Game on!

Spring training in Arizona makes for the perfect Juggernaut outing!

Since the construction of the Salt River Fields stadium 2 years ago (few miles from our office), we’ve gone as a group every year to catch a game for the afternoon.  Nice to be out together in the beautiful weather, drinking some beers, and enjoying some down time in front of a casual baseball game.

CES 2013 - part 2



Parrot Zik Headphones



Another observation from my visit to CES the year was seeing more touch interfaces.  The Zik headphones by Parrot have touch-sensitive controls on the right earpiece.  This is a slick way of navigating through your playlist and works fairly well too.  Our phones today have transitioned to touchscreen control and interaction, moving away from physical buttons.  A few projects we are currently working on in the Juggernaut studio are making this transition as well, and it’s easy to see how 10 years from now there may not be any physical buttons left in the world beyond a power button.  Other products are going this direction too as interface screens and displays are becoming the norm in home appliances…..as seen in many of LG’s displays.  Staying up to date with current trends in graphics, icons use, font choices, are all things I’m thinking of more and more.

It's always exciting to see new technologies and interactions…..these make design more fun as creative possibilities are always changing!

The 2013 PGA Merchandising Show...

I love to play golf so I made sure I would attend the biggest show the golf world has to offer - the 2013 PGA show in Orlando.

More importantly I was there to launch a new product that we've been working on here at the Juggernaut Studio, for EZGo/Cushman, the Refresher 1200 with FlexServe technology. It was the talk of the show and turned many heads, as it should - it's the first in the industry offering modularity to drive higher sales of food, drink and merchandise on the golf course. One of the design features I advocated is the large wrap around counter. The counter adds to the functionality of the product, but also engages people; welcoming golfers to step up and interact with the merchandise.

Not only is the Refresher 1200 a mobile storefront but its the first to offer tapped beer on the course... and who wouldn't want that!

This video from EZGo/Cushman shows it off... enjoy!

CES 2013 - part 1

I had a chance to spend a day at CES this year, and left with a couple thoughts.  There‘s always a lot to take in at the show, but my attention was focused on a few topics.

Here at Juggernaut Design, one of the things we're know for is our expertise in rugged devices.  It was interesting to see waterproofing technologies making their way into everyday electronic devices, and it’s exciting to think of the possibilities this can bring in the future of design.  Companies like Liquipel and HzO have developed methods of waterproofing just about anything.  From electronic devices, like our phones and tablets, to simpler things like paper and cloth.  Products like the newly released Sony Xperia Z smartphone has already introduced this waterproofing tech, and can last 30 minutes submerged in a meter of water, all while being fully functional.  The little worries of everyday life like rainstorms, desk spills, dropping your phone in the sink.....you don’t need to worry about that anymore.  And a waterproof case isn’t required either.  It’ll be a few years before this tech will become a standard process in manufacturing, but it will happen, and with it will open up many new opportunities.

Part 2 to follow shortly....

2013 National NCWIT Award

Congratulations.

Camille, our summer intern, has been selected as a national winner of the 2013 National NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. Fantastic news - we're very proud of Camille's accomplishments.  

The Good Client.

A friend recently asked me “who is the perfect client?” My first response was “there are no perfect clients, but we do have several good clients”. I told him we base our clients on three criteria: A client who pays on time, a client that can produce a great portfolio piece and a client who is fun to work with. A good client meets at least two of these criteria.

For instance, a client that pays on time and is fun to work with is a good experience for us; the end product/service might not be a show piece but that’s ok. There are a few clients that meet all three and that makes my job all that much better!

Maybe I'm old school . . .

Sculpting foam by hand is a tool Product designers have been using for years. However, it seems to me that designers are now often turning to digital methods (like CAD modeling and rendering programs) to convey their initial thoughts in a finished form.

Aren't we missing something? These tools are impressive and without doubt have a visual "wow" factor. However, I'm not sure we're really exploring concepts without truly seeing and feeling them in three dimensions.

Quick foam study models don't have the glamor or glitz of a 3D rendering - but they're not supposed too. They're used to assist designers (and clients) - you can't hold a rendering in your hands and know if it feels right. Is it too big or small, to heavy or light?

Maybe I'm old school but I think this is an important step - long live the foam!