Hooky
The Challenge
To turn one man’s idea for a bicycle stand into a commercial reality by designing a robust device to allow a bicycle to be hooked onto a standard UK “wheelie” bin to facilitate easy bike cleaning and maintenance.
As an independent client, the prime consideration was to keep product design costs to a minimum and to develop an easily manufactured unit.
The Solution
Cycling enthusiast Harry Butterworth turned to the design team at GX to develop a product design from his idea to build a simple product that would hook over a bin to aid cleaning and maintaining a bicycle.
The product development team at GX initially developed Harry’s idea of the Hooky into a prototype which showed them that this concept could be simplified. The design engineers proposed the use of exterior grade marine plywood in order to create a “green” product with the absolute minimum of tooling investment. This product design enabled production of the Hooky to be undertaken in the UK rather than overseas. The exact shape for the Hooky could be machine cut from sheets of plywood then self-assembled by the purchaser and customised with coloured stains or varnish.
The Result
The low manufacturing costs, coupled with low shipping costs, meant Harry Butterworth could pay to have several units of the Hooky manufactured to start selling them via E-Bay. The unit could be sent as a flat pack, which the consumer assembled by simply fitting just eight screws in pre cut holes.