Tag: ProductDesignSwansea
Back To The Present: What Marty McFly Would Have Now
Written by Ashley Vessey on October 16, 2015
For the majority who aren’t aware, Back To The Future Day is upon us. Today’s the day where Marty McFly travels Back To The Future to help his future children.
Robert Zemeckis’ predictions of how the future would be almost 3 decades later aren’t all that inaccurate – other than the odd flying car and the take-off of the fax machine – so let’s look back to see what he got right.
What Actually Came True
Tablet Computers
In the film, Marty visits the clock tower to meet Doc Brown, who is holding a handheld computer of his own invention.
What We’ve Got Now
Microsoft can be credited as the true creators of the first tablet PC, and now we’ve got a wealth of portable tablet computers at our disposal. Whether you’re an iPad idoliser or a Surface Pro preacher, it’s hard to look around without seeing one of these handy gadgets lying around.
Wearable Technology
At the dinner table, Marty’s future kids can be found wearing headsets to make calls and watch TV. Who said being anti-social had to be difficult?
What We’ve Got Now
Back in 2013, Google launched Google Glass, a head mounted display with the aim to make truly wearable tech a reality. With companies such as Microsoft and Facebook investing huge amounts of time and money into the virtual and augmented reality spaces, it’s not unlikely to think that we’ll all be wearing them very soon.
Self-Tying Trainers
Marty’s trainers were a rather futuristic invention – a pair of stylish kicks that held the ability to tie themselves.
What We’ve Got Now
We might still have to tie our own laces, but in 2011 Nike launched an eBay auction lasting just 10 days to sell a limited edition replica of the Nike MAGs, raising approximately $4.7 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation – a charity in aid of Parkinson’s research. Although these trainers aimed to be a replica of the originals seen in the movie, they didn’t include power laces – everybody’s favorite feature.
Video Calls
Marty’s video call doesn’t go as swimmingly as he’d hoped, but being able to do business on a huge television whilst in the comfort of his living room has its upsides.
What We’ve Got Now
There are tons of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services out there. In this age, you’ve all probably heard of FaceTime, Skype or Hangouts. Most commonly used in the office for video conferencing or to communicate with long distance friends & family, Zemeckis’ prediction of video calls was on the ball.
Hoverboard
If you ask people what comes to mind when talking about Back To The Future, you’re likely to hear one of two things – the DMC DeLorean and its flux capacitor, or hoverboards. So iconic was the hoverboard that several companies have tried (and, well, mostly failed) to recreate this impressive contraption.
What We’ve Got Now
Okay, so we aren’t really there yet for hoverboards, but one company called Hendo is currently working on it. Car company Lexus have also tried to produce their own hoverboard, based on Japan’s Maglev (magnetic levitation) Train, which uses superconductive magnets in the train to lift it off the ground and move it along a track. The downside to these two attempts? They both require magnetic surfaces to work, meaning we won’t be skating our way around town anytime soon.
Drones
When Biff gets arrested, the American news outlet USA Today sends out its own flying news camera, flying across the crowds in order to capture a clear image of the offender’s face.
What We’ve Got Now
Drones, or more specifically UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), are used widely in the military today, and drone strikes are the heart of huge controversy. Meanwhile, more civilised uses of these flying robots range from filming marathons to retrieving lost objects in hard-to-reach places. Hobby kits exist, and within the next few years drones will become incredibly affordable.
Pepsi
All that hoverboarding can make a time-travelling adventurer thirsty, and what better way to replenish that lost sugar with a strangely-shaped bottle of refreshing Pepsi Perfect.
What We’ve Got Now
Fortunately for us we don’t yet have to shut up a television in order to get a drink, but we’re also stuck with regular Pepsi. In celebration of Back To The Future Day, however, Pepsi has planned to release 6,500 limited edition bottles of Pepsi Perfect online. Guys…GUYS! All we want is a Pepsi.
3D Printing Case Study – Exotide
Written by Lewis Llewellyn on February 3, 2015
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Use 3D Printing To Help Create Your Next Product
Written by Ashley Vessey on January 16, 2015
Since the late 1980s 3D printing has widely been used for Rapid Prototyping (RP), in which three-dimensional solid objects are printed rather than just ink to paper (we know who you are). Over the last few years many big names have adopted this change by replacing their original prototyping methods, or by including it as an element to the manufacturing process. 3D printers are so popular now that we have the capacity to print in over 200 materials, these include an array of plastics and metals.
With its continued rise in popularity, we are certain that 3D printing is to become one of the next top technologies. Here at MeeCreative, we are excited to improve our Rapid Prototyping services with the introduction of our new Ultimaker 2 3D printer. When comparing to a RP company, the raw material is significantly more expensive with almost 90% of it going to waste. However, using MeeCreative will allow for cheaper overheads with only necessary material being used.
So why use a 3D printer? Well, let’s explore a few reasons why!
Cheap to Manufacture
As previously said, 3DP is increasingly being used by a large number of big companies, an example of this being General Electrics (GE), which made a large investment to produce 85k fuel nozzles for the new Leap jet engines. By using 3D printers, GE were able to produce better nozzles which as a result are now stronger and lighter compared to ones made on a traditional assembly line. Companies moving away from traditional manufacturing methods are able to save up to 70% on manufacturing costs.
Another example of companies utilising 3D printing is Hershey’s. They recently partnered up with 3D Systems to create chocolate with very extraordinary shapes; this is to demonstrate how 3D technology and food can become mainstream. Although 3D food printing is nothing new, this clearly proves that theres scope for more innovative products on the market.
Quicker Production
With 3D printers being able to manufacture most objects in a matter of hours, waiting a long time for end-product is slowly becoming obsolete. Faster production will lead to larger savings in on-demand manufacturing models and as a result, less material wasted.
Why need an entire warehouse filled with stock if you are able to create it all based on demand? Although this modal may not be as effective for large offline manufacturers due to their reliance on other offline retailers which often buy in bulk, this method can be most effective for an online business.
Uses for 3D Printing in the Medical Sector:
- Patients requiring facial reconstruction
- Aids surgeons through surgical planning
- 3D printed prosthetic limbs and organs
- Personalised spectacle frames
- 3D printed teeth
- The ability to print a model of a baby in the early stages of pregnancy (for diagnostic purposes).
Opportunities To Combine
Combining a number of raw materials is not often possible in mass-manufacturing as it’s often too expensive due its complexity. Thanks to 3D printing this boundary has been removed, with a large number of companies now offering the look and feel of an array of materials, be it glass, ceramics or otherwise.
Endless Possibilities
With more people becoming invested in this technology, it’s only a matter of time till we all have our own 3D printers at home (being able to create the product we require, at any given time). With that in mind, the fundamentals on how many supply chains operate, will be impacted upon and will have to adapt to said change; nonetheless it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the upcoming decade.
How Will 3D Printing Benefit Me?
At MeeCreative we have a team of experienced product designers to help bring your idea or concept to fruition. Using our in-house prototyping facilities we are able to take your concept from a digital 3D CAD Model and very quickly create tangible prototypes of your product, that can be tested and refined to ensure that the final solution is fully built for purpose.
Have an idea of a product you’d like to prototype without the hassle of waiting? Here at MeeCreative we’re able to create your prototype during the consultation process. Contact us today for all your 3D printing needs!
A MeeCreative Christmas
Written by Lewis Llewellyn on December 11, 2014
It’s always difficult to decide what sort of things to push out around Christmas time; it can’t be too festive too early, but it can’t look like you’ve completely forgotten that it’s December, either.
So, this year at MeeCreative we had some late-night brainstorming sessions to discuss the best way to do some Christmas marketing, as well as thanking our fantastic clients and brilliant fellow design agencies.
Idea 1: Breakthrough Social Media Innovation
The first idea pitched by our web developer Ashley was incredible – a short, concise labelling system for social media posts which would allow users to relate the subject matter of their posts to others just like it, despite the actual content being different. We fired an email across to Twitter, in the hopes that the idea – Ashtags – would be swiftly adopted by them.
Unfortunately we were told that they already had a similar system in place, but, undeterred, we went straight back to the drawing board.
Idea 2: Christmas Decorations
What better for a product design agency to do than design a product?! Everyone is putting off the putting up of their Christmas trees around this time of the holidays, but perhaps it’s only because their existing decorations don’t motivate them enough to exhibit those pine needles! We needed to come up with a ground-breaking idea for a tree trinket that would take the world by storm.
Unfortunately it turns out printing ultra-fine resolution 3D prints of human heads can really blow through a budget – not to mention our focus group telling us they just weren’t that interested in hanging strangers’ noggins in their living rooms – so we had to scrap that one, too.
Idea 3: Aggressive Marketing
On the face of it, the purpose of marketing is simple; try to get as many people to engage with your product or service as possible. However, this task becomes more difficult as the year comes to a close – as fighting for attention amongst expensive corporate advertising can seem impossible.
The solution? Aggressive marketing. Get our services out as quickly and in as much volume as possible, and try to spread the spirit of Christmas cheer in the process. Make the British public aware of the benefits of design!
Unfortunately there were a few crossed wires whilst discussing the idea. While half of us got the idea of this aggressive marketing campaign, the other half (the half in charge of sending the idea to print) got the idea of an aggressive marketing campaign – one which involved a cheerful, pot-bellied representative of Christmas pointing a powerful six-shooter at holiday shoppers. Drawing board, we’re stopping by again.
Idea 4: Christmas Card
Deciding that the other ideas may have been a little ambitious, we settled on the idea of producing a nice, traditional Christmas card – based around the theme of the 12 Days of Christmas. Everybody likes a Christmas card (even the focus group), and it’s a great opportunity to be creative on just four little squares.
Even managing to rope in our chairman, Barry, we spent some time carefully crafting some props to use, brought in a load of scarves and hats from home, and had some fun taking photographs of the team for use in a feature on the inside of the card.
As soon as we were happy that we’d done enough goofing around, we sorted through the photographs ready for laying out on the inside of the card. Not all of our horseplay made the final cut, however…
Once we had decided which pics to use, we set them into the inside grid of our carefully-crafted Christmas card and sent the designs off to print!
We’re absolutely chuffed with how the card turned out, and most of all we had a lot of fun creating it – we hope you like it too!
