Concentrate Blog » News

Getting your idea into the market

Chintu Roy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:00:53 +0000

Hello. We occasionally get asked for advice about taking an idea forward and getting into the marketplace. We thought it might be of interest to put together some tips.

If you have been struck with a brilliant idea for a new product it’s easy to get enthusiastic. However, it really is worth scrutinising the idea carefully before investing your time and money developing it. It’s also worth thinking through the important steps that will be required to develop an idea into a product that people want to use. What roles do the design and manufacturability play in determining a products success. Here’s some of the things we think are key:-

Examine the market for your product: There’s often no need to reinvent the wheel. Many designers’ efforts fail when they try to offer products based on their assumptions of what people need instead of a thorough research of what people could really use. It sounds like common sense, but you have to be honest with yourself. Seek impartial advice, and listen to feedback.

See the project from an engineer’s point of view: When starting out it’s not necessary to obsess over the fine details of a product. At an early stage just try to cover potential problems related to how the product will be made. Making something easy to manufacture is a real skill. It will often determine how a product ends up looking and functioning and can make the difference between success and failure.

See the project with the eyes of a designer: Ask yourself the critical questions that have to be answered before a new product ever gets to manufacturing. Who will buy it? What value will it add? If you do commercialise your product you will be mobilising potentially hundreds of people to produce, inspect, pack, ship, and sell your products. Is the design as good as it can be? Can you justify their time and efforts?

See the value of the product through the consumers’ eyes: Think of a design that would offer qualities that go beyond than just price for customers. Make sure the design is visually appealing, user-friendly, easy to use and not overly complicated. Can it add value in their daily lives? Simple, thoughtful design can often provoke genuine affection. We all know of products in our lives that work really well. From a new smart phone, to a seemingly indestructible toaster that has provided perfect toast for years, there are products that you probably have a positive emotional reaction to, and those mark the successful development of a good idea.

You can now start buying our products on Ebay!

Nina — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:24:06 +0000

Horray!

We just started to sell our products on Ebay.

It’s actually pretty tricky to get started selling on the ebay site, and it requires lots of positive reviews.

If anyone is thinking of buying some lovely Concentrate goodies A. you’re clearly a marvelous. talented and good looking person, and B. Could you possibly try buying the products from ebay?

If you’ve had a positive experience, it would be EXTREMELY helpful if you could give us a positive review, and we’ll be eternally grateful.

Please by some of our products on Ebay now. Thanks very much!

London Design Festival

Mark — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:26:27 +0000

This week is the London Design Festival, and we are showing work at the Royal College of Art. It free to attend, and really interesting. Its part of lots of event organized across London. Check out the on-line Icon Design Trial Guide http://www.media-ten.com/3dissue/design_trail_2009-london/

Details of the RCA show are on Page 67.

The Olympics

Mark — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:48:59 +0000

Here at Concentrate we are thinking about the 2012 London Olympics and how we can help kids to be at their best both mentally and physically. We have some products ideas, along the lines of our “Food for Thought” Lunchbox that will encourage kids to take more exercise.

If you would like to find out more, or perhaps take part in some product testing, we’d be delighted to here from you. Why not drop me an e-mail by clicking here.

New Design

Mark — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:57:24 +0000

From hoover dustpans to fold flat electric plugs, or from shoes that dispense seeds wherever you go, to mouse smuggling devices the Royal College of Art show is always full of interesting and sometime wacky design. We hope to work with one or two of the recent graduates.

I had a good look round and was inspired by the creatively on show. It took me back to my time at the college, and my degree project “Self-heating Crockery” which ended up on Tomorrows World (heres an overly dramatic video I made about it). I even met prince Philip – who said I have a bulgy forehead – what a charmer.

Keeping up the game face

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:32:52 +0000

Progress today has been blisteringly fast in some places and a total standstill in others. I’m currently having difficulty embedding images so that they are used by the online .swf file. However, all the bonuses, sounds, and level progression are in place and working fine. The difficulty of the game, even on the earlier levels, is – I am reliably informed with no hint of exaggeration – actually harder than climbing Mount Everest. I would like to emphasise that this is a genuine comparison by experts who have managed to complete neither.

So we’re on hold, pending embedding things in such a way that they can be used online. But hopefully it’ll be back on track soon, pending a soon release date.

Concentrate Game: Development Update

John — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:59:52 +0000

In my recent post, I blogged about the in-progress Concentrate Game. So for those who are interested, here’s a progress update, and I’ve even tacked on a list of things left to do.

Overview: Player clicks on falling objects before they reach the bottom of the screen. Some objects have more points than others and travel more quickly, other bonus objects have rewards associated with them. Of course there’s a time limit, what did you expect?

Today’s progress:

Sound: Having added my first sounds last night, I noticed there was a problem. The sounds were playing after an inconsistent delay. Luckily, google and this CS4 patch fixed the problem. After this I added more sound effects and I plan to add some more tonight. And all that noise.

Levels: Tweaked and balanced levels and level progress. I’ve also added a “congratulations” banner at the end for if the player completes 5 levels. Began the randomised placement process.

Bonuses: Designed and added a rudimentary bonus structure. There are surprises asociated with this that I will not divulge here.

Live testing: Attempted and failed to run the game online – it never gets past the starting countdown. It works fine offline – could this be me incorrectly setting the flash version in the browser, or similar?

Tonight’s plan:
Finish adding sounds, and all that Jazz (sorry).
Complete randomisation process.
Fully implement bonus structure.
Add extra objects.
Neaten up the interface.
Get live test working.

“But, oh wise, and magnificient John,” the elated among you cry “why are you determined to do so much tonight? Can it not wait until tomorrow?” And you’d be right, except that I want to spend tomorrow neatening, balacing, and firefighting ready for a pre-final web release. And also – thanks to structuring the code nicely with lots of encapsulation and modularity and the like – adding bonuses, randomisation, and new objects shouldn’t be too much effort. The hard bit will be getting the live test working – I’ve no experience with this, so I anticipate some heavy googling.

But you can help me in the meantime. Oh goodness yes. No, not by choosing a game this time – but by choosing a name! At the moment it looks like we’ll have to stick with its codename: Concentrate Game 1. Please help!

We have a new Concentrate Face…

Michal — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:22:07 +0000

We have a new Concentrate Facebook page: http://bit.ly/7r14v

Seven Magazine

Mark — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:07:43 +0000

Marc at Seven Magazine conducted an interview with us to investigate the Dragon Den experience. Click on the image to have a read.

Welcome to Concentrate’s Blog!

Anthony — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:50:33 +0000

Hope you like it! Horrah!