AT&T came to frog for the design of their next gen flagship home internet modem/router. In a first for AT&T, this would incorporate fixed wireless 5G technology, enabling home WiFi internet powered by AT&Ts new 5G wireless network. No wired connection needed.
To celebrate this technology milestone, AT&T wanted an equally revolutionary design. We worked with AT&T over 2 years to create a new form language and product set that translates their ‘curved brand’ into 3D space.
The trick with wireless routers is that in order to work well, they need to be out in the open - too close to a wall, in the corner, on the floor, behind things - and they just don’t work well. This is doubly important for a device that is not only sending out WiFi signals but also receiving 5G. Placement is paramount for optimal perfomance.
We worked with both conscious and unconscious cues to create a device that not only clearly explained to the user where best to place it, but also made the user want to place it in better locations automatically. We created a simple self install process based on a symbiotic app/LED-array interaction that clearly communicated where to best place the device - and we also created a retro-futuristic dot matrix LED clock which naturally pushed users away from hiding the device.
Much care was taken in the creation of the custom, “dead front,” LED matrix display - creating a display that looks beautiful both on and off. The typeface is completely custom, and animations went through several rounds of user testing to validate their ability to intuitively communicate function. The device can even be installed standalone, without an app, via the LED array alone.
The form itself - wide and flatter than usual - was driven by the need to no only be surface mountable as all routers are - but also wall mountable. We strove to make the device to look equally at home on a surface as on a wall.
A companion ‘extender’ which turns the device into a home mesh network was also created, matching the look of the main unit and creating a cohesive family.
We worked through from the very beginning of ideation through to production rollout side by side with the overseas OEM - making sure our ideas were manufacturable and creating production-ready surfacing for all exterior faces, venting, ports, and mounting accessories.
skills: Design Direction, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, User Research, DFM, Packaging, Unboxing, UX
years: 2021 - 2023
JP Morgan Chase came to frog looking for a new design language for their suite of credit cards. Together we explored material, process, and visuals to arrive at a final DLS that has rolled out to their Sapphire Preferred and Slate Edge cards.
Designs were taken through production, incorporating numerous requirements for printing from various plastic and metal card suppliers, card issuers, and internal brand guidelines. Multiple rounds of prototypes and production samples were created to fine tune colors and reflections.
An approach we developed during this program was to animate our early concepts in order to show reflections and materiality properly. It can be difficult, on a 2D image/render of a credit card, to determine what is a ‘reflection’ or ‘metallic sheen’ and what is a printed graphical element. Our animations helped to avoid this and smooth along communication during the development process before we got to the printing stage.
In addition to viewing animations to envision the physical card - designs were routinely shown in marketing-flat, digital wallet, and smart-watch formats to judge the expansibility of the graphics in various sizes and viewing methods.
Due to the nature of this industry, much of the work is confidential.
skills: Creative Direction, Visual Design, Print Design, Mechanical Engineering, Rendering, Animation
years: 2019-2021
UNUM is a pair of conceptual headphones, created by frog to challenge the typical approach to headphone design at the time: obscuring the ear and isolating the user.
UNUM is designed so that the user can be a part of the communal world, not an isolated one. It rethinks what a headphone can be from the ground up. If a user wants to isolate themselves, they have many products available to them to do so. UNUM is meant to inspire a conversation around the future of audio and as such, takes a hard stance in the opposite direction to create a new type of product.
It reveals the ear - not only allowing the user to hear all that happens around them but also allowing all those around them to see to see that the user can still hear what’s around them. This enables the user to partake fully in their surroundings, along with the benefit of augmented audio.
UNUM was featured in Forbes and was a finalist at SXSW 2020 in the conceptual design category (the awards were cancelled that year)
skills: Conceptual Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, Creative Direction
year: 2019
Shatter! is a 250 lbs combat robot that competes on Discovery Channel’s BattleBots, designed and built by Bots FC, a Brooklyn based combat robotics team founded by myself, my brother Eric, and my good friend Matt Bores.
We’ve made dozens of different robots weighing anywhere from 1 lbs to 250 lbs, appeared on 4 different television programs on 3 different continents, won multiple championships, and made lifelong memories. Episodes we’ve appeared on in China have had over 100 million views (per episode!), and our robots have multiple videos on US social media sites (Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, Facebook) with 10+ million views.
Combat robotics combines many skills, from the obvious mechanical engineering and design needs, to the less obvious things like international shipping logistics and supplier management, to the unexpected need to manage social media pages and sponsorship relationships.
We have a lot of fun with the design and engineering of Shatter! - we proved omnidirectional robots could be competitive, we created the first brushless DC motor powered hammer, and pioneered the use of ‘ablative armor’ in combat robotics. Recently, we’ve started using generative design to optimize our weapons.
I am proud to compete on an international stage in the same sport which years ago inspired me to go into mechanical engineering. It’s a lifelong dream come true.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, Manufacturing Design, FEA, Logistics, Social Media, Machining, Public Speaking, Hot Glue
years: 2016-Present
Palo started out as a concept for the future of "payphones" in NYC. A cross discipline team was assembled to completely rethink what a "payphone" could be in the current world. The final concept was awarded "best visual design and user experience" by New York City officials in 2013, an IDEA Silver in 2014, and a "Professional Notable" in the 2014 Core77 design awards.
frog partnered with startup LQD Wifi to bring the beacon concept to market as the 'Palo' integrated many of the features of the conceptual device with small-cell 5G distribution. Palo was deployed in multiple US cities as LQD Wifi was acquired by Verizon in November of 2016. An international offshoot of the Palo project is currently in widespread use in Holland.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
years: 2013 - 2018
Banco Azteca came to frog with a problem - they were an up and coming bank all around Mexico, but they didn’t have the best reputation for ATMs. Lines at their human tellers were becoming too long to handle - and mostly for common transactions which could easily be offloaded to ATMs if their customers trusted them.
Plagued by poor reliability, Banco Azteca were planning to upgrade their ATM models and wanted a surround and vestibule area to match the higher tier ATM itself. Could we earn back consumer trust with a new design?
We traveled to several areas of rural Mexico to see the ATMs in use, and speak to those who used them. We found that customers often went to the ATMs in pairs - couples doing their finances together. We discovered frustrations with confusing signage, and ATMs that felt fragile (or were already broken), along with concerns about safety. Users were afraid someone might look at the screen, or worse, sneak up on them and steal their money.
We created a design that was instantly iconic and recognizable, based on the Banco Azteca logo. We used durable materials, and designed for two customers to use it comfortably and privately. We balanced security via increased lighting and visibility with privacy by using large amounts of frosted plastic in the surround. The vestibule area was designed with large diffused overhead lighting, bright colors, simple wayfinding, durable tile walls and wood-pattern-tile floors to feel modern, yet stand the test of time. The design was extended to an entire range of implementations.
Concepts were prototyped at scale, and even field tested using VR to gather customer feedback and down select.
The designs launched in 2019 and are in use all over Mexico.
skills: Design Direction, User Research, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
year: 2018-2019
Walmart came to frog to redefine their in house consumer electronics brands, Onn and Blackweb. Their products were low priced, but not well regarded on the market. The brand lacked consistency, and shelf presence.
We combined their products into a singular brand, “onn.” and created a new design language for both the packaging and products.
The brand is fun, youthful, and a bit irreverant. The products are designed to match - with simple yet recognizable shapes blending soft curves, hard edges, and minimal geometry. Colors are bold, and logos are big.
frog created three ‘hero products’ to drive the design language, documentation for the creation of future custom products, as well as criteria for selecting the best white label products to match the brand. Care was taken to create a system that could be unique, while also being easily expandable to a wide range of products, all at a low production cost (so no fancy, but hard to explain, manufacturing details).
onn. still uses this design language today, products stand out on the shelves, sell better, and review better online.
skills: Design Direction, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, Rendering
year: 2019
Touchtunes asked frog to redesign the jukebox for the digital age. Over the course of 3 generations of products we changed the direction of the company and industry. Our first product, the Virtuo, redefined the shape of a jukebox - and satisfied the needs of all users (not just patrons playing music, but those running and servicing the jukebox as well) - upping jukebox sales and music sales.
Key to our first generation was two insights - first that it was tough to tell a digital jukebox was a jukebox in a bar - driving features such as the equalizer visualization and large play button. Second was that bars and the ones buying jukeboxes - but ‘operators,’ people who owned dozens of jukeboxes in bars all around cities, were the ones who actually purchased them. And they didn’t care what a jukebox looked like or how it worked as long as it made them money - what they cared about was how easy it was to service. For them, we created as simple internal layout with clearly labeled components and wiring harnesses. When the Virtuo was opened on stage in front of operators at a tradeshow, it sold out instantly and changed the industry forever.
Our second generation pushed Touctunes into international markets by shrinking the size, and tuning down the lighting for international markets who’s bar environments didn’t match the bright lights of the US-targeted Virtuo.
Our third generation again redefined what a jukebox is - optionally removing the physical payments and enabling mobile payments, or subscriptions models - pushing jukeboxes into entirely new markets such as gyms and office spaces.
frog turned Touchtunes into an untouchable market leader - there still exist no competitors in the space, over a decade after our first engagement.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, Creative Direction, Strategy, Manufacturing Design, User Research
years: 2010 - 2018
Just Air came to frog with an innovative air filtration system at the start of a global pandemic, and asked frog to make it into a consumer product.
We worked to create a compact ‘ribbon’ system which could deliver clean air from a filter worn on the back of the neck, or around the waist, directly to the wearer’s nose - in as small and comfortable a form factor as possible.
The constant air flow kept the transparent mask from fogging up during use, a common issue with other clear masks, allowing for better communication of non-audible facial cues.
The ribbon was designed to fit all face sizes with 3 different ring sizes. With the mask loosely sealed along the cheeks and below the chin, CFD showed N99+ performance levels - but it could be operated without the seals and still retain N95+ performance.
skills: Design Direction, Mechanical Engineering, CFD, Plastic Part Design
year: 2020
from core77:
To celebrate this year's NYCxDesign, MakerBot hand-picked 17 New York City designers and put them to the test of designing and prototyping an object to improve daily life. The 13 individual designers and 2 design duos were each given a MakerBot Replicator and a few rolls of filament to bring their objects to life in about five weeks. Needless to say, the broad brief yielded extremely diverse results.
I partnered with JungSoo Park to create what we called ‘Primitive Keychains.’
Primitive Keychains are designed to solve the perennial problem of "where did I put my keys?" Instead of solving this problem with a bowl or battery-powered-smart-thing, we added a ‘primitive’ solution by pausing each print and placing a strong magnet inside each keychain. This enables the keychains to be hung from any magnetic surface: especially useful in NYC where most apartments have metal doors. Now you can hang your keys where you can't miss them on your way out.
The keychains are a series of 6 shapes, modeled off of geometric primitives as well as a simplified human skull. Because skulls are cool.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, CAD, 3D Printing
year: 2018
Document Journal came to frog and asked frog designers to create concepts envisioning life on the moon for their “This Is The Future” Issue. #15. I created “LEAP Scooters” in response to this prompt, a commentary of then-trendy rental escooters expanding to a new frontier.
LEAP brings the convenience of dockless electric scooters to the Moon! LEAP is a solar-powered electric scooter designed for precise point-to-point transportation on the Moon, using wheels modeled after the original lunar rover and advanced lithium ion batteries that never need replacing. No longer do you need to wait for the never-on-time MTA’s (Moon Transportation Authority) shuttle rovers or overpay for Moonber taxi rovers. Just grab a LEAP and go! Once you get to your destination, don’t worry about parking. With LEAP’s advanced anti-theft tracking MPS (Moon Positioning System) you can leave your ride wherever you please. One small step for man, one giant LEAP for transportation. LEAP scooters.
skills: Industrial Design, Futurism, Rendering
year: 2019
Tetra started as an internal design provocation: could frog make a dishwasher cool? Dishwashers were desirable, sure, but the ‘best’ dishwashers were designed to blend into cabinets so you couldn’t see them. It felt like a fun challenge.
Along the way, we partnered with Heatworks to make it real.
Dishwashers are an amazing piece of technology - cleaning better than people and using significantly less water and power per plate, there are almost no downsides - except size.
By shrinking the dishwasher, similar to those popular in SE Asia (but even smaller), we could create a countertop design and open up the US dishwasher market to renters who can’t install a traditional dishwasher. Using less water vs standard dishwashers due to the decreased amount dishes, it could heat up the water faster, drastically shortening cycle times. But a countertop dishwasher still takes up a lot of room on the counter - unless you make the majority of the (mostly empty) volume clear - visually shrinking the device and creating an iconic design in the process.
Tetra went on to win CES and IDSA awards.
skills: Design Direction, User Research, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
years: 2017-2019
ooluroo came to frog to reimagine in-venue advertising and wayfinding. Combining advanced facial recognition and content aware media, ooluroo could serve up relevant ads to consumers, and highly accurate data to advertisers - making DOOH advertising much more similar to online advertising in terms of targeting and data analytics.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
year: 2016
Phonak’s manufacturer came to Page PD to help figure out how to create a housing which could pass a new EU code for impact resistance of implantable medical devices - for use in Phonak’s new cochlear implant. Through a series of iterations working on a team of 2, we created a new housing design which passed the test and formed the foundation of their design for over a decade.
skills: Mechanical Engineering, FEA
year: 2007
TOURBILLON
'Clockwerk' is a wall hanging kinetic sculpture of a 3-axis tourbillon escapement, and is the world's first 3D printed multiaxis tourbillon.
I designed Clockwerk in my free time, in order to better familiarize myself with both 3D printing and watchmaking. Clockwerk was released for free in July of 2016 and was featured on the following websites:
Tech Crunch, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, AOL, Worn & Wound, and many more.
Download it here and print it for yourself :)
skills: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, 3D Printing
year: 2016
Fizzics' Waytap is a beer conditioner: it makes your beer taste amazing. Fizzics came to frog with a product that had been fairly successful on the market. They had a $250k crowdfunding campaign and their product was selling well. However they were having issues with how their product was perceived.
The initial product could make your beer taste great but it was clunky looking and had several pain points during use.
frog helped create a sleeker, smaller product. Operation only requires one hand, and although the new product is less expensive it incorporates several solid-metal components lending to a more premium feel.
The redesigned product made over $1MM on kickstarter, $2MM on Sharktank, and is now sold in major retailers around the country.
skills: User Research, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
year: 2016
