Product Design Studio
Just like Brad Pitt’s character in Moneyball, we set out to “change the game” when we began working on our Sky Hook project. By evolving our design studio around a new premise, we created the intellectual property (IP) first and then found the client.
You should always know what your customers want before they do, so we set out to create IP that the audio industry hadn’t yet realized. Having worked both in and around audio products for over a decade, we recognized a distinct need. Sky Hook was the culmination of our intimate knowledge of the audio industry coupled with our outsider’s perspective gained through work across many different industries. This blend helped us create a novel solution that the industry craved, even when they weren’t looking for it.
Sky Hook is a tool-free, fully automatic, self-adjusting clamp that eliminates the need for power tools and makes speaker installation far easier, streamlined, and cost-effective. The patented Sky Hook system is designed to simplify and reduce installation times by 75%. Installers can simply cut a hole, attach wires, and press the speaker into the hole, while Sky Hook adapts to the surface thickness with a preset clamping force that eliminates the possibility of breaking the dog leg or cracking drywall. Removals are also fast and easy with a quarter turn of a screwdriver.
The next step for us was to find a partner.
Klipsch®, a tech-driven 70-year old audio company, decided this design solution was a perfect fit to gain significant edge over their competition. A wholly-owned subsidiary of VOXX International Corporation (NADAQ: VOXX), Klipsch recently announced the addition of more than 50 new high-performance custom speaker solutions for residential and commercial applications featuring swarm’s, “revolutionary new installation technologies, designed to save integrators time and money.”
We developed the idea fully and then brought a finished prototype built around Klipsch’s existing technology to the manufacturer. A major spark happened and Klipsch was instantly interested in establishing a formal collaboration with our studio. The end results were nearly as instantaneous. Just one year after their first meeting, Klipsch debuted the new line of speakers at the September 2017 Multimedia Tradeshow, CEDIA, co-branded with swarm. Read more here.
Services
Product Conception & Design Development
Patent Application & Receipt
Industrial Design
Prototyping
Sourcing