Scott Wilson is not a noob when it comes to the worlds of business and industrial design. Many of us use products that were either designed by Scott or him firm MINIMAL (written also as MNML). In fact if you have a new Xbox 360 with Kinect Sensor or any of a handful of recent products from Dell, HP, Microsoft, Motorola or Logitech to name a few, you are likely enjoying the aesthetics, ergonomics and usability provided by Wilson’s influence. Recently Scott Wilson decided to turn to the crowd funding website called Kickstarter to raise some funds for his latest design, a watch wrist band that converts an iPod Nano into a multi-touch watch. There are two designs actually. The TikTok is a simple snap-in design that allows you to easily snap the nano into the wrist dock. The LunaTik is designed to be a premium conversion kit for a more permanent home for your nano. It is forged from machined Aerospace Grade Aluminum and is sure to be a conversation starter. His goal was to design something that people would stop you and ask “WTF is that?” and by the looks of it, it will accomplish just that. All I can say is: I can has? The goal was to raise at least $15,000 in order to pay for initial production tooling costs and that’s it. Well with just under a day left for this fund-raising project he managed to attract over 12,000 backers and over $880,000 (and still counting). Anyone can fund this project with as little as $1.00 but by contributing $25 or more you secure your own first-run TikTok [or LunaTik]. We caught up with Scott for a few quick questions:Eyal Akler (DaniWeb): What inspired you to created such an unusual iAccessory? Did you have a moment where you were using an iPod nano and just thought ‘I need to wear this all the time?’ Scott Wilson: Well, I think the idea was an obvious one for designers ever since Steve Jobs mentioned it when unveiling the iPod nano. And yes—as a runner, the idea to wear a nano all the time is appealing to me for many reasons. What has also been so interesting for us in doing this project has been learning how many people purchased a TikTok or LunaTik prior to owning a nano. We are going to do a survey when the project is over, but it looks like around 75% of our backers were inspired to get the nano BECAUSE of the watches...super cool!
DaniWeb: Super cool indeed. You are a successful and recognized designer, not to mention you firm’s success. It seems to me you would not necessarily need to raise $15,000 to fund an idea of yours. Why did you turn to Kickstarter for this project?
Wilson: Thanks. We loved the idea of experimenting with a creative funding platform like Kickstarter, which really gives power back to creative entrepreneurs to get their ideas out there without having to find investment backers and potentially lose creative control and equity. It is a game-changer for entrepreneurs of all kinds, and certainly for the design industry.
DaniWeb: How many of these ‘watches’ are you aiming to produce in this first run?
Wilson: Well, we are actually still calculating our first run, based on what the total will be at the close of the Kickstarter project tonight. We know that there will be a demand beyond that, and will basically be looking to produce as many as we can before the Chinese New Year.
DaniWeb: What’s next? Are you planning on selling this design to a large brand or will this always be a MNML original?
Wilson: We are really just trying to focus on completing the Kickstarter project and fulfilling the orders in a timely way. After that, we will have to evaluate what makes sense for us going forward. We know that the watches will be available for purchase immediately POST Kickstarter at www.LunaTik.com
DaniWeb: How many do you ultimately plan to product/sell worldwide? What are your expectations?
Wilson: So hard to say at this moment how many will sell, but we definitely want to reach a global community if the need is there. As for expectations, the success on Kickstarter has already far surpassed those. We are really grateful for all that has come from this project. Thanks so much!
