Apple’s iPods change so quickly, it’s hard to know what to do with them. But Framingham local and Mechanical Engineer Brian Doughty knew just what to do with one of Apple’s latest iterations, the 6th generation Nano: “My first intentions were to make it a watch.” says Doughty about the device. Although similar products existed, the quality left something to be desired. “The products available at the time were either simply nylon bands that the Nano would clip to or they were big chunky looking things made of silicone. I started the design with a simple sketch and then hopped on the computer to create the 3-D model and the Notch was born.”
A graduate of Northeastern University‘s 2004 class, concentrating in engineering, Brian was familiar with the design and creation process. He put his degree to good use gaining experience designing consumer products while working for a music company and later a start up company focused on working with Lithium Ion battery technology. He’s also no stranger to the occasional home-brew project: “While designing is my profession, it is also my hobby. Ask anyone and they will tell you that I always have a couple crazy projects that I am working on. Before launching the Notch I had modified a lawnmower to run on batteries.”
So when faced with a market of products which didn’t deliver the features he wanted, Doughty saw it as an opportunity for a new project. “I decided that I wanted to do things a little differently with my design and focused on creating the watch from a single piece of nylon plastic. There are a few significant benefits to this design: The Nano can be snapped in from the back so it can’t accidentally fall out while you are wearing it, it allows the Nano to be fully enclosed in the plastic which helps protect it from being scratched or dinged and because it is a solid piece of plastic and is shaped to your wrist, it can be worn comfortably but does not allow the watch to turn on your wrist, leaving the face of the watch face down and susceptible to damage.”
Naturally, the unique design got Doughty a lot of attention. “I had finished the design of my new Nano watch and had a single prototype made for myself. I began wearing it and was shocked at how much interest I got from friends and strangers on the design, everyone urging me to make it a product. So I did.” Expanding his initial design to include three different sizes and collecting feedback about their shape and fit, he was able to finalize the Notch and bring it to a manufacturer. Doughty then learned that manufacturing is an expensive endeavor. “I quickly found out that the cost to get this manufactured was quite a bit more than I was led to believe. A lot of this was due to the fact that we needed to make three molds for the three different sizes. Uniqueness has its price. The manufacturer requested some small changes to the design to help them manufacture it reliably and the mold design was approved. The next step was how to pay for it.”
Enter Kickstarter.com, a website which allows anyone to post an idea for a product and be funded by a community of users if they like what they see.
“Kickstarter is a great resource for any creative person. It allows anyone to showcase their ideas and motivate the public to help them make it a reality. Inventors don’t have to put their life savings on the line to create a new product, they just have to get others as excited about it as they are.” Kickstarter operates on an all or nothing model with deadlines to protect it’s users, so Doughty is currently spreading the word to help reach his goal by Wednesday, January 19th and begin production of the Notch.
Learn more about out Doughty’s project at WatchYourNano.com, and to give him some well-deserved support and pre-order your Notch, visit his Notch page on Kickstarter.com.
