Posted by Nancy Grossbart
Lately, I find myself waxing philosophical about great product design and what it really means. I voraciously devour articles and blogs on the subject, finding that the writings that affect some inner space inside me are the ones that make the most sense. Knowing great product design is probably more emotional than anything else.
Dan Harden's article at Fastcompany.com about the Disappearing Act of Good Design affected me that way. In his blog, he says.
When a product is so completely and rightly designed, it has aesthetic and functional elements that are clearly stated and obvious. The product itself communicates without words its utilitarian value, ease of use, and beauty, and you perceive the quality-contributing elements instantly.... When a product does all the above things well, instead of it having abundant presence like one would expect, it actually sort of disappears when you use it.
What this means to me is the best product designs are ones you love instantly and then take for granted (in a good way) after you incorporate them into your everyday life. Harden uses the examples of the iPhone, a Porsche, an Aeron Chair. All of these are great designs that we admire whether we own one or not.
As a manufacturer of injection molded polyolefin and EVA foam, we have worked with some really great product developers and product designers. One customer, in particular, made the development process extremely difficult by creating five different designs (five molds) over a two to three year period before settling on the final design. As you can imagine, from a manufacturer's perspective, we were both frustrated with the process and anxious to be in production. However, when the 5th design came out of the mold, it was astoundingly beautiful both in aesthetics and function. It was hard to remember ever being frustrated, which only emphasizes Harden's take on this.
There is unity and wholeness, and it is so evident that this thing will totally satisfy a physical and/or emotional need....The product becomes a subconsciously satisfying experience, not a heavy conscious thing that demands attention because it's pretty or different...
I recently heard a story about Holly Hunter, the Academy Award Winning Actress, who is starring in the TV series "Saving Grace". One of the directors is a friend of a friend. The director said "She is so frustrating. I have a budget to meet and every time I OK a scene, ready to move on, Holly always asks for one more take insisting that she can do it better. Reluctantly, I agree and every time she is right. She adds that something extra that makes it amazing."
Obviously, this doesn't relate directly to product design or molded foam or foam manufacturing. It does, however, relate to the truth that when creativity is right, it's just right.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
When I went on an interview for a marketing job at a TV station, early in my career, I was asked that age-old question "What are your five-year goals?" I sat there very quietly, not answering, for way longer than was comfortable for either of us. I kept thinking what are my five year goals...what about three year...do I even have one year goals? Tick..tick..tick. What am I going to answer?
Finally, the silence was so long, so pregnant, I blurted out this long stream-of -consciousness mind-dump, "I have no goals. Well, it's not that I really have no goals. It's that my goals are always changing as I get more experience and I don't want to create a goal for something that, six months from now, I will change my mind about."
The interviewer sat looking at me as if she had never heard anything like it before.I stared back nervously thinking I had totally screwed up my chances for this job but couldn't make up goals I didn't have. Finally, she said, "I like that answer because that's how life really works. You're hired!"
Well, that's not exactly how it happened. There was a lot more discussion before the "you're hired" part actually happened. What was most important is that I got the job because she really understood how I saw the concept of goals.
When I think about it, it's very similar to the creative process. You start your product development cycle with set goals that must be met. However, when you're actually involved in the product design itself, you can start with one concept that takes you to the next, and then the next and the one after that. And when it is all over, you end up in a place that you love, but never expected.
Look at me. I ended up in business development at an injection molded foam company. It really goes to prove that life is a creative adventure, one creation after another.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
Michael Cannell at Fast Company wrote a blog on Design's Lost Generation. It was about how many talented designers (architects, product designers and design engineers) were lost to the recession of the early 90's, wondering if the same thing is going to happen because of this recession.
I never really thought about it from that perspective. People lose their jobs in a recession but do they really lose their profession because they just give up? When you give all that time to your education and have to watch your job disappear, with little opportunity to replace it, do you actually give up your dream and move on to another industry? Michael Cannell says that's exactly what happened.
Many of those young designers left the field for good. They took their training and skills and went elsewhere--construction, real-estate development, teaching.
You have to take a deep breath before you wrap your mind around this. It's not just the loss of jobs at the time; it's the loss of talent from a whole industry. What is the net effect of this? What product development projects never came to fruition? What buildings were never built? What industrial design firms failed because it had to let talented people go that might have changed their future? Cannell says:
Over the long run, the design firms probably suffered more than their cast-off staff did. When the economy gained steam a decade later, after the tech crash and 9/11, design firms struggled to find midlevel talent to draft and manage projects. The shortage of experienced hands was one of the factors that led firms to begin outsourcing work to India and Eastern Europe over the last five years or so.
So now not only did architects, industrial designers, and product engineers lose their jobs, the whole country lost their jobs, potentially forever. You can't have a "do-over" on something like this.
Here we are in another recession, where more design talent is being laid-off every day. What affect is this going to have on the future of design? We can only hope, none.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
Years ago I was visiting with the wisest person I know where I met this amazing man. He was a doctor, a lawyer, a Julliard educated violinist and an artist. Later, my wise friend asked me if I thought having all these achievements was a blessing or a curse. Of course, I said it was "a blessing." It seemed to me to be the epitome of a "successful life." But was it, really?
It turned out that with all this achievement, all this knowledge, his life was really miserable. It was one of those mind-opening experiences where you realize that what you think you see is not what is really happening.
Over the weekend, I was reading a Harvard Business blog by Scott Anthony about How Knowledge Can Hurt Innovation which brought me back the story of this man. Anthony describes a basic problem in product innovation as:
"Managers who have spent their entire lives working in an industry often suffer from the curse of knowledge. ...This curse can blind managers to opportunities and threats."
Obviously, I saw the parallels and thought about this man who I had only met that one day. I wondered if he ever grew, which seemed like a strange thought. I realized that this can happen to anyone of us if we don't continue to create "open spaces" in our lives for growth.
Anthony goes on to say:
How do you break free from the curse of knowledge? Spending a lot of time with customers helps. The more you listen to what the customer says and doesn't say, the more you can make sure that your intuition is attuned to the customer's knowledge base. Recognizing the curse helps as well. Make a regular habit of asking questions such as, "Is this our view, or the view of our target customer?"
No matter what your age, no matter how many years of experience you have in a particular field, you need to remind yourself every day that it is possible you know very little. That humility will help ensure you are ready to recognize that next great innovative idea.
As Anthony concludes:
Don't let your own knowledge blind you to threats and opportunities.
It's good advice for product innovation in business. Maybe even better advice for innovation your personal life.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
Part of my daily web meanderings take me down the path of looking at new product designs and concepts. If you follow me on Twitter (@foamentingideas) you will see that I am apt to share these "finds." Yesterday I came across a unique bathroom tile with the towel hook built in. 
It was designed by Czech designer Vadim Kibardin. I liked it immediately as it was both innovative and very practical. How many times have you been in the shower and wish you had easy access to a towel? It's a thoughtful, beautiful design as is but (being in the foam business) I suddenly realized "this design could have been made of injection molded foam."
I know this sounds like a commercial but, I swear, it's not. Don't you agree that foam tiles on the shower walls wouldn't be a great idea?
Imagine it could be both colorful and protective at the same time. Because this foam is closed cell it wouldn't absorb any of the water. Plus the base resin is chemically resistant, allowing you to keep it clean with any regular household cleaner.You could even mold logos and textures into it.
I will probably come across lots of products that fit the "It Could Have Been Made From Foam" description. When I find them, I'll talk about them. If it feels like a commercial then I'll, at least, try to make it a commercial worth watching.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
I am particularly excited to hear that a US sheet foam manufacturer has created an additive for polyolefin foam that makes it biodegrable. This is an incredible breakthrough.
Bio-Tec Environmental LLC and the M.H. Stallman Company, a global leader in the development and manufacture of specialty fabricated crosslinked polyolefin foams for use in a wide variety of industrial and consumer markets, announce the first commercial production of the B-LinkTM line of biodegradable crosslinked foam, using the proprietary additive EcoPure® from Bio-Tec Environmental LLC. The EcoPure® additive enables microorganisms in a landfill disposal site to metabolize the molecular structure of most common plastics into an inert humus-like form that is harmless to the environment. This process takes organic compounds, mixed with nutrients, a scissoring agent and a carrier resin to enable biodegradation while not affecting the normal use performance of the polymers.
Polyolefin foam has many benefits. It's closed-cell, durable, and chemically resistant. In it's injection molded form, it creates products with incredible detail and unusual geometric features. What it hasn't been is biodegrable. President of the M.H. Stallman Company, said,
"This advancement in green technology will have a major impact on our industry. Until today crosslinked polyolefins could not be recycled and would not break down once thrown away. Now with our B-LinkTM products we are able to provide our customers with crosslinked foams that meet all of their performance requirements during normal use but will safely biodegrade once disposed of in a landfill."
I'm hoping this is an indication of more developments to come to help the foam manufacturing industry expand it's product offering as well as resolve environmental issues at the same time.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
It's amazing how much you can learn about subjects that you thought you had no interest in.
I majored in anthropology in college and never used any of it after I was graduated. My career had been exclusively in the marketing, advertising and graphic design area until 1999, when we came up with the idea to manufacture Injection Molded Foam parts with this incredibly unique process.
In the past 10 years on the job, I have gained a deep understanding of 3D geometry, production, quality, testing and standards, distribution/shipping and foaming materials.
Gaining this kind of knowledge is good for business because it allows you to walk and talk the talk. And if you are the least bit verbally adept, you will find potential customers asking you questions about your background that can shock you.
I have been asked more times than I can count if I am an engineer. This question has always made me laugh. Me? An engineer? Obviously, the answer is no but I must be doing and saying something right or why would people ask.
My favorite, however, is when Ron Snyder (Croc's CEO) asked me if I was a Polymer Chemist. OMG. That one really made me roar with laughter (on the inside). We were sitting on a boat in a Miami harbor beginning our relationship with Crocs. I was trying to remain professional so I didn't laugh out loud. At this point, I guess I had learned a lot about foaming materials, enough to "convince" a highly experienced and intelligent person to believe that I knew what I was talking about.
It's a perfect example that, if you want to, you can always step out of your comfort zone to learn the most complicated things.
I'd love to hear about the job you have that you were not qualified for when you started!
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
When my company (MDI Products) first began to work with product designers who wanted to create a foam product and had lots of plastic molding experience, it was very difficult to get them to "think differently" about how to design a product that took advantage of our
injection molded foam process. There are only some things about both processes that are similar. Both plasticize raw materials in a hot barrel. Both inject in the materials into a closed mold. Pretty much the similarity stops there.
Understanding the fundamentals is key to designing a great part. To really comprehend what is happening, you need to first know that injection molded foam is actually a foam manufacturing process which manufactures foam in the shape of your part.
The next area to understand that, unlike the single mold plastic process, the machines used in the injection molded foam process are multi-station presses, which utilize multi-molds.
Again, unlike plastic injection, the mold cavities are designed smaller than the final part size. The parts expand rather than shrink. The amount of expansion is dependant on the material softness you require.
The material remains in the heated mold during the cross-linking or cooking process. The cooking time is dependant on the thickness of the part. The mold opens very quickly when the cooking is complete. The part expands and explosively self ejects from the mold cavity. The part is removed from the mold station and set to cool.
Learn more about self-ejection, draft, corners, edges, and undercuts later.
Posted by Nancy Grossbart
Polyolefin foam is a great material for kid's products. It works well in lots of applications from padding for sporting goods to sandals (Crocs) and now, products for kids.
To begin with, it's closed-cell. That means it's waterproof and won't absorb bodily fluids. It also means it resists mold and mildew because the bacteria has no place to reside.
It's so light that it floats and can be used for bath or pool toys and has no adverse chemicals so when kids put the toy in their mouths, there is no need to worry.
Polyolefin foam has a high tear and tensile strength so it can't easily rip and won't crack or peel. This means it will not only last a long time but, when kids put it in their mouths, it will pass the bite test.
The chemistry of polyolefin foam makes it resistant to most chemicals. This allows you to clean and disinfect it with any household cleaner keeping it safe from any surface bacteria.
Parts can be also designed with lots of features and benefits including molded-in logos and graphics. And can be made in extremely bright, attractive to kids, colors.
If you're wondering if it will pass the new CPSIA standards, it will!
MDI Products' offering of formulas known as PolyCellTM are phthalate free, PVC free, AZO dye free, with insignificant metal content. In addition to all the other reasons why it is great for kid's products, you can also be confident of its safety.
I'd love to get your feedback on what other specifications might be important for kid's products.