CobaltNiche - Industrial Design and Product Development - Working Together

Working Together

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DesignPacks

DesignPacks are an exciting CobaltNiche initiative that bring design ideas to life within accessible, high-value and fixed cost service packages.

Most people, at least once in their lives, have a great product idea but don’t know how to explore and commercialise it. Even companies, with greater resources than individuals, may lack the specialist knowledge and systems necessary to develop products for today’s markets. Yet for some people, the idea of using a professional design group may seem daunting.
DesignPacks are a new low-cost entry point for inventors and companies who want to use professional design and engineering development for their product ideas.

Design your dream product; DesignPacks can make it happen

As in all creative processes, the earliest stages are the most influential in setting a project’s direction and likelihood of success. DesignPacks are an ideal and cost-effective way of taking this first step.
DesignPacks provide fixed-cost and fixed-deliverables design and engineering services for the most popular project types, allowing clients to plan their first development steps with confidence and certainty.

This CobaltNiche initiative provides excellent value-for-money as we pass on the savings we make through an online application process and streamlined operations.

DesignPacks start as little as $2000 (excluding GST).

Freehills: Leaders in IP protection

CobaltNiche has partnered with Freehills Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys to offer intellectual property (IP) services within several of our DesignPack packages. Freehills is one of Australia’s most respected legal firms, and offer a full range of specialist advice and services in relation to patents, innovation patents, design registration and trademarks. By combining our services, CobaltNiche and Freehills can integrate design and IP considerations from the idea’s point of conception through to the marketplace.

Usable Results

Even in complex projects, undertaking one (or more) DesignPack projects can provide a valuable start to development. The results of a DesignPack project will provide tangible material to help you decisively progress or resolve your idea by:

Setting a design direction or exploring key technical details
Identifying intellectual property issues
Understanding the ideal user environment and market
Confirming the product’s commercial viability
Identify challenges and strategies to maximise success

In many instances the output of a DesignPack project will be sufficient for a client to continue their own development or to sell/licence their idea to a targeted (larger) company. In other cases CobaltNiche can continue design and engineering development through regular tailored stages.

DesignPacks Solutions

DesignPack Details

InventorPack and InventorPack+

Suitable for		Inventors (individuals) wanting to cost effectively determine their ideas’ IP uniqueness and to have professional design development applied to the idea.
Tasks & Outcomes		Freehills will search international patent databases to assess the novelty of your idea in relation to prior published patent documents and provide you with strategic IP advice. CobaltNiche will undertake industrial design development and sketches of your idea addressing improved functionality, styling and manufacturing. InventorPack+ is also available for projects needing a little more development including preliminary computer-aided design (CAD) to communicate one design as a photo-realistic, computer generated image (CGI).

DiscoveryPack

Suitable for		Companies developing a new idea or a product whose functionality is not clear
Tasks & Outcomes		Really understanding your target users can be the most effective way of developing breakthrough products. Within a DiscoveryPack project we will research the market environment (competitors, positioning, opportunities) as well as usage research (observation and interviews of users within their own environment). We will also develop a Product Specification report listing criteria for success.

ValidationPack and ValidationPack+

Suitable for		Companies developing an idea that needs technical validation
Tasks & Outcomes		Freehills will search international patent databases to assess the novelty of your idea in relation to prior published patent documents and provide you with strategic IP advice. We will undertake an engineering review and preliminary development of your idea by creating CAD and mechanical models. ValidationPack+ is also available for products or systems with greater complexity.

PreConceptPack

Suitable for		Companies developing a new product where the configuration and design is still fluid
Tasks & Outcomes		We will undertake industrial design development and sketches of your idea to improve it in terms of functionality, styling and manufacturing. Communicate one design through computer generated images (CGI).

IdeationPack

Suitable for		Companies looking for innovation and new product ideas to build on existing products and channels
Tasks & Outcomes		Background research of the market environment (competitors, positioning, opportunities) and map out key areas and criteria for evaluation ideas. Conduct a facilitated halfday KickStart session using de Bono techniques and including staff from your and our companies. Typically hundreds of new ideas are generated within KickStart sessions. Harvest and evaluate these ideas in a report.

ThemePack

Suitable for		Companies wanting to establish a visual language for their product idea.
Tasks & Outcomes		Research the market environment (competitors, positioning, opportunities). Collect images from our library of latest designs and products and assemble into themeboards representing recommended visual styles for your product idea.

On-line application and streamlined service

To save you money, DesignPack projects require you to complete a simple online application. Once we receive this we will normally follow-up within 24hrs. On a positive assessment and discussion with you, we will prepare an agreement with full details of fixed-cost and deliverables, for your approval. There is no cost to you for these preliminaries.

Given the great diversity of technologies, products and client needs, DesignPacks will not suit all projects and clients. In these cases our standard, fully tailored approach remains an option at any point. We will advise you if a DesignPack doesn’t suit your requirements project and suggest an alternate programme to best meet your goals.

So why not a start your dream product today?

Showcase Projects

Occasionally projects come along that have special challenges and opportunities. We call these ‘showcase’ projects and we give these extra attention.

Showcase projects are the ones we want to look back on, when we are old and grey, and will be glad we went the extra mile on.

Going the extra mile

By ‘special efforts’ we mean things like:

A-Team. We ensure we have our most appropriate people form our core project team for Showcase projects and prioritise workflows to ensure that others are available as required.
Free kickStart: We will undertake an informal kickStart ideas session involving all staff during, for example, one of our Friday Forum sessions. KickStart sessions, especially ones including our whole group, are a fantastic way to generate new ideas, collect existing knowledge and harness the collective passion and mindpower of 18 or so creative minds.
Additional design research or conceptual exploration. If necessary we will put in extra time to explore ideas that we believe will take the product from simply meeting the requirements, to one of true brilliance.
Wider input. We encourage greater flexibility for our team to input time and ideas into Showcase projects by longer focus during project reviews; and relaxing their time-recording requirements.

To be clear, these would be done at our cost in the interest of the getting the best possible product and design outcome.
Now, reading this you may think we don’t do our very best for other, non-Showcase projects. This couldn’t be further from the truth; we are 100% passionate about design and product development engineering and apply the same high standard across all and every one of our projects.

What is a Showcase project?

We are pretty choosey about giving a project Showcase status. That said, there is no set criteria for identifying Showcase projects, however the following would give it a good shot:

Genuinely new concept or underlying technology. We love products that can ‘change the world’ or at least improve one little part of it. We know that the idea or technology behind truly great products is paramount, but we also believe that design can add a tangible human and emotive layer to these underlying technologies.
Great scope to influence the outcome. A ‘greenfileds’ product is generally more likely to make Showcase level compared to a heavily pre-defined one.
Democratic design. Its not quite mathematically proportional, but a product that touches more people’s lives has better odds than an exclusive one-off product.