WHATS

WHATS FOR DINNER?

We heard processed foods wer having a rough time, and probably for good reason. Alot of processed food is high fat and high carb. But not all of it is . Some of it is plant based and actually better for you and kinder to animals. Many of these plant based offerings are a little higher brow, and certainly that makes sense as higher educated consumers are more health aware and can afford to pay more. The problem, I think, is they lost some of their fun. This is why we did WHATS. And , just to be clear WHATS does not need to be only plant based nor does a WHAT need to be edible. A WHAT can be anything.

For food, WHATS is like the love child of Tony he Tiger and Annie’s Kitchen. Both are fanstastic brands on different missions. WHATS is healthy (depending on category and amount consumed). self aware and fun. Sort of like HOT POCKETS with health insurance.

WHATS is also a unit of measure. It’s a hand held size that’s easy to snack on WHATS, in this case, can be a synonym for a chunk or a nugget and more. And,, it’s this that can make WHATS cut across categories, whether they be sweet or savory or different temperature zones ( shelf stale, refrigerated and frozen) and more.

Design-wise we created a processed food brand and a simple design language that works across multiple products.

The big pay off for all this is a simple verbal skit:

Person 1: What’s for dinner?

Person 2: Exactly

Person 1, a little more intentional: What’s for dinner?

Person 2: That’s right!

Person 1 ,now more exasperated: C’mon what’s for dinner?!

Person 2: We’re having Meat Whats, they’re delicious and plant based.

Fun , right?!

MONARCH

Transforming what a house is

Housing in America is too expensive. Labor, materials, land, and financing all push costs up. Most solutions chip away at the edges. Monarch starts over.

We believe the only way to meaningfully lower the cost of a single-family home is to change both what a house is and how it is made. Build homes more like cars — at volume, with high-production tooling, and with far less on-site labor. Higher tooling cost, much lower cost per unit. Less waste. Higher consistency. Think Tesla Giga-casting and stamped glass filled thermoplastics applied to housing.

Vertical by design

Monarch is a vertical home. A smaller footprint reduces land and foundation cost. It frees the rest of the lot for outdoor living. Large insulated, UV-tinted glass panels turn height into a daily pleasure rather than a compromise. Climbing a few flights of stairs is built-in exercise. When stairs are no longer practical, every Monarch is designed to accept a compact lift — the same type used by wind-turbine technicians.

The goal is the same feeling many people had the first time they sat in a Tesla Model 3: brief disorientation, then delight. A Monarch should feel new in a useful way.

What a house actually needs to do

Protect from the weather. Sleep. Cook. Eat. Clean. Work. Relax. Entertain, Ceate the next generation, Store things. Stay private. Most of the rest is habit.

Monarch questions the habits. Walls are no longer the primary place for photos and media — devices already hold that. Large high-definition displays and built-in audio are part of the house, the way they are part of a premium car. Primary furniture is designed in or included. Lighting, plumbing, electrical, entry, security, HVAC, and finishes are all Monarch-specified and app-controlled. Vertical integration keeps cost and complexity down.

Fewer choices, more value

Most home builders offer endless options. That flexibility is expensive. Monarch takes the opposite approach: limited exterior colors, limited interior packages, everything else standardized. The result is closer to the original iPhone or early Model 3 — one excellent configuration that replaces dozens of lesser ones. Owners get high value on day one instead of a long options list that inflates the price.

Mobile and decoupled from land

A Monarch can be delivered by rail and /or truck and set by crane. It can sit on a privately owned lot or in a Monarch Reserve — clustered sites designed for short- or long-term placement. The house and the land are no longer a single, inseparable purchase.

MODERN DOG TOYS

Heart Of Barkness

Ruffa, a new start up focused on optimizing canine health came to FUSE wanting to do a line of design forward molded dog toys. Toys dogs can really bite and chew while their human guardians can admire aesthetically. The designs need to be able to offer engaging, mouth feel and possibly hold treats or have surface development that can hold smeared peanut butter or wet food. Seems like a way to wreck your home’s interior to me, but I guess you’re ready for that if you’re taking in an animal that chews everything and poops anywhere already. Certainly, the more uptight can add the smeared food to the toy for outside play.

Also, because the toys are silicone , wall thickness is not an issue. It’s possible to over mold a denser asymmetrical core to create a product with a more random bounce that dogs love.

As our usual, or our fusual ( I’ll be here all week), we did a lot of exploring, but what we and the client really liked were these more abstract computational/generative designs. Much more complicated but still mold-able in food grade silicone. They’re like these beautiful objects worthy of display, but can be fun for a dog’s mouth and brain.

FOGLESS SNOW SPORTS GOGGLE

The team that created the Abom no-fog goggle learned a great deal doing the Abom 1 and the Abom Heet goggle, Not only did they learn the ways to remove water vapor efficiently, they also learned that users would prefer to do nothing but enjoy a clear field of view. Of course, the best product is no product and that’s how the new Tempest gets the job done. Users only need to make sure their goggle is charged and the sensor driven goggle auto-magically eliminates the hint of fogging.

One feature that’s a major improvement is the lens. It’s attached magnetically and it separates from its internal heated lens. This makes the exterior tinted lens much less costly. Users can now get the tinted lenses they need for different conditions at a more reasonable price, Sure, maybe not a huge consideration for this demographic , but everyone appreciates high value,

If you know the Abom One and Abom Heet goggle you will notice the lens of the Tempest is cylindrical as opposed to spherical or toroidal. This decision was based on the industry trend that currently favors cylindrical lenses. Over time , the pendulum may certainly swing back and this chassis deign can certainly accommodate this without needing a total redesign,

MEM’S LEG

CAT-TASTROPHE

Mem’s Leg is the tribute to a wonderful calico cat, Mem, who got into a tussle with an off leash Pitbull. Mem lost the fight and her rear leg after chewing through the stitches that had put her leg back on. While sounding tragic, Mem moved forward as a very loved and very happy 3 legged cat. She probably received more attention this way than she ever did prior.

The product, Mem’s Leg, is a fun plush super sized leg that doubles as a satchel, ready to carry your phone, keys and wallet. The interior is lined with flannel, reminiscent of that old sleeping bag your parents had as kids ( or if you’re old, maybe it was your sleeping bag). Of course, Mem’s Leg is part of the Furillaverse.

RIPSTOP KNIFE

Sharp Attack!

As part of a large re imagining of clip knives, that is, a redesign of the trusty (good name) pocket knife, FUSE also did the RIPSTOP. The RIPSTOP is this very detailed product with its skeletal design, over sized pivot surround and subtle grip scallops that mirror the blade’s serrations. The blade features a big Orca Eye assist, and it looks like a predator (especially the with the serrated version’s teeth) when open. Some may suggest it’s over designed, but given its price point and the zeitgeist at the time, really it’s a nice composition. Light, shadow, fasteners and openings within the the body work together. This turned out to be a very popular model.

We had suggested names like GASH MAKER, STABBY McSTABBER, GUTTER, SORRY MOM! and STEVE CARVEY, but none of these won. RIPSTOP is kind of a funny name given a knife is the opposite of a rip stopper, it’s really a RIP-GO-ER

BIO POD

Lifesaver

The SKWRL Bio Pod is the industrial version of the Marwall super insulated twin walled stainless steel storage pod. This version powder coats the exterior of the stainless steel and is targeted for food storage and beyond.

The pod shown features a double wall Triton lid that sandwiches a silicone gasket. This gasket provides a leak-proof seal. This configuration includes eating utensils, though other tools may be employed. An organ recovery version was recently deployed in eastern Europe with scalpels, forceps and suturing tools.

This insulated container can be used wherever temperature maintenance is required. The pod can be used for the transport of food, living tissue, medicines, plant life, pathogens and any temperature sensitive materials.

STEW

STEW is a place for ideas, drawings, models, oddities, musings, national emergencies* and more. These are not necessarily associated with a destiny of commercialization. They, hopefully, have a smidge of creativity

GWIJ TRANSLATING / TEXTING APP

SPEAK- A MY LANGUAGE

Imagine you’re in high school and the new super cute Brazilian student arrives in your class and they barely speak English. With GWIJ on your phone you can start communicating with them immediately. You set your primary language to English (you’re in the USA) and then make your secondary language Portuguese. Start babbling, I mean, texting away, and you’ll be easily understood ( remember, don’t come on too strong, or they’ll think you’re a weirdo).

GWIJ is a translating and texting App that FUSE helped design. We did the name, the identity and key frame design, even the double bubble text holder! This app is just like your native IOS messaging app, but allows you to set your primary language and a secondary language that instantly translates your primary language. You can then send either your primary or secondary language to whomever you’re texting with. The best part is you can see both your primary and secondary languages in the double bubble text box.

With GWIJ, you can see the Portuguese in real time as you type your words of love, I mean, your words of your native language. Then, if you want to hear what the pronunciation is, you can hit the speaker icon in the double bubble and the GWIJ Translator Robot (she looks like Nicole Kidman) will speak what you’ve written out loud. This means you can practice saying clever things like, “Wow, I ‘d like to eat this bad cafeteria pizza off your beautiful neck”. OK, don’t say that, you barely know this person. Ask them something like, “do you have a pet Tapir back home in Brazil?” And, in Portuguese: “Voce tern uma anta de estinacaao no Brasil?”

Get GWIJ in the Apple App store now!

MOBILITY DEVICE

Walker, Texas Ranger

A successful real estate tycoon came to FUSE to design a better cane. He had pals that were getting to that age and he disliked the choices they had for this additional stability. Our benefactor wanted something that did not say “disabled or feeble”. Something that was more akin to a piece of sports equipment. He and we wanted something its owners would love and rely on like a favorite tool or tennis racquet. We know the best products are not just trophies, but also tools.

FUSE understood the styling problem but certainly wanted to do more by adding functional attributes to the product. For example can it stand up on its own, i.e. self-balance? Provide a better smoother gait? Offer greater mechanical advantage? Be lightweight and not cost a fortune?

FUSE generated several concepts and here below is the Blade Runner concept that we and a focus group of users liked the most.

The Blade Runner (or Riddler?) can balance on its foot, provides shock absorption, adjust for height, collapse for storage and provide a better ride due to its curved foot. This concept is inexpensive to manufacture with a telescopic aluminum shaft and injection molded handle and foot structure. A rubber outsole grips the ground and its design is easy to clean.