Razor and Shaving Brush HolderBlind
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Choosing Finalist
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My company is called "Brushes & Blades" which is an online seller of “artfully designed objects to hold your wet shaving products.”
What is wet shaving?
Wet shaving is a return to the way your grandfather shaved, using either a straight edge, or double edge razor, a shaving brush, and a bowl to lather up the shaving soap. "Brushes & Blades" produces beautifully designed acrylic holders for wet shaving products (Brushes, Razors & Bowls).
What do I need in the way of a design?
I need different designs for a holder for a shaving brush, a double edge razor, and a shaving bowl. Designs are needed for both a Free-Standing Counter Model, and a Shower Wall Mounted Model. This contest is only for the Free-Standing Counter Model. The Shower Wall Mounted Model will be another contest at another time. These designs can come in many configurations, like one brush, and one razor, or two and two, or two and one, and so on and so forth, but for this round of design I want designs for holding one shaving brush, one double edge razor, and one shaving cream bowl, together as one unit. Think of the shaving bowl as the base, or foundation, from which the rest of your design will flow. Your designs should be artful, and interesting, but practical, as these are utilitarian storage objects that would be sitting on a bathroom counter. Additionally, your design needs to be simple but elegant with beautiful lines. As already stated above, the material these objects will be made from is acrylic, either clear, white, or black. Besides gluing separate pieces of acrylic together to produce your design, acrylic can also be heated to bend, so keep that in mind when coming up with a design. But, any bending must be limited to simple bends. Simplicity of design means simplicity of production, which means a lower cost to mass produce your designs. I am looking for a designer, or designers, who can balance these design parameters so that customers find these holders interesting, practical, appealing, and worth buying.
This is a two stage contest.
Stage 1
To begin with I only want conceptual drawings. It is not necessary to provide CAD drawings for this stage. You are welcome to submit as many conceptual drawings as you would like during this stage. I will give feedback on all conceptual drawings you submit, but if I am not receptive to your design, or designs, I will tell you at this stage. If I am not receptive to your designs at this stage, you will not go on to stage 2.
Stage 2
This is the stage where the winning designer, or designers, will convert your conceptual drawings to CAD drawings. If I have not approved your conceptual drawing in Stage 1 then you do not advance to Stage 2.
Dimensions for Stage 2 (See links to examples below for a visual understanding of dimensions.)
Height: Brushes must hang with bristles downward. Bristle lengths vary, but assume 3 inches from the bottom of the handle. Add about 2 inches for the handle so that the total brush length is about 5 inches tall.
Opening/slot for brush to insert into: 23mm
Opening for razor handle to fit into: 3/4 inch
Base for shaving bowl: Should be in proportion to your overall design so your design is stable when sitting on the bathroom counter. (NOTE: Due to the unlimited designs of shaving bowls your base should also be functional as only a base, should a customer chose not to utilize it to hold their shaving bowl.)
Thickness of acrylic is to be determined at the time of production but may be 1/2”-3/4”.
Below are links to examples of shaving brush & razor holders, double edge razors, shaving brushes, and shaving bowls. Use these examples as inspiration for your designs.
Pictures of shaving brush & razor holders.
www.google.com/search
Pictures of double edge razors.
www.google.com/search
Pictures of shaving brushes.
www.google.com/search
Pictures of shaving bowls.
www.google.com/search
3D Printing
I will want to create 3D prototypes of the winning designs prior to the start of mass production, but this is only so the acrylic fabricators have a physical representation of the holder, in addition to the CAD files. Actual production of the holders will consist of cutting, bending, and gluing acrylic sheets, not by 3D printing.
- SolidWorks, Catia
- Autodesk Inventor, SketchUP
- 3ds Max, Siemens NX (Unigraphics NX)
- Or any software that can make STL/STEP files for 3D printing
Entries
Discussion
I sent you the 3d models through a private message.
Buyer
Unfortunately no. For this contest I'm only using acrylic as the material to make these holders from. If I do another contest in the future I might consider using other materials, but again, not for this contest.
Bruce
Designer
Can I use other material and combine it with acrylic?
Buyer
Thanks for your comment. I have given feedback to every designer, on every one of their submissions, privately. And will do the same for you.
Designer
Designer
Designer
You can't sell a $70 SLA for $15 retail and make money.
Since your profile description mentions that you have 25 years of experience in production I'm not going to try to insult you.. But don't you know that SLA 3d printing is widely used as a production technique nowadays and that it has become more affordable? And also when I suggested injection molding I was still under the impression the goal was mass production(as stated in the description twice). Then again this is something you still might want to consider in case the product becomes successful and hand crafting it suddenly becomes a very expensive option. You could contain the costs by using an aluminum mold for example, and produce it abroad. Also, I know voids are a problem. But the buyer asked if clear plastics can be used and I answered his question..
So just to be clear, I'm not about boondangling pretty renderings in front of clients. In fact I haven't even entered this contest. I just left some comments for the buyer to help him on his way realizing his idea.
Now if there is anything else, please let me know.
Buyer
Shaving bowls come in various sizes so it's difficult to give you guidance on their dimensions, which is why I did not put specific dimensions in my contest posting. I would look at the link I provided for shaving bowls to get a sense of their sizes. When designing a holder consider the area for the shaving bowl in general terms, and not specific dimensions. If I have concerns about the space you allocate for a shaving bowl I will give you my feedback when I see your design. Hope this helps.
Bruce
Designer
Designer
Designer
Designer
and have no clue about manufacturing processes.
Designer
no voids or bubbles ?
Designer
don't recommend overpriced manufacturing options.
Buyer
Like Adam said, injection molding is only cost effective for production of high volumes since the molds are expensive. I was under the impression that this was your goal. And to answer your question, yes clear plastics can be used. Most of your kitchenware for example is produced by injection molding ;).
Another possibility for you might be 3D printing. Not with an ultimaker or something similar but professional quality SLA printing could be suitable. This way you can produce shapes you can't even make with techniques like injection molding. This technique is often used for prototyping parts that will later be injection molded but also for low quantity production like in your case.
Anyway, I will probably upload a design soon. If you have any more questions related to the information above, or something else feel free to contact me!
Regards,
R. Elmirou
Designer
Buyer
Thank you for providing such a detailed contest description! Although I see why you would like the products to be made out of acrylic, I don't see why you would want to make them out of sheets though.. Especially since you mentioned you want the products to be (cost effectively) mass produced. Have you considered other production techniques like for example injection moulding? Shooting out 1 product per second(s) would be a lot cheaper than cutting, bending, glueing etc. (if mass produced). Also you are not as limited in terms of shapes.
I'm looking forward to your reaction!
Regards,
R. Elmirou
Ivan Zerpa
Designer