lab that is open to the public.. The Fab Lab gives inventors access to bring their creations to life, opening the door so anyone, even a child, can bypass the traditional barriers to see an idea become an invention.

Molly Morgan, the director of GWIZ shares with us the latest and greatest addition to GWIZ along with her background and plans for the Faulhaber Fab Lab:

Q: What drew you to G-WIZ and subsequently the Fab Lab?
I have always loved science and the non-profit sector. After switching from the path of veterinarian medicine to the arts I pursued a career in non-profit management. That track led me to Sarasota and in turn to the opportunity of being the director of GWIZ.

The opportunity of combining both of my passions to run a science center is what drew me to GWIZ. When the most frequent assessment of your organization is “that’s really cool,” you know you’re in the right business. The mission of GWIZ – The Science Museum is to be the gateway for lifelong adventures in science but the overriding agenda behind the mission is to ignite imaginations… to show that the world around us is amazing, breathtaking and full of unanswered questions. My personal mission is to make geeks the cool kids in school and informal education facilities can make that happen. The idea of the Fab Lab was one that I was introduced to by Dr. Faulhaber. We share the passion of hands-on science education and what better way to expose people to science than empowering our community through personal fabrication.

Q: What is your vision for the future?
My vision is quality, quality, quality. I see the name GWIZ being synonymous with science, technology, engineering and math education throughout Sarasota County and the state of Florida.

Q: How did the Fab Lab come about?
A lot of hard work, creative thinking and generosity. We re-purposed our east wing from being the admin section of our building to a state of the art fabrication lab open to the public.

Q: What is the mission of the Fab Lab?
The Faulhaber Fab Lab’s mission is to spark innovation, collaboration, and creative problem-solving through alternative, ‘hands-on,’ learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering, design, and math.

Q: Do you have plans to join the global Fab Lab community? If so, how would you interact with other Fab Labs around the world?
The Faulhaber Fab Lab is currently connected with the global community of Fab Labs as well as the United States network. There are several conferences each year for Fab Labbers and we make sure that GWIZ is represented at the conf. We also participate on the web network and share best practices.

Q: As a huge asset to the educational community, do you plan to partner with local schools and universities? What would that look like?
YES! We are working with the Sarasota and Manatee school districts to provide access to students through our area through field trips and after-school activities in the Lab. We are also partnering with universities and colleges in the area to make the lab available for all students whether studying architecture at USF Tampa or art at Ringling College. The more the merrier!

As a product development studio we look forward to the fantastic innovation that will come from local talented and imaginative individuals!

ROBRADY design stresses a comprehensive speed-to-market plan by collaborating to identify the greatest areas of opportunity and producing profitable product solutions.

ROBRADY delivers design, production, and capital solutions to its clients in support of their research-to-reality philosophy.Chaos Group provides state of the art rendering solutions for architectural, VFX, film, media and entertainment, automotive design, television and other industries.

What more can you tell us about the ROBRADY work environment? Do you work as a team or individually? Do you work in a big open space or in separate offices ? Is ROBRADY a fun place to work?
ROBRADY is an incredible place to work, and a lot of that comes from the open environment. There are no walls between the departments, industrial designers work across the aisle from the mechanical designers, which promotes the collaborative process. All projects are worked on as a team, with industrial and mechanical designers contributing at all design stages.

THE INSPIRATION
Who worked on the DBO Electric Folding Bicycle project and what is their experience in both the industry and with ROBRADY?
The concept work was a collaboration between the Design Director Rob Brady, Senior Industrial Designer Erik Holmen, Industrial Designers Andre Minoli and Antonio Molinari, and Senior Mechanical Designer David Poirier. Each designer has extensive experience in the transportation and power sports industries and has been with ROBRADY for several years. While ROBRADY has been active in this market space for decades, this was the first complete bicycle project for the team. Once the concept level 3D models were completed, they were handed off to partner DK City’s team of production engineers for the next phase.

How did the DBO Electric Folding Bicycle idea originate ? Why was it chosen as a project for ROBRADY? And how/why did DK City and ROBRADY team up for this project?
The relationship between DK City and ROBRADY was put together by an expert in the electric bicycle field – he believed that the two companies would make a great team. The DBO bike project simply started out as an exercise to design a new folding electric bicycle DK’s expanding lineup of products.

From idea to physical product, how long did this project take to create?
The industrial design phase for ROBRADY starting in May 2009, and completed in August of 2009. There were some production design modifications that took place through January 2010.

THE BACKSTAGE EXPERIENCE
How did ROBRADY use V-Ray for Rhino in this project? Why did you choose V-Ray to visualize this project? And how did V-Ray help in the production?
ROBRADY uses V-Ray for Rhino in all rendering animation applications. The quality level of the renderings is a huge asset when communicating a design to the client. Once of the nicest features of V-Ray is the ability to launch DRSpawner on multiple networked machines in the studio, drastically cutting down on render time.

What was the biggest challenge in creating the DBO Electric Folding Bicycle?
The biggest challenge centered around the folding aspect of the folding bicycle. We wanted to make a design that, at a distance, looked like a folding bike. But you have to work very carefully to make the design function and articulate correctly. It took close collaboration between ID and MD to make sure the concept was groundbreaking but feasible for production.

How long has the team at ROBRADY been using V-Ray for Rhino?
The V-Ray software has been the sole render engine at ROBRADY for about 4 years.

CUSTOMER BENEFITS
Will you share some of the V-Ray settings you used in the DBO Electric Folding Bicycle studio images?
Absolutely, the settings we use are actually very simple. We start with the standard high quality setting, and set the lighting and reflection maps to a studio HDRI environment. This is the regular setup for most renderings the studio does. We will sometimes change the lighting/reflection map depending on the subject matter, but when rendering products and vehicles, I rarely have to change the core settings.

What V-Ray features did you find most useful when rendering the DBO Electric Folding Bicycle?
The ability to map reflections and lighting is extremely useful, but the distributed rendering has to be the best feature as it has saved us countless hours of render time. The ability to use the engine with the Bongo animation plug-in was huge in communicating the folding qualities of the bike.

What are some upcoming projects in which you will rely on V-Ray for rendering?
Every project that enters the studio requiring a 3D model will be rendered with V-Ray.

As seen on the Chaos Group website. Chaos Group provides state of the art rendering solutions for architectural, VFX, film, media and entertainment, automotive design, television and other industries.

When Dr. Stephen Lee first approached ROBRADY design with his concept for a product that eliminates menstrual discomfort within minutes, we knew we were on the verge of something unprecedented. Dr. Lee’s concept was radically different from typical ROBRADY projects like the Vectrix Electric Superbike, the Segway or Xtools. These, and other projects for companies like Parker-Hannifin, Mercedes and Dell had a certain level of…well, testosterone. We did not let that intimidate us. In fact, we were intrigued by the challenge. We saw the spark of something great in Dr. Lee’s idea and we wanted to create something amazing from that spark.

We believe we have done that with Ziivaa.

After speaking with Stephen and seeing his original mockup, ROBRADY Founder Rob Brady knew there was more to Ziivaa than just another woman’s product. “Ziivaa goes beyond replacing pills or eliminating side effects, it puts control of a woman’s life back in her own hands,” says Brady.

Brady realized his vision was bigger than a single product concept. A passionate, focused team collaborated at the ROBRADY studio to develop the state-of-the-art product and much, much more. The development of Ziivaa grew into the design of a progressive company—dedicated to creating a dynamic solution for empowering women to live their best lives.

A Capital Idea
Firmly convinced of Ziivaa’s commercial and consumer potential, Brady also decided to make the venture a cornerstone of the newly formed ROBRADY capital division.

In a demonstration of their commitment to Ziivaa, ROBRADY capital has put the full force of its time and resources behind Ziivaa in order to guarantee that Ziivaa is brought to market by capable hands. Very soon, women around the world will be able to live better lives, free from the limitations of menstrual discomfort.

The Innovative Edge
The ROBRADY team is enthusiastic about innovative ideas that improve lives through imagination and execution. “Ziivaa is a perfect case study for what our group does,” says Brady. “We design fantastic companies that produce fantastic products.”

Achieving a great fit sometimes means stepping beyond one’s comfort zone. Rob Brady is a man with the right experience and expertise, educated at Auburn University and the Art Center College of Design. He has two decades of hands-on, integrative experience, where he has honed his design skills and the ability to create and deliver the “Innovative Edge,” time and time again.

The Ziivaa challenge, however, required something more of us. “With Ziivaa, I had to look beyond my usual design instincts and open myself to a different voice… an exclusively female voice.” Consulting with female employees, focus groups and women in his own household, Brady realized these new voices were blending to form a unique and ultimately perfect result.

“At the time, Ziivaa was a real challenge, a real departure,” reflects Brady. “But that’s what innovation is all about.”

Stay tuned. This story is just beginning.

Q. Of the experience you have gained managing different projects and teams, how does that contribute to managing a diverse team like ROBRADY?

Q. What do you think is the most important part of the design process?
In the last question I spoke a lot about making mistakes. I think failure is a hugely underrated part of the design process. The key is “failing early and often” and then building upon those failures to generate a positive outcome. The key is not making the same mistakes twice. This sounds really negative, but in practice its how design gets done. You try something, it doesn’t work/fit/feel/look right, and so you make an adjustment and try again. Soon you have a solution that has been proven out during the design process. Then, when you implement this solution your chances of success are far greater than if you didn’t go through this iterative design process. The biggest challenge is understanding that this is not a linear process. Many times an early failure sends you off on a completely different track. Most designers understand this intuitively but most business people want to know why we didn’t just do that the first time?

Q. What do you like and dislike about your design related education? Was it worth it?
My educational experience is a bit unique. I entered Industrial Design school right out of high school in 1990. The first two years of my education were a blast. I was like a sponge soaking up everything I was being taught. But by my third year I was starting to struggle with figuring out how all of this stuff was going to come together and create a meaningful career for me. Right about that time I landed a summer job that turned into a 16 year career. In 2009 I returned to ID school to finish my last year and get my diploma. That was a terrific experience! I really enjoyed sharing classes with the up and coming generation of designers and learning about the way they view the World. My biggest frustration was how little real world experience design school provides towards preparing students to enter the workplace. So yes, it was worth it but not for the obvious reasons. The skills I learned in school have more to do with what I took out of the experience than what was on the curriculum. I just wish I had had that revelation 18 years ago!

As Design Manager at ROBRADY, Donovan manages the daily activities of the studio. He came to ROBRADY from Techtronic Industries, where he was the brand manager for the Ryobi TEK4 line of electronic tools. Prior to that he built and managed the in-house design team at Griffin Technology, the world’s largest Apple accessory brand. Donovan has an Industrial Design degree from Auburn University and has spent the last 18 years building and managing award winning design teams.

Fun Fact: During a school assembly in 4th grade I was misbehaving with some friends by making chicken clucking sounds while the Principal was talking. She heard me and called me up on stage to make my sounds for the whole school in hopes of embarrassing me and teaching me a lesson. Armed with a microphone, I went to town and the whole assembly quickly degenerated into a cacophony of barnyard sounds and laughing. After spending the rest of the day in the Principal’s office I was then assigned the lead role in the upcoming Christmas play.

Q. What do you think is the most important skill to have in order to compete in the graphic design field?

There are a few other skills I think are extremely important, and also help you in your collaboration. Time management is key, if you can’t juggle multiple projects, and stay on deadline, then neither can your team. Communication can be the difference between a client making a good decision and a bad decision, or your design team hitting the mark, you have to be able to say why you did what you did, or communicate the needs of the project to other designers in order to succeed. And, finally, their is the ability to adapt your style to needs of the client or project. A product geared towards women fifty-five and older shouldn’t look like it was designed for 18 year old men. Sometimes compromises need to be made in your personal style to create a successful design.

Q. What do you take inspiration from?
Everything. But no seriously, everything. Whether it be a color palette from a photograph to a design style used for a product package, I find it everywhere. It tends to really get influenced based on projects I am currently working on, but I am constantly on the lookout for interesting designs, interfaces and user experiences that work and that don’t work. I have also found that I have been learning more from things that fail than from things that succeed. Sure, everyone knows the experience of un-boxing an Apple product is clean, simple and well designed, but what about their competitors, how do they do it and what makes them as successful, or less successful, this generally leads to better ideas on how to succeed, but not just be another ‘me too’ product. The other thing I like to do when looking for inspiration for a specific project is look at things in a completely different market space, designing for print? Look for inspiration in the digital realm, and vice versa. Competitive (same market space) and comparative (different market space or medium) research can lead to more differentiated concepts.

Q. What products or designs have really impressed you lately?
Well, we have been doing a lot of packaging recently, and I have seen some really sweet designs during our research. One of the ones that sticks out to me is the Beats line of headphones by Monster. I think the branding is well done, and very consistent across the products, from the packaging to the in store POP. Also the packaging fits the price points of the product. The expensive Pros package feels like a $400 product belongs in it while the lower end $100 tours maintain the feel of high end even though they use different materials. Also they didn’t miss any details in the product that ties it all together, from the red cables to the laser etching its all a cohesive brand experience. I think they really hit the mark.

I was born in Silver Springs Maryland in ‘78. I have lived in Oklahoma, Maryland, Delaware and Florida. I am a Graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design with a BA in Graphic and Interactive Communication, with a minor in Photography. I have been a member of the ROBRADY team for almost eight years and am currently the Graphic Design Director.

Fun Fact: I was taught to throw a football and play chess by a midshipmen in the Navy that my family sponsored when we lived in Maryland. I throw a decent football and I have a terrible late game in chess.

Whether it is the name of your product, the sales pitch or the instruction manual, words are critically important. They have the power to drive clients and customers to your product or away from it.

Take for example the Volkswagen Toureg SUV. Besides being a word whose pronunciation can be confusing, its meaning is something far from what the VW marketing department intended. To them, Toureg conjured images of a rough and tumble people surviving rough environments. But in reality, the word is more commonly associated with political rebellion by a stateless, Kurd-like tribe.

Adding insult to injury, Toureg literally means “Abandoned by God.” Thus, what was intended to suggest a dependable, rugged vehicle actually turned the Almighty into sort of an anti-spokesdeity.

But effective copywriting is more than just finding accurate and coherent words; it’s also about finding just the right words that speak to the audience’s hearts as well as their minds.

Consider the following word: flame. You think of fire. The word conjures an idea of heat and perhaps brings to mind the image of a lighter or campfire.

Now try: inferno. It also denotes fire. But it also connotes very different imagery and associations. The cigarette lighter is now a furnace; the friendly campfire becomes a raging forest fire or perhaps an image of Hell itself.

While tangible materials are chosen because of the strength, flexibility, conductivity and efficiency they bring to a design, carefully chosen and well-crafted words exhibit all of these traits simultaneously and communicate a rich, multi-sensory message. In contrast, poorly chosen words convey only one message: marketplace failure.

And in the 21st century, words are called on to reach machines as well as people. With search engines like Google and Bing scouring the internet for keywords, Search Engine Optimization or SEO (which is another way of saying “choosing the perfect words”) means the difference between a high ranking, which gives your website visibility at the top of the results list, and a low ranking which buries your website at the bottom.

What is written about a product not only introduces it and educates the consumer about how it functions, it also distinguishes the product from the competition both on the web and on the shelf. Words have the power to inspire consumers, evoke an emotional and even visceral reaction that leads to sales, strong brand identity and customer loyalty. This is why copywriting is an important consideration in design: it provides information but also generates heat.

John Edwards graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with an M.A. in professional writing in 1996. Following grad school, he moved to Los Angeles, performing a variety of roles from location manager to writer and producer. His experience in the entertainment industry ranges from internet startups to major studios. Currently, he lives in the Bay Area and works as a writer for Digital Frontiers Media (http://digitalfrontiersmedia.com) as well as doing freelance work.

As the Design4 Conference draws closer, the conversation of “what do you Design4?” is one that I have been having with a variety of designers around the country. From creating a system for transporting clean water in third world countries, to solving more local challenges such as humanizing products in the U.S., people design for a variety of reasons. This past week, I spoke with Rob Brady of ROBRADY design on what he designs for.

For Brady, what gets him up each morning is the dynamic series of events in getting a product to market. “Trying to get products designed and developed, then to actually get them to market,” he says. “It’s a real noble effort because if you can do all that and then get it to market with a handsome margin, then the company, of which you are working through, prospers, which means that all the people who go to work there prosper, which means all the kids get to go to college or they get the house or they pay off their bills.” He says this based off seeing both sides of that paradigm, from companies shutting down entire departments after the bill of materials for a project skyrocketed, losing the product. “To me, it’s been an emotional connection, wanting to be successful with fantastic products, because I believe that a fantastic product will survive anything.”

After discovering the field of Industrial Design, Brady realized it was something he had been doing his whole life. Building GoKarts, different vehicles, and other mechanisms as a kid, he was not far off from the work he does today. From the Vectrix electric bike to The GMP LifeSync (R) Wireless ECG System, ROBRADY design has dabbled in a wide array of fields, designing everything from industrial and consumer products to medical and marine tools.

“What’s beautiful about Industrial Design is that you can stay within Industrial Design, but jump from designing vehicles to designing jet boats to medical products to industrial products to consumer electronics; it’s incredibly diverse,“ says Brady.

In the evolution of his own career, Brady found himself further and further from that hands-on design process vetted in creative problem solving as the company grew larger. “I really had to battle with that for a while; what I came to realize was as I was taking on more of the contractual business, the growth elements, what I really love is creativity. If we’re doing business and we’re trying to set up a new opportunity, or a new studio like at the University of Florida, it’s about the creative aspect of making that deal work that really charges me.”

Over time, that passion for creativity only grew. As of lately, Brady finds himself excited about the ‘humanizing’ of design. “So many companies come to us with new technologies; what’s really needed is to humanize that technology. Fuel cells, as an example, electric vehicles, bring new challenges back to the same human being.” Currently in studio, Brady finds himself solving performance, medical, and ergonomic challenges in the realm of Ziivaa, their latest design venture.

“We’re challenged with trying to solve what’s necessary from a humanizing standpoint, with those new products, and that’s what makes it so exciting.”

Carly Ayres is an undergraduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design, student representative to the Industrial Design department, and co-founder of RISD-ID.ORG.

Syndicated from: IDSA

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Q. What fascinates you in building prototypes?
The most fascinating part of building prototypes is that the nature of our work forces us to research, explore, experiment, learn, and develop innovative models day in and day out. Just as products are redesigned and developed so are the materials and processes used in the fabrication. There is very little mundane or repetitive when creating the variety of prototypes found in the concepts developed in the ROBRADY Prototype Lab.

Q. What’s your favorite material to work in?
That’s a tough one; I have always had a passion for woodworking, but enjoy working with any material that allows forgiveness; wood, plastics, and modeling boards.  All of these materials can be utilized in an additive or subtractive process during modeling. I also enjoy the material that is unknown, or new to me; using unknown materials allows the team to explore, learn, and recognize applications where something new and different can be introduced.

Q. What’s a typical designer’s toolkit for you?
This varies depending on the project and could be as small and simple as Exacto blades, 5 minute epoxy, a Dremel and bits, or a variety of drawing tools; rulers, guides, compass, protractor and templates. Other times we work with tools as large as a table saw, Mig welder, or Bridgeport mill. Occasionally projects require us to create custom tools, if I had to limit myself to one tool; it would have to be a good sanding block.

Q. What do you carry around and can’t live without?
Mastercard.

Q. How did you discover you had a talent in design?
I dropped out of the University of Washington School of Business, and enrolled in the School of Art. During my second semester of pre-requisites my 3-D Design professor told me I was a natural for Industrial Design. At the time I didn’t even know what Industrial Design was, the more I learned the more I enjoyed the experience of product development.

Ryan Donahue is a Sarasota native and Graduate from the University of Washington, with a BFA in Industrial Design. He has been working in the Design industry for 8+ years. When Ryan’s not working you can find him fishing, running, snow skiing, and/or just about anything outdoors.

For students and recent graduates, participating in an internship is an excellent way to shape and plan for a successful career. Not everything can be taught in a classroom or learned from a book, making interning an excellent vehicle for introducing those new to the workforce to a level of experience they may not otherwise be able to gain.

Why intern? The experience you’ll gain will improve your skills, build your resume and network of contacts, and increase the likelihood that you’ll have a job upon graduation. You can apply classroom learning to the workplace, as you develop related work experience. A chance to try out one’s interests, values, and abilities in a work setting, as you develop and enhance your professional skills. Other skills like leadership, analytical thinking, communication and interpersonal skills are best learned on the job. By interning, one can experience firsthand what someone in a given career does each day. You’ll work on real projects, interact with real clients, and participate as a full member of the team. Your opinions will be valued, and your contributions will make a difference. Not only can you apply what you learn in the classroom to the real world, but you can also take those experiences back into the classroom. You will gain valuable experience that will help you in the future.

Am I ready for the real world? You need experience to get a job, and you need a job to gain experience. If you haven’t worked in a company yet, you’re not prepared to choose a job after graduation. You need to gather insight and get an inside glimpse of the industry before working in it. It will expose you to a different way of thinking and working. In fact, it may be difficult to compete for the best jobs if you haven’t completed an internship yet. When you get job interviews, employers will be more impressed to see you have practical experience rather than just classroom experience. Most companies will actually hire successful interns over candidates they’ve just met. If you succeed and excel in your internship, you’ll definitely have a competitive edge over the other applicants. So try and get an internship in a company that you would want to work in after you graduate. An internship is also ideal for recent graduates who have been experiencing difficulty breaking into their dream industry. The experience you’ll gain will make you much more attractive.

Emily is a New Yorker new to the South and the real world. Graduated from Pratt Institute with a  BFA in Advertising this past May. She is currently interning at ROBRADY design.