The “Alfred” backpack hanger is a simple utilitarian multi-purpose backpack hanger that is more than meets the eye. Designed for your busy digital lifestyle and built to hold your backpack and your mobile devices; it’s capable of so much more. Use it anywhere!
It’s versatility is contrasted by it’s minimal design to help you be more organized and productive.
It’s more than a mere backpack hanger :
– Purse hanger
– Tablet & Cell phone charger station
– Headphone hanger and holder
– laptop holder and charger
– coat and clothes holder
– key hook
Currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter! Available in Aluminum and Stainless steel, it’s up to the task of hanging your Backpack any time of the day. It’s easy to mount to a wall or a desk or anywhere you need to hang a Backpack Home, Office, Kids room, Retail locations, GYM, Home, Schools, Recording studio, Bars, Closets
HURRY AND GET YOURS! KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN ENDS SATURDAY APRIL 20, 2019
I was having a tough time finding my white car occasionally. I wanted to remedy that situation by having an antenna that was unique and stood out in a crowd. I settled on a Glow option as it would be a lighter color than other vehicles and “of course” glows in the dark!
I started by simply unscrewing and removing the antenna from the vehicle so I could work on it.
First I lightly sanded the antenna so I could prep it for the adhesion promoter. Then washed it with dish soap to remove any loose particles from sanding, and degreased it.
Since I had no idea what kind of plastic I was coating I did not want to leave this to chance. I applied three coats of Dupli-Color adhesion promoter to the antenna to guarantee that whatever paint I applied on the antenna would stick. The directions recommend to wait ten minutes between coats.
Next I layed down a light coat of white automotive primer to create a white base coat. (See video) I kept it light since the I did not want there to be any chance of it cracking. The main purpose of the primer was for the white base color and to improve the adhesion of the plastiDip.
Once the primer had a chance to set but not fully dry (about 30 minutes) I began to lay down the first of the three coats of Plasti Dip. I waited about 20 minutes in between the coats for the material to flash before I applied the next coat. (“Flash” means some of the solvent in the paint has had time to evaporate, you can tell this when the paint changes from glossy to a satin finish)
After the third and last white Plasti Dip coat I immediately started to sprinkle on the Ultra Blue Glow in the dark powder (see video). I then sprayed a coat of clear Plasti Dip on top of the powder and repeated the process with another coat of glow powder. I did this three times until I felt there was sufficient glow in the dark material on the antenna.
I then let that dry about an hour and applied two more coats of clear plasti Dip to seal the powder and make the antenna smooth again. I let it dry for 24 hours before I re-attached it back onto my car.
That’s it. It glows at dusk, maybe last for 2-3 hours, but is easy to recharge with the headlight of your car, or cell phone flash. Pretty sweet driving around with a glow in the dark whip tail on your car. Nobody else has one! At least for now. Good luck to everyone that tries the mod. Have fun.
Eric Strebel, is an Industrial Designer living in Southfield MI. He has a home-based Industrial design studio “Botzen Design” and has been designing consumer products for 25+ years ranging from sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, Traps eyewear, entry level luxury vehicles for Ford, wireless charging PowerMat for Homedics, to magnetic toys for Guidecraft. He specializes in tabletop and handheld products, ranging from routers to cosmetic products to Bluetooth devices and everything in between, he also teaches Industrial Design at Wayne State University and CCS (College for Creative Studies)
How I built a Ultra Quiet Shop compressor from a refrigerator motor (compressor) for my Industrial design studio workshop. In the video I show you step by step how to build the compressor from parts you can buy on Ebay and your local hardware store, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, or a scrap yard or an old refrigerator (fridge). Add your own optional Motörhead badges too.
I needed to build a very quiet, higher capacity compressor for my Design shop, since the one I have is quite loud and does not have the capacity that I was comfortable with for urethane casting work.
I sourced a 6 gallon tank on eBay for $35 including shipping from a fellow in Indiana. I then needed a refrigerator compressor. I got lucky and have a buddy I play hockey with that is in the small appliance repair business. He was able to get me a new replacement unit that was not needed on a recent job. He was also able to get me some of the copper tubing i needed for the project.
Everything else was pretty straightforward after that. I have access to a lot of good fabrication equipment. First I built an adapter plate to mate the tank to the compressor motor. I built this from an old “Big Iron” IBM server cover. I made a cardboard template to follow and then transferred it to the sheet metal and folded the edges for extra strength. Then I applied a bit of primer and paint to finish the exposed metal.
I replaced the original oil in the compressor with 10W40 weight motor oil for added protection.
I mounted the motor on the sheet metal bracket I made and connected the compressor side to the tank with some 1/4-20 socket cap bolts. ”
Next I connected the compressor side to the tank with some 1/4″ copper tubing and a one way check valve to keep the air from flowing out of the tank back through the compressor inlet.
On the business side of the compressor I used some parts I had laying around including a pressure shut off valve that I had from when I attended college at Pratt in the late 80’s from my dorm airbrush set up! It still all works great and is able to turn the motor on an off with no issues. I also used a main pressure gauge and added a pressure regulator so I could adjust how much air comes out of the tank. Additionally I added a quick disconnect to I an easily connect an air hose to the tank.
I added a computer electric socket connector to the set up so I can remove the power cord if I need to as well.
The key to making the whole thing ultra quiet is building a intake manifold that absorbs the sound of the compressor. For this I used a spent metal aerosol travel shaving cream can. It already had openings at both ends and was perfect for my needs. I packed it with some brass wool to help absorb the sound and added some pink packing foam for a filter. The combination of the metal can and the brass wool significantly mutes the sound and makes the whole set up extremely quite.
Last but not least I added some Motörhead badges to give it some character. Lemmy R.I.P
A fun build and an essential piece of shop equipment to have when making Industrial Design models and prototypes.
Eric Strebel, is an Industrial Designer living in Southfield MI. He has a home-based Industrial design studio “Botzen Design” and has been designing consumer products for 25+ years ranging from sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, Traps eyewear, entry level luxury vehicles for Ford, wireless charging PowerMat for Homedics, to magnetic toys for Guidecraft. He specializes in tabletop and handheld products, ranging from routers to cosmetic products to Bluetooth devices and everything in between, he also teaches Industrial Design at Wayne State University and CCS (College for Creative Studies)
A series of 8 Instructional maker videos that take the user on a journey from design concept to working prototype. The video series is intended for designers that need to learn more about the design process and the making of functional mockups. The series shows how to sketch concepts and turn them in to actual physical functional prototypes.
Each how to design video is filled with helpful tips and detailed information about the design and build process, with step by step information and detailed instruction about the building of the “Solar Vox” a solar charger.
Eric Strebel is an Industrial designer with 25+ years of experience. He graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY in 1990 and has been designing products for clients all around the globe, ranging from sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, entry level luxury vehicles for Ford, wireless charging PowerMat for Homedics, to toys for Guidecraft. He specializes in tabletop and hand held products.
You can follow Botzen Design on Twitter and Google+ and Facebook, or sign up here for the occasional newsletter from Botzen Design. Subscribe to the YouTube and watch all the industrial design videos as well.
WOW! What another unbelievable year of product design it has been this year at Botzen Design! I worked on design projects ranging from sunglasses to industrial equipment, phone cases, drones and credit card readers.
The Ulysses
In January I began a journey with a client to develop a pair of classic sunglasses “Ulysses” that used aged Maine oak lobster traps. The project sprouted into a second pair of sunglasses “The Jack” that are based on the 35th president JFK and his classic look. Traps Eyewear will soon be shipping both pairs of “eco” glasses, look for more information about the glasses very soon!
Currently I am working on some great new products for the Danish industrial group BM-Teknik. I am designing two new products for them as they expand out of the Scandinavian market in to the global market including the United States. These products will be sold under the Cougartron name. More about those products will be revealed in the upcoming year.
Recently I launched my Industrial Design Video On Demand channel on Vimeo, Adesign journey from concept to functioning prototype The 8 part series take you on a step by step voyage of how to build a functioning solar charger prototype. The latest series focuses on the ideation sketching process of the Red Jack adventure vehicle pictured above. You can see the trailers on Youtube as well.
Are you are looking to have a consumer product designed, visualized and prototyped? Feel free to reply to this email and lets set up a time to chat. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Google+, click any of the links below to follow me on your favorite social media site, or sign up here if you were forwarded this bulletin. Look for more updates soon!
I want to wish each of you a Happy New Year to you and your families!
Rapid prototype gear printed at 75 (.075mm) micron layers thickness
Botzen Design a Metro Detroit based Industrial Design firm run by Eric Strebel now has 3D printing capabilities. Additive manufacturing is making products more exciting and come alive faster than ever. The expanded capabilities will allow Botzen to design better quality products in less time than ever. It will also allow Botzen to act as a service bureau to create rapid objects for other companies and individuals with prepared CAD files to get 3D printed objects quickly at an affordable price. The resin based prototypes are very durable and excellent for everything from small engineering parts, toys, action figures, small hand held products and small injection molded parts, as well as investment casting for jewelry! With layer thicknesses as thin as 50 microns per layer models are detailed and accurate and more affordable that you think.
So…what is 3D printing?
3D printing is a printer that creates a three dimensional object. This is done by creating layer by successive layer, until the entire object is complete. Every 3D-printed object begins with a digital Computer Aided Design (CAD) file, created with a 3D modeling program, or which was scanned into a 3D modeling program with a 3D scanner. To get from this digital file into instructions that the 3D printer understands, software then slices the design into hundred or thousands of horizontal layers. The 3D printer reads this file, and proceeds to create each layer exactly to specification. As the layers are created, they blend together with no hint of the layering visible, resulting in one three dimensional object.
Eric Strebel who runs an Industrial Design studio called Botzen Design in Detroit, MI. He worked to design the Powermat wireless charge pad for Homedics, sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, vehicles for Ford Motors, monsters for Clive Barker and the Solar Vox Ultra personal charger. Currently he consults for various companies in the Detroit area and around the globe and teaches Industrial Design at Wayne State University. He recently placed third in the Local Motors Shell Game Changer contest with the Willow Run-A-Bout for the city of Amsterdam.
This year has absolutely flown by with so many successful design projects and new clients I don’t even know where to start…..Youtube anyone? My design videos have gotten a bit of exposure this past year, over 85,000 views and I suddenly have over 600 subscribers to my channel! Recently, I was featured on the Prismacolor facebook page for the black and white Prismacolor pencil sketch that I did. Next year, I hope to publish a few more design videos, so look for those throughout the year.
A few of the products that I had the pleasure of designing last year made their way into production in 2013 including; The EL shutter shades that I designed for Lift Audio as well as the Saferide vehicle adapter from Saferide.
This past year also saw the addition of a 3D printer into my arsenal of design tools in the workshop at my studio. This tool has changed the landscape for product design in so many ways. Testing forms, ideas and concepts has never been easier than now with in-house 3D printing capabilities.
I was also lucky enough to do some design work for a few new clients that were looking for some fresh ideas, including concepts for an Aluminum Multifunctional Carabiner, a kids GPS bracelet for Precise Innovation, LLC, some drinking fountain concepts for Haws Corporation out of Nevada and some really fun design research projects for Zingermans right here in Ann Arbor Michigan.
I have also been working on some dramatic Sci-Fi play toys for a client for most of the year. I can not reveal anymore than that. The toys should be available for retail purchase in Spring 2014. If you are at the Spielwarenmesse in Nürnberg Germany in January you will get to see them debut OR if you are in New York City at the Toy Fair in February you will get to see me and I can show them to you personally! I am so excited for these toys that I have laboured over since June when the project began. To see them go from concept to prototype then to production in the time span of the last 6 months has been truly amazing! I am bursting with excitement and can’t wait to go to the Toy Fair and see them with all the other amazing toys at the show!
Also, I will also be teaching again very soon in January 2014 at Wayne State University starting in a few weeks after a hiatus of a few years. I will be teaching the Design Studio class to the Juniors and graduating Seniors. It is one of my favorite things to do in life. I truly enjoy teaching and giving back to the world about what I am most passionate about, Design!
I already have a few new projects underway for the beginning of the year and am sure many more exciting ones will present themselves over the next 12 months. I am looking forward to another great year.
I want to wish each of you a Happy New Year to you and your families!
POLYMECH, REPTILEMECH and TERRAMECH, have begun to invade the universe in search of neodymium!
Botzen Design in collaboration with Guidecraft has expanded it’s popular PowerClix construction line with the introduction of three new dramatic Sci-Fi magnetic play sets, that turn ordinary PowerClix into fantastic robot invaders from the other side of the galaxy where builders’ imaginations can run wild with fun invasion mayhem. Help the Rahila Mechs scour the universe for their neodymium life force!
PowerClix®, is the 3D Building System from Guidecraft that lets you explore and build endless models with the easy click ‘n connect system. The super-strong magnetic force creates a quick connect for fast, simple and powerful 3D modeling. With the 2nd Generation Mechs, you can explore, build and create a fantastic array of creatures utilizing the original PowerClix® magnetic system, coupled with a collection of new click • clip • create pieces, all with excellent high detail weaponry that will be sure to delight the casual fan as well as the hard core Sci-Fi collector. Mix and match with original sets, or with other Mechs to create hybrid creatures. Ages 7+.
Botzen designed the Rahila Mechs in a period of 6 months from concept to production for Guidecraft. Mechanized robot vehicles of all kinds were conceptualized and sketched by Eric Strebel at his design studio in Southfield, MI just outside of Detroit. Development also involved digital sketching, 3D modeling and 3D printed parts. After the initial concept development phase was completed the Mechs were refined with some rapid prototype development before handing off to the manufacturing group for final mock ups and production.
To see all of the Mech’s, come meet us at the 2014 New York City Toy Fair at the Guidecraft booth #2835 February 16th – 19th. Eric will be available for interviews Monday February 17th and Tuesday February 18th. Please contact Kris @ 810-338-7407 to set up an appointment.
Eric Strebel runs an Industrial Design studio called Botzen Design located in Detroit MI. Eric has worked on designing the Powermat wireless charging hubs for Homedics, sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, vehicles for Ford Motor Co., monsters for Clive Barker, drink/water bottle refill station for HAWS Co., EL Shutter Shades for LIT, as well as toys for Guidecraft. Currently he consults for various companies around the globe and teaches Industrial Design at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Botzen Design is an Industrial Design studio in the Detroit area, specializing in product design and development, and computer visualization. We design consumer products ranging from hard to soft goods and can guide you through the design and manufacturing process. We also have in house rapid prototyping and 3D printing capabilities.
World first Wireless Electroluminescent shutter shade glasses designed by Botzen Design for Lift Audio
Botzen Design announce the “LIT” shutter shades, the first in a series of wireless sunglasses designed for Lift Audio. Born in the explosion of the electronic music scene, LIT glasses by Lift are stylish and fun illuminated glasses that help bring the party to life. Debuting at the 2013 Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas……Previous “EL” sunglasses required a hard wire to a hand held battery power pack. The new redesigned Lit shutter shades incorporates the battery, USB charger and electronics in the sunglasses themselves, an industry first!
The sunglasses were designed from sketch concept to prototype over a period of about 4 months in collaboration with Lift Audio culminating with “A” side 3D data for the customer to take to engineering manufacturing with
Eric Strebel who runs an Industrial Design studio, Botzen Design with inhouse 3D printing capabilities called Botzen Design in Detroit, MI. He has worked on designing the Powermat wireless charging hubs for Homedics, sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, vehicles for Ford Motors, monsters for Clive Barker and most recently a drink and water bottle refill station for HAWS Co. Currently he consults for various companies around the globe and previously taught Industrial Design at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Go green this year! We need your help to bring this invention to market! This product is great for the environmentally conscious individuals and sportmen. You can use it when you are camping, hiking and at outtings. Even in situations when there is no electricity due to power outages!
This product can be packed anywhere. Attached it to a backpack to capture the rays of the sun while walking, set it in the boat when you are fishing or mount it in your vehicle. Out on a day trip with the kids and they run their batteries down in their handheld games….no problem, with the rechargeable batteries already charged in the unit you can swap out the rechargeables that are dead and the kids are happy again!
Botzen Design 