American Inventor?

Design Discussions general design discussion
1

I’m surprised nobody has brought it up. Did anyone watch this series? I thought the right person won, I liked the carseat idea when they first showed it. One runner up is going to get help from hasbro, the other recieved an ID internship with Trek.

When if first came out my lady says, hey here you go, maybe you should do this. I tried to explain to her that I was not really an iventor, there’s a difference…but does the general, regular, joe schmoo unknowing public see a difference? Do they think we’re tinkerers or trying to be one-trick-pony inventors when you tell them that you design new products?

Similar to a story I heard about someone telling their parents that they did graphic and illustration and the father was mad because you couldn’t get a real job “just doodling”.

2

i invent everyday! i am a working ID and invent new stuff everyday. as an industrial designer i think you are an inventor, they go hand and hand. unless you just style products and do not improve them.

3

I watched the first and then a couple of the last. Was pleasantly surprised the finalists weren’t a joke. Also like the baby seat concept.

wrt “inventor”, I was recently asked that question re: a concept I did. Some call it an invention. I just call doing this stuff what I DO. Whatever the name is doesn’t matter.

4

I’m scared that their audience is the same people that scam people who want to be “inventors” on late night commercials.

The panel of judges is great though. A solar-powered rolling mini-fridge that’s also a bench? Revolutionary! It’ll make millions! Approved!

5

(Okay, I only watched like half of the first episode)

6

You can invent something as a designer. Theres no set rule to say you can only improve existing products, plus half the contestants on that show, thats all they were doing. (The toilet seat people and the car seat, while radically different than anything exists, were still technically improvements to existing products)

I did think the guy that won deserved to win. It was a very innovative concept, although I still think that the biggest issue with these shows is the fact that so much of it was just over-dramatic BS with 10 minutes of showing the actual design process. It certainly seems that even if you had a brilliant idea, if you just showed up and presented it, without the “I need the money to feed my starving family” story to back it up, you would never make it.

I joked that if they come near my college that my class should enter it as a competition.