consumer electronics designer / prototyper needed

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Sorry to say, it does exist.

http://www.amazon.com/Coolit-Systems-USB-Beverage-Chiller/dp/B000EDJJMI

C’mon you coulda just earned yourself a solid $500 in consulting fees! :laughing:

I thought I would get the $500 for “benchmarking” the examples above. Took me 5 minutes, $100/minute. :wink:

finding out your genius idea is already in production by multiple Chinese vendors, $500
entertaining an entire community of designers, priceless

Having said that, it looks like someone could do a cool looking cooler using existing technology. Maybe it will help gapter more than finding a prototyper. Far cheaper in any case.

The problem is the technology in all these is an old Peltier cooler which turns one side of a plate cold and the other side boiling hot. I remember trying to use one for a heat sink on my CPU way back in college.

They didn’t do a very good job unfortunately which is why they went away. The heat transfer is also a function of how much juice can flow through, so coming from a .5A USB Port I can’t imagine you get much cooling effect, let alone enough to transfer it through an entire glass.

It’s effectively like saying you’ll keep your water ice cold for hours by putting it on top of a single ice cube.

:laughing:

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I will be the first to admit we were having fun at your expense, but now you are insulting.



Well, which is it?

Sounds like to expect to pay for 3 minutes of time. Thanks for thinking our value is worth a couple of your dollars. And aesthetically pleasing to whom? You? Guess what, your opinion doesn’t mean shit. Since you only want 3 minutes of design time, I expect you will give no time to your customer. You know, the ones who will decide if it is aesthetically pleasing or not. They are the ones to pay up for your great product and taking the time to get their input costs.

A Peltier device sucks, as all here have indicated and have all the reviews you read indicated. Unless you come up with some new magic, it will be what it will be, nothing more.

More magic. Exactly how many different sizes, shapes, configurations and materials used for a “glass”.

Not in a dry climate.




But hey, I’ll be a mensch and give you 3 minutes and solve your problem entirely.





Batteries not required.

R

^ LOL

This reminds me of what every brief must look like at Dyson. Make an incredibly complex solution to a non-problem… her it is, the new Dyson Fan!

Hey guys… I know we are in an industry that is overworked and under appreciated, but is this really the way we want to present ourselves. I know most of you are just having fun, but imagine how it must feel from his point of view. I really respect the work you do and I’m sure the original poster does to. He just doesn’t know any better.

Wouldn’t it be better to educate him as opposed to berate him? It may be better to save this kind of talk for a more private forum. Just a thought. You guys have way more experience, expertise, and, frankly, skill than I do and I respect that. I don’t mean to disrespect anyone, I’m just not sure what is going on in this thread is the way our industry should be perceived by outsiders.

I know you mean well, but this may not be the best way to go about it.

WORD

I fully understand where you guys are coming from.
Having a marketeer presenting a pig with some lipstick expecting you to make it fly through some “design thinking” (within 3 minutes) is what happens all the time and I am sure all of you react most professional IRL. Venting off a little, online doesn 't hurt.

Does it?

mo-i

Wow. Meanwhile in another thread: designers patting each other on the back for having guts to say “I don’t know”.

I wanted to post something similar actually and I am glad that somebody shares my concerns.

Personally, I was not insulted at all by the OP and I am a bit surprised as to responses.
I saw the “3 minutes” remark solely referring to aesthetics and looking at the alibaba-esque examples posted, I am pretty confident that we all would be able to sketch something out that would have more visual appeal quickly in a brainstorm session.
I really don’t think that the OP was suggesting a complete re-design and CAD deliverable in 3 minutes…

That being said, it is not a good request or design brief of course but I also do not think it merits these responses.

The larger issue, that Patrick is touching on, is a tendency to arrogance in the design community and of course, I am just as guilty as anyone.
It is not my intention to offend anyone and I respect every designer that has posted in this thread, but I agree that maybe this has not been handled the most gracefully.

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This forum is for discussion, not solicitation. If you would like to hire a designer freelance, than I suggest you invest in a post on our sister site: http://www.coroflot.com

I think the critique comes in the form of your original post garter. If you are serious, than write a serious and well thought out post. Your original post does not give the impression of someone who has given this endeavor a lot of though nor research. In the experience of more of myself, and some of the other more veteran designers who posted cynically (not to speak for them, but to perhaps interpret) we have seen this style of request many times and typically it comes from someone who does not want to invest the time, money, or effort and typically wants someone to go on a goose chase for a handful of magic beans… please prove me wrong by purchasing a job post or hiring an experienced designer for a professional rate.

Know that developing a product from idea to production is going to cost you a material amount of capitol. An idea of just industrial design fees:

initial research and idea exploration: 1 week man hours: $4,000 - $10,000 (depending on experience level)
design refinement (mock ups, renderings): 2 weeks: $8,000 - $20,000 (depending on experience level)
final design CAD and factory technical package development: 2 weeks: $8,000 - $20,000 (depending on experience level)
working with factory team on design for production: 2 weeks: $8,000 - $20,000 (depending on experience level)

Total design fees: $28,000 - $70,000

and this would be a bare bones program with no real user research and only design CAD. Add mechanical engineering (unless you can get a factory to pay for that, but to do that you will need to show you have sold things at mass retail at quantity) and add tooling costs, packaging design, etc… now you are ready to go through the joy of figuring out import duties, distribution planning, retail sales, customer service, handling returns, managing inventory, etc…

So, it is difficult for me to take the original post seriously without you giving any background on yourself/your partners and the ability to follow through.

Sorry I can only take someone so seriously who says they want to invent something that’s never been invented, and hasn’t taken the time to Google search their own idea.

We could spin this further - turn it into an internet of things, low power Bluetooth 4 water cooler that will send your iPhone a text message when your water is cold and warn you when it’s reached a certain temperature, solving many of life’s big problems.

But mostly, this isn’t a help wanted board, and I am just a cynical prick. #troll